After the Parade, Before the Loneliness
Later, I ate leftover tacos in silence,
stared at the sombrero you left
like a joke we forgot to laugh at.
Welcome, Spring
Wishing a happy May Day, all the while.
An old-time holiday we’re celebrating,
But it’s how we say, “Hello, Spring!”
Home
You are my anchor,
my lighthouse,
my comforting blanket,
the earth that reminds me that my roots are stronger than I think
when I feel ungrounded…
The Painful Comforts of Loneliness: A Review of Paddy McAloon’s I Trawl The Megahertz
This work soothes the heart as both a lullaby and an ode to the lonely, but its comfort also carries a clear warning: If we spend our lives living in the fantasies in our head, we will lose the lives we were meant to live.
Plant a Tree on Arbor Day
When you plant a tree, you sow the thoughts of leafy morns and lovely afternoons. You plant the thoughts of beauty growing beneath the countless suns and moons…
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
May 28, 2024
There are two light bulbs shining in the room
like two fixed eyes in a reflection.
Already the person has disappeared
and there is a thud in your head.
It’s like the sound of time passing.
It’s like the echo that would reach you
in advance of your own future death.
May 26, 2024
The car was quiet. Eddie listened to a radio station doing a two-hour Phil Collins set. He heard ‘In the Air Tonight’, ‘You Belong to Me’, “Sissudio’, ‘Take a Look at Me Now’ and ‘Take Me Home’ every thirty-five minutes. Everything repeated. The show was taped then looped because apparently no one wanted the late-night on-air shift.
The programming kept him awake. He didn’t stop again until they reached the junction with I-10 in Lake City, Florida, just after three in the morning. Eddie had driven two-hundred-sixteen miles. The Old Man needed all fifteen gallons.
May 24, 2024
There isn’t a way to be both known and invisible, to be seen and hide the secret stories, in a misspent sacrifice that protects others…
May 22, 2024
“I’m sorry. I’ve almost got it licked though. I’m never touching another drop. Going on the wagon. I’m quitting. That was it last night, I promise. I’m done,” he said.
May 20, 2024
We cover the globe with hands outstretched,
palms naked and dirty from ash
lying on our backs, looking at the sky as the spark of life leaps from our eyes.
May 17, 2024
Mouth opened for the sky;
that’s the you who’s new, who I keep in mind.
Waves of our mothers and fathers flow by,
grazing our toes in this sand of wartime.
May 15, 2024
Breathe in the beauty of a lone "Siberian Elm," commiserate with "Driving Alone," or laugh a little with a "Plastered Leg and a Cat."
May 14, 2024
The tides have plundered the shoreline, leaving a reek of decay and iodine leaving a reek of decay and iodine and even the high art of a cerulean sky appears to be something strangely buoyant,
May 12, 2024
I thought about all I had gone through to reach this point: all the planning, lying, deceptions, and even the murder. With a widening smile, I concluded that I felt happier than I had for years.
May 10, 2024
As we walked among the pods, I stressed the level of demand and the need for absolute secrecy to protect the privacy of the famous clientele. She seemed satisfied, and we returned to my ‘consulting room’ to finalise the terms.
May 6, 2024
Timelines establish the sequence or schedule for your story. Everything on them should be necessary to the world or your characters and must be done in a precise order so that what you create makes sense in story form.
May 4, 2024
The case proved difficult for Poston due to the complete lack of cooperation from his client. People’s minds and hearts had to be changed if he was to win this trial, starting with that of his client.
May 2, 2024
Bury me in a Shallow Grave Where I can Feel Above as Below, Where Sun Rays and Rains may Embrace me still…
April 27, 2024
Okay, Doña Rosita thought. We used to do that in India, too. Spells, bindings, amulets. Eggs circled and cracked around heads, on front steps. Coconuts smashed before front doors. l've done them all. Sandalwood sticks for Kali, coconuts for Avan, smudge for the Great Spirit. So, might as well…
April 25, 2024
Sure, they were real pros compared to Rex, but all they did was cover songs. Rex, though he could only strum a few chords, was a dreamer. The chords and melody came to him one night sitting alone in his apartment after a couple hits on a bong.
April 23, 2024
April 22, 2024
The characters are powerful motivators to the spirit of individuality in a place where individuality is not the norm. I felt a close kinship to Nubbin.
April 21, 2024
Beitzah: check (the smell of the hard-boiled egg made her gag). Zero’ah: check. Charoset: check (and of course she scooped up some with her finger and licked it clean). In the centre hollow – maror and dates. I hope Irit and Mirele break a tooth on the seed. Expensive dentistry!
April 15, 2024
Welcome to the new season of the MockingOwl Roost's themed issues. We're launching the year with an uplifting issue themed on joy. Read along for joy in unusual and unexpected moments, every day life, and much more in the beautiful short stories, creative nonfiction, poetry, artwork, and more.
April 12, 2024
Being underage and low on cigarettes I picked up the butts with unsmoked tobacco portions from the ashtrays of local restaurants