A Literary Magazine Sponsored by The University of Maine at Farmington
The River is a representation of the Sandy River itself, which runs alongside the university and what inspired the name of the journal. It is a constantly flowing, ebbing and surging, body of content filled with contemporary work. To submit to The River please visit our Submissions page to the left or e mail TheRiverEditors@gmail.com directly.
by R. T. Castleberry “TO BEAUTY, UNFAMILIAR” On smoke-drift Sundays, wintry morning winds, the amused allure of dead romance wrings wry couplets, astringent rules of discourse. Both sides rescued from … Continue Reading “To Beauty, Unfamiliar” and “Leaving the War”
By Lucia Haase Phantoms of fogwalk into morningthroughout the forest,stretching – yawning… secreted faunain shadows, creepby fern and brackenyet asleep. Cool winds howl,a kind of calling-forest wolveshunting…crawling. Watchers watchingin the … Continue Reading Episode
By Rachel Tanner sunday mornings we wake and you stretch limbs over me protectively,kiss my forehead, breathe my own nameback into my mouth. we’ve been doing thisfor months now and it … Continue Reading sundays
By William Heath The pickers are long gone,just a few men have jobs.Cotton choppers replaced bycrop-dusting planes sprayingweed-killing poison. Greenmachines resembling giganticgrasshoppers, bloated binsfor bellies, gobble cotton,leaving only the ends … Continue Reading The Shack
By Alyssa Pickarts The disgusting algae attached tomy mother’s favorite porch windowmakes me wanna gag. The bioluminescent greenlooks like my father‘s fungi foot. “It’s called Athletes Foot.”Shut up, you hag. … Continue Reading [I Am] Unreliable
By Adèle Saint-Pierre The Marcotte sisters meet on Zoom every Wednesday evening at seven o’clock. Jeannine, the one they call four-eyes, but also Bertrand, Rocky, Muff, and occasionally Blue for … Continue Reading The Marcotte Sisters Meet on Zoom
By Elliot Orion Wake up to a butt in your face; Get bit on the chin, scratch his chin back; Brush his fur until it’s nice and smooth; Use tape … Continue Reading How To Love A Cat
First Place Winner of the Comfort Contest: Samantha DeFlitch
Second Place Winner of the Comfort Contest: Caneel Cheskin
Third Place Winner of the Comfort Contest: Hudson Sirois
By John Zedolik Those blackberries at the bottomof the neighborhood’s hill above the busway where I relished mysecret juicy treat beyond the diesel exhaust must have migratedto the stars like … Continue Reading Heaven Knows
By Adèle Saint-Pierre Adèle Saint-Pierre is a Franco-American artist. Originally from Maine, she currently lives in Brooklyn, New York.
By Mark Bennion Not even a score of years ago,you pulled on my pant legs, beggingme to sing one more off-kilterRodgers and Hart tune before turning offthe lights. “My … Continue Reading Audition
By Martins Deep The night you died, Echo never stopped howling poor dog, barking and barkingrestless as your fingers over the pages of a Bible you never read until you started … Continue Reading in memoriam ii
By Daniela Lilly Mouth wide open, unmoving, unclosed,A hollow cave for brittle promisesLeft for dead.Fragile, as the last tearThat brought peace, unwanted. (And) With her last breath,A cup of tea … Continue Reading A Cup of Tea Went Cold
