Precious Cargo

Kevin Keating

On any other summer day, someone would have spotted Anson flailing in the heavy surf, a conscientious mother lathering sunscreen on her toddler under one of the pastel umbrellas that dotted the beach, a divorced dad helping the daughter he hasn’t seen in two weeks build an elaborate sandcastle near the water’s edge, weekend boaters sunbathing aboard their pricey pontoons ... Read More

Waking Early to Birdsong I Think of Our History of Loss

Gerry LaFemina
Predawn sparrows aflutter, chirrup chirrup, under the awning by my window, & the littler cat already by the glass cracking the knuckles of both paws, as if dreaming of feathers & marrow. How Mao Zedong ordered their killing—one of four pests to be eradicated. The Great Leap Forward. Thus 1958 was filled with gunfire & the beating of drums, so ... Read More

Sic Transit

Robert L. Penick

The fog is burning off Interstate 71 and it looks like the steam that rises when a piece of hot iron goes from the crucible into the water. The trees have waited later than ever before to turn, but this late October is brilliant. If you were religious, you’d feel like you were in a church, a grand testament to ... Read More

THE SLIME OF THE SMALL WORLD

Susan Taylor Chehak

You can tell a lot about a person by looking at their feet because that’s the only part of themselves that they can really see. Except their hands, you say, and that’s good too. Rings and nails and polish and whatnot. Swollen joints. Keloids on the inner wrist. All very telling. But the feet, that’s something else.

I used to ... Read More

Feminism: Nine Woman-Rooted Chinese Characters

Yuan Changming
好:wo man combined as one word simply means good 妙:young woman together are always wonderful 妇:lady is a woman who

INTERVENTION

Emily Hyland
He comes out of the other room wet-faced like a red road, stands with his back to the argent stainless

The Color of Jadeite by Eric D. Goodman

Reviewed by Charles Rammelkamp

Charles Rammelkamp
“The Color of Jadeite” Novel Apprentice House, 2020 $17.99, 260 pages ISBN: 978-1627202862 Eric D. Goodman is a versatile writer.

Collision

Jacob R. Weber

For the last three weeks, women have been running into me in the halls at work. Not “running into me”

Zapatos

Kathleen Wheaton

What was I doing in a women’s shoe store in the first place?

This morning, my wife, Grace, called me

CALL THIS RESEARCH

Rachel Tramonte
When your mother is depressed you will be depressed. When you are depressed your mother will be depressed. Your daughter

Cain Sings The Moon Blues

Matthew Johnson
No trace of the blues laid on his face. Sometimes you could see a glint of tear-licked regret, But an

A Brief History of Falling

Faith Esene
As toddlers, we learn how to walk by holding up our own weight. Our knees buckle and we stumble at

LADYBUGS

Nancy Ford Dugan

She hated baking. It involved math, seeping flour in faulty packaging, and counter space.

She hated driving. It involved neck

Lifeguard

Barbara Conrad
Waves stirring the beach this morning, high tide rising, salty froth on a cup of cappuccino. Seas will be rougher,

Enter, Adam

Jona Colson
He takes wine as a child takes milk and makes a red fox run under the moon. A few things

How To Find Joy

CL Bledsoe
Start in the last place you looked. Beneath the dusty couch pillow some dead aunt gave you one holiday. Under

Widow’s Daughter, Nantucket, 1802

Jenny Hubbard
Not much between me and the ambivalent ocean. Sand has collected the night, bivalves, be they vessel or vestige, the