Most discussed stories

Orbital Mechanics/ National Poetry Month 2014/ 30 poems

882882 views99 comments66 favs

Captain Nemo never died./ He cruises all the seven seas/ below the waves in Nautilus 2,

Paulie in Albuquerque

10491049 views99 comments77 favs

Savvy as a nine-year-old playing poker with high rollers in Las Vegas, that was Paulie. She'd finally thrown Dick Weasel out the night before, but that morning Diana'd shot down their plan of sharing the house in a “man-free”…

The Catcher and the Caught

11391139 views99 comments88 favs

Like the swift night-black blue of a cormorant as it suddenly dips into a rush of white cold water,eyeing its possible food, we too sweepdown on what we think we see, rising wet sometimes with the reward,or hapless, dripping, we try again.

Every Day Away From You Is A Gift

11631163 views99 comments66 favs

People suck. They suck you down, and if you're not careful, they'll ruin you.

Yes You Can--Buy My Book of Bad Poetry

17091709 views99 comments44 favs

America has given birth to many great poets--Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Muhammad Ali--but why should talented people have all the fun?

The Goldberg Variations

16101610 views99 comments66 favs

Sorry Glenn Gould, I said, but our princess is in another castle. After that, Glenn and I went to an all night diner and ate scrambled eggs.

Brain Camp

779779 views99 comments55 favs

....

Parting Gifts

13251325 views99 comments44 favs

His hair was well groomed. The skin was radiant like apples tossed at the moon. The gym membership was well used, as the weight issue was easily cast into an abyss of loaded memories.

The Tale of Gary Von Gross

13561356 views99 comments66 favs

Gather 'round children, For it's high time to tell, The story of a strange man With a horrible, awful smell. For this is a story More disgusting than most. This is the gruesome tale Of Gary Von Gross. With a house made…

Flipper Avoids the Tuna Can

14981498 views99 comments33 favs

I used to sneak away to my bedroom to write. I would get away any chance I could to jot down on paper my stories, my ideas, the rich stream of goodness that sprang from my little baby creative brain. It was pure joy.

If The Fire Is Not In Your Apartment

13781378 views99 comments88 favs

If you get crushed in New York City that's your own problem.

Drive-by Neighborhood Fiction Flash

12431243 views99 comments77 favs

It's about dinner time. My neighborhood is in Sa-bur-bia. Driving my gold 2007 Malibu i pass Chick. She notices me and stares standing in front of her house. We were friends about ten years ago. Chick is still divorced. Tall skinny legs. Educated blu-ish eyes. Wet…

Ace Reporter

709709 views99 comments22 favs

God, how I smite them.

Letter to Garrison Keillor

911911 views99 comments44 favs

Hilda Raz lost a daughter. Her son gained a persona, backed by biological components. I was impressed by his male-pattern baldness. A biological genius. And yet, I was reduced and in the elevator mentioned crying about it.

Attention Deficits

128128 views99 comments55 favs

I was working on my dissertation that summer, and I took a part-time job doing psychological testing in a poor public school system. The town would send me around to different elementary schools to test their most troubled children, or, rather,…

Boston Marathon

11301130 views99 comments66 favs

As I walked down to the Subway, I thought to myself that now, after the horror in Boston, everybody looks like a terrorist.

Against Disorder

12701270 views99 comments88 favs

It is true that the college dogs spread vermin, reeked and shat on the soccer field...

Rocket

11451145 views99 comments88 favs

The Chicago to Denver fast train clocked 90 MPH plus, but braked hard on the long curve through town, sparks ringing flanged wheels.

Mr. Creeping Hands, Gum-Popping Granny and Crabby Newspaper Guy: Welcome To Your Local Library

13461346 views99 comments77 favs

Giving challenging patrons funny nicknames is a "library thing."

In This Lifetime, Oh How We’ve Drawn This Close

15101510 views99 comments1010 favs

Together at last, we'd gotten this far toward the warm end of those sweet Promises we made, once, with our sincerest written and passed down smart Words, done all on our own deeds, with some real gusto, and offered them as Christmas Lights,…

The Etymology of Fun

941941 views99 comments66 favs

Tell people of substance the truth.

Cold Feet

14681468 views99 comments55 favs

“…And his smell. That Brett smell. It might become my smell…”

Similarities

14631463 views99 comments11 fav

She was skinny and with breasts like a wound up skein of yarn.

Fractional

10781078 views99 comments1010 favs

Fine gradations of the fractional/ fissure the eggshell whole we crave

David and Goliath

14181418 views99 comments88 favs

The giant hurled threats and insults. He brandished a knife that was a foot long.

Not Good Enough

11071107 views99 comments1010 favs

So where does that leave me, Roscoe Loomis wondered, dismounting his silver, aluminum steed in his sweat-soaked, spandex outfit, and, clearing the saliva from his beard he walked over, checked and smiled, learning that the bike track's timing unit showed it was Roscoe's…

Before She Gets into the Car

643643 views99 comments77 favs

His white shirt gleams

Go ahead

11211121 views99 comments00 favs

Sit right down in the chair. It's a glider, see? Smooth and easy movement without that annoying head-swing you get from a rocker. And easy to get out of, unlike a lounge chair. Relax. "Reba" reruns will be coming on in a minute.

Angelic

11661166 views99 comments33 favs

Remembering his body makes me think of Egyptian cotton sheets dried in the sun. He smelled crisp and clean even after sweating hard. His hair fell in golden spirals down his cheeks, his back, over his forehead, and captured light just like the gilded halos on…

10 Unofficial Jobs Jake Baker has Never Got Paid For

15351535 views99 comments66 favs

Not that their pa really needs the suitcase; he's been coming and going for so long it doesn't matter. The suitcase's just for show. A final goodbye.