Image source: https://www.freeimages.com/photo/wooden-bridge-1-1406385 Daddy’d turn south off Route 60 onto KY 32 about halfway between Morehead and Elliottville, near Hogtown, rumble across the wooden-plank bridge that had no sides, then follow the dirt road and the creek that cut through the hills just there. When Old House Creek was running low, we’d just splash on … Read moreThe Old Home Place by Vivian Lawry
Photo Credit: Dave Rusk My wife and I finally settled into a financially and physically secure retirement. Two years ago, we bought our forever home, unpacked boxes that had been in storage, and eased into the next chapter of life; for me, this included writing, painting, crafting, and grandchildren. This week we’re packing boxes and … Read moreFlying Nuns by Pamela Kaye
Deep in the earth Under dirt and falsehoods We waited For our mothers For our Fathers For light We could smell rain seeping through The warmth of the sun And the stale air of time passing Just out of reach We screamed While you prayed You thanked your god for the land you live on … Read moreThe Earth Keepers By Ariel Perez
(CW: suicide) The night Surya decides he will go to his death, his wife goes into labor. His son arrives with an air of practicality, eliciting one loud wail to announce his presence before knotting his eyebrows together and squinting to make out the blurry shapes around him that belong to voices he already knows. … Read moreThe Call of the Void by Kavinila Rengaraju
Image source: Penguin Books “The moral covenant of reciprocity calls us to honor our responsibilities for all we have been given, for all that we have taken. It’s our turn now, long overdue. Let us hold a giveaway for Mother Earth, spread our blankets out for her and pile them high with gifts of our … Read moreBraiding Sweetgrass Review by Miranda Mlilo
Image Source: Colin Boyle / Chicago Sun-Times Is there value in holding onto the past when you’ve already embraced the new? Why did I sometimes struggle with the simplest of questions? It wasn’t always easy being me. I mean, I stood out from all the other kids in our cookie-cutter suburb in middle America. … Read moreLetting Go and Holding On by Ashley Gin
Ode to the friends I cannot see and the powers of social media. On a warm Sunday afternoon, I lay, nestled in bed in my summer apartment in Washington D.C., scrolling through Uber Eats trying to decide what I want for dinner. “What did you get for lunch?” I asked my empty bedroom. A slightly staticky … Read moreOde to the friends I cannot see by Sonikka Loganathan
Image by Simon Lee The train has never been this late. I look at my watch for the first time in at least twenty years since they set up the train systems. I have class in five seconds, and the train takes me there in around 0.5 seconds. I still have plenty of time, but … Read moreThe Train by Jamie Choi
You’ve already been here. One year ago, you traveled to a different dimension, a dimension of upper class, privilege and fame. You were among the elite and the stars, where your dreams looked like reality. It felt like a secret place behind a secret door which you opened with a key of your imagination. … Read moreThe Appetite Zone or Penny Dreadful for a Marxist by Pavel Frolov
CW: anxiety, unraveling Estefani’s phone vibrated. The screen read “unknown” and she declined the call. By then, she knew “unknown” usually meant debt collectors. She noticed the hangnail on her middle finger only after she dipped her nail in acetone. The burning sensation was quick and sharp. She sucked in air, teeth clenched, and let … Read moreUnknown by Sonia Alejandra Rodriguez