Abortion Clinic by Domenic Scopa

Looking into the irises of the doctor, you think of salmon leaping from a stream in all their breathless inquiry, which is what happens when you look into the watercolor eyes of Christ⎯ It’s always the same thing: The salmon certain in uncertainty, their scales sheening like oil spills left in a parking spot, a little too bold for my taste. Also, it’s like avoiding … Continue reading Abortion Clinic by Domenic Scopa

How Russia Hacks You by Martin Ott

In Rasputin’s day it could have been with wine, the intermingling of magic and mayhem, ribbons of blood, a drowning of senses. For some it was nuclear winter and monkeys launched into space, gymnasts and chess masters with dizzying moves, depressed masters of fiction in itinerant bloom. Once in a Moscow apartment I had twelve shots of vodka over dinner, skipping every other tumbler, a … Continue reading How Russia Hacks You by Martin Ott

“Cat Person”: Kind of the Girls of Short Stories

As it’s been stated several times since the publication of Kristen Roupenian’s “Cat Person” in The New Yorker, short stories aren’t typically the sort of medium to go “viral,” the way, say, a child biting another child’s finger can. But then, no one of the present epoch had ever seen the “salacious” value the written word could still invoke in the hearts of straights perhaps wanting … Continue reading “Cat Person”: Kind of the Girls of Short Stories

Silver Linings? Lack of Net Neutrality Could Mean a Return to the Printed Word for Information

Just as everyone seemed to assume that there was no way Donald Trump could ever take the presidency (and resultantly cause a spike in sales of 1984 as a means for emotional support), so too, did many hold high hopes for net neutrality remaining unrepealed after today’s vote by the FCC. Yet, if the past year has taught us anything, it’s that whatever can go … Continue reading Silver Linings? Lack of Net Neutrality Could Mean a Return to the Printed Word for Information

The Dead Mall: A Story for Roy Moore by David Leo Rice

I was as surprised as anyone when Marianne Martindale, our most famous and best-loved prosecutor, the only real somebody from our town full of nobodies, announced she was running for mayor. She was just the kind of candidate we needed, after the run of dweebs and bozos we’ve had as long as I’ve been living here, which is since the late 70s, when, come to … Continue reading The Dead Mall: A Story for Roy Moore by David Leo Rice

Fear by Joan McNerney

Sneaks under shadows lurking in corners ready to rear its head folded in neat lab reports charting white blood cells over edge running wild. Or hiding along icy roads when day ends with seagulls squalling through steel grey skies. Brake belts wheeze and whine snapping apart careening us against the long cold night. Official white envelopes stuffed with subpoenas wait at the mailbox. Memories of … Continue reading Fear by Joan McNerney