Plain Girl Pretty Rose was a plain girl from a small town. She sang in the choir, never missed Bible study, left for the big city after high school. She worked nights in a shanty diner next to a bar where working men gathered. Depending on how much the men had to drink Rose looked appealing but she ignored […]
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Everybody Don’t Have Somebody The man in the ER, sutured and bandaged, told the nurse there wasn’t anyone she could call to give him a lift home. He said he’d take a bus once he had a chance to check his wallet and see if he had any money. He didn’t have much to begin with, he said, and the […]
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Ostracan Heroes “the sky is still flushed in the face, the rains will not come soon” said the sweet-toothed seer who swam in sorrow and reeked of sins beyond the blood of the lamb so we sprinkled our sweats prodigally on our cotton-mouthed field whose crops waved naively to a flight of famished birds hovering, chirping and flapping their wings, […]
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Crowley (Parody of Eric Clapton’s song, Cocaine) by, Melissa R. Mendelson The boys wanna take him out, but they never take him out. Crowley. His accent’s a funny sound, commanding his loyal hell hound. Crowley. [Chorus:] He can’t fly, He will lie, He won’t die; Crowley. He gave the Devil his dues; Rowena’s a pain in his […]
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AT A DISTANCE Gently rolling, runneled hills, Colored like a daffodil. Rivulets to ocean spill Under cloudy skies. Atmosphere of shrouding haze Rising from the surface waves, Where beneath lie ancient caves Never brought to light. Yet this sky’s a different hue From what we’re accustomed to B Yellow, not a trace of blue, Dares to […]
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Sandstorm Howling like a thousand wolves Throwing shadows that swirled around the walls The stand pounded and blinding Feels the stinging his arms and chicks To press the lips together to stop it entering his mouth Like bowing his head into his shoulder So that he could breathe The sand clung to them Coating over his skin Like a drop […]
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Gasping on air and salt and though you can hear the soup cool an ocean deep inside the Earth is bubbling under your skull exhausted –it’s natural you wait for the soup to grieve louder and louder as if your arms were coming too close –wave after wave you scatter more salt and across the bowl […]
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Once this bedroom door is closed the rug deals in flowers, its dark scent reaching up where your eyes expect sunlight and miles away the heady whiff from a firefly –already she’s naked the woman you just this minute inhaled, a deep breath who can’t see, has to feel along the grass though the dead still stake a […]
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She Climaxed she starts with a song. suddenly, a dirge too limp with grief, like the skies in Pompeii. it’s killed the birds in my heart, ships stagger like a drunk, into the white-blush of maddened waves. the earth popped open as an old wine bursts froth; like a hungry lioness she opened her jaws separating families with […]
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Young Priest, Old Priest Everyone in the neighborhood was surprised when Bill McIntyre entered the seminary to study for the priesthood. He had been dating girls since early in high school and had been engaged since graduating from college to a lovely young lady. He often spoke about wanting to have a big family since he himself had been […]
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