January House Literary Journal

Poetry | Art | Prose

Literary Journal

  • ode to pants pockets

    by Sharisa Aidukaitis my thanks to the designerof these pants, specifically for thepockets that stretch past my wrists,expanding to accommodaterocks and pinecones and leavesamassed by small hands in the park;toy racecars at the dentist’s office;snack wrappers not thrown on the floor;waiting and used tissues;too-itchy admission wristbands;too-tight hair scrunchies;hastily folded crayon sketches;stickers that fell off unsuspecting… Continue reading

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  • Issue 1.04 is Live!

    Issue 1.04 is Live!

    by Jeffrey Heath Our Spring 2026 issue is now live on the site. You can view the free PDF edition here. Print and Kindle editions are also available via Amazon. Jeffrey Heath, Founding Editor, EIC – January House Literary Journal   Continue reading

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  • Ants

    by James Sears My brother Tom hunted the woods behind our house, moving through all the sharp plants North Florida offered, saw palmetto and yellow pines who leaned like sick old men. Nothing could live well here. Not trees. Not boys. Everything was vile and hard, or else it withered away. The midday sun blazed.… Continue reading

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  • Snowflake

    by Barb Natividad Josie had to tell Eric. She’d been dreading it, and wondered how he’d react. Wondered if it was too late to tell him. They’d been dating for three months, and it had gone well. Plenty of dinner dates, trips to the movies and museums, and last week, a long weekend in Galena,… Continue reading

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  • Assateague Island

    by Susan Sandstrom Ellis There were horses on the island and mosquitoes thick with rage. A thrumming rhythmic hymn, dissonant. Their bites quick, effective. The swelling and scratching immediate. As a girl I’d been caught once in a storm on the island. A mile of silver seagrass shimmered between the house and me. I stood… Continue reading

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  • Flashes

    by Laura Grace Weldon In-between ever-worsening news I see flashesbright as the best tomorrow. Thousands standing in subzero cold singing outside a detention center. Neighbors, arms linked, protecting parents and childrenat school start and dismissal time. Faith leaders from everydenomination kneeling in silence at an airportwhere people are forcibly unwoven from their ties. Dr. Esposito… Continue reading

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  • Today

    by Anne Graue there are thistles for breakfast there are rhododendron buds out the window there are black-capped chickadees announcing the morning, shrill and loud there are wheat pennies in a jar green, light fuchsia black & white dull copper there is so much to get done that will probably never get done futility reigns… Continue reading

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  • WagJaw #25

    by Padma Thornlyre Are you a Buddha?I asked the fruit fly strolling up mythumb stroking my little glassof red wine. The Buddha,she answeredby flying away. Padma Thornlyre has published ten books of original poetry, including the four volumes of his “Anxiety Quartet” (Turkey Buzzard Press 2020-21) and one book of translations from the Ukrainian poet,… Continue reading

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  • 27 Objects You Need to Have a Baby

    by Helen Raica-Klotz Helen Raica-Klotz is the winner of the 2025 Michigan Writers Cooperative Press Chapbook contest for Superior Stories, a collection of short fiction. Her work has appeared in various publications, including The MacGuffin, The Great Lakes Review, and MER; two of her nonfiction essays were nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2026. Helen… Continue reading

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  • Artwork by JJ Cromer

    Artwork by JJ Cromer

    JJ CROMER is a self-taught artist from Virginia. His work is in many public collections, including the American Visionary Art Museum, the Intuit Center of Outsider Art, the High Museum of Art, and the Taubman Museum of Art. He and his family live on a farm in central Appalachia, where they have kept chickens, ducks,… Continue reading

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