Nonfiction by Christina Dillow Forty-five minutes had passed when the compact helicopter crossed over the county line intersecting the Las Padres National Forest with the sea. Vaguely aware of my circumstances, I lay swaddled in a thick medic bag, unable to move. Beeping gauges and gurgling IV bags dangled above me in a symphony of … Read More
I think to call sometimes to explain
Poetry by Andréa Ferrell Gannon to repaint the swimming pool and sky for you, Hockney blue and shadowless behind my dad’s apartment. Remember phoning nightly? Meet me, code for walk half the road for me. Those horrid June bugs, big as beach balls, pinwheeling between lamplight and starlight. We clung to each other but delighted … Read More
As If I Knew What I Was Doing
Poetry by Andréa Ferrell Gannon I caught four metros to get to your white sand, planted my ass, waited patient as moonlight, faced the sea, an ear cocked to catch the glassy splinter of your approach. You asked, Why’d you come? I asked, Why’d you, motherfucker? Words nudged us to the center of a Venn diagram, … Read More
Abecedarian for an Inheritance
Poetry by Andréa Ferrell Gannon April, boxing Mother’s estate: bundles of crayon drawings, baby books, and Hallmark cards. Congratulations! a baby girl. You’re disappointed—but she’ll be Daddy’s every happiness. Date ordered, filed docs: our relation’s gangster days in evidence, gay-bashing, road raging, steroid hazes. For Dad: parole forms, prison intakes: Rolaids, belt, watch, wallet. How they … Read More
The Stoic Parent
Nonfiction by T.K. Schuberth “The Stoic Parent” received an Honorable Mention in the 2024 Golden Quill Writing Contest. Early on in the [Covid] crisis, I picked up Marcus Aurelius and for the first time in my life read his Meditations not as an academic exercise, nor in pursuit of pleasure, but with the same attitude … Read More
The Mary Taft Mystery
Fiction by Kevin Carver The first thing you need to know is that Momma changed the world. This was back when America was young, in the 1980s. We pumped our gasoline before we paid for it. You believe that? It’s true. Total honor system. Momma’d grip the hose handle with a polite wave to whichever … Read More
A New Tune
Poetry by Misty Wycoff I imagine myself in a hallway, outside a music room with a piano, hearing but not seeing a small girl beating out the high notes both hands in flight. The plunking, clinking of the black and whites filter into the day, surround me, pairing themselves with my heart’s new rhythm. Weeks … Read More
Exploration
Poetry by Misty Wycoff A child fell to the ground, stepping instead into the veil of gravity, his hand ripping through the portal and wounding itself. A small tear, a bit of blood, a pinprick, a new experience this wound. Then, this little boy held his whole arm up as if broken, flat out in … Read More
Game Time
Poetry by Misty Wycoff “Game Time” was the second-place winner in fiction in the 2024 Golden Quill Writing Contest. I often wake with the first line of a poem floating around me, calling, asking if I will come out to play. Just like the neighbor kid who sat on the stoop waiting, no words beyond … Read More
My Wrinkled Brain
Nonfiction by Rusty Evans “My Wrinkled Brain” was the second-place winner in nonfiction in the 2024 Golden Quill Writing Contest. Lately, I’ve had this suspicion my brain is wearing out. I’m not angry about it. I’m pretty sure I anticipated it. I don’t have any memories of thinking about it much up until now. Maybe … Read More