Most read stories

Jade Cicada

13141314 views22 comments11 fav

Jade in the emperor’s death mouth – to the grave – all openings closed – no breath – no air – no life to enter to leave – the end should be silent – you stop my mouth

The Anchorman

13131313 views00 comments00 favs

Welcome back to our ongoing coverage of what we mean when we say "Tsunami: A Very Bad Thing."

October is the month when your dog dies

13131313 views1616 comments1515 favs

.

Nothing But Neat at the NBA All-Star Game

13131313 views00 comments00 favs

“I’m sure he meant no disrespect,” LeBron said, playing the peacemaker. “For example, I used to be ‘The Chosen One’ but I changed my nickname to ‘Chip’. Like it?”

Shards

13131313 views22 comments11 fav

But you're everywhere, how can I move on? It's so easy for people to say, Get over it, the ‘it' being the smell of your skin, your smile, the taste of your lips, always sweet and salty, like a carnival treat. Remember that neon night when we knew it was over, how we…

A Girl You Couldn't Hurt

13131313 views00 comments00 favs

He started to concentrate on the music again. It was the album with the crazy picture of Monk on the cover, with a machine gun over his shoulder, a tied-up Gestapo officer and a female resistance fighter standing next to—a cow.

Getting Out

13131313 views33 comments33 favs

“We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Haikus for Miss Winehouse

13131313 views99 comments55 favs

Drag queens weep sequins

The Fourth Prague Defenestration: 8

13131313 views11 comment11 fav

“Okay,” Boris said, wiping his mouth, “ready to go see these paintings by Lenin? We go now.” “Where are these paintings exactly?” Ellen of Troy (NY) asked. I didn’t mention which Troy she was from. “I have friend in Prague,” Vladimir said. “Has sh

Alice Can Derail You in 3/5ths of a Second

13131313 views2121 comments1111 favs

She connects to you via snarling vines & worm-woven tunnels. Drops Roman numerals

Mornings

13131313 views33 comments22 favs

Over the last years of her life, my mornings began when Mom decided to play. Sitting on her black, ball-and-claw stool, she'd raise the key cover, stretch her neck and shoulders, and take slow, deliberate breaths. A deep, meditative state descended over the room and…

Self-possession

13131313 views33 comments22 favs

Self-possession. He had it. In his arctic white t-shirt; blonde haired, broad shouldered, unburdened. “I will make you love me,” he had said, in a bar.

Reality TV is Dead

13131313 views00 comments00 favs

Welcome to the world of (un)reality television. He/she who dies with the most stories wins. Another kind of religion. The Church of Being Famous For Whatever.

You've Got that Wrong Kind of Brain

13131313 views00 comments00 favs

He and Nick got a long very well, and would speak about things for hours until the morning came; and Betsy would supply them with food and coffee, and clever sayings all the while Johnny watched it all over. Tonight though, they had watched La Rafle, and

Talking Balls and Strikes

13131313 views55 comments55 favs

I don’t see the problem. In the country I come from, language is the best part of the game.

Terminal Velocity

13131313 views22 comments22 favs

...she did wish she lived somewhere in Ancient Rome, and from one of those seven hills, perhaps during sunset, she would resolve to roll down and meet the flaming orb just as it descended so she would dissolve into embers and ash...

how to kill a dragon dead (except)

13131313 views33 comments22 favs

the worm was stabbed where two rivers branch:/who would slay was slain.

The Rat, His Treadwheel

13131313 views88 comments77 favs

The rat had been informed, assured, cajoled in order to gain his assent—duly lied to, in other words, by the researchers with not one tear of remorse, with no smudge or smear of conscience . . .

Kafka, Smashed

13131313 views99 comments77 favs

perhaps I am only being transported not for replacement but for repair

afternoons

13131313 views99 comments22 favs

i think god composed afternoons with crayons

Five Million Yen: Chapter 17

13121312 views00 comments00 favs

-Someone could have boosted this easy as pie, Ben said to himself.

Lingua Materna, Lingua Imperiale

13121312 views88 comments77 favs

arrogant, sullen,/ supple and ambiguous,// English seems the ideal tongue

The curtain

13121312 views1414 comments88 favs

In the evening the curtain recounts its day. Faces, images, incidents it has observed from the window. Its voice is nuanced, modulated, quivering, for it is made of lace. It appears to crochet its words with needle sounds. My eyes, during confinement, are not wide open, not…

Needles And Sins

13121312 views00 comments00 favs

They've put down roots under the dome. Want to push through the ceiling, blot out the sun. I have other plans.

FEAR OF LANDING

13121312 views11 comment11 fav

“Omaha is filled with fine clothing stores for men,” he says, “all of them doing very well. Whereas Minneapolis is a different story altogether.” I am trying to sleep in seat 26C. 26B is occupied by Mildred who has already introduced herself,…

Fundamentals

13121312 views44 comments11 fav

You can have two threes, or three twos. I hear the beat both ways. It goes back and forth in my head, like magic, transforming from one to the other and back again. And I am learning the basics of music theory, and painting geometric shapes with primary colors. I am…

Soulspring, by Norman Klein.

13121312 views88 comments55 favs

The call came...

Man on the Moon

13121312 views22 comments33 favs

I even listen to the Ugly Kid Joe version. I fall asleep perplexed and disheartened.

Stan Smith

13121312 views88 comments55 favs

Ah we just sat on the flat roof of the school and looked out at what was beyond because sometimes there is nothin' to do but sit on a flat roof of a school and look out at what is beyond. Going up there I had told him to be careful with the bag because if he didn't take…

Something about that boy

13121312 views33 comments00 favs

There was something about the boy that made me uneasy. Maybe it was the reverse widow's peak on his forehead or the way he wiped away his snot with the back of his hand. It could have been his red flannel shirt that reminded me of the hillbillies from the mountain…