Most read stories

Shorondra Reynolds

776776 views00 comments00 favs

When Shorondra Reynolds was a baby we lived in a Baltimore brownstone on the edge of Pigtown. Just me and my mother, when there were no single mothers, just Adele’s mother or Mary’s mama, or Kiki’s madear and their like. It was a time when a five year-old

Tundra

776776 views77 comments55 favs

All the lights of Rekyjavik...

The Secret Weapon

776776 views00 comments00 favs

Steve Bancroft’s future wife showed up at his door that same night, slamming her hand loudly against the door and shouting for him. “Steve, Steve, wake up. Damn it, come on. You forgot to pick me up at the airport. Who are you in there with? I said wake

Enemies Are Taken Care Of?

776776 views00 comments00 favs

You took me to this great salad bar once, down in Chicago, on a special date. It must have been for my birthday (how old was I!) I remember that salad bar. It was the only salad bar I’ve ever seen that had caviar. I loved that black caviar. They put it up

Toad

776776 views11 comment11 fav

“I come from a long line of Toad Kings,” Huckleberry said, “and we never back down from a bet.”Phyllis, a great white heron, lowered her long white neck so she could get a better look into her friend's golden eyes.“I just think you…

In the City of K.

776776 views11 comment11 fav

I had never been to the city of K. before, having just flown in on business the other night, and so imagine my surprise at seeing my parents, waiting at a bus stop just a few blocks from my hotel.

Beckoning Silence

776776 views00 comments00 favs

Your silence is beckoningDrawing us nearThere's truth in a silenceCome over hereTell me your secretsTell me your liesTell me the reasonWhy happy clowns cry...And put on a show for the people to seeAnd why people watch them and want to believeThat the illusion is real and…

Thanksgiving

776776 views1616 comments99 favs

Unless we see it, probe it, Name it, star by star, and feel This awful, tenuous gratitude.

Testosterone

776776 views1010 comments55 favs

"All he wants to do is watch the Hallmark Channel"

Skippy Goes Sailing

776776 views33 comments33 favs

I coughed a little. Some bloody fluid sloshed in the rubber tube coming from my chest. Outside my door some doctor was ranting. He was looking for the patient in the room across from mine. “She's in X-ray,” the nurse told him. “It's Friday,” he…

Off of the Train His Mother He Threw a Kiss

776776 views00 comments00 favs

Off of the train, endlessly rocking, He threw his mother a kiss.

The Light Of the Face

775775 views22 comments22 favs

We all have our place But it’s always there, isn’t it Streaming throughout our lives The light of the face Where most of the soul comes to rest We see it best when the hard wind blows Cause in the course of events The wind will know our

Cortizone

775775 views33 comments00 favs

so i slather cortizone on the bite marks of my experiences

A Worthy Caws

775775 views33 comments33 favs

It started with crows. I'd walk the switchback trail to the top of the park with its outlook of the city and if I didn't see any crows I'd whistle and they'd come swarming from everywhere. I'd give the peanuts a toss and the crows would caw their heads off and peck at…

Bottle in a Vase

775775 views11 comment11 fav

I woke up and rolled over to look at my clock. Realizing I was not in my bed, I looked around the dark room for any clock. There on the ceiling, the time was displayed in red digital numbers. 5:30 am. I stayed at a friend's…

A Journal of the Plague Year: Day 289: Valedictory for a Clown

774774 views1414 comments66 favs

the end of this journal

The Alarm

774774 views44 comments11 fav

Rain pours through the ceiling and the building's fire alarm sounds repeated bursts of loud abrasive distortion 1 2 3

Wisdom Is Death

774774 views44 comments33 favs

for Edward Victory is death. Rock stardom is death. Life is murderous.Love's still beaded much longer and stronger than any row of round headed lovers. You can't stop death from turning to face you, but itsnot exactly expecting your poem's referral either. In…

Love, your daughter

774774 views1010 comments77 favs

You gave me all of the power, and none of the power.

Pebbles

774774 views00 comments00 favs

On weekdays the two walked,The man in front and the boy always behind,Away from the borrowed house and the kachina dolls inside.Neither of them said anything.The boy thought of things that just wouldn't come out,and the dirt road was always just wet enough thatThe man's…

Poetry for Cats

774774 views22 comments00 favs

Call me crazy, but I like to write poetry. For cats.

Trick Horse

773773 views66 comments33 favs

The trick rider arches

A Cloud of Words for Winter

773773 views1313 comments1515 favs

What I would say

Finals Week

773773 views00 comments00 favs

Before I could reach the physical bar, four rounds of shots were fired. Desperately, little boys spooged ounces about in every direction. They only knew one form of celebration, mating ritual roulette.

Blurbmonger

773773 views00 comments00 favs

Rick is short, red-haired and looks like his head has been plopped directly onto his torso. Francine is six foot two, likes guys her height and prefers some of their height to consist of neck.

Pharmaceutical Funnies

773773 views00 comments00 favs

Dracula enters the pharmacy looking sad but hopeful. The pharmacist pulls a sonnet out of his thumb and hands it to him. This is a novel by Bugs Bunny. Each page is a…

I Heard You Like the Back Seat Too, Honey: Song

773773 views11 comment11 fav

They met at a bar They didn’t get far They went to her car Then back to the bar He played guitar She was a rock star They met at a bar They didn’t get far Well, I heard you liked the back seat too, Honey I heard that you liked to h

Another One Night Stand in L.A.

773773 views00 comments00 favs

This girl had burn scars on her body which hurt a little, to be touched, so we had to be real careful, gentle. I turned her over slowly so as not to shatter her. She wanted to be fucked, badly. But only one time. It was enough to be handled again like bef

on Fox River

772772 views22 comments00 favs

We are on Fox River and I am in the dark water swimming naked beside Rick DeMille with my white skin glowing as we come up behind you and Sharon in your dad’s ski boat sitting silent in the water, and I can hear Sharon whimpering, “Oh, Jesus! Jesus!” as

Lasagna

772772 views44 comments44 favs

My wife went vegan.