Tulatulahan, Part 1
Here on this land purchased from Sheryll’s family, we have no one to compete with but ourselves. It’s our chance to be who we are, rather than who others think we ought to be.
Sheltering in Place
This is not my first time at the shut-in rodeo. I saw my agoraphobicmother struggle, suffer during my early 1970s adolescence, preparingme well for the day […]
Miranda, an Obscure TV Show for All the People Who Are “Too Much”
Miranda is a tall, beautiful oddball who doesn’t meet the magazine standards of physical beauty, elegance, or womanhood. This is harped on to an almost painful level throughout the show – and people who’ve always been “accepted” for their beauty probably won’t get what this is really about and why it matters so much. That’s okay.
This Land Which Built Me
This land remembers, a constant echo, wherever I wander,whether between halfway places or brittle stormsover the fence at the edge of our woods near our homea […]
To the Ringer With a Toothache on a Plane
It was 2008. I was exhausted, traveling solo through the country, tired of airports already, and had only just begun this adventure. But there you were, […]
Quarterly & Special Issues
Submissions next open from June 1 to August 31 2024
January 1, 2024
One weekend on Chinese New Year, we gathered in Trafalgar Square for the performance of the lion dance. Amid the throngs of people, we cheered and clapped for the dancers. We swayed to the traditional music.
December 31, 2023
I breathe and release the “now” for the true moment.
The snow swirls rapidly around me
whispering poems until I am lost in a personal snow storm.
December 30, 2023
What if I accept that I am, as you say, too much? Too much of stomach and too much of sag…
December 29, 2023
Like melting mountain tops
to dehydrated souls,
aching, yearning,
parched beyond repair,
resting below
in pools of sorrow,
December 26, 2023
Second after second,
minute after minute,
hour after hour.
There is no bus stop.
There is no green light, yellow light, or red.
December 25, 2023
Holiday traditions are a big part of every family, regardless of religion. It’s a time to gather, hold close the ones you love, and create new memories. Our family had changed. There were some traditions we needed to let go of and others to which we held tight.
December 24, 2023
Mrs. Santa settled in a comfy tea chair.
Arranged her red dress and tidied her hair.
“Tell Mrs. Santa what you want to receive.
I will make sure Santa knows to put it on the sleigh before he leaves.”
December 24, 2023
forgotten relatives; broken candy canes; whipped eggnog; red dresses; knit sweaters with Santa designs; icicles from eaves; shiny red nail polish; long airport lines; mistletoe; turkeys in ovens; waiting in line to sit on Santa’s lap; hand knit mittens with matching scarves; spinning dreidels;
December 23, 2023
The ornaments on the tree matched the paper used to wrap every gift the bows were elaborate with matching ribbon…
December 22, 2023
Something was amiss in the kingdom but she didn’t know what it was or why she felt this way. But there it sat in the back of her head, a tiny pin prick of suspicion. Unlike her mother-in-law, the princess was an orphan so she had no parents to escape to.
December 21, 2023
Opening scene: close-up on a fireplace. So hyper-real we could almost feel the embers and we could certainly see and hear it crackling. The extreme close-up lingered. We sat watching for several minutes. Evelyn was enraptured.
December 20, 2023
When did life change?
When did I need to start selling heirlooms to buy oxygen?
When did Christmas become poems and paper?
December 19, 2023
Apart from import-friendly grocery stores in the United States, Ribena comes at a hard-fought effort. It also bears the calorie toll of sugar, both added and natural, and unnatural ingredients infused into the “black currant fruit drink” mix. A surprisingly delightful, and calorie-free alternative, comes in the form of Ahmad Teas Blackcurrant Burst.
December 19, 2023
I never believed the concept that animals didn't have thoughts, feelings, or emotions. And one Christmas Eve, my beloved lab-retriever mix, Sandy, showed me that I was right.
December 18, 2023
The idea of not having Christmas caused him to go into a tailspin, but within a week or two, he was back to talking about Calgary and everything he missed about it…
December 16, 2023
In this comics Emylle, our heroine, who’s a woman in a wheelchair with curly, short hair sits beside a friendly lion who shows her around the place. The lion greets her, "Oh Emylle, you’re gonna love it in here!”
December 15, 2023
Please enjoy Unexpected Delights, a beautifully themed issue of the MockingOwl Roost.
December 12, 2023
Our bedroom walls were shiny with posters of boy-band chests and bad-boy grins hiding unicorns and floral wallpaper. Our mothers fought us, our little sisters wanted to be us, our fathers avoided us.
December 10, 2023
As a thank you for the work, I brought you a gift.” From the little pocket of his work suit, he took out the book that increased the visual centimeters around his stomach. “While I was fixing the plumbing problems upstairs, the door at the bottom of the hall was open so I could see the many bookshelves you have there. I hope this novel adds to your already rich collection of covers and stacks of papers you keep in the room upstairs.”
December 9, 2023
In the morning, I look out over the vegetable patch. Leaves are scattered. There is a hole in one of the beds. Someone has been pinching my carrots. I notice paw marks on the conservatory window and a deep scratch on the glass.
“I think we have a visitor,” I say to my wife. “A squirrel.”