Stardust by Melissa Auburn

Stardust by Melissa Auburn

Stardust “It’s time.” “Now?” “Yes. You better come now… today… as soon as you can.” It’s Clara.  My sister’s voice is unusually soft, unstable. On the plane, the sun has already set and it’s a dark clear night.  From my window seat I gaze down at the...
Freshly Baked Bread by Phyliss Merion Shanken

Freshly Baked Bread by Phyliss Merion Shanken

Freshly Baked Bread   “Happy birthday, Mom!” Carol’s sing-song voice came through Mom’s kitchen speaker phone. “Oh, Carol, I’m glad it’s you, honey. I was going to call you tonight because I wanted to tell you that Dad and I have a present for you.” “But, Mom, It’s...
Curfew by Simona Blat

Curfew by Simona Blat

CURFEW When there’s a window in the street, don’t stand near the shooting. Our greatest performance is being still. Not to have fun but to imagine having fun. Yoke on the horizon. Cats hiding food with their teeth, like artists, unable to do things as others do. If...
Coca Cola by Simona Blat

Coca Cola by Simona Blat

Art: Cyril Larvor COCA COLA For fifty cents she buys a cold can at the deli near her house. She cracks its mouth and walks to the pier. Looking at the water where many boats are gathered she lets the cold can precipitate. Men adjust their sails and empty their fishing...
Radio by Simona Blat

Radio by Simona Blat

Art: Static by William Zuback RADIO I hope it’s not true that when you grow up your heart dies.  I read Faulkner’s letters to Malcolm Cowley where he admits he’s still trying to put it all, if possible, on one pinhead. I go to get my blood drained to test for hormone...
It Could Have Happened by Sherry Shahan

It Could Have Happened by Sherry Shahan

Art: Focused by Fabrice Poussin IT COULD HAVE HAPPENED In 1958, or maybe 1959, Daddy put me in the cab of his dented pickup. We drove to KEY-T TV studios in Santa Barbara so I could meet my grandfather. Daddy had grown up an only child, raised by his mother, and had...