Mistletoe and Sycamores

by Hally Winters “Of the many circumstances in my life for which I feel gratitude, these friendships shine with a particular brightness. They make me look eagerly to the future, to imagine all the conversations to come.” — The Crying Book by Heather Cristle Trees experience time differently. We drove up to see the snow. I had not driven with Read More

Missed You Again

by Nolcha Fox Lady with the Red Scarf at the Countdown Diner Did I misinterpret our eye contact? Sunday evening, Countdown Diner, you alone drinking wine, me with my back to you and the mirror in front of me, made eye contact several times. Don’t want to be misunderstood. Kicking myself for not saying anything to you. You have a Read More

Orchard Frost

by Ryan Norman Our hot breath plumed wet cloudsof snowstorms in your convertedpigsty on cold black nights— Frosted grounds of the orchard echoedour joy and the deer stood still. Quilts trapped the warmth of our fleshas I read Whitman into youreyes pressing a finger against flushed lips advancing akiss by the fire. Ryan Norman is a writer from New York Read More

cigarette butts

by Iolana Paedelt love,lightened by fire,only leaves dark red bruises. your lips touch my skin,we burn— fast and bright.half of me turns into ashes,the other half crashes onto silent ground,you let me go,i fall from your handsas you throw me away— glowing cigarette butts on the pavement,ruins of fallen lovers and broken hearts. Iolana Paedelt is a German writer and Read More

Mourning Routine

by ShivaRJoyce I was always the one to wake first. Some early, ungodly hour. It wasn’t because I was a so-called morning person but more that I loathed sleep for robbing me of my day and time. Some mornings the air still had a frosty chill to it that hadn’t been there the evening before. Boiling water on the gas Read More

Flutter: southern gothic fever dream (Book Review)

Warm up your February with Flutter: southern gothic fever dream by Kristin Garth, illustrated by Mathew Yates, now available from TwistiT Press. In Flutter, Garth’s annotated sonnets tell the story of Sylvia Dandridge, bed-ridden with scarlet fever in 1883 Pensacola. As the fever progresses, Sylvia becomes drawn into the otherworldly side of her parents’ estate, where dreams and reality fuse. Read More

How to Be a Writer

by Bojana Stojcic You’ll bet me 50 bucks there’s some deep shit at the core of my next story, right? Well, kind of. My initial thought was to write about a heavy snowfall that made my travel impossible or I wish I could tell you how lonely I am while the logs crackle and pop in the fireplace and such, Read More

The Average Heart

by Tammy L. Breitweiser The average heart is the size of a fist in an adult. She steps nose to nose with the mirror and studies the charcoal, violet, and crimson mark across her left eye. It matches the size of his heart. What she sees are her pores large and gapping. She would have to pick up some treatment. Read More

Relent

Eldred wrapped his trunk around the horse’s ribs and slammed it to the ground again. “Until I can’t no more, me!” Eldred trumpeted, ruffling the horse’s mane with the breeze. Bending a forelimb back, Eldred proceeded to kick the prone horse in the chest. Lidia the mouse winced as something inside the horse made a cracking sound. The horse was Read More

memories of snow

by Lisa Reily a blur of trees, branches thick with snow,bent with the weight of white. chocolate mud as we step from the businto a flurry of snowflakes,skidding our way to the café, passing fat stray dogswho know the food is bad enoughthat scraps are on their way. back on the bus to eat sesame bars,to sip hot coffee from Read More