after “Love Letter” by Diane Seuss Dear X, I’ve learned you so well, like a dog-eared book read once too often. Repeated lines keep coming back to haunt me. But what can love be if it is a past tense event? I think the expression might be love’s lost or something of that nature. To my way of thinking, the affection you were after was … Continue reading Dear X by Dale Champlin
Why do I have to set the table if the boys are still playing? Why do I have to go with mom to the supermarket if he isn’t? Why can’t I jump around in the park with a skirt on? Why can’t I play with them? Why can’t I eat more cake? Why can’t I start boxing? Why can’t I stay out as late as those … Continue reading Because I’m A Girl by Sophie Roy
Listen to “Brahms Opus 25” below. Have you ever been to a live concert? I’m sure you saw the musicians’ faces, all peaceful and yet expressive, usually looking like they’re amazed by the sound coming out of their own instrument. Don’t they look like they don’t have a care in the world, like they’re not thinking about anything else other than the beauty of the … Continue reading Brahms Opus 25 by Rose McCloud
Some people are beasts, Janet thinks, jealously, at the mall. They’re in their lairs and then they come out into their hunting grounds, and they feed, and they send a scout ahead of the horde, and the other beasts on the other side of the river (the mall has a moat) make beast noises, and the hordes eye each other from either side of the … Continue reading Janet and Her Soul by Alan Michael Parker
I’m Mexican. That much I know. That much I can be sure of. Or can I? Here, in a strange land, my nationality manifests as a shield. It comes as a reflex, to protect and justify my less than perfect tongue: the brokenness of my words and the silly mistakes. It is also an impenetrable wall (Berlin?): I cannot understand them, the French and the … Continue reading I’m Mexican by Andrea V. Garcia Robles Gil
My wife got home from work and our youngest son ran over to her and yanked her sleeve. “Hey, Mommy, I saw Daddy on TV this afternoon,” he shouted. She had no idea what he was talking about, but she patted him on the head and told him to calm down. I had left the house early and headed over to … Continue reading Mystery Solved by Ron Kolm
