Most discussed stories

A June Defection

18771877 views2525 comments1515 favs

I came from the only flat region in the kingdom of mountains and fjords, and called the city “Down in the Dumps”. The beleaguering mountains smelled a flatlander when they saw one, and hated me right back.

Making Small Things

24462446 views2525 comments1919 favs

We were the same and different. I was wild, wild, and she was calm. A pair of dolls we were. Holding hands in thin white dresses. Running through fields. Spying on boys. Making small things from grass and weed and wildflower. One day (it was a Tuesday) al

Blossoms and Buds

24332433 views2525 comments1414 favs

not enough of us / destroy / what we create

Things I Will Miss Once the Apocalypse Is Done

16651665 views2525 comments1717 favs

The scent of fresh cut grass./ The idiot sense of accomplishment/ mowing the lawn can bring.

Quitting Smoking

26562656 views2525 comments1111 favs

After the affair was over, she told her husband she’d been smoking. Obviously he didn’t know, but he knew. One can never hide the fact that one has been smoking. He said he could smell it on her.

Vague Obscenities

20252025 views2525 comments1212 favs

The next day on YouTube, 3,558,019 users watched the clip of Kate dangling next to Jay Leno's chin.

Brother

38163816 views2525 comments1515 favs

My brother was the catcher, and we were having sex. I was waiting to be scared. In our act, he would swing upside down from the bar, hanging by his knees, his arms extended, and I would fly into his chalky grip.

It Stops

20952095 views2525 comments1515 favs

We made our escape on grimy streets under skies filled with crows, flapping like litter in the wind.

A Boy

22682268 views2525 comments1010 favs

You said it was easier when you were ten and could play Risk with a girl and it was a game, not foreplay.

KADDISH

23312331 views2525 comments1919 favs

My mother was a child of the death camps, passed her adolescence there. Survived.

Ordering a muse over the phone

21592159 views2525 comments1010 favs

"Well, I'd like to inquire about getting a muse. It says in your ad that you provide muses for people who are creatively challenged by their art form."

Before

22472247 views2525 comments1616 favs

The last time they made love she could feel the hint of pain and loss which would become her.

We Used To Be Sharks

20132013 views2525 comments1313 favs

I was sitting on the therapist’s couch in someone else’s boxer shorts.

Big

22332233 views2525 comments2121 favs

I found the knife in a fishing box in the closet. The box was made out of varnished wood. My father’s father had made it.

Soliloquoy on Ma

25212521 views2525 comments2121 favs

“Your sister is a slut,” said Ma to me over supper.

Red Can't Even Grab a Starbucks

35363536 views2525 comments2424 favs

I see his look, his impatient look.

Danger Above, Danger Below

17741774 views2525 comments1414 favs

And you know that notion just goes to show...

The Dead in Paris, Complete

17291729 views2525 comments1414 favs

Did we get Jihadi John?/ And the highway to Mosul?// What’s the score?

Losing (Valentine's Day Massacre Poem)

27182718 views2525 comments1212 favs

Paid and laid, they leave.

Butcher Knife

23022302 views2525 comments99 favs

When I was young I used to carry a butcher knife to bed. My grandmother placed it in my small hands before tucking me in.

Requiem for a Glass Heart

70547054 views2525 comments99 favs

The stone thrower lives in a glass house with his glass family. His neighbors often stop in front of his home and stare at the flesh and blood man as he goes about the business of living with his glass wife and glass child, their glass furniture and glass lives.Every…

The Unknown Substance

18751875 views2525 comments1414 favs

Mama's good at finding things, but hardly ever what she's looking for.

Cutting Rhubarb in the Rain

15651565 views2525 comments1010 favs

Tendering these stalks, making the pie, heralds me a holder of apron strings...

Coffee Shop

20422042 views2525 comments66 favs

He inhaled all these sensory impulses like they were so much illuminated, fluorescent pollen which jostled for space with the strong aroma of coffee in his nostrils.

Gershwin’s Second Prelude

36013601 views2525 comments2929 favs

While Kate practiced the piano in the tiny third-floor apartment, Wiley cooked dinner, jogging in place in front of the stove.

Writer Conversation with Husband

259259 views2525 comments1616 favs

"What, you only like my funny stories?"

Stalling

30163016 views2525 comments1313 favs

My son, six, is practicing dying.

Unpublished

16531653 views2525 comments1818 favs

.

tiny thoughts

11991199 views2525 comments1212 favs

what if I die?

Better Boys, Early Girls

21782178 views2525 comments1414 favs

... tomatoes swelling and turning pink...