Most discussed stories

Path

11931193 views55 comments11 fav

a man sees salamander bands / a-cracklin on the scree

The Unbearable Thickness of Meat Loaf

13071307 views55 comments55 favs

This morning I found A big black crow Working over a flattened Squirrel in the middle Of the road First day of winter Longest night Shortest day No problem The rest of the year Should be a breeze

Who Loves the Sun?

13761376 views55 comments55 favs

beat them with fists and purses.

the writing of poetry

12981298 views55 comments33 favs

We write poetry, but are unable to calm ourselves. We need more men of the world (like you) who are not too much amazed by experience. Men who can lead a dual life. Who have sexuality but remain detached, whole. The bodily, the sensual, easy give and ta

Automatic Typewriter

22352235 views55 comments22 favs

Rowan’s arm burned and throbbed like the center of a neutron star as it went critical for minutes turned inside-out like hours. Standing in a wall, then huddled underneath the couch, she danced around the rim of consciousness, ripping at the seams of her

Pretend Friend

10891089 views55 comments11 fav

no rule says an imaginary friend has to be a good one

Hotel Mechanics

11721172 views55 comments44 favs

He switches to quantum mechanics and starts tinkering with his sleeve memorizing a theorem he'd figure out if he had the time for a deep breath, he takes a deep breath.

not all scars are the same

13531353 views55 comments33 favs

All I wanted to know was: Am I coming close? You could have given me a clue. How was I to know how deep the scar ran? I always thought scars were superficial, but I was young, and willing – what did I know? What would they have done if they had come

A Little Man on a Rainy Corner

11911191 views55 comments33 favs

He is sitting in the infinite rain and the water is making him some infinite silhouette

The Birds

15301530 views55 comments22 favs

When I left my wife, I got the birds. Two parakeets, blue and yellow, male and female. They were loud, messy and, because my ex rarely cleaned their cage, smelly. So I got them. At first, I called him Rod and her Tippy. Rod Taylor and Tippy Hedren? The Bi

Style Shifts

12601260 views55 comments55 favs

Style Shifts “Oh, yes, my cousin. We were rude boys until the armed gangs started to gather. Used to be we could pass a night driving, playing our songs, acting tough. Yeah. We'd mouth off, flash some teeth, spark some anger when we felt like it. We…

Wind Spinner

17181718 views55 comments44 favs

The clink of metal on metal does not disturb her.

Warts

11761176 views55 comments33 favs

Marie and Mary lay side by side, partitioned by flimsy blue vinyl on cheap plastic rollers.

A Journey (on Foot) Through Hostile Lands

10131013 views55 comments44 favs

Love comes and goes as it pleases. Plant lives matter you know. Isn't it so obvious? I'm sure you've noticed or felt like you've been here before. Maybe forever. Just ask any hand-held camera or open book. Well. How many times can we…

Tales from the fictionaut Fave Side

12981298 views55 comments33 favs

Into the bowl I put Tales from the Crypt, The Far Side and an episode of Numbers. Wisked for a moment, then let the dough rise.

The Lament of Last Century's Escape Artists

928928 views55 comments55 favs

Here's to the new, trying ever so hard but not too hardto have an audience with their own personal God ontheir own super duper terms, wonder kids. Aren't theybeautiful, one of a kind cells, Ladies and Gentlemen? Thepaint job alone is worth the…

Raincoat

16151615 views55 comments22 favs

“It’s about basic working conditions!” she says, rubbing ice cubes on her nipples.

The Color of Sleep

12881288 views55 comments22 favs

Have you ever seen a body of words give birth to a paragraph? I won't lie. It's a little gross. But quite moving. First there is the biology of reproduction. A blackbird living in an electric guitar, for instance, and its inexplicable urge to mate with an elephant.…

(children, children)

12021202 views55 comments55 favs

Her name was Carrie. And yes, it was love at first sight. Yes, she was a client, and you were supposed to keep your hands off the clients. Everyone in real estate knew that. She came into my office and took a seat in the reception area. I had a listing on Cedar…

The Colored Paper that Folded Itself Into a Singing Cricket

11021102 views55 comments55 favs

Sometimes the beauty you make wants you to say, aaahhh, and let it go. There are a lot of things floating around, so it's no wonder that some things get sadly lost, like minds,like people, like feelings. It doesn't make anything spin any less. That's what…

My Stuff

12111211 views55 comments33 favs

Crass, vulgar, boorish, impaired, angry, depressed, jealous, regretful.

Love in the Time of the NASA Mars Rover

11811181 views55 comments33 favs

I've lost the remote control to my brain

In my day...

12211221 views55 comments66 favs

In my day, you could buy a polythene bag of cigarette butts for 5p. And everyone had a proper haircut.In my day, plumbers gave free vasectomies whilst reciting patriotic poems. And all the buses were red.In my day, there was always more than enough sex to go round, with…

The perfectly banal postcards...

12541254 views55 comments11 fav

“There are so few uses for Crisco, that to keep it in the house seems an unnecessary temptation,” said my health teacher.

It's the New Age of Bullshit

11671167 views55 comments55 favs

They’re young and haughty. 27’s still a long ways off. They read about the famous, not the dead. Dusty dragonflies will not land upon them, and they are really only in love with the dishwasher. Now there’s a problem. Poetry is dead,

Midwestern Charm

11601160 views55 comments33 favs

He slathered the glue on my scalp and talked non-stop about Harlem. Electrodes or nodes, I never asked which, would measure something inside my head. I doubt they actually did though, measure anything. I've had the pleasure of having wires glued to my skull before and have…

The Faraday Effect

13911391 views55 comments11 fav

Because he tells her to, she puts on a vintage Easter dress one size too small and sprawls in a circle of light on the dusty floor...

Menelaus Supporting Patroclus

11981198 views55 comments22 favs

He remembers, he touches, he lifts and kisses the mouth.

Larger Than Life

14941494 views55 comments66 favs

She told me one way to deal with it would be to put everything in a box and burn it.

Fill In the Void

934934 views55 comments22 favs

I’m not in the habit of just hanging out on the corner handing out “free stuff,” you know. I figured it was going to cost you. But I was wrong. It cost me instead. You can only float near the ceiling when you’ve become an emptied vessel. No hope or