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Table of Contents: Issue 9
Prepare to be taken on a journey to somewhen! AirplanesJay Bechtol Milk TeethMcCaela Prentice TraceMcCaela Prentice A Tale of PeterEku Williams bean siKaren Steiger The Barrister’s Ballade in Oompa LoompishKristin Garth The Biggest News in HistoryAnderson Fonseca(translated by Toshiya Kamei) Love and Alzheimer’sAnannya Uberoi The Book ThiefAnannya Uberoi Tea and…
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bean si by Karen Steiger
What makes a woman a howling banshee?The one you hear through your bedroom’s locked window at midnight,the tall woman,her body wasted by grief,gray cloak hanging limply on her slumped shoulders,her green dress, once a rich velvet,now covered in wispy silver cobwebs,her dark eyes sunken and red with tears,her pale skin a…
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SS St. Louis, 1939 by Merril D. Smith
At sea, adrift between worlds,one of terrorone of hope, we travel, nine hundred of us,borderless, in transit,from beating, burning, and a thousand indignities. But here, the mustached man’s portrait is flipped over;we try to forget what is and what might be,we try not to think about those left behind. With…
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Salem, 1692 by Merril D. Smith
I tremble —there is evil about,specters and demons,but I must remain resolute,stand with the other magistrates and judges,all men of property and esteem,surely, we must be among the elect. This affliction has spread through the region,so many blackened with devils’ marks–though their blood is red(their master teaches them tricks). Accused,…
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Secrets in the Poison by Kat Devitt
Mabel waited in the corridor crumpled on the floor, as crumpled as the taffeta of her wedding dress. She pressed her back against the wall for certainty, wanting to merge with the wood. Rivulets streamed down her cheeks onto her netted veil. She stared ahead at the wallpaper’s print, fixated…
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Airplanes by Jay Bechtol
Jimmy Brandt loved the first fold. He knew from that seam if it was going to drift left or fly straight. And the first step, always, always, always, was right down the middle. Creasing the sheet of clean paper lengthwise. Carefully aligning the corners of the sheet before using his…
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Lazy Days by Jason de Koff
The klaxon of cicadasRing in the sultry summerThe ebb and flow of buzzesDeep, dank bayou moistureMake dinosaurs reappear. The light is bentOn paths of mysteryThat shape the shadowsCreating new colorsAnd soaking the vibrant scene. From above, a green paradiseWith velvet carpet flaresBelow, an epic steam boxHung with clouded conspiracySenses warring…
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Milk Teeth by McCaela Prentice
I thought someone mightlove me by now.I had that nightmare again-the one where Ihave forgotten my age;have forgotten the teethI spit into my hands.a boy I slept besidetold me he had dreamt it too-told me not to wish away time. ____________________________________________________________ McCaela Prentice is a Maine writer now living in…
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Screaming/Laughing by Rickey Rivers Jr.
Screams of excitement often sound like anguish.I wish this not to be the case. People cheering at funerals, screaming at parties, pain at the wedding, laughs at the blood. It happens often Smile inside.Scream outwardly. Children giggle out the womb keeping their parents up at night. Jokes make hollers and…
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Trace by McCaela Prentice
The days now leave meshort of breath. A man is edging alonga guard rail on the Queensboro bridge.I have only ever seen the bedroomdimly lit. I have only walked here once.I drag my finger along the yellow linefor a stranger on the train.these are places I have been;that my time…