Recommended stories

Missing

14741474 views1111 comments77 favs

... he led what might be called a quiet life

To Swallow Us Whole

10121012 views66 comments66 favs

The east wind probes through the eaves, pushing at the walls, as though it wants to drag us out into the cold, to swallow us whole.

Fate

11341134 views99 comments88 favs

decline the prof­fered hand

Better

25852585 views77 comments77 favs

My father-in-law is drunk. This is something only my husband and I know: the old man does not stagger or flail, he is not vacant; neither too-friendly nor hostile to the woman who shows us to a table and sets down three bundles of silverware wrapped in paper…

Snake Walk

15471547 views1717 comments66 favs

The Viper turns so quickly that Father's grabbing hand now faces its head instead of its tail.

The Solipsist Suffers

15551555 views88 comments88 favs

I can confirm nothing/ but impressions of the world// that appear beyond my/ body’s reach.

So freaking tired

13161316 views1414 comments66 favs

So many dreams I need to visit, though

500 Words or Less

21962196 views88 comments77 favs

A brief commentary on the uselessness of endings.

Monkey Love

27042704 views2323 comments44 favs

There's an orangutan riding an elephant that spots a hound dog.

Safety First

18831883 views1010 comments88 favs

I am not a gun, but I think I may have pulled a plastic movie trigger in some kind of real world action before, accelerated, pivotal scene, one way or another before, this new frame came into its paranoid view .You see? I am not a plastic water bottle,but I…

The Death of Sherwood Anderson

13051305 views1010 comments88 favs

like the Bible in / Mauritania, like a mouse in a vial of ammonia, / like a retired coal miner on vacation in the Alps

The Flower and the Sailboat

10341034 views1010 comments88 favs

She looked at the flowerthat grew through the stone hedgeon a cliffwhere the rockswere stacked to the edge of the water.It was a polka dot spot of fuchsia, Petals peeking through the green briar bush.On the bridge,Staring hard at the deep water,Ripples of blue that…

Heirloom Pendant of an Ash-Tracked Snow

13911391 views55 comments44 favs

If I do not hear you leaving by the door... The nearness here of this yet questions when I know you will not come so back again, Nowise the same as you were there before. My own reflection, centred at its core On knowing each …

The Corridor of Men in Suits

115115 views1515 comments77 favs

...

Rocket

13141314 views99 comments88 favs

The Chicago to Denver fast train clocked 90 MPH plus, but braked hard on the long curve through town, sparks ringing flanged wheels.

Don’t Ask Me to Collaborate

13341334 views1111 comments77 favs

Except with the language I was born to./ Occasionally, with painters and collagists-// dead now, typically- who can’t voice/ opposition to my misappropriations.

Some Splendor In Some Grass

13591359 views99 comments77 favs

As they lay in the pasture on a warm summer's afternoon, with the sky blue, the sun shining, he looked across at her, peacefully asleep by his side. How he loved her. Their year together had been one of joy and happiness.He idly nibbled on a blade of grass, remembering the…

Almost Like Love

22162216 views88 comments66 favs

Because it was almost like love, love. Because the potential for that innocence beckoned me, and I became reckless in search of it. I exposed my heart.

Assiduity Nine

13471347 views1313 comments77 favs

Don and I return to Rasheed's room on the top floor of the middle house where Uzma sits waiting to speak her piece. I'm feeling blessed listening to their enthusiastic chatter. It's like the world is opening up to me again, allowing me to experience a rush of…

Pet Sitter

13671367 views99 comments77 favs

We didn't know him from Adam...

Rwanda Suite: The Congo in Me

15301530 views88 comments88 favs

I scratch a red welt onto the inside of my white knee. The knee itches like crazy. Pain too, down to my bones. The Congo calls.

After the Fall

22872287 views88 comments88 favs

They were a family, now, these three: child, widow, widower.

The Meaning of Life

15521552 views1111 comments66 favs

One must not confuse the meaning / of life with the joy of living

Twentieth Century Chats, in Six Acts

912912 views99 comments55 favs

M. CALLAGHAN: I’ve got a lot on my mind. You’re drunk, aren’t you? COL. MORD: Good idea! DEATH: Well, there is no shame in that. J. KIDDING: Everyone suffers. Can you lend me your cat? T. BURKULAR: I don’t know, sir. I don’t follow political issues .

A Change in Status on the Facebook of Cement

13611361 views88 comments77 favs

First he wrote it in wet cement at the intersection: “Tad Loves Kimberley,” with a big heart around it. He was real proud, you could see. But then later on that year, the graffiti began appearing everywhere, on all the store walls: “Kimberle

Welcome to the Occupation

18301830 views88 comments88 favs

You just watch, the schoolteachers’ll be next and then you’ll see shit go down. Imagine what happens when a fifth-grader sees his teacher getting frog-marched through a crowd on YouTube.

Gemma's Story

17171717 views1414 comments77 favs

I respect mom, she survived cancer and all while she was pregnant with me, but something about getting through all that crap made her heart tough, like an over-cooked piece of beef, and no one likes meat you have to chew forever.

Snatch XI

22492249 views88 comments88 favs

Public voice when he's tense.

The Lovers

20692069 views1414 comments77 favs

I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY TO YOU, she lisps, and, with this, the fissure in the man’s head reaches the bottom of his chin and the hollow head splits in two.

Cats

16961696 views1111 comments77 favs

My wife and I are cat people. Indeed, that's how we met. We met at a wake.