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Two Poems by Eric Fisher Stone
Beautiful Red CreaturesWater mites ride a mosquitolike clusters of hot cherriesthe color of Mars or Arcturus,Earthworms, foxes, male cardinalsplumed with flame, tomato frogsoozing poisonous glue,scarlet ibises and their bills’ sickles,red pandas, red squirrels, lobsters,vermilion flycatchers with wingsas small as rose petals, red-on-yellowto kill a fellow–coral snakes,summer tanagers molting the blazeof their feathers, ladybugs,humboldt squid, firetail… Continue reading
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Coluber Constrictor
by James Evans On the day you died a snake fellfrom the sky as I opened the overhead doorto my garage. It thumped long and black against my chest, slid downmy legs and raced awayinto the green, tall grass. It could be an omen,I thought, but I don’t really believe in things like that and… Continue reading
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Unemployment Doldrums (Kind of Blue)
by Samuel A. Bellin I am released into my nothingness. I turn it into airdisturbed by the pitiful clacking of black squares. Above my gabled roof the yellow moon hangs like a pearripened and full of summer’s sweet juice. I lustand flick the dial on the record player back to “phono”,watch its red light burn… Continue reading
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We Had Tea
by Tracie Adams I once had lunch with royalty, but what mattered most wasn’t the crown. It was the moment a young woman in a royal-blue dress lifted her head, met my eyes, and made me feel visible at a time when I thought I might disappear. It was 1983, long before Charles became King.… Continue reading
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Not Charles Bonhoeffer
by Wim Hylen After a drunk driving arrest, Kyle Perkins moved from Bradley Beach, New Jersey to Eldham, Colorado, a town he picked by throwing a dart at a map of the United States. Intent on making a fresh start, he adopted the name Charles Bonhoeffer because it sounded regal, like an Austro-Hungarian prince. He… Continue reading
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After the Battle of Ideas by Sean Bw Parker
Sean Bw Parker (MA) is a writer, artist and musician based in Worthing, West Sussex. He lived in Istanbul for ten years, has written or contributed to a number of books and albums, and given a TED talk. He was born in Exeter in 1975. Continue reading
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Restlessness Cento
by Linda Laderman I am three thoughts away from the grave. Alone, I sometimes see coffins under sail. Endlessness enfleshed in emerald & frost & shades I couldn’t name without further study. The gray air molds. Geraniums heat the alleys. Jasmine and gasoline undress the night. I don’t know what to think of first in… Continue reading
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Boyfriends
by Jenny Chu My aunt was always terrified I would die before I could get married. She would tell meto date whichever boys could speak Mandarin,the clumsy ones who fidgeted with their keyboardsand made little electricities every night. I picturedthem, future engineers, kissing, elbows flush againstyellowing wood glue. Some would end up in New York… Continue reading
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inadvertently, I disturb the sanctuary of a nest hidden in a clump of shrubbery
by Julie Allyn Johnson but for this zealous, late-summer breeze, today’s warmth and humidity would likely unravel my otherwise optimistic, carefree nature. finished with yardwork, I sit quietly for a well-earned time out under the shaded eaves on the north side of our three-bedroom ranch. I watch as a groundskeeper traverses the fairway, apparently mindful… Continue reading
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Fish Kebab
by Erin Jamieson I order a fish kebab from Buck’s Chippy, walking the rainy streets of London with lime green rain boots. Eating lunch this way, under the canopy of the striped umbrella from my childhood, makes my office job an illusion, a passing dream. As if this is what my life could have been:… Continue reading
January House Literary Journal 