Most read stories

On Writing

17951795 views1616 comments77 favs

it's the very words that are the problem

On reading the “Lives of the Poets” by Michael Schmidt

17951795 views66 comments22 favs

And now its done! Five months read! This book is batoning in my head. Its eleven o'clock AM and hot as hell, even the breeze, billowing nets through the sliding screen adds sweat, cuts me down to size. I will needs again to…

John Lennon Slept Here (Or Was It Ringo?)

17951795 views22 comments22 favs

Why is the ghost of John Lennon haunting a house in rural Oregon?

Free Space

17951795 views1010 comments99 favs

The winner was some kid from Ohio or Oklahoma -- one of those states that begins with an "O" and ends with a yawn.

Backwards

17941794 views55 comments11 fav

One of her favorites was of an old axe asleep on a desert floor. She told people the axe had the western lips of September. That it held the song of the ocean and the dreams of a scarecrow. Some thought she was mad to talk in such a way. Others believed h

Take Your Gun to Work Day

17941794 views2929 comments1515 favs

In a rousing show of support for guns and the owners who love them, the Legislature passed and Governor Greg Abbott gleefully signed a law proclaiming April 15 as Take Your Gun to Work Day in Texas.

Tiger Milk-a play in 3 acts

17941794 views1414 comments66 favs

Imagine the poem written with a pistol at your head.

Wings

17941794 views88 comments88 favs

The trouble began in October, when Ava, an embittered receptionist who worked at a small museum housed in a five-story Westside brownstone, discovered that the floors were littered with enormous grey feathers

To Make Way for the Future

17931793 views55 comments11 fav

It was the shock of black hair twisted into a long thick braid that got our attention and made us want to find meaning here. Albert thought he recognized the hair in the grave.

A Vicious Deer

17931793 views22 comments00 favs

A Vicious Deer The man came across the hall to talk to us. He was buying some paintings. He had a white deer on a leash. Fosca (our Malamute) said: “That's a vicious deer.” She kept putting her paw on its shoulder. I said: “You bet

The Night

17931793 views77 comments44 favs

her parents were gone they sat on the love seat side by side saying nothing the longest time

The Lost Boys

17931793 views2121 comments1919 favs

Every day hurts, just a little, but not enough

Class

17931793 views55 comments11 fav

Class (appears in my book Breaking it Down; no journal publication) When your neighbor James Frehley cusses you out for hanging a block and tackle from the silver maple in your front lawn, begin to pull the engine from your Galaxie anyway, smile and nod…

Leox

17931793 views66 comments22 favs

Whoever came up with the term kismet is an absolute moron. There isn't a single reason, or word, that can describe what exactly my brain has concocted in the face of him. No, kismet isn't what makes it happen. It's my own stupidity..

The Fish, the Fisherman, and the Sea

17931793 views44 comments11 fav

My father is remarkably clever. That is, for a rundown, henpecked fisherman. He has caught me again. He has me slung over his back in a rickety lobster trap and I can hear him huffing and the water in him sloshing and though I can't see his face, I imagine it is ruddied…

The Death App

17931793 views99 comments66 favs

The phone owner pre-writes his or her dying words! The app stores them and releases them at the moment of his death!

Fish Boil

17931793 views1818 comments1515 favs

Put sunscreen on your / bones.

A Little Fishing

17931793 views1212 comments99 favs

Harpo sits and looks at something I can't see. I drink beer and ask him questions. I ask him how they found the cancer. Backache, he says. He went to see a doctor.

Scooter and Skipper at the Roman Colosseum

17921792 views1313 comments66 favs

We make our way into the Colosseum–excuse me, the Prince Spaghetti Colosseum–and take in the beauty of Italy’s national pastime; sadistic cruelty to wacko religious cults.

Tuesday Night

17921792 views44 comments11 fav

She comes in with her white bag with its floral patterns scattered, almost accidentally, all around it

Deep Inside The Light There Are No Dreams

17921792 views2323 comments1919 favs

Mack’s mind held a chandelier.

Scattering like light

17921792 views77 comments22 favs

He had long since quit listening to the incessant clanging of the bell. He stood, ringing the bell, squinting into the setting sun, nauseous from the car exhaust, his body aching for alcohol.

a night on the f'naut

17921792 views1515 comments66 favs

with images overflowing with delicate thought scenes with nightmarish wet dreams

'So I fucked Beavis ... so WHAT??'

17921792 views22 comments11 fav

[CAUTION: "DISINTEGRATION OF THE FUNCTIONING PSYCHE," IS, APPARENTLY, A "DEEPLY PERSONAL" EXPERIENCE!"]

Mississippi Burning

17921792 views77 comments33 favs

“There are no inhibitions in here,” the postman shouted, gesturing at the dance floor with his Marlboro Light, the glowing tip aimed at a woman in a taut skirt. Leaning far forward, her hands nearly touching the plywood floor, she planted her feet and beg

Contract Love

17921792 views55 comments44 favs

“If you guys ever get back together, I’d make him sign a contract.” I smiled, but cautioned, “Not sure that would work.” She answered with emphatic confidence, “You haven’t seen how good I am at writing contracts!"

Bucolic

17911791 views44 comments22 favs

He could smell the vestiges of alcohol on his folks. They’d let him stay up till midnight to mark the new year, and his mother had sneaked him a taste of her whisky. He remembered now what she’d last said before sending him off to bed, how strange it soun

Baked Beans

17911791 views1111 comments99 favs

mundane tradition

21stC irl (easy action) party

17911791 views2121 comments1313 favs

Nobody took pics.

What's Wrong With Stella by Starlight?

17911791 views1111 comments33 favs

Suzie went on to become an anchorwoman in Los Angeles after college. She had tiny bruises on her feet where she’d shoot heroin since she didn’t want tracks to show on her arms, where they’d ruin the effect of a little black cocktail dress