smell of your mother’s presence, from behind her ears. smell of that favorite sweet cologne of a pretentious cousin from another cousin’s wedding. the smell of late December and early January rains that hooded your […]
With Three Black Olives (Travis Cravey)
Daddy didn’t like spending money in restaurants. A waste, he told us, when we have food at home. I mostly ate fast food when I visited my grandparents. But, on strange and wonderful occasions, my […]
Great American Interview (Aaron Burch)
That reminds me. That was the year I sat in front of the mirror every day, answering questions, interviewing myself. Practicing. Preparing for the inevitable, though the inevitability of what, I wasn’t specific about. Fame, […]
Lines on the Road: A Map of My Fears (Courtney Skaggs)
Carcinophobia I realize I can’t run from myself, but I cancel an appointment with the breast clinic so that I can go on a road trip. I already know I have a “palpable, previously identified […]
Rum and coke. Rum heavy on the vanilla, coke light on the bubbles. A fistful of ice. (Charlotte Newbury)
Remember the summer I learnt how to bake? Remember my horoscope warning about giving and giving and never once considering the taste. We were learning that too much vanilla was possible. That it was easier […]
ON DENYING THE HORRIBLE REALITY OF BEING A CORPORATE PENCIL-PUSHER WHO KNOWS THAT =VLOOKUP IS A CROSS-FUNCTIONAL EXCEL TOOL THAT’S ONLY USEFUL FOR SUPPRESSING ALL HOPES AND DREAMS (Shawn Berman)
and perhaps i should learn to only focus on things that truly make me happy.like the first christmas we spent together,wine drunk off gas station roséeating mcdonald’s naked on our futon,just relaxing,not really doing anything […]
Mean as a Striped Snake (Bodie Fox)
Chairhead My sister Blaine shoved her head into a chair in children’s church one time. Wasn’t paying no attention and just got down on the floor and stuck her head right through the back of […]
Rejection Letter: Semilore Kilaso (Semilore Kilaso)
Dear MG Dawn, Thank you for sharing your work with us. We are grateful for your support of Black Owned Businesses and effort in the Black Lives Matter movement. What you and your team are […]
Wanda (Linda McMullen)
The student population of Thoreau Middle School – all 868 of us – failed to identify an appropriate social category for Wanda, so we mostly shunned her. She threw temper tantrums well into the seventh […]
Rejection Letters 