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Birdwatching
by Katherine Garrison These birds are always raising the stakes.When I go out, I want to see a shrike,but instead, I am surprised by a hawfinchwhich are rare to see here, as in red listed,and I think that’s probably a good reasonto not raze through the forest in front of melike swifts razor through clouds… Continue reading
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Afterimage
by Reece Jordan And so it repeats itself to him. Early summer: the beginning of July. They are at Julia’s place, sitting on a crescent of stone in the garden. The sun is out and the sky is that blend of blues, both soft and intense. Next to Ezra is a steaming mug of coffee… Continue reading
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Spaghetti Face
by KC Courtland That year, I drove a ‘96 Chevy Venture, a beat-up old minivan, and hauled bodies. It wasn’t as dramatic as it sounded, except it was. I had three babies and one on the way. Even with the van shouldering part of the load, I was weighed down. I’d buckle one kid then… Continue reading
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The Bear Outside the Window
by Terry Tierney My wife points toward the window, her hand trembling. “There’s a bear outside.” She lies propped up on a mechanical bed in the Intensive Care Unit with tubes piercing her arms and thighs connected to monitors flashing green lines and digits. Her eyes and raspy voice convince me this is no cuddly… Continue reading
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I Forgot to Visit my Mother Again Today
by Mark LaMonda I say that I am a person who does not make lists,yet I find them occasionally on my kitchen counter,in my own hand.I forgot to add water to the vase.The flowers are dead.There is beauty there,in the vase of dead things.There it is – Third item on the list – Add water… Continue reading
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A Small Apostasy
by Samantha Lucia traded the man-god for the Mother original sin for humanity divine blood-washed for earth-rooted guilt for freedom suppression for voice piety for peace heaven for earthSamantha Lucia is a queer poet living in the American South. This was not intentional. Her work lives where documentation becomes divination. Publications include MENACE, Twisted Tongue,… Continue reading
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Road to Hana
by Alan Perry —Maui, HawaiiNearly every turn in the 64-mile highwayproduces a little nausea, a chicaneof narrowing switchbacks that move our equilibrium from brain to stomach.What are we searching for aroundthe next bend that curls back on us,stuck in a subcompact rentalelbows bumping at each S-curve?The tour guide said a fun experience,the couples counselor, a… Continue reading
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Be Happy
by Duke Stewart Harriet Bass arrives late for the afternoon matinee. The other patrons in the ticket line stare at her, commiserating on her recent divorce. She would love to scratch those bleeding eyes out. She enters the bathroom which has a vanity mirror encircled by translucent bulbs. She never looks in the mirror. Much… Continue reading
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Two Poems by Roxanne Cardona
Landscape With Cart and SilenceJune 12,1948,one day after Gag Law 53 passed—Puerto Ricans must pledge allegiance to the American flag. To sing, speak, write, or fly a flag for island independence was to risk ten years in prison. Birds hold their song. Nothing slithers. Not a single feather falls. Lizards tilt their heads, disappear beneath… Continue reading
January House Literary Journal 