CRAWFORD DAWSON
I watched the gentle rain patter lightly on the windowpane against which I had been resting my head. Each drop slowly flowed down the pane, coalescing into larger pearls, which proceeded to fall in turn to collide with other translucent pearls. The coolness of the glass had eased the heat, which was on the precipice of overtaking what constituted me….Continue Reading The Shella We Used to Call Home
Tag: '27
CARMEX
SARAH DOWN
slick slippery sticky / I try I try I try / to wash this nauseating nostalgia off. / my nineteen-year-old knuckles / gently bruised – busted yellow / by my fifteen years of fingers / searching blindly under the couch for my nine year old self …Continue Reading CARMEX
Took Me A Whole Sixth Rewatch of Glee & Golden Girls
SIANI AMMONS
that Maybe it’s time I clean the silver veins from my bones / w/ Dawn Original Scent Ultra Dishwashing Sadness Melter & when it’s done, / heat my melted sadness, & try not to flinch at my reflection in the weeping…Continue Reading Took Me A Whole Sixth Rewatch of Glee & Golden Girls
Tell me what you miss
ELLA LIN
I miss lemons. I miss sun-baked milk. I miss heat. / I miss the melted wads of spit and honey / drying on rain-rusted brick / the chipped bits of baby bamboo / roaming through golden water….Continue Reading Tell me what you miss
Junk Drawer
LILA SCHLISSEL
Mom said I was a hoarder like it was something / to be cured, jewelry boxes to be shaken out and become / Ricola-wrapper-rain clouds // for Ricola-wrapper carcasses / waxy paper skeletons that / gifted a small throat honey-coat sweet…Continue Reading Junk Drawer
Lingering Touch Imprint Services Case 0822-1
MIKE ROSENTHAL
Before grabbing the knocker, Munroe pulled on his gloves so he wouldn’t pick up accidental prints. The morning job was a mundane one, and the clients wouldn’t notice his dedication to the rules, but Munroe had principles. He recalled the comment his boss left…Continue Reading Lingering Touch Imprint Services Case 0822-1
Untitled
MARIAM BESHIDZE
When does a body become a thing? / When it stares from beyond the glass / At the conglomeration of people surrounding it, / Shedding tears on a Persian carpet. / When it cannot smell the patchwork / of dead flowers laying on top of it. …Continue Reading Untitled
Woven to the Senses
ALEX WOMACK
I hold it in my hands. My finger finds a thread and traces it, from white to gray to black, and marvels as it darkens. Is this color enough? What about the length – how many yards is enough?…Continue Reading Woven to the Senses
Arachnophobia
EDWYN CHOI
Most people are unable to feel spiders, their spindly legs and round bodies. The species does not matter — recluse, widow, trapdoor; they all run and climb the same…Continue Reading Arachnophobia
Twin-Sized Beds, Weather Conundrums, & Starry Smiles
SIANI-SIMONE AMMONS
Typically, he swipes up & I think he’s a sonnet-eyed Robin Hood. Who/ am I kidding? I am a romantic who believes time intervals between text / messages sent & how quickly he doesn’t respond & how…Continue Reading Twin-Sized Beds, Weather Conundrums, & Starry Smiles
brainrot
SERIN HWANG
some songs make me think of you. / earworms till through my brain matter, / electric guitar leaving earthen grooves in my body. / i retrace lines like i would retrace my steps in an old forest,…Continue Reading brainrot
The Maw
MIKE ROSENTHAL
The sorrowful keening of the crowd pierced the clear, dry air on the plateau. They huddled together, staining the dusty ground with their crying and the clear air with their wailing….Continue Reading The Maw
Untitled
MARIAM BESHIDZE
She sat down at the table with her coffee mug, squeezing it with her little hands and absorbing the warmth that she desperately needed. Under the table her leg swung back and forth erratically. …Continue Reading Untitled
Roadkill
LILA SCHLISSEL
The best thing about having / two eyes wriggling around in your / head like minnows is that they / have already learned to blur / and your retina is cracked and crumbling…Continue Reading Roadkill
Haunted
CRAWFORD DAWSON
She bit her lip. What she was about to do was a felony, or at the very least, a crime. But she simply had to do it. …Continue Reading Haunted
Saudade
CLARA CHIU
The envelopes began arriving over two months ago: blank white rectangles slipped through the mailslot at odd hours of the day. …Continue Reading Saudade
Weathered to Sand
ALEX WOMACK
I came to visit today. / Claire told me not to, that it would only hurt me more. But even if my therapist is normally my first opinion, this time I just can’t agree. Why wouldn’t I want to see him?…Continue Reading Weathered to Sand