Most discussed stories

lament of Liu Ch'e . . . while elsewhere--

17491749 views77 comments66 favs

in her silk sleeves is silence sheathed.

The Boss of Bosses

16281628 views77 comments33 favs

The one thing my father told me that I want to believe is true . . .

Guess I'm Finally Over You - song

11761176 views77 comments44 favs

All this broken glass in the road Tells the longest story l have ever told Of how you lost your life and I my love And how you still go wandering above I don't know how I can return To the planet where we used to thrive Along this broken

The Seagulls at the Parking Lot

983983 views77 comments66 favs

Turningturning the pale grey spot.She sits in her carin the parking lotwith the radio onleaning back picking a thin piece of skin from her finger.Turningturningthe seagulls move aroundand aroundabove the asphaltas though it was the wave,with…

The Naked Mountain

23642364 views77 comments22 favs

Once upon a time, a young writer decided to leave his home in Iowa City, and seek wisdom in the East.

I want to hear the man talk

12661266 views77 comments44 favs

I remember going out to a restaurant with some guy and a friend of mine who brought her little boy along. And suddenly her boy said, “I want to hear the man talk.” Well, that stopped us. Smart kid, I thought. He was fed up hearing her women friends talk

Citizens: a fragment

903903 views77 comments66 favs

B: Write a short story about men for the gym teacher. Write a candle for the century. A: How do I end it? B: Write a synopsis.

Acid Flashback #2

10811081 views77 comments22 favs

I'm transfixed in Tower Records,all the CD covers dancinglike a thousand little TV screens.Your whispers a remote controlchanging those flickering images.When security asks us to leave,you drive my car as I slumpagainst the window.I close my eyes and transport usStar…

Dangling About

16941694 views77 comments33 favs

Looking at his pale and pimpled flesh, he was repulsed by his flaccid and lifeless member. The accompanying bits, dangled about far from his frame as the summer heat drew them away from his sweaty and unwashed body.

How Sturdy Is Your Sick Bag?

14361436 views77 comments22 favs

A wave lifted me from my seat, scattering more drops of vomit around, and I thought nastily about bringing the motion sickness bracelets back inside, dripping bags in tow, to ask for a refund.

You're A Bad Dad: The Story Of Juniper Mélange

17721772 views77 comments44 favs

Juniper Mélange was a cat person, not a dog person. Truly detested when she perceived falseness in another person. She wore glasses and drank tea. Had dark straight hair and light skin. She dressed conservatively and would watch the sky most days. She wou

Instructions for Opening a Document Found in a Black Cabinet

16531653 views77 comments22 favs

When the black cloth falls on you all food tastes like airline food. Every song sounds like Barry Manilow. Every poem sounds like Rod McKuen. It’s all just noise to you now.

Flying Into the Sun

895895 views77 comments11 fav

To answer your question, “Do you think you left your soul there?”… No, my soul isn’t floating around in your bedroom anymore… you took it with you when you walked out my door for the last time. Well, maybe there’s still just a little

Path of Least Resistance

916916 views77 comments33 favs

I followed the car-path tendrils/ further and further north.

Things to Do in Prague

33033303 views77 comments11 fav

We are not doing a good job of ignoring Pink Floyd.

Snow

14051405 views77 comments11 fav

She talks about window treatments, how the place is maybe too much for one. Wants me to know she’s not much of a cook, and wants me to smell what’s in her oven and compliment her cooking anyway.

Hat Shop Girls

19111911 views77 comments33 favs

My favorite was a red bowler, a man's hat, which I never dared wear outside my tiny bedroom. My three brothers wanted it too much to take that kind of a risk. They'd poke me with various sharp objects: the serrated edge of the bread knife, the rusted TV

When I Am Dead, Let Someone Tell Him Of My Suffering

16421642 views77 comments33 favs

Susie watched the record, her mouth agape just slightly, the spinning vinyl unveiling the powerful sound of a voice she'd wanted to hear her whole life.

Fire

11061106 views77 comments44 favs

I like burning lavender on glowing charcoal and dancing hard, thinking about long futures and deep moments. I want to cry and then scream and I don't feel like cleaning up. If I can keep a rhythm going long enough,I think I can build…

Where I've Been the Last 10 or More Years

24272427 views77 comments22 favs

It's been so long since I've been in touch with any of you—if I ever was in touch with you—because my family and I took up residence in the local Wal•Mart.

Friendship Pins

19811981 views77 comments22 favs

There were a lot of advantages to having shoelaces.

The Year Michael Got His Own Page in the Yearbook

16381638 views77 comments44 favs

You can use your shoelaces or an Ace bandage. Loop a belt around your neck and toss the loose end over a shower curtain or closet pole. Pull. Try to lift yourself off the ground.

The Wonders of Wonder

21912191 views77 comments77 favs

There it was, square in the middle of someone’s lawn: a slice of white bread, like a shirtless Englishman stretched out in the sun.

Dirty Aubade

17661766 views77 comments55 favs

We could kiss under the elder tree, even though it was forbidden, even though we were drowned by the noise of the river and nothing we said was right

A Christmas Story

14671467 views77 comments66 favs

I pay for 3 Trump Troll Dolls and a package red licorice twizzlers and head back toward the door. Dancing Gnome Girl is there to greet me. I stick a twizzler in the teeth of the donation pail.

You Friend Me On Facebook

20872087 views77 comments22 favs

You look just like your mom she says I LOL her and say, funny cuz you look just like yours

A Body Unable

14351435 views77 comments44 favs

Once again there's too much to handle and no space to process

Mommy

13591359 views77 comments55 favs

I miss her.

Smoke

21682168 views77 comments00 favs

We both lost our appetites, her sense of taste destroyed by the tide of smoke sweeping across her tongue, wiping out her taste buds. Mine was limited to the four tastes the tongue alone could discern,

Playing Boggle with Lowell's Mind

13361336 views77 comments44 favs

lewd sinew swine