poetry

Old enough to lose you by Emma burden

Before you know what kindness really is you must lose things

You need to lose your sense of self, of being, of her,

Once more with feeling by naomi foster

once more with feeling

catch my eye

hold my stare

flickers of flirt

fold between our laughter

space by madison liberman

Dance through life, they say.

Be authentic, they say.

Be yourself, they say.

Be you.

colors by madison liberman

The color blue sweeps through the strands of my brown

Brushes the paleness of my beige,

Brings me out of my dark purple,

A mother by kathryn Fitzpatrick

White dresses and white smiles

Burnt out candles, conflicting lifestyles

How to heal a hymen by naomi foster

Press

the rounds of your knees together.

Get low

to the ground.

Space age love song by emma burden

“I guess it was all going just a little too well

If I wasn’t careful I’d be happy pretty soon”

about **** by kathryn Kitzpatrick

my relationship with you was my first failed love affair

a desperate heart reaching out for a scrap of affection

misery loves company by kathryn kitzpatrick

Misery loves company

Loving you reluctantly

Opposite signs going down the same road

Speaking to me in your own secret code

Prose

Tree butcher by morgan caramello

Bob Smith’s life was just as dull as his name. The bleak walls of a photocopy shop framed his entire existence; the interior’s paint, once resembling Chantilly Lace, now faded and yellowed to a dusty Eggnog. He occupied his position for thirty years, rising the ranks from clerk to print associate to floor manager to store supervisor. Despite each clockwise tick on the clock, each cuckoo bird’s raucous call, each church bell chime at the top of the hour every hour, each monotonous day caving into lonely nights, there was no signal otherwise that suggested any passage of time at all.

Crime scene report by Hayley Ng

One (1) new message!

TO: S.A. Vincent Ta’lua  

FROM: S.A. Andrea Pierson

SUBJECT: Shanghai Crime Scene Report [FWD]

The following attached file contains a crime scene report that has been translated into English. Sections have been omitted and/or censored by the Shanghai Municipal Police for reasons likely beyond maintaining confidentiality. Caution is advised when reading.

Comma submission fall 2022 by brian gibson

In less than an instant, Light flooded the World and we all jolted awake. The World was so rarely alight, only coming on when the Adults were here to check on us. We spent most days playing in the dark and sleeping in clusters to keep one another warm when the heat went off. Very few of us minded. Our eyes had strengthened over the years to digest every morsel of Light we were given, pecking out the Lightbulbs’ afterglow from the atmosphere. Now that we had Light, we had to shield our eyes and curl up into our knees to protect ourselves.

Frame daintiest lustre by emma burden

Biting my truant pen, beating myself for spite,
"Fool," said my Muse to me, "look in thy heart, and write."
Astrophil and Stella 1: Loving in truth, and fain in verse my love to show

Art