The Void the nightdogs with lunatic strips of teeth have bitten into swords of poisoned acacia. And promise of renewal has become a volcano erupting in the throat. Hand me your hand. Let us peel back memories of carnivorous days that tossed us aside like scraps in the wind. And if we…

vagrant’s sun for A i used to hear everything and now? now, i hear nothing i stand in the tall green grass of an empty meadow, sultry trees w/startling leaves sway sincere under a vagrant’s sun you hold my hand, fearless at my side, red hair littered across your smile you rush…

Workshop Words She asks: what are your favorite words and I think cerulean which sounds serene as blue sky or calm sea but won’t work to describe the leaves of a maple in any season or the brown eyes of the one I love. The sound, she says, the sound of your…

by Nicole R. Zimmerman — Yes, I remember that railroad flat we shared on the third floor, the one with the chandeliers and dumbwaiter closet and wall heater with no heat. In my narrow room with its blue desk and single bed, you sat between my knees while I braided your hair. We listened to…

by Jon Fain — James and Yvonne have a son, almost as old as their relationship. James likes to believe that the resulting marriage ceremony had been as much his idea as Yvonne’s, but he doesn’t like to remember it in detail. His mother smiled, either genuinely happy, or in shock that he was…

by Joseph Waugh — Once, long before everyone realized they could speak, someone had written a name. The red brick wall served as a backdrop for the two parallel basketball courts that faced the street, and someone had taken a black permanent marker and written it there, on the corner brick. “Trey Matthews,” a…

by Emma Burger — Most of the jobs on Craigslist were looking for girls willing to sell their bodies. “Exotic bottle service girls, girls needed for bodywork, surrogates needed ASAP, Wall Street $$$$$$ is back!! Earn 6 figures year 1 no license needed.” Half of the postings were completely unintelligible. …

by Michael S. Diamond — “Yesterday’s weirdness is tomorrow’s reason why.” — Hunter S. Thompson THE OTHER DAY IN CONVERSATION with my old pal JP something triggered a memory of the truly bizarre and occasionally frightening rash of exploding manhole covers in your nation’s capital. The incidence of said strange occurrences rose precipitously in the…

by Suchita Senthil Kumar — It’s sad You told something yesterday I just thought we could talk over the phone for a little while But you are done What if we remained friends I wouldn’t have lost that part I still loved you And I feel bad tonight I don’t think you remember that day Originally published in Brave Voices Magazine around May 2021