In Take It, Holly Day delivers a visceral, surreal exploration of desire, fragmentation, and transformation. Wolf, bird, skeleton, and flame blur in a fevered dreamscape where the body becomes language and knowing burns through the boundaries of self.

In Perseid Fireflies, John C. Manonne merges cosmic motion with earthly wonder. As comet dust streaks the sky, meteors become fireflies, glass becomes atmosphere, and dawn arrives like a blade, cutting through night with luminous, poetic force.

In Prognosis Unclear, Anita S. Pulier reflects on aging, misdirection, and the surrender of searching. With maps unchecked and metaphors retired, the poem finds quiet dignity in accepting the ordinary and facing the inevitable with eyes wide and open-hearted.

In I Use To Think, G. David Schwartz delivers a sharp, humorous jab at self-worth and economics. With just a few lines, the poem shifts perception--suggesting that what feels like personal failure may just be a matter of circumstance.

In Stargazer, Stephanie Maclin captures a winter morning's quiet defiance. Too cold to track constellations, the speaker looks inward--feet on pavement, wind in her face--yet holds a quiet certainty: she is not lost, and she will find her way home.

In Damsel, Stephanie Maclin reimagines Juliet not as tragic lover but as strategist and survivor. With poison, shroud, and blade, she writes her own escape. A fierce retelling where love is secondary to agency, and fairy tale tropes are weapons, not endings.

In A Man Who Drank, Mari Fitzpatrick reflects on memory, drink, and literary light. Once a figure of joy and quotes, the man now trembles--but finds steadiness in the words of na gCopaleen. A poem where reverence, ruin, and brilliance quietly intertwine.

In Postcard from Paris, Brigita Orel flips the romantic myth on its head with wit and woe: rain, a cold, a broken nose, and one disastrously misheard instruction. A sharp, funny take on travel expectations gone hilariously wrong.

High above the city, Lena reflects on love, memory, and the shifting patterns of Berlin, where the past collides with the present. A story of reunification-- personal and political--told through vivid scenes, gentle irony, and a quietly transcendent gaze.

Constance maintains a spotless home and marriage until a note in her husband's suit pocket reveals a secret. A quiet, unsettling story of control, denial, and the domestic rituals that polish over betrayal.

In her treetop refuge, a ten-year-old girl awaits her birthday and the birth of her child, the result of abuse masked by silence. As fall stirs the Florida air, she clings to memory, dreams, and the promise of love, offering her birthday wish to Baby, year after year, forever.

After six-foot-tall frogs rain from the sky, Charles Davis lands a surreal interview with amphibian presidential hopeful Ed E. Estivation. A satirical tale of evolution, journalism, and political metamorphosis in a world turned hilariously upside down.

In Boys of the Playground, Cyndi Gacosta captures the fierce innocence of childhood battles--imagined wars fought with air and spit, leaving bruises made of dirt and pride. A tender, gritty tribute to boyhood, play, and the ache of growing up too soon.

In Texting, Anita S. Pulier critiques our digital shorthand--where vowels vanish, punctuation fades, and language is reduced to pulp and emojis. A sharp, satirical meditation on what we lose when we trade depth for speed in human communication.

In NEVERTHELESS, Davide Trame captures a dawn train ride where beeps and routines echo the noise of modern life. Yet in the quiet sky and remembered bells, he finds something timeless--moments that touch eternity and quietly resist the rush of the day.

In The Corporate Current, Gloria Manuilova reflects on anonymity and accidental meaning in a city current. A passing stranger’s remark turns a park bench moment into revelation--reminding us that even the unnoticed can be landmarks in someone else’s story.

Joseph Conrad's preface to Narcissus is a profound meditation on the purpose of art and the artist's task: to make us see, feel, and remember. It affirms the enduring truth found in beauty, mystery, and shared human experience across time, temperament, and silence.

A tender poem recalling a fleeting summer moment: children running through sprinklers, laughter mingling with the evening heat. The memory, though lost to the child, becomes a quiet treasure for the parent, one that will linger through seasons of reflection.

A heart-wrenching story of a mother'd love behind bars, struggling to keep a bond with her son as the prison system and harsh realities of poverty, family strain, and bureaucracy press her to surrender. A powerful, tender portrait of motherhood, loss, and reluctant sacrifice

A tender coming-of-age story capturing the spark of first love, as a boy's springtime crush blossoms during a frog-catching adventure. With charm, warmth, and quiet longing, Crush beautifully evokes the thrill and awkwardness of youthful affection.

In the aftermath of a bus crash, a war veteran trapped in his trauma disconnects from those around him. With stark, unsettling precision, this flash fiction confronts the lingering violence of combat and the fragile illusion of normalcy.

In a kitchen charged with tension, Maya prepares eggs, tea, and thunder. A lyrical story of quiet resistance, atmosphere, and the fragile weather inside a marriage. Originally published in The Linnet’s Wings, Autumn 2010. Part of the Pilgrimage tag series.

A second grader discovers the magic of poetry and jazz through a free-spirited substitute teacher, only to have the world pull her back to phonics and sums. A tender, bittersweet portrait of creativity, loss, and the echo of a mother’s could’ve-been.

A shy boy forms a secret bond with his grandfather through sign language, awakening self-belief and a future in performance. A tender coming-of-age memoir about memory, connection, and how shared language, spoken or signed, can transform silence into legacy.

Three sharp, wry snapshots of life in Belfast, where religion, identity, and humour collide. From a stranger’s unexpected kindness to tense family dinners and flirtation across divides, Joslin captures the city's charm, wit, and quiet resilience in a few deft strokes.

In a quiet Spanish station, a traveler watches a man searching every arrival for a face from a fading photograph. As trains come and go, memory, longing, and stillness unfold in a poignant meditation on time, youth, and the lives that pass us, and wait for us, in the stations of the world.

After his daughter's wedding, a reclusive chicken farmer begins to notice signs of angel dust on his land. A quiet, moving story about grief, tradition, and reluctant grace. First published in The Linnet's Wings, Autumn 2010. Part of the Pilgrimage tag series.

When Chloe appears at Matt’s door, soaked and abandoned, old habits tempt him back. But Eve is in his life now, or so he thinks. As morning breaks, two women bond over coffee, and Matt realizes too late he’s caught between desire, duplicity, and the memory of a scar he thought had healed.

Joseph Conrad's preface to Narcissus is a profound meditation on the purpose of art and the artist's task: to make us see, feel, and remember. It affirms the enduring truth found in beauty, mystery, and shared human experience across time, temperament, and silence.

A tender poem recalling a fleeting summer moment: children running through sprinklers, laughter mingling with the evening heat. The memory, though lost to the child, becomes a quiet treasure for the parent, one that will linger through seasons of reflection.