Short stories & poems for everyone from everyone
Deftly move through the day. Roll back from Bronx River bumper-to-bumper traffic, failing computers, and unprinted lessons. Stand shoulder-to-shoulder with H: face down a quarrelling Demba—and follow through. Negotiate 9th period alone at the...
Poem As I listen to the words coming out of your mouth, I imagine a world where I would rather be. A mountain full of yellow flowers instead of snow, with blue butterflies landing...
The traffic is bumper-to-bumper south of Anthony Wayne Recreation Area. A five-minute drive to the first exit for Bear Mountain takes an hour. When we learn the park is closed, due to reaching capacity,...
Poem Running, picking up speed as I go. I catch myself changing. I’m listening, seeing, feeling. The hills get steeper, I push harder. Making my way through vertical adversity. Leaning into the cement, defiant...
Our niece Diane and her daughter Mialena join us for dinner. Mira serves us heaping portions of her Jambalaya, with a mixed-green salad and tomatoes on the side. A tangy aftertaste follows the first,...
Poem I went for a walk and found you growing in a small clearing of mulch and rocks. Few would hear if the tree of you fell. The birds in your hair would,...
Poem Little cat, So slender and smooth I’m reminded of silk by the way you move. When stars fell from your eyes like rain You showed me how to breathe again. Sometimes you sit...
Poem It was only me, the pen, the paper. Perfect. Let’s have a drink, maybe two? What do you think? Oh Muse, let’s meet in Paradise, I want to see you next to...
Poem I have plucked you like a thorn from my side. I have fucked you and shown you my insides. I think about you sometimes if sometimes means all of the time. I...
Poem I lie with my ear to the ground: Below I can hear the whisperings, The scratchings, the rustles, Of insects with wings like scraps of lace, Can hear the trees roots drinking...
All he needed to do was print his answers. But when he plugged his Alpha Smart into the printer and keyed the sequence to print, the device failed. We waited—in vain—for help from Astor’s...
