Poetry by Duggan, Sigriddaughter, Fianna and Burn
These poems move between grief and wonder, finding thresholds in burial grounds, fountains, birds, islands, insects and shells. Death and departure sit beside renewal, humour and moments of sudden illumination, while sea, wind, light and living creatures carry memory into the physical world. Together, the poems explore how what is lost can remain present — transformed into landscape, sensation, imagination and the small, unexpected magic of being alive.
Dolores Duggan's “Death / Leaving” moves through grave, body, memory and departure, holding grief in spare images where stone, hair, earth and absence become part of the same quiet reckoning. |
 Beate Sigriddaughter's “Fountain” imagines the self as a source of water and gathering life, a small lyric wish for movement, birdsong, openness and renewal. |
 Fianna's poems gather magic, westering light, insects, islands and threshold moments, making a delicate sequence of perception, transformation and bright interior weather. |
 Jane Burn's “Lazarus Jewel Box” rises from tide, silt and sea-worn mystery, turning recovered fragments into a charged meditation on loss, return and hidden treasure. |
Writers: Walters, Graham, West
The three stories gathered here move through childhood, memory, labour, and inheritance. In scenes of rainwater, porch-light storytelling, family grief, and working lives marked by poverty and endurance, the ordinary world becomes charged with consequence. These works look closely at what is passed down: stories, losses, small loyalties, social wounds, and the stubborn human will to keep going.
From Summer Porch Stories by Alkeith Walters follows Little Keith and the neighborhood children as they launch paper boats into the rainwater running along a suburban gutter. Their game of tiny battleships and imaginary kingdoms unfolds against a background of family grief, poverty, adult sorrow, and things children only half-understand. With quiet detail and a child’s watchful eye, the story captures a summer afternoon where play, fear, loss, and small betrayals drift together toward the dark m |
 No Share in the Common Treasury by James Graham is a powerful memoir-essay tracing the author’s family history through generations of hard labour, poverty, grief, and exploitation. Moving from County Antrim to Glasgow, Ayrshire, and the long working life of his father Danny, the piece blends intimate remembrance with political conviction. Through the lives of farm labourers, factory workers, mothers, widows, and underpaid servants, Graham argues for dignity, shared ownership, and a fair place fo |
 Capsize by Joseph West is a brief, sharp meditation on the hidden weight of mental distress. Using the image of a capsized boat as both joke and lifeline, the piece captures the strange mismatch between inner weather and the ordinary world outside, where the sun still shines and strangers still smile. Honest, self-aware, and quietly hopeful, it follows the speaker through a bad day toward the knowledge that the feeling will pass, and calmer shores can be reached. |
Haynes, McManus and Salzano
Three poems explore private lives shaped by longing, weariness and small acts of escape. A waitress finds companionship and comic consolation at the end of a difficult day; a quiet room becomes charged with desire as a man watches his sleeping lover; and a daughter remembers her father through the music, restlessness and thwarted freedom that filled their home.
Rosie and Max is a beautiful piece that portrays the power of everyday rituals and the strength to carry on after a challenging day. |
 'The Orange Room' by Conor McManus is a vivid and sensuous piece of writing, capturing the intimate and contemplative moments of the protagonist. |
 Salzano's 'Turn the Page' is a deeply moving piece that uses the backdrop of a classic rock song to explore themes of nostalgia, longing, and the emotional landscapes of life ... |
Poetry by Graham and Volfing
These poems explore memory, absence and the quiet ways in which people and experiences continue to inhabit our lives. In James Graham’s Ghost, grief gradually gives way to a consoling presence as the remembered gestures, voice and expressions of a loved one begin to fill an empty house. Annette Volfing’s Letters to my Grandmother reaches across generations in an intimate conversation with someone lost, while Again captures the startling ordinariness of bereavement—the momentary expectation that an absent friend might simply appear on a bus or be waiting for lunch. In Roses, memory gives way to a more elusive meditation on nature, direction, vulnerability and transformation. Together, the poems consider loss not simply as disappearance, but as something altered and carried forward through memory, language and imagination.
In Ghost, James Graham writes tenderly of the silence left by bereavement and the gradual return of a loved one through memory. Familiar expressions, laughter and fragments of speech begin to occupy the empty rooms, transforming the idea of a ghost from something frightening into a gentle and sustaining presence. It is a quiet portrait of grief learning to live alongside remembrance. |
 Letters to my Grandmother is an affectionate conversation across generations and beyond death. Beginning with intimate childhood memories, Annette Volfing reflects on the life her grandmother feared might await her and the very different future that unfolded. Tender, humorous and quietly moving, the poem imagines a place beyond time where old separations of language and circumstance might finally disappear |
 In the brief and poignant Again, bereavement reveals itself through habit. A tilt of the head, a familiar profile or an ordinary journey is enough to summon the expectation of a lost friend, while her books now standing on the speaker’s shelf offer tangible evidence of her absence. The poem captures beautifully that strange interval in grief when memory continues to behave as though the person were still alive. |
 Across three compact movements, Roses shifts the familiar flower through changing states and meanings. A garden becomes unsettling and suggestive; a windrose opens onto uncertainty and the vastness of the world; and finally the rose itself is cut, ground and preserved as salt. Rich in image and ambiguity, the sequence considers beauty, vulnerability and transformation—and the human impulse to preserve what time and nature would otherwise alter |
Spring 2016 Galleries
Spring 2016 gathers the issue cover art, public-domain images and visual references into one archive gallery, with captions now displayed from the gallery database. |
 Spring Gallery 16 Juana de Ibarbourou gathers the visual material used around Stephen Zelnick's essay, including portraits, contextual images and captioned references. |
 Spring 2016 SB is a mixed splitbox image gallery for the archive rebuild, combining public-domain/archive images with AI-created visual companions, clearly labelled by caption. |
Writers: Bernbaum and Ferraro
This wide-ranging selection moves between the cosmic, the spiritual and the deeply human, exploring the fragile boundaries between life and death, freedom and confinement, love and loss. Howard Bernbaum’s How Long the Life takes an irreverent journey from a hospital deathbed to the origins of the universe, setting the immense scale of creation against the brief and often absurd circumstances of individual human lives.
Diana Ferraro’s essay on Spanish women writers opens another perspective, tracing a literary tradition in which spirituality, imagination and the supernatural become ways of reaching beyond social and personal confinement.
Together, these works consider what lies beyond the surface of ordinary existence: the vastness above us, the unseen life within us, and the persistent human desire to find freedom, love and illumination in the face of mortality.
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'How Long the Life' by Howard Bernbaum, a striking juxtaposition unfolds between the cosmic journey of a meteor and the human saga at a hospital. |
In this essay, there's an imaginative spirituality tradition that is vividly represented here by St. Teresa of Ávila, whose mystical poetry transforms death into the promise of a greater life; by Rosalía de Castro, whose Galician poems move between humour, desire, love, reputation and sorrow; and by Gloria Fuertes, whose deceptively simple, rebellious verse insists upon compassion and light in a world capable of extinguishing both. |
Poetry: Fitzpatrick, Robillard, Bennett
These four poems move through imagination, memory, childhood and transformation, each finding something luminous beneath the surface of ordinary experience. From the sea-bound fellowship of *The Melody and the Song*, through Evie Robillard’s tender glimpses of children growing toward an unknowable future, to Maria Isakova Bennett’s richly tactile meditation on pigment, art and the body, the poems are linked by a sense of passage. Seasons turn, children change, journeys continue, and colour, story and human connection become ways of carrying experience forward.
Through 'The Melody and the Song,' we are transported to a world where the magic of storytelling and the power of nature converge, offering us a glimpse into the heart of what it means to be part of a family, part of the endless cycle of tales and melodies that bind us a |
 Robillards' poem will resonate with with anyone who has experienced the transition from childhood to adulthood, evoking both nostalgia for what is lost and an appreciation for the growth that change brings. |
 A call to embrace the cycles of life, with all their complexities and nuances, and to find beauty in the familiarity of the recurring themes that shape our existence. |
 Explore 'The Source of Madder' by Maria Isakova Bennett, a vivid poem in The Linnet's Wings 2013 Winter Issue, delving into art's essence, creation, and transformation through the alchemy of madder dye. |
Story: McMullen, Parinetta, Giordano
These stories explore the lasting consequences of experience, and the ways memory, history and human relationships shape the lives that follow. In *DPP v Morgan, 1975*, Parineeta revisits violence, consent and the law through a woman forced to confront a traumatic past. Joseph Giordano’s *I’m a Jellyroll* moves through divided and reunited Germany, displacement and political history, finding in music the possibility of connection between two people shaped by very different losses. M.E. McMullen’s *Souvenirs You Never Lose* turns broken relationships and accumulated disappointments into darkly comic territory, where old wounds are carried alongside friendship, resentment and absurdity. Together, the stories consider the scars people inherit or acquire—and the complicated ways they endure, remember and begin again.
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In *Souvenirs You Never Lose*, M.E. McMullen turns heartbreak, failed relationships and everyday humiliation into a sharply comic meditation on the scars people carry with them. Through the long-suffering friendship of Miles and Dodds, the story moves from lost girlfriends and ruined marriages to vanished pancake houses, blocked roads and one spectacular battle with a plastic sawhorse. Beneath the absurdity lies something more tender: the recognition that old hurts rarely disappear completely, and that friendship, humour and self-mockery are sometimes the best ways of learning to live with them. |
In *DPP v Morgan, 1975*, Parineeta revisits a landmark British rape case through the imagined perspective of the woman at its centre. Moving between memory, marriage, violence and the courtroom, the story examines the devastating consequences of a legal culture in which a man’s claimed belief in consent could outweigh the reality of a woman’s refusal. By placing personal experience alongside legal history, Parineeta turns a famous judgment into an intimate exploration of trauma, power and the long afterlife of injustice. |
In I’m a Jellyroll, Joseph Giordano brings together memory, political history, displacement and music through the meeting of an East German musician and a Kurdish singer in Dresden. The story moves through the divided and reunited Germany, family loss and the uneasy consequences of political change, while playfully invoking the enduring legend that John F. Kennedy’s famous declaration, “Ich bin ein Berliner,” made him sound as though he had called himself a jelly doughnut. Beneath its humour lies a story about people uprooted by history and the possibility of finding connection, identity and a new beginning through music. |
Fiction by DeLacy with 'Wings' Prologue and Editor's Note
These pieces explore the ways we inherit, question and reshape the beliefs that help us make sense of our lives. In Josh deLacy’s We Had Lived, grief is approached through family intimacy, humour, music and literature, as the rituals surrounding death reveal how people steady one another in the face of loss. Mum Maxim sets the familiar sayings and practical wisdom handed down through families beside the philosophical reflections of John Dewey, asking how advice, experience and independent thought shape our judgement. The Editor’s Note carries those questions into public life, reflecting on morality, institutional failure, social change and the responsibility of individuals to think, choose and act for themselves. Together, the pieces move between the personal and the collective, considering how love, memory, conscience and reflection become part of the inheritance we carry forward.
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DeLacy's story resonates because it captures the essence of life's fragility and the significance of how we choose to remember and honor those we've lost. It's a testament to the healing power of storytelling, the comfort found in shared memories, and the enduring strength of familial bonds through the lens of love, loss, and the quirky, unforgettable moments that define our relationships. |
This compilation presents a striking contrast between traditional sayings, reflecting a blend of wisdom, cautionary advice, and folk wisdom, and the philosophical insights of John Dewey, a prominent figure in the philosophy of education and pragmatism. The traditional sayings encapsulate lessons learned through generations, often serving as guidelines for personal conduct, moral behavior, and the understanding of lifeFs unpredictabilities and challenges. |
Editor's Note: The updates from The Linnet's Wings touch on the bittersweet nature of transitions within any endeavor that involves passion and collective effort. The departures of Nonnie Augustine and Diana Ferraro mark the end of chapters but also underscore the impact of their contributions. |
Pay it Forward: Magazines and Poetry Books for Sale
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Poetry: Torres, La Forge and Jackson
These poems move through change, memory and the fragile ways people shape themselves against the forces around them. In Zev Torres’s Carved from the Wind, movement through the natural world becomes light, elusive and almost musical, while Evolution turns to the domestic sphere, observing a mother whose anger, control and sudden social transformation are watched closely by her children. Jane Rosenberg La Forge’s At Pottery Barn considers death, cremation and remembrance with wit and unease, questioning what remains of us materially and symbolically after death. Beverly Jackson’s Feeding Frenzy closes on a warmer note, celebrating friendship, age and independence through food, gardening and the easy intimacy of two women who have learned to nourish themselves and one another. Together, the poems consider transformation in its many forms—from wind and family memory to mortality, survival and the pleasures of ordinary companionship.
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"Carved from the Wind" by Zev Torres unfolds with a delicate, ethereal quality, evoking images of movement, transformation, and nature's ephemeral beauty. Its verses flow like the very wind it describes, meandering through scenes of grace, loss, and ultimately, a return. |
"Evolution" portrays the ongoing struggle to balance personal needs with familial and societal expectations, a theme that resonates deeply in the intricate dance of family life. |
"At Pottery Barn" by Jane Rosenberg La Forge is a profound poem that weaves together themes of loss, memory, and the search for meaning in the rituals of death. La Forge explores the personal and cultural dimensions of mourning through the physical and metaphorical scattering of ashes, contrasting different family members# choices and reflecting on the implications of these acts |
Beverly Jackson crafts a narrative that is both grounding and uplifting, reminding readers of the value in the connections we forge and the simple acts of living that bind us. |
Poetry: Jackson, Hart, Reilly
These poems consider the ways memory, desire, loss and ordinary experience continue to alter us over time. Beverly Jackson’s Seasoned moves from bitterness and solitude toward sensual renewal, as a life crowded with memories begins once more to admit anticipation and desire; in River Poem, thought and feeling dissolve into the surrounding landscape, where fleeting pain, wildflowers, hawks and moving water mirror the restless movements of the heart. JD Hart’s Cat Named Chainsaw turns nostalgia into gentle comedy, recalling the intimacy of local radio and an earlier, less connected world through the wonderfully incongruous search for a missing cat. Andy Reilly’s The Beloved Disciple, written on the exhumation of John Henry Newman, offers a darker meditation on love, friendship, faith and the attempts of later generations to disturb what affection and burial had joined. Together, the poems find meaning in what persists beneath change: memory, attachment, humour, longing and the traces people leave in one another’s lives.
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Jacksons' opening lines, "Last year she was undoing a lifetime of knots, swimming in rancor under pods of mimosa," instantly set a tone of reflection and self-discovery |
Through its rich imagery and contemplative tone, JacksonFs poem seems to suggest that in the constant flow of life and nature, there are moments of beauty and revelation, even if they are as transient as the riverFs course. It speaks to the heartFs capacity for wonder, pain, and ultimately, transformation. |
Hart's metaphor "Just for old time's sake" and the comparison of aging to "rings in trees" are reflective moments that underscore the changing nature of life and the constants that remain--such as the desire to connect and the shared experiences that define a community. |
Newman, a cardinal and theologian who converted to Catholicism, was a significant figure in the religious landscape of the 19th century. His relationship with Ambrose St. John was notably deep, often described in terms that today might suggest a profound, possibly platonic, love. |
Voices Against Silence: Harris, Walters, Tallefer
Three works confront the pressures that silence people: guilt and the search for redemption, the double-edged longing for flight and freedom, and the struggle for safety and dignity in the face of hostility. Harris, Walters and Taillefer turn fear, vulnerability and human experience into voices that insist on being heard.
"Human Noise" by Bruce Harris is a compelling exploration of the human condition, delving into the depths of love, guilt, and redemption. It serves as a reminder of the complexity of human emotions and the continuous journey towards understanding, acceptance, and healing. |
 Ann Walters' poem intricately weaves together these narratives to present a multifaceted exploration of flight, capturing its beauty and brutality, its capacity for liberation, and its potential for sorrow. The repeated motif of flying serves as a powerful metaphor for the human condition, reflecting our deepest desires, fears, and the inevitable search for meaning beyond our tangible experiences. |
 Venom by Dennis Tallefer explores the complexity of human emotions and the struggle for personal safety and dignity in a world that can be unwelcoming and dangerous for those who are perceived as different; it also highlights the need for empathy and understanding towards individuals who are fighting their own battles, both internal and external. |
Poetry: Wolf, Gaurveau, Needham, Noone
These poems move through stillness, mortality, escape and renewal, finding different ways to face what cannot easily be changed. Casey Wolf’s Point captures the stunned compression of time after a sudden blow, when past and future collapse into an inescapable present. R. Donald James Gauvreau’s Cigarette Gallery enters a darker interior, where grief, memory and addiction gather around the hope of reunion with the dead. In Eira Needham’s Brief Escape, the imagination rises above seasonal gloom into colour, flight and open sky before returning reluctantly to the room below, while Katherine Noone’s Adorned looks beyond autumn’s stripping winds to the promise of spring and trees newly clothed. Together, the poems trace a movement through shock, sorrow and darkness toward the possibility—however fragile—of light returning.
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Wolf's choice of language--simple yet potent--mirrors the poem's core idea of a standstill. The imagery of the past and future pressing "in against now" as a "single point" vividly encapsulates the feeling of being trapped in the present, unable to move forward or retreat |
Gauvreaus' imagery is rich and evocative, creating a palpable atmosphere of melancholy and resignation. The poem beautifully captures the essence of grief and the coping mechanisms people resort to |
Eira Needham's use of rich imagery and symbolism invites readers to embark on their own brief escape, experiencing the fleeting moments of beauty and the inevitable return to reality. |
Noone's poem resonates deeply with themes that are both timeless and timely transformation, the cyclical nature of life, and the beauty found in renewal. It's a reminder that after the desolation of autumn and the cold of winter, there is always the promise of spring, a time for new beginnings and beauty |
Storytellers: Sky, Coughlan,, Freese, Asante--Illustrations: Dom Capobianco
These stories explore the ways love, memory and desire continue to shape people long after circumstances have changed. In Jennifer Sky’s Spring, a Girl, the season becomes a young woman waiting in the grass for love to return, her sensual anticipation carrying traces of earlier loss and the hope of beginning again. Neil Coughlan’s The Red Couch turns an ordinary restoration into an excavation of the past, as hidden letters reveal a love affair, a family scandal and a grief preserved for decades inside a cherished piece of furniture. Sarah Joy Freese’s Sweet Cotton follows a widowed father struggling with his daughter’s marriage and the necessity of letting her go, while mysterious traces of “angel dust” draw together memory, grief, faith and the enduring presence of those he has loved. In Shola Olowu Asante’s Branded, an old attachment returns unexpectedly and exposes how difficult it can be to escape the emotional patterns that once defined us. Together, the stories consider what remains when love changes form: longing, memory, loyalty, temptation and the marks people leave upon one another.
In "Spring, a Girl" by Jennifer Sky, Spring lies in a field, her white silk dress draped around her, waiting for her lover. As evening falls, she dreams of love and connection to heal past wounds. Surrounded by blooming clover and playful dogs, she longs for Fall, a boy with soft curls, to join her and reignite her sense of beauty. Published in The Linnet's Wings, Fall 2010. |
 In "The Red Couch," set in 1970s Buenos Aires, Adriano, a furniture restorer, uncovers a tragic love story while repairing an 18th-century French couch. Hidden letters reveal a forbidden romance between Jorge Flores, a famous tango musician, and his cousin Jennifer, leading to heartbreak and untimely deaths. The discovery ties the past to the present, weaving love, loss, and secrets. |
 In "Sweet Cotton," Clarence, a devoted father and chicken farmer, faces the bittersweet reality of his daughter Gracie's wedding and departure. Haunted by memories of his late wife, Clarence discovers a mysterious angel dust after the ceremony, sparking a sense of hope and belief in miracles. A tale of love, loss, and the gentle comfort of unexpected wonders. |
 In "Branded" by Shola Olowu Asante, Matt's quiet life is upended when his old flame, Chloe, shows up unannounced, seeking solace from her latest heartbreak. Torn between his past with Chloe and his new relationship with Eve, Matt struggles to resist Chloe's manipulative charm. As tension rises, Matt faces an emotional battle, revealing deeper scars and unresolved feelings that threaten his stability. |
Poetry: Sheehan, Jensen and Smith
"Sign on a Wall" by Tom Sheehan is a nostalgic poem depicting a worn dough board, symbolizing a mother's labor of love in bread-making. It evokes memories of family, tradition, and the passage of time, blending sensory details with a deep sense of longing and reverence |
 Exploring the ephemeral space between day and night, 'Down The Crack With The Crickets' by Kristine Jensen delves into the fleeting nature of thoughts and emotions. An angry thought disappears with the wind, symbolizing lost moments and the struggle to reclaim them. |
 Explore the poignant poem Mates by Iain C. Smith, dedicated to Jake and Patrick. Reflecting on the sudden loss of a young life, it intertwines themes of grief, camaraderie, and the fleeting nature of youth, as experienced through the lens of a soccer match metaphor. |
 "Explore the evocative poem 'Pipedream' by Iain C. Smith. A vivid blend of memory and observation, it captures a moment of reflection amidst a storm, evoking nostalgia and introspection about family, past experiences, and the transformative journey of life. |
Short Stories: Robinson, Hamilton, Burke, Faison
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Archie's adventures and misadventures, from his initial quest for a dime to his interactions with various characters in his community, reveal a society where children are forced to mature quickly, facing realities that test their ingenuity and moral compass. |
"Explore Artist at Work" by William Reese Hamilton, a gripping tale of love, art, and transformation. Dive into a complex relationship set against a backdrop of urban decay, where art becomes a metaphor for connection and self-discovery. A narrative rich in emotion and psychological depth. |
"Epic" serves as a meditation on the nature of creativity, the solitude often required for profound thought and work, and the complex relationship between an artist and the society that surrounds them |
"Gemini in Twilight" by Galen R.Faison weaves a poignant narrative that navigates through the realms of family legacy, the resilience born out of struggle, and the indelible marks left by our ancestors |
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Price, West, Tepper, Joslin
n "Fungi Light / Fungi Language," Darryl Price contemplates the interconnectedness of life, sitting in the dark of his kitchen, reflecting on how mycorrhizal fungi connect everything, much like music's universal language. Amidst thoughts of light, love, and cosmic connections, he finds solace in nature's quiet reassurance that everything is working as it should, despite life's uncertainties. |
 In "Painting the Sky," Bill West tells the poignant story of a man's lifelong connection with the sky. As he recalls childhood dreams, young love, and moments of fear, the sky remains his constant companion. Now, facing an uncertain fate, he finds solace in memories of cloud gazing and the endless expanse above. A moving reflection on life, time, and the enduring beauty of the sky. |
 In "Next to Rock," Susan Isla Tepper paints a haunting scene of darkness and isolation. Amidst blue shadows and chilling hands, the narrator's inner turmoil unfolds beside Petrov's laughter by the fire. Struggling with feelings of shame and despair, the narrator seeks comfort and perfection for Petrov while grappling with their own descent into darkness and cold. |
 In "Memoire," Oonah V Joslin paints a nostalgic picture of a woman reflecting on her cherished childhood memories in a sun-drenched corner of her grandparents' home. Surrounded by scents of herbs and the warmth of terracotta, she recalls family gatherings, wartime tales, and the simple joys of life. As a resistance fighter, these memories gave her strength, anchoring her forever in her beloved past. |
Art Walls 2014: Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter
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Poets: Verlaine, Duggan
Three poems of haunted places and wounded lives move from the battered Devon coast to a Venetian waterside and the darker streets of Dublin. Sea, rain, memory, and grief bind them together, revealing landscapes marked by absence, sudden sorrow, and the ghosts of what cannot be undone.
A dark and accusatory poem addressed to a grieving mother, tracing poverty, abandonment, secrecy, and the death of a child. Through recurring images of rain, mirrors, buried truth, and unanswered guilt, the poem exposes a tragedy that refuses to remain hidden. |
 Set beside the glittering waters of Venice, this poem captures a private moment of devastation unfolding within an ordinary afternoon. A young woman receives painful news, and the beauty around her is transformed by grief, memory, and the sudden breaking open of the heart. |
 A windswept journey along the Devon coast, where ruined defences, fishing villages, sea birds, and broken shorelines become vessels for memory. The poem evokes a landscape haunted by history, hardship, and the lingering presence of lives shaped by the sea. |
Essay and More: Zelnick, Fitzpatrick, Giordano
Chekhov's Dark Comedy, Stephen Zelnick explores the enigmatic nature of The Seagull, a play Chekhov envisioned as comedy but layered with despair, cruelty, and unfulfilled lives. Zelnick examines Chekhov’s nuanced storytelling, which mocks genre conventions, embraces subtle irony, and resists tidy conclusions. The essay celebrates Chekhov's artful portrayal of flawed humanity amidst societal decline. |
 In Picture on Picture, Mari Fitzpatrick captures the lively interplay of nature and imagination through a vivid cat-and-mouse chase by a rain barrel. Blending humor and reflection, she contrasts the raw vitality of the pursuit with the serenity of a garden setting. The piece evolves into a poetic exploration of movement, tension, and the delicate balance of life in its fleeting moments. |
 In The Mandylion, Joe Giordano intertwines art, danger, and family dynamics through the lives of Anthony and Valentina Provati. This gripping excerpt sets the stage for a high-stakes narrative as Anthony, a Manhattan art dealer, is drawn back into a dangerous world by Sophia, an alluring figure from his past. With Valentina’s sharp wit and FBI expertise, the siblings navigate temptation, loyalty, and the shadowy underbelly of the art world. |
Short Stories: Helgadóttir and Braverman
Helgadóttir's writing style is lyrical and evocative, drawing the reader into the story with vivid imagery and a sense of foreboding. The blend of history, particularly the references to World War II and the resistance movement, with folklore creates a unique and engaging narrative. This piece is a testament to Helgadóttir's skill as a storyteller and her ability to create a world that is both fantastical and deeply rooted in human emotions and experiences. |
 Mozart and I by Alex Braverman is a narrative that captures the essence of what it means to be an artist and the often tumultuous journey of balancing personal vision with external pressures. The narrative oscillates between admiration and resentment, showcasing how genius can be both a gift and a curse. The reference to Chaim Potok's novel "My Name is Asher Lev" serves as a poignant parallel, highlighting the universal struggles of artists who must navigate the tensions between their creative expressions and the values of their communities or families. |
Poetry: Mickelson and Graham
In a humid August kitchen, blue jays squawk as cucumbers, onions, and garlic lie in preparation for pickling. The search for canning supplies consumes days, while memories of a mother's past canning intertwine with reflections on inherited traits and parenting. |
 At a grave, the narrator receives a box of ashes, the remains of a loved one. Struggling to find poetry in the moment, they recount the cremation process and the stark reality of loss. |
 In "When the Morning is a Prayer," Kathleen Cassen Mickelson captures the serene beauty of a winter morning in Minnesota. The poem unfolds like a series of cherished gifts: |
 "Ghost" by James Graham is a hauntingly beautiful exploration of memory and loss. In the quiet aftermath of a loved one's passing, the poet describes the emptiness of a house once filled with life and conversation. As time passes, memories of the departed begin to resurface vividly--their eyes, voice, and laughter lingering like a comforting ghost. Graham's poignant verses capture the enduring presence of those we have lost, transforming grief into a gentle daily companion that brings solace and quiet strength. This poem is a touching tribute to the enduring power of love and memory. |
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Little Miss Muffet and Nolens Volens
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From the Archive
A village faces the consequences of disturbing the natural balance in a cautionary story about human need, environmental limits and the force of the world beyond us.
A literary essay on Thomas Hardy’s poetry, tracing his engagement with nature, loss, belief, modernity and the emotional tensions that shape his work.
A surreal and darkly playful barroom encounter in which an unexpected physical detail becomes the starting point for curiosity, humour and human connection.
A poem of enduring love that imagines devotion continuing beyond death, through myth, memory and the possibility of rebirth.
An eaglet’s first attempts at flight become a vivid poem of courage, separation and the difficult movement from dependence towards freedom.
A darkly gothic tale of marriage, menace and power, set within a castle where beauty, wealth and romance conceal something far more dangerous.
The Equilibrists Over River: Symbols of Resilience, Hope, and Unity. They were created by Enes Sivac in 1993 to hang over the main river, created in a time of war and grief and carved from energy found in the darkest days.
Mari Fitzpatrick, Sarajevo 2026
The Ghosts of Lily Pond
by Tom Sheehan
Ah, Saugus, the town I took to Korea many years ago, savored, brought back! Images strike here, deadly accurate in their mark. Metaphors, booted and buckled and loaded for bear, ride horseback through my town, holding forever in place. At times they ride roughshod or, taking a breath, saunter a bit, smelling new-cut hay over hill, or marsh grass caught up in light appreciation of salt about the air, all Atlantic talking. Realization comes too: Times there were when our river was like an old man trying to get into bed, slow climb at banking, belt or pajamas astray, slight failures; some springs, it would be caught up in flume’s rush. Our pond, long-gone Lily Pond, comes up odd mornings of memory like a hobo rising from his varied nights; a serious master of colors, Persian red, coin gold, yellow of a wheat or a blonde, autumn in the traces, ignition’s flare. Or there’ll be April-May at explosion about that wide saucer of water, Turnpike to dam, cliff-face to Prohibition cabins now taller with cellars plunked beneath them, post WWII heaven for returning veterans, with their new brides, foreign brides, casting hundreds of skaters and swimmers and boaters and fishermen on these shores, on that horizon before any of us realized the change.
Green Sheep
Burl: a lump or slub in wool or cloth -The Oxford Dictionary
Bonnie Peeples dragged two slow steps into her living room and stopped stone still. Something was very wrong. She listened. No sounds. She leaned on her cane with both hands and darted her eyes without turning her head. No movement. The furniture seemed the same, the reading lamps, the paintings on the walls, the dull and mindless ticking of the clock. No, it was something else. Something was missing, something so obvious that its loss struck her like a blow and she crumpled to the floor with a little bleating cry. When she had regained enough strength, she sat up and checked again: yes, the floor was bare, uncarpeted, stripped and naked. Pulling on chair legs and the side of the piano, she crawled to the table and grasped at the phone. She couldn’t quite reach so she raised the crook of her cane and pulled the receiver close.
'Missing Persons Bureau,' she said and the operator put her through, one of the benefits of age to have your numbers dialled for you.
'Your name?'
'Bonnie Peeples. 70 Lakeview Street.'
'Name of the person missing, please. Last name first.'
'Last name, Ram,' said Bonnie.
'First name?'
'Sam.'
'Sam Ram?'
'Yes, Sam the Ram.'
'Gender?'
'Male, of course.'
'Age? And your relationship to said person?'
'He’s been a member of the family since the crossing in 1849.'
'The cross, ma'am?'
'Yes, when the Peeples family came across from Ireland.'
'A cross? The people of Ireland?'
'Sam came with the family.'
'Ma’am, what are you reporting here?'
Oak and Maple
I still see it. The deterioration of this old house. She has masked it with navy paint and new shutters, but it is drowning. Sinking into itself. There are snakes and raccoons in the walls, clawing at night like twigs over siding. Exterminators have been called. Redialed.
There are days I wonder if the orange rust on the gate is real, or an apple pie slice of my childhood. I cling to this. Fruit plucked from branches, skewered with brazened swords made from basement pipes. My wife removed it years ago, when our son was old enough to start running his fingers across the table top in search of sugar.
Archie is sick; ever since he got knocked out nothing seems right no more. Everything is strange he sees things moving away from him and then they come back real close. It’s mostly the walls in the room but now it’s the trees and the houses, hedges, sky, and everything else. He just can’t get things to stop moving away and then back when he looks at them. And he wants to throw up from time to time and his tongue is sore and swollen.
He must of bit his tongue when he went down cause it’s been bleeding and it hurts too much to eat. He’s walking to school but he don’t want to go: he might throw up in the classroom. He’s known as a tough guy now but he don’t feel like no tough guy.
And Pike-eye Monahan? Everybody’s mad at him because he lost on a foul to a little kid. Everybody hates a dirty fighter especially if he’s supposed to win. They say his pa’s so mad he shipped the disgraced bad guy out of town—maybe all the way back to Ireland. Even Pike-eye’s friends are getting shunned, ain’t nobody wants to talk to them no more. Somebody said Archie was always gonna be known as the guy who run Pike-eye outta town.
Social Comment
The snow had come early that winter. It lay in wind-polished drifts across the open Dakotas a white hush waiting to be broken. In the half-light of morning breath formed clouds around the mouths of Lakota children and the elders stirred coals back to life beneath their thin canvas shelters. Hunger clung to everything. The treaties had been broken again and the agency rations were spoiled or delayed again.
"Flight 103 to Lockerbie: Happy Anniversary" by Russell Bittner poignantly contrasts the serene domesticity of a winter storm with the devastating tragedy of the Lockerbie bombing. The poem reflects on the comfort of home and the unspeakable loss suffered by others, evoking the grief of those who wait in vain for loved ones who will never return, underscoring the stark divide between personal peace and collective sorrow.
In Listening to Maria Callas, James Graham contrasts the harsh noise of daily life with the transcendent beauty of Casta Diva. Her voice silences the world’s clamor, sowing peace in a moment where music eclipses war, machines, and time itself.
In Dull Day at the Beach, Julie Hogg drifts between Jerez and Cadiz, where dragonflies dance, sparrows sip the Atlantic, and a single wave arches like an eyebrow. A languid, sensual meditation on nuance, stillness, and the quiet poetry of the Costa de la Luz
In People in Rooms, Gemma Meek captures a moment of quiet survival--tempting fate, watching the bridge at days end, and finding small refuge in Bukowski. A raw, unvarnished glimpse into solitude, longing, and the fragile act of getting through another day.
The Album by Nick Bowman is a moving elegy in verse, unfolding the quiet mystery of a woman's past through keepsakes and photographs. As memories resurface from a bottom drawer, a haunting revelation at Belsen deepens the grief--and wonder--of those she left behind.
In False Detective, Patricia Walsh captures a life under constant watch--letters censored, calls screened, movements monitored. Through sharp, restless lines, the poem explores paranoia, control, and the uneasy dance between suspicion and self-preservation
In "Viewing Vermeer's 'Young Woman with a Water Pitcher,'" Neil Dyer contemplates the quiet power of the painting's subject. The poem highlights the woman’s connection to light, as she becomes a vessel channeling sunlight into the room, bringing everything to life. The poet gradually uncovers the subtle radiance of the scene, where light transforms the ordinary into something sacred and vibrant.
...The Storm
As the story unfolds, Flora and Esteban reflect on the thin lines between fiction and reality, recognizing their power to influence the course of both. In this world of energy and storytelling, ancient tales and modern realities intertwine, revealing the profound impact of imagination and memory on the flow of time.
Hobs and Fiddle
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