Announcing flesh in the sleepy-loosened day. A childhood of bridges, masterpiece aromas that overlook the playing fields– one year, two grades and people once beautiful, now ordinary, bike turns, riverstones, skipping on driveways, melting ice over grates long pleated hair, dark, looking into competitive eyes. It was the last year I was there, spending evenings … Continue reading
Category Archives: Volume 45
True Love — Joyce Janca-Aji
if I know how to throw the hatchet so that the blade strikes precisely center and lodges impeccably in the mass of salvaged boards nailed together with bent and broken bits to the singular rotting beam of what once was the south wall of the barn, then I should know how to throw enough of … Continue reading
Sniff — Gale Acuff
I love Miss Hooker and if it kills me I’m going to marry her one day and have some babies, as many as we can however you make them, I’m only 10 and haven’t gotten that far in school yet, regular school that is–Miss Hooker’s my Sunday School teacher, maybe 25 and pretty old but … Continue reading
Portrait of the young man… — Joyce Janca-Aji
Has it not occurred to anyone that Monet might have done just as well if he counted fence posts or lined up all his shoes instead of painting haystacks? That his art was no so much perspective as lack of something to do with his hands? Or that for Van Gogh, certain hues of cobalt … Continue reading
Subway Gospel — Matthew Ulland
Traveling under ground, always one woman reads Good News, crinkling words— onion-skinned verses; where her Savior speaks, little bloody marks. Man in wool and beard deciphers minuscule squares— scripture buttressed in thick walls of comment. Hard-luck men croon, “Little light of mine, gonna let it…” Three-part harmony. Smirk for a dollar. Once, a monk— burgundy … Continue reading
Stupid Childish Ecstasy — Alan Jernigan
Some people are having a really good time over there. Over in the darkness, a blob of diaper creepers herds itself over to a tattered lake. I’m going to go to sleep and inevitably dream about something better than my life. I have a hard time believing that the most common name ever is John … Continue reading
Comfort Loop — Alan Jernigan
I want to make a prayer to pray to. “Dear Prayer,” I’ll start, as if the prayer itself were something to pray to. I’ll say “Dear Prayer, would you please . . .” and then make some sort of humble demand. It’s like writing a book that’s just the word “book” written over and over. … Continue reading
Life — Dan Morris
The moon is over head, like any romantic movie would dictate. The sand on the dunes is cooling from the day’s constant sunlight. He stands next to her as she talks about her art class and how the summer won’t change what they’ve started just a week ago. He thinks this is what college is … Continue reading
Place Setting — Myron Ernst
A day peeps in, a day peters out; so it is for all days, coming up, going down, and all it takes to make it so is that the dessert fork be set above the plate, and that the dinner fork be placed left of the plate on its napkin, folded just so, neatly, corner … Continue reading
Directory Assistance, How May I Direct Your Call? — Matthew Woodman
They say the mind is the first to go. I wouldn’t know. I’ve always been too slow and prone to distraction. Sometimes the heart is a bloody stone. Sometimes it won’t start. Other times it does nothing but eat. Hunger keeps you coming back to see if it’s possible to keep growing. If it’s possible … Continue reading
Coe Review 