Dear Sarah
The path may not be the one you envisioned, But that doesn’t mean it’s devoid of purpose. Motherhood is a school in itself, A crash course in fierce love and unwavering devotion.
Pins and Needles
As I pulled out the GPS, memories surfaced of Nat navigating the streets of New York decades earlier. Navigating the streets of every country we’d travelled in. He always used to say he carried maps in his head and if he needed to find the right direction, he simply lifted his mind above the car, looked down on the streets and visualised the right route.
Defervescence
Once you know what love is, You won’t let it go easily, And even if it goes away,
The Tao of Tea, Black Mango Review
Popping off the lid of the tea tin versus smelling a freshly brewed cup of Tao of Tea Black Mango offers two varied aromas. The tea leaves offer a rich, dark, almost indescribable aroma tinged with something fruity. The brewed tea, however, instantly transports you to the tropics where you might pluck a mango for enjoyment right off the tree.
Book Review: The Crimson Crown
The Crimson Crown by Heather Walter is an enthralling escape into the world of witchcraft, misogyny and murder. A time of religious burnings, where men smile in their piety as witches/women dance in hot iron shoes.
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
March 27, 2024
Just down the road, I know that tree. So I go looking, phone at the ready, but there’s nothing. I look at the list again.…
March 25, 2024
Penny stood up and waved her hand in front of Benny’s glassy eyes. No reaction, no blinking, nothing. It was like Benny had been scooped out of his body. Eve pulled the bottle away from his right-hand without resistance but the hand kept repeating the motion.
March 23, 2024
All captured by his spotlight, Benny wrestled the bag like it was a dopey Alsatian three-quarters his size, up and over the plastic container. The white property light intermingled with yellow streetlights, overlaying Benny with a nostalgic sepia tone.
Just as he closed the lid, the light changed and Penny uprooted herself from within the squidgy cushions to the edge of the chair. Benny stood in a vertical tube of crimson light descending from the sky. His arms bolted straight upwards and head flopped down to his chest like his neck bones had dissolved.
March 21, 2024
Linger on the words, let the impact of the emotive writings tingle through the screen to your fingertips to your heart. Find hope, find encouragement, strength to stand. You are worth all the love and joy!
March 20, 2024
Air’s pearl-strung with tears of salt and husks of hibiscus. Low lying clouds extend dusk like an oilcloth across the western horizon,
March 16, 2024
“I can tell the future and here's what I learned,” I said with dramatic seriousness. “I will not need to ask anyone to homecoming because I'll be taking you. Paul will be home with mono. You may not know but my pebbles know.”
March 14, 2024
My anticipation grew. I quickly practiced what I was going to say, hoping I wouldn't forget my own name. The phone rattled again when someone picked it up. I prepared for Susan.
March 13, 2024
Totality lasted less than 3 minutes — such a tiny fraction of time compared to the years I’d spent waiting, hoping, planning, and preparing. It overwhelmed the mind yet further rooted a desire for more at the same time.
March 12, 2024
She stopped to pluck the tender notes from every melody and cawed discordant words into my each attempt at poetry
March 11, 2024
I raced through the line taking food without much thought. Platter piled high, I breezed past the cashier and out into the dining room. Normally, we ate in a small room behind the main hall away from the co-eds, but I refused to miss this opportunity to dine with her.
March 9, 2024
I turned to Gator. “Over there.” Gator and Ellen leaned closer. They must not have heard me. I nodded in the direction of the middle of the dance floor. Gator scratched his chin. Ellen scrunched up her forehead and squinted, unsure of what I was trying to communicate. But she turned slowly following my gesture. We saw her standing there.
March 8, 2024
It is a day of celebration
of what women achieved
and of their beautiful dreams.
March 6, 2024
Take the advice for protecting your voice during illness seriously. Use the suggestions as you perform with your instrument as if they were gospel. Welcome the sometimes-gross descriptions of your inner workings so you can better know how to use, protect, and save those vocal cords.
March 4, 2024
By the name of the tea, I would have expected Pinky Up Red Velvet Cake Tea to contain cocoa or cocoa-like flavorings. Instead, as I opened the tin and smelled, I realized the product may well be misnamed. I double-checked the website and nope. It’s the correct label for the tea.
March 2, 2024
This year, we thought we'd try a series of content for writers in visual format: writing prompts in images. Being a huge music nerd who's reviving her love of performance, I thought I'd start with music story prompts. It may be a bit niche but you never know what these images could spark for your writing exercises or even those novels you've been puttering your way through. Enjoy!
February 28, 2024
February 26, 2024
The social worker in the office asked me how long I’d been homeless. I told him for two or three days. That was how long it had taken me to feel destitute on the street and seek help. His next question: Any relation to the man of the same name already in residence at the shelter?
Can it be? I wondered.
February 22, 2024
poised to catapult, tumble in such a way they remain reposed, even when aloft in a flourish of pizzicato bluster.
February 21, 2024
He’d pretty much decided he was going to enlist, thinking the navy would be better than just getting drafted and sent to who knows where in Vietnam. Will knew how to act in a bar because he’d gone with his older brother John to St. Jean’s Social Club many times; he knew you just keep to yourself or shout “yeah right” in reply to a joke or to deflect an insult.
February 19, 2024
Snowflakes
– winter’s love valentines –
not only for one day or one night,
but for the entire season.