POETRY: “Eavesdropping On The Redwoods” by Sharon Lopez Mooney

I thought I heard some tough young redwoods
trying to get the ancients’ attention
but the elder trees are not interested in prattle, […]

POETRY: “Ribs” by Corey Hill

I’d like to know the
Funny thing in your ribs. […]

POETRY: “Music Lessons” by Ellis Elliott

I can tell you about the student learning
by holding a bag of beans in her palm
in order to feel the weight of the notes […]

POETRY: “Hawk Over Nantasket Beach” by Sarath Reddy

At first my eyes said
a kite hovering a hundred feet above
but there was no thread attached,
no child anchored in sand, arms outstretched,
countering the coastal gale. […]

POETRY: “The Remover Of Obstacles” by Sarath Reddy

Deities sat perched on temple parapets,
concrete birds gleaming in the Georgia sun. […]

PROSE: “Collect” by Richard Charles Schaefer

After 20 years, Benjamin Wheeler was just another person I didn’t talk to anymore, never mind why; when a friendship is that far in the rearview, a falling out and a quiet fizzle are both specks on the horizon. Human-interest stories don’t interest me, so I don’t know why I read the article on the “Collection […]

Prose: “Salt” by Campbell Sharpe

Camp Dogwood serves the kids ice cream for breakfast. Strawberry, Chocolate, or Vanilla. Your choice. While they were supervising their kids, Scout (counselors are not allowed real names at camp to avoid there being 16 Sarahs) elbows Bucket (actually named Sarah) and points rather obviously at Salt (Jax) being escorted out of the office at […]

Prose: “Asses Up” by Jonathan Green

“All right Girl Scouts, lineup!” Robbie calls the patrols to attention. Here, he is The Law. He commands twenty boys, and they listen. Lineup he shouts, and they fall into three perfect lines. The all-powerful Senior Patrol Leader. These aren’t Cub Scout meetings, where parents bring cookies and juice boxes for the kiddies. Parents who […]

Prose: “monday morning” by wood reede

Monday—8 a.m. Customers stand in line. They wonder what is taking so long. Come on, they say in low tones, all I want is a simple cup of coffee—or not so simple, depending on how much of a pain in the ass said customer is. They mumble and mutter and complain loud enough to be […]

Prose: “An Experiment” by Hallin Burgan

Friday, 2/21: I have decided to conduct an experiment. In order to answer the gravest of questions, one requires the surest of methods. Before I begin (and before you begin to read my report) it is necessary to lay out a few “ground rules,” so to speak. An experiment requires strict parameters in order to […]