Published Stories

 
Poetry Tyrean Martinson Poetry Tyrean Martinson

Peace With the Wild by Tyrean Martinson

Not for man's conventions but

For the peace with the wild,

I practice sitting still–

For mornings on my back deck

To watch the soft rabbit in the grass

And the yearling buck who steps slow

Out of wood's edge to curl

Into a bed of clover he nibbles […]

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Poetry Dawn Ellis Poetry Dawn Ellis

To Henderson Bay Will I Go by Dawn Ellis

I will arise now and go to Henderson Bay,

to the old, shingled cabin with sun-worn decking,

and mice that run through sunbeams, across the top of the couch.

A sleeping porch will I have there, windowed with sheets

of plastic, where the music of the creek underneath

and the sound of waves lapping on the beach float in.

And I shall have the peace of lazy summer days spent

with my younger sisters and brother, urging, “Jump! Jump!”

Swinging out from the bulkhead, on the knotted rope,

I will drop into the frigid salt water at high tide.

I will sputter at the cold. My sisters and brother will applaud.

My best friend, Michelle Ledbetter, will caution me,

“Careful of the spikes.” I will climb with Michelle,

up onto the old, wrecked barge, washed up down the way.

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Poetry Samantha Melamed Poetry Samantha Melamed

Eating the Heart That Gives Out in Fear by Samantha Melamed

We left in a hurry so there’s nothing left for you in the housebut if you look out the window you can see the encroaching flamesgutting the town along their warpathsave the only church still standing on Ash Street

At noon you count the bulbous heads of the dandelionsat 3pm the sparrows line up on the telephone wires across the street

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Poetry Dawn Ellis Poetry Dawn Ellis

Not to Blame My Hair by Dawn Ellis

My hair is naturally curly now.
It never has been before.
When my children were young,
When I was a single, working mother,
When I delivered my children
To their father every other weekend
And spent those weekends missing the kids,
And planted myself on the couch, watching movies,
My hair was straight . . . and flat.

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Poetry Elizabeth Beck Poetry Elizabeth Beck

Why I Married the House Carpenter by Elizabeth Beck

A phantom is always easier to chase/The chill always easier than/warm sheets on summer nights. Wrapped in the comfort of your distant interest and cold vows/The ghost of your jawline against the very present curve/of my cheek and I can almost smell you lingering in the doorway/The prickling wind, heavy/with tidal changes, delivering/then casting

off

away

I am the anchor, I am the sturdy mast to which you are lashed

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Poetry, Flash Fiction CC Message in a Bottle Poetry, Flash Fiction CC Message in a Bottle

“Evergreen”

We asked our writers to send us short pieces on a simple word: EVERGREEN. Perhaps you think first of The Evergreen State, or a color that evokes a memory in vivid detail. Maybe your mind settles on that which is timeless. Here are a few of the pieces we received… maybe you’ll find one in the wild.

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