We watched some of the older kids lay pennies on the rails, defacing the King beneath the train’s heavy iron wheels. Frank wasn’t keen on the idea, but he went along with whatever I said. I always came up with the best ideas.
Read More Something Shiny in the Mining Townsite of Mount Sheer – By T.L. TomljanovicThe morning sun streams in through the hospital window. I watch its slow ascent up Kevin’s small frame. When it finally dances across his smoke-streaked face, he shoots up with a gasp. The handcuffs clang against the bedrails and yank him back down.
Read More Ties that Bind – by N.E. RuleThe motor cortex in my brain sends electrical signals through my spinal cord and peripheral nerves to my muscles, causing them to contract. My muscles flex, extend, rotate – on command. I never thought about whether or not my body would do what I wanted it to, until now.
Read More Your Weight on my Shoulders – by Suann AmeroA wind gathered and you blew back up into my face, and I was left coughing. Now you’re in my lungs, in my very breath.
Read More Jim – by Michele Anne-Marie DicksonSometimes a pawn, one step and one step only forward; sometimes a knight, rounding a corner for a fresh view; but always the queen at heart, ready to move in any direction for the chance to stake my claim in the game of life.
Read More Chess moves dance moves bad moves home moves – by Amanda Le RougetelA Saturday in June 1978, and the tang of clover floats through the air as Deb barrels down the path to your house in the sky blue Schwinn “Twin,” and you suck in your breath because you know the empty seat belongs to you…
Read More Pedal, Pedal, Pedal – by Ashley HarrisThis: my daughter’s purple palm-sized
vibrator breaking over & over again:
charger, prongs, buttons, its own rhythm
it has pretty yellow flowers, but is armed
with three-inch thorns—you bleed
We pick wild blueberries, yet my mouth stains purple
as she places one on my lips and I suck it inside,
crushing it with my eager tongue.
Wedge your keys between second and first finger, Mama says,
with a thumb pressed against the back of the key.
