Archived Features
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Janae Harley has an irresistible gift of providing pure intensity in just a brief stanza. Sentimental Silence is the collision in our lives we’re all waiting for, but never prepared to endure. This poem is bare poetry straight from its origins, condensing every emotion possible.
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Oh, we’ve all been there. Cameron Keon Sykes curates a love poem that ebbs and flows through the generous and turbulent interludes of romance. The insinuative dialogue makes the poem both enthralling and hauntingly mesmerizing. Pure ecstasy formulated for the writer’s tongue. We love that.
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Motherhood is a boundless serenade, and Lydia Hord tells it exactly as it is. From mothers, to siblings, to friends of all - we can discover ourselves in this majestic melody. The poem invites our senses to experience the warmth between a mother and their child - a truly indescribable sentiment, but explained in The Night Concert so effortlessly.
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The mystifying discourse that naturally derives from nostalgia, Stephen Mead makes no shortcuts in this dynamic ode. The words form a portrait in the mind that breaks all stereotypes of a love letter. A poem that reveals spectacular intricacies within every read, and you will only be doing yourself a disservice if you read it once.
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Jasmine Botha decorates flash fiction with illustrious language, visions, and exceptional prose. A fairytale that readers have yet to consider, but once transported there’s no desire to escape. Even with absent dialogue, the narrator is able to draw attention through their enchanting tone, and from then on our minds a hidden in bliss.
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Sultry but with great intention, Mimi Flood’s collection of poetry makes a feel-good statement. Whether it be the subtlety of a mother’s touch, the decadence of love, to unveiling the stripped strength found at the bottom of a fishbowl. Mimi Flood successfully navigates through these transpiring narratives.
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Aging with a dash of self-recognition, which never goes hand in hand. Geri Oh explains it in their clear cut form of poetry. The writing takes laps around the objects that hold us hostage - social media, our devices, and the experiences we never figured we’d have. The poem forces the reader to look into themselves without seeking blame on the things that molded us into who we are. A figurative narration of the life we once knew.
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Involved and elusive, Winter Wright’s third person portrait turns small moments into eternities. The poem combines emptiness with the sensation of triumph, and how the writer achieves that is a mystery in itself. The tone nuzzles melancholy, but also makes the reader want to cheer for the speaker because the solitude is way too familiar. A gorgeous interpretation of gloom, and how it easily decorates our lives.
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Whitney Graham fills the reader in on the biggest secret there is to life - the unspeakable desire of no longer wanting to be a part of it. 23 is a breath uncovered from a disaster, taking the freshness of being youthful and sewing it into the anxieties that awaken from insecurity. It is a raw study of depletion, and a tell-all sign that not all is golden in the bloom of adulthood. The writer smoothly welds the sensitivity of self-grief with the beauty of being able to talk about it.
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Rachel-Marie Cleary’s raw enchantment evokes imagery and discourse. The poignancy of unfiltered dialogue is what takes each poem by its tailored vulnerability and makes magic with it. Rachel-Marie is a master at sticking organic interactions to symbolism, and making symbolism seem benign. The collection together is endearing and zestful, with an unintentional playfulness that brings it all together.
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“Love so radical, love so kind, so cosmopolitan, so beautiful, so transforming.” Joshua Caleb Govender reframes the internal boundaries that are brought on by neglect. The poem both numbs and revives the atypical assertions of romance, and molds it into a desirable aftertaste. It is warm with grace, and allows whoever is reading it to feel protected by a charm from a love that once was.
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“Now I cry with a sense of relief.” Bliss Mokhine turns fragile tears into a breakthrough. The Last Cry! Is an anthem with notable detailing that makes every stanza linger. The narrator is initially portrayed as battered, but finds their appeal towards the tail of their mistreatment. The eeriness that streams from line to line is the result of the reader unsuccessfully interpreting the inflictor, and to be honest, we’re still stuck on that.
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“Warm and wet was never a concern until today.” Brandon Marlo’s sleek dissertation engages the reader in their whimsical form of storytelling. Their poetry is a mix of daydreams sprinkled with animosity—but in a cool New Yorker sort of way. The way each beat folds and creates a clever layer that works extremely well with their BS-free writing. A cruise through the upbringing of a city grinder, and turning it into a satiable sonnet.
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“It wasn’t because of the pie; it was the sensible choice.” A revamped portrait of a path we know too well, or a path we felt eager to know. No matter the difference, Liz Darrell knows how to interpret it. Apple Pie is many things, and is is nothing at all. It is the delectable sensation from a treat we were forced to love, and it brought us to where we are now. When the words are uttered, we are immediately shot back to a specific time, place, or thing—and that is the very hymn of this poem. The in-concrete conjecture of life’s biggest decisions all baked into a dessert.
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“What good does it do?” Aja Dandridge uncovers the disparity that workplace culture thrives off of—the inability to reconcile and protect their community. Though categorized as flash, the story progresses with an unsettling ease that guides the reader into a sour fear that inevitably is tauntingly accepted. The crash stems from an instance that was never meant to happen, but has reframed the climax of narrator. Though the story may be singular, it is a story that too many still hold on their tongues.
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“Some days my heart says don’t walk.” Ryan Hoffmann pushes the reader’s brain into overload in this mashup of poetry and flash fiction. The rise and fall of the repetitive storytelling that seamlessly drives the plot is what makes this fiction piece worthwhile. Negative space fails to reside in Tortoise Heart, and the best part about is that each interpretation is truly boundless. A creative collision of all the things that bring us angst, and how we find ourselves captive to the things that very well can save us.
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“The language that comes from her whole body.” Tenderness would be an understatement when referring to this work by Erik Peters. Love triumphs over the decorated themes in these two stories, making them tangled in a rope of serenity. Though serene both poems are, there are slight stretches of gentle truth that make them both blossom. A natural display of how beautiful words can really be when strung together to create a masterpiece.
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“He said he associates sex with getting high.” Being the first monologue to feature on our site, Denise Sunchild holds nothing back when exploring the haziness that comes from romantic rendezvous. A simple setting in downtown DC takes a swift turn when Makayla begins to suspect her friend of having an unorthodox relationship in exchange for narcotics. The short excerpt but slow burn is what makes this monologue like no other. Makayla understands the depths of her friend’s activities, but may be too rash to step in.
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“I forgot how to breathe American air.” The powers of love are what test the borders that separate desire. Tess Schwarz knows how to play into the little things and make them spectacular. Their writing style makes time seem as though it is slowing down, and they can bind a word to a particular sensation. The change of seasons and modest engagements makes the pairing between the narrator and their interest all the more authentic. A real escape to a destination we can’t seem to break away from.
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“To be fair, he was the most beautiful man you could imagine. But he was also the vainest.” We all know this person, and Suzanne Verrall proves just how murky vanity could be. The story makes no shortcuts at giving the main character any slack, they are who the narrator presents them as—and that is both appealing and unpalatable. The progression makes every nail-biting wince worth it, and what comes in the end is what seals the very moral of the story.
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“I ruin the lives of everyone and everything that I come into contact with.” Laura Young knows how to build characterization and use symbolism as an anchor in this fiction critique on humanism. Karma Mahoney knows exactly where she is, and the worst part about it is that she knows exactly why she is there. As Karma sits awaiting her daunting fate, she dwells on the irredeemable acts that brought her to her doom. The narrative displays the battle between pride and resistance, and how self-reflection can arrive when things have already been buried.
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“Her long trench coats would float from the wind that generated from her walk.” Iman M'Fah-Traoré impactful prose hints the soft travail found within loss and grace. Their ability to convey the compositions of adulthood right before the world has stained our lively horizons is exceptional. The writing harks back on the purity found between a mother/child relationship, and in that same way displays the adoration that can be so easily acquired. A testament of perseverance, even when the ones who’ve helped us the most weren’t there to witness it.
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“It’s the love we could not have.” Agustina Van Thienen is excellent at setting a time, place, mood, and journey. Poetry that escapes from the confined margins of a page, and directs the experiencer to a pointed moment in their lives. Explosively gentle, and refined in the expression of detail, it is love in every variation imaginable. A mental mood-board transcribed from the doleful eclipses of heartbreak, and painted over with a luscious hue of promise. Promise that could lead to a rekindling, or a promise that could lead to a story with a slightly better ending.
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Trigger Warning - Sexual Abuse
“I heard you, you know.” From beginning to end, the reencounter pushes the reader into the blamable state of the bystander. Though uncontrollable, the chilling and antagonizing imagery inflicts a maddening reaction. How, looms through the text, and the way Poelo Irene Keta uncovers the events in poetic fluency is astounding. The sequence gnaws at the fibers of our beings, and makes us wonder how, how could we trust the ones we’ve considered family? A question that is brought to light over and over again in this briefly sculpted memoir.
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“A savoury love affair.” Jaide Mckriel understands the fine finesse of simplicity. From drawing out the setting, to nudging the desire, to making a grand finish at the end—the story fills in all the intricacies we love about poetry. The tactfully tuned details that create sound from stanza to stanza, and the beauty beside adultery. Even in its shameless moments, someway-somehow, Jaide Mckriel makes the daunting secretive valves of romance ironically tasteful.
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“I tried making you something you were not.” Lázaro Gutiérrez expands on the intimate relationship found between a person and their car—and my God, did they get it right. The prose seems to hit every breakthrough and emotional transition in a person’s life, to the very last building block of a transformative moment. The car could be so many things, but what Lázaro Gutiérrez successfully achieves is making their 2009 Toyota Corolla feel like anyone. Eulogy for the Corolla isn’t a tearjerker that can be explained, but a ride that has to be taken for itself.
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“Femininity finds me hidden and she plays along.” Miriam Gayize reveals the complexities of gender in this touching letter from their body. They breakdown the distinctiveness found within identity, and how our appearances tie to the family members who divulge from certain memories. Who we are has traditionally been a sum of our ancestry, but gender transcends all of those things. Miriam Gayize does a wonderful job at interweaving the past of who we came from to the people we know ourselves to truly be.
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“Have you ever heard birds sing pop-punk music? I think you’d really be surprised at their range.” Offbeat allusions and satirical escapes, Corey Bryan demonstrates clever clauses in these contrasting editions of a love letter. Masked as poetry, each moment emits the soft collision between romance and discomfort—easing the reader into the petrifying tension found at the bank of true love. A tongue-tied confession with just enough dread, and the salted response to beauty when it’s just too beautiful to behold.
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“Some of us stretch our arms wide and embrace it all. Some of us leap first, learn later.” Anxiety foils the protagonist’s tone throughout the unsettling account. Set on the bedside of what feels like a nightmare, Susan Enzer dresses the event in skepticism and hope—skepticism that thrives off of a doctor’s uncertainty, and hope that things will somehow manage to work out. The narrator proves to be just as resilient as the reader believes and more, and though we aren’t sure what the outcome will be, there seems to be a glimmer inside of a misplaced tragedy.
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“From a very young age, I was conscious of mental illness in our family.” Miriam Edelson travels through the subcategories of their family’s mental wellbeing in this rendition of a personal scrapbook. While investigating the qualms of mania in the mid 1900s, Edelson unveils the pool of psychological disorders suffered by the many women in their own family. Edelson speaks earnestly through the lyrical narrative, speculating on the challenges faced when balancing more than their family could openly admit.
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“She was abrasive and sharp-tongued with everyone who wasn’t me. And I adored being her underbellied exception.” Insecurities, intuitions, and instincts are the puzzle pieces that form the incisive, For S. Kathleen Walker recreates the awkwardness found at the greased corner of a fast food chain, sprinkled with brief yet revitalizing exchanges. The narrative extinguishes the blueprint of the typical coming of age story, and sets it in a category that’s transcends the genre altogether.
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“I told him we could make it big…that we had a gift, that together we could live happier lives.” Within the premature stages of lockdown, Trelaine Ito somehow successfully blends escapism with longing. The perfect twine of the humbling paranoia that folded the world into a deafened mess, and the temptations of an undefined solace. The writing is on par of a cool awakening that startles the reader into the frills of romance, and leads them strolling down the contortion of a beautiful entanglement.
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“That is what she did for me. In falling in love with her, I fell in love with me.” Siliziwe Mapalala defies the harsh realities of a constricting childhood, and redecorates their upbringing in this victorious vision. Fear dismisses doubt, and doubt navigates the potholes in which the narrator finds themselves in, attempting to make some understanding out of the life that was built for them. The text is downright scary regarding its relatability, but the concepts in which make it horrific, is the beauty that makes it real.
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"Am I just the sensitive bearer of my childhood trauma, projecting my own faults onto those who were closest to me at the time?” Caitlin Hancocks examines the gentle complexities of womanhood in their identifiable approach to prose. The text spins the softness of paramour with the evolution of growth, self-reflection, and tragedy. The writer controls the tone of the narrative, and instead of creating an over-edited dive into relationships and feminism, they invent their own take on the theme. It is the self-defining moments too stunning to capture, and Caitlin accomplishes it with ease.
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“My love was a jacket you wore until your goosebumps found a place to stay.” Through the journey of Collen Molahlehi’s writing, the outlining of love creeps up in the most unexpected surprises. Dashes of a she that remains nameless from stanza to stanza, and a heartbreaking resemblance to a person the reader can’t seem to put a finger on. The writing is pure, and Collen Molahlehi steadily balances the figurative language so much that the writing is both gratifying and provocative. No matter which title the collection transitions into, it’s always just as bitter sweet as reliving the first line.
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“To this day fresh bread strikes my palate as too soft, without substance, hard to digest…” A nonfiction tale that scratches the surface of a young child growing up in the grime of NYC—Sidney Trubowitz harks back on a time that was both arduous yet delightfully invigorating. Breadfromyesterday became a premonition of better and thankful days. Expanding on the small intricacies of using bath soap as toys, and feeling the warmth from the summer sun while hiking up and down the Coney Island boardwalk. Sidney Trubowitz has a gift of reassembling the simpler moments in their life story, and then turning them into delicate pockets of sentimentality.
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“Once the entire glow of the moon was in that smile.” Fables rising up from the aromatic essence of a wine glass, Zeynep Su Öncel dresses their nostalgic escape with the unconventional enthusiasm amongst a conversation with a chameleon—or in which the author describes them. The short story is as musing as it is speculative, and the imagery is the softest drop of enchantment that strengthens the skeleton of the percolative dialogue. Where the evening transcends is far beyond the clear expression of the text, and what emerges is a quantifying scope of ones truest self.
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“I don’t really care that much; I like to believe that I’m simple.” The zany stylings of Nat Couture’s after-take on daytime competition shows makes this experimental prose worthwhile. The witty tension fills the quiet moments with leisureliness sketched out through playful intimacy, and the reader is able to understand the setting through the authors natural ability to communicate expression, tonality, and character from their straight-talking approach. What seals the story’s warm demeanor is not what the author is able to achieve in just a few words, but the weight of what the narrator witnesses in just a few letters.
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“No purity or dignity to preserve, or reality to deny by running away.” The narrator unravels the ambiguity hidden in misplaced companionship in Vidya Chagan’s heartbreaking short story. Through their lonesome adventures underneath the watchful sun, the protagonist leads the readers through their encounters with the damaged men they find themselves enamored with. From slander to hurtful intentions, the reader feels helpless while witnessing the narrator drag themselves through the dark trails of affection. And in the end as the speaker fights for their security within their broken love life, they release themselves into a horizon of hope.
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Poetry by Mimi Flood plays on youthful optimism, often with a tone that speaks through a dream. Each poem captures the bittersweet nostalgia of change, and how the efforts of acceptance sometimes come on too harsh too fast. The poems are haunting as they are delectable, with Mimi Flood creating photographs through their innate ability to draw out moments and responses. The sensory experience of indulgence and escapism is just the height of what the author achieves, and where the poems leaves off is a plane of otherworldliness.
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Shriya Mkumar uncovers the complexities of personal integrity sailing between the relationship of a mother their child. Through vivid and expressive language, Mkumar conveys the sense of isolation and pain that the protagonist feels, trapped in a room with only the objects around her to mark the passing of time. The sense of guilt and regret is palpable, as the child acknowledges the sacrifices their mother has made for them, and the final line paints the honest portrayal to perfection—leaving the reader in both a place that is difficult and essential.
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Each haiku by Richard Preciado captures unexpected glimpses of beauty discovered in both a baseball game and a peaceful meditation. The imagery evokes both a surprising yet playful collage, demonstrating a sense of fragility and impermanence. The juxtaposition of serenity with the jarring intensity coming from subtle unpredictability. Preciado is able to effectively provide simplicity and use contrasting images to create a sense of tension and delight.
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“Old complaints turned stale from good therapy.” jamilla vandyke-bailey uses the mesmerizing power of self reflection through this transformative narrative. Jamilla uses poetic language to navigate the difficult terrain of familial relationships and the bond found between a mother and daughter. The reader finds themselves on a cathartic journey through the depths of vulnerability, and the plague of truth that gets passed down from generation to generation.
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“Don’t Give Up.” Ellen Sollinger Walker dances upon the delicate tapestry of memories, breathing life into the forgotten whispers of the past. Ellen conjures a vivd world where twigs and dead leaves become vessels of remembrance. Walker’s prose carries the weight of grief, through romantic connections and brief encounters. The delicate interplay of foreshadowing light and shadow adds dimension to the narrative, mirroring the powers of past and those who leave their marks on us in the most unpredictable ways.
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“You don’t deserve the lowest tide of my wake.” Natalie Schaffer plunges the reader into a tumultuous sea of emotions, where the wreckage of shattered affection. Schaffer navigates the treacherous waters if human experience, sewing together a tapestry of human spirit and awakening. Natalie’s poetic prowess shines through each carefully crafted stanza, painting a portrait of the wreckage left behind by life’s storms.
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“I did not hear a single angel sing the story of my birth to a listening ear.” Sritama Sen uses their gift to transport the reader back to the most vulnerable moments of their upbringing. The dynamic word choice is what shapes the text, and makes every line sharper than the other. Though the story glides along the lines of ambiguity, there is nothing uncommon about the scenes and sensory that Sritama is able to easily reenact
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“I no longer had time for that: Tell me something happy.” S.C. Hawkins deep dives into grievance and solitude in their approach to this captivating short story. Consumed by an insatiable hunger to comprehend the intricacies of sorrow, the protagonist is haunted by the specter of loss and gain, plagued by unanswered questions that gnaw at the psyche’s core. An immerse tale on how life is disguised by the will to live.
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“Does your body lie in a different attitude?” A set of poetry complimenting the theme of love or whatever surrounds it, Tom Lachman tugs at the heart strings in the most delicate ways, but also entices the reader through their innovative use of language. From their ability to emote through subtle details and striking imagery, this collection of short poems echoes through the outline of how we envision our paramours.
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“I don’t take up as much space.” Through lyrical finesse, Khia Hatcher weaves verses that navigate the intricate terrain of longing for the person we aspire to become, while grappling with the weight of what has been lost along the way. Through imagery and musings, the author invites us to confront our shadows and embrace the nuances of our individual journeys—whether lost or found.
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“How to contain those we love in the material?” Sophie Mulgrew paints the portrait of two protagonists, infusing them with depth and complexity straight from the start. The lead, with their vibrant spirit, is a burst of color, illuminating the curious strokes of love. The interest, an enigmatic allure, with a delicate blend of light and shadow. The story itself becomes a canvas painting the foundation of their connection, layer by layer.
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“I never thought anyone would stay after seeing both sides of who I truly am.” Within the sacred verses of Sam Carberry’s poetic tapestry, a profound exploration unfolds, delving into the delicate intricacies of love, vulnerability, and the salacious dance of intimacy. The collection of poetry reverberates with timeless wisdom, resonating through the corridors of the human heart. A true testament to the transformative power of tenderness.
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“We are the only people in this empty world.” Elizabeth Sutterlin deftly binds words to sensations, painting a vivid tapestry of emotions that dance between desire and vulnerability. Each poem within this collection serves as a testament to the power of the present moment. This collection is a genuine escape, a love letter to the intricacies of human connection and the indelible spirit of Southern California.
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“I can’t be the first person to have told you this, but your name is so easy and lovely to sing.” Emily Rudie embraces the bittersweet phases of absence and presence, as characters find companionship in unconventional ways. As readers journey through the story, they are compelled to confront their own relationship with loneliness and the ways in which they seek solace when faced with the false presence of others.
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“I see my old leotard as a cute body suit instead of a mirror of my body issues.” The boundaries of the ballet stage are shattered as she embarks on a soul-stirring journey of self-discovery. With a lyrical prowess reminiscent of a delicate pas de deux, Emma Bowen weaves their narrative with an intimate understanding of the transformative power of letting go.
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“My father wrote me a letter while I was in prison. I didn’t respond but he left an address. My grandmother says spontaneity is sometimes the best response.” Heart is hidden inside of a journey in Tony Wallin-Sato’s short story. The narrator takes us on a gripping expedition, attempting to unravel the enigma of his estranged father. Throughout the tale, we’re drawn into the vast expanse of rural countryside, and characters embedded throughout the soul-stirring odyssey. The narration guides us, revealing the jagged peaks and serene valleys of a young man and his determination to continue moving east.
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“But from the start, I recognized the inevitable. You would seep through the cracks, blow through the attic, fill my space until I could no longer breathe without you.” Through winding roads and endless miles, Rene Vasquez manipulates the path of an aching and hollow heart in search of a nameless love. As the tires hum through the precarious monologue, the narrator recalls the poignant memories that set them on their heartbreaking mission. As the protagonist continues forward in the vast expanse of the open road, emotions collide and intertwine—blending hope, regret and a breeze led by anticipation.
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“Sign your pharmacy card! Discounted safety, safely out of reach. We out know better.” Jordan Anthony peels back the layers of societal expectations to expose the vulnerable souls seeking authenticity in this short collection poetry. Each verse breaks from the predetermined mold of figurative language, inviting readers to question the very essence of what it means to be ones truest self, and the ailments that can sometimes deter from that same matter. In a realm where taboo meets enlightenment, Anthony’s words become a sanctuary where readers can explore their journeys of self discovery, and celebrate a life of true unfiltered acceptance.
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MADDY SNEEP unfurls a narrative where blame becomes artistry, and every seam fixes a portrayal of resentment. The lines flow from ethereal to blooms of melodic musings, a visual dedication to the birthing symphonies of the figurative language. The collection crafts sacrifice through a touching lens, reclaiming hollow spaces with a dash of warmth and connection that sets their poetry apart.
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Logan Anthony manages to mold the complexities of their poetic identity through their intricate style. Their poetry manages to explore the cyclical nature of self, pulling the readers into the persistent struggles of change. Each poem pleas and confesses, merging the desire to embrace life’s quests and devote themselves to the maze of truth.
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Jess L Parker’s poetry crafts a constellation of verses that promote the jagged beauty of existence. Parker captures the essence of time’s inexorable flow, marked by wounds, forgotten names, and the stark realization of efiance. The words sculpt and sting against the poems’ backdrop, feeding and promoting the grace the writer so easily permits.
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A mirage of adornment fed through nature’s epiphanies is what Alex Behar so effortlessly achieves. The senses become an additional tool when unpacking the foundation of their language. Messages sprouting and vining down the vessel that connects the two poems together. A smooth cadence echos from each poem’s structure, and the warmth that is pictured is only a reaction to how expressive the author is, even with very little dialogue. However, the texts speaks and screeches past the hollow bark that encages it—singing out the spirit of love, and how that love tests us.
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Through Savannah S. Miller’s infectious tone, the narrator pulls from the awkward best friend trope and turns it into medicinal magic. The setting follows the everyday escapade of a young adult following their friend into the folds of a wedding. The protagonist is seen battling with the comforting past that constructed their now estranged friendship, and what bubbles up to the surface is more than a modern day wedding attender can bear. Cunning as it is cutthroat, Savannah does not cut corners with this prolific piece.
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Delight lingering on the epic peninsula that is Hadley Dion’s words. A collage of gravity, defying line from line, and creating just enough tension to carry the reader to the very end of their masquerade of speech. A gristly massage of terrors encompassed with the soft finishing touches coming from the author’s touch. The mass of beautiful yet bludgeoning triumph is both a trick and a treat for anyone who reads this minor collection. Creating a sound with their use of exquisite detail, this body of poetry is sincerely at a tier of its own.
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Birthday Gifts is the poetic aftermath of an unforgiving love—not just for what we can’t have, but the love we steal from ourselves. Where the narrator meets their need for recreating a timeless dance of romance, as the hand strikes twelve at midnight, each year the protagonists remembers that restricted love, and how it plays with the seams of their livelihood. Amian Bent knows how to set the foundation for these stoic moments, and how to create just enough tension, so that those moments within a year seem to last forever.
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Sensuality and adoration mark up the prose that Kristan Saint-Preux so gracefully translates. A passionate and tasteful embodiment of intimacy, coined by Mother Nature’s nutrients, satisfying the reader by being just enough and not too gaudy. What’s even more fulfilling about every designated description, is how it fastens the reader’s ear to the melodic stream of similes, making each line all the more pleasant. Tantalizing as it is thrilling, a beautifully sexy tale.
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Where the corner of an epidemic meets the poised destruction of a fated romance. Ashley Pennock constructs a world where the two protagonists feel closer than touch, but far enough to emit a cold and rattling distance. The narration is told through a harrowing tone, and entices the reader by pulling them in and out of a questionable silence. What screams louder than the stripped salience in this short story, is the eager and unwarranted involvement of the reader acting as a bystander.
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What is found inside of a pop-up Paper Train is the stagnant meaning of a distressed romance. Celebrating the otherworldly perception occurring through the unnamed companions, Zeynep Su Öncel treats each line as delicate as the next, telling a story from the ripe intonations of a summer fling. What is theoretical in their involvement is solid in the pacing from beginning to end. What is left off the train tracks is the complicated existence of where they both came from, and trying to figure out if it’s something worth bringing along.
Read Pop-Up Summer Train
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A critical assessment of holiday paralysis, Rian Grey exposes the uncomfortable reality that resides on the backend of Christmas Day. The most festive time of the year becomes a challenging arrangement for this young couple, trying to piece together the joy etched into a NYC snowflake. Despite it all, love presents itself as abundant for the two, and even through the rocky yet solidifying phase of their companionship, they still find themselves searching for a parent’s undying love.
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A recent discovery becomes the blueprint of self deprecation in this short story by Jade Brown. A college student confronts the fractions of his past, while also being reminded of the pleasures that sent him crawling after false reliefs. Under a microscope of his humiliation, he clenches onto the ounce of stability that has always settled his selfishness. A modern commentary on the debilitated awakening of an illness, and the abuse that is endured by the sickly mind.
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Kiara Braum points a poetic finger towards the climate of 2023. Redirecting the power of their words at the essence of who we are and how we got here. Distinguishing the rights from the wrongs, and the remodeling it after the stiff idealists we’ve begged for. The poem understands the repetitive chinks that misshapen who we’re trying to be, and acts as a revolution towards the comfort in the uncomfortable.
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Manasa Karthikeyan’s collection of poems bedazzles the reader with its stunning language and sharp imagery. The poems work off of each other, creating a desirable tension that explodes at the end of each stanza. The thrilling narration speaks to the author’s gift of compacting just enough into very few lines, and developing thought-crenching moments that tread an exceptional line of exuberance and criticism.
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Leah Boxley slices open the foundations of intimacy, laying bare the aching tyrant hidden beneath the mundane gestures of a homemade meal. Each poem presents a spare yet cutting imagery that reveals the desperate hope for reciprocity—fulfilling a bittersweet solace of believing the pretense of meaning. With tumultuous language, the writer captures the visceral abandon of souls made weary by estrangement, now ready to erupt at the threshold of a hard-won wholeness. #publishwithpapers
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With lavish strokes, Holly Payne-Strange reimagines a daydream of bygone romance, letting fantasy unfurl into a swirl of silk skirts and English gardens. Each line trembles with an irrepressible longing for adventure, redefining the truest meaning of devotion. From the reflex of sacrifice kindled through months of camaraderie, to the unflinching anchor in stormy seas and twisted minds—the writer gets it right time and time again, and we are left unfolding at their ravishing imagination.
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Jade Han’s writing aches with a love so expansive it demands a divine ear. Each line swells with the futility of containment—seeking a listener unencumbered by mortal trappings. With tender repetition and lilting refrains, the writer paints a scenery of a bond transcending human understanding. The measured repetition echoes the plodding pace of progress, etching the journey of a narrator who has bested even the most cumbersome journeys.
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Ethan Audette dances around the patterns of a fractured romance. Connecting lines to words that follow the indelible mark of jealousy. Throughout the collection, shattered remnants of aspiration linger and descend into a blossoming crossfire, but with just the perfect amount of blaze. The sore outcome of unfulfilled potential flicker as unity dangles before the narrator’s tongue. A pensive and serendipitous love hangs at the bank of this rekindling and begs for the audience’s attention.
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Caterina Rossi captures a tale through the familiar eyes of an inanimate object. The portrait plays a distinct role as the protagonist continues to lean on unuttered dialogue; grappling both with the shadows brought on by their existential dread and the fallen nature of human connection. Speculation shrouds the fragile conscience that walks along the thin line of who someone is to themselves and the direction they fell fall behind from. The text leaves us crowded by the deceptive wastelands of the present, casting a considerable spell to the very end.
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Dana DeCicco’s verses combine the ambiguity of life’s most intimate details. Merging sensory invoking language with exceptional and unique writing. Self-awareness and discomfort ride along the spine of each stanza, dipping pleasure into vulnerability, and allowing the quintessential nuances of their work to drive the meaning behind each awakening moment. What lives beyond the surface of DeCicco’s words are the timeless qualities that spoil the reader with a fully realized plot, as well as a sequence that qualifies this collection as truest form art.
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Natasia Langfelder speaks directly to the inner-workings of a dismantled childhood. Gripping and enticing imagery sculpt the unsettling narrative, as the author effortlessly pulls and peels at the endangerment of a young child. What lies at the root of this poetic prose, is not only the dynamic and harrowing relationship between a mother and child, but the quest to uncover more than what is at the bottom of a bottle. The narrator exposes a reality that to some, is too sensitive to unravel, but to others, is too real to forget.
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Lucas Cowen shows that a plastic toy is more than just a monument of nostalgia, but what collects the scars through an emotional labyrinth. The renditions of boyhood are buried across this unpredictable journey, and holds a closeness to the speaker that follows them into the twinge of separation. An instrument such as an action figure, plagues on the symbolic structures of a playful imagination, and how those contrived memories can seem as plastic as the figurine itself. What Lucas Cowen achieves is bigger than the broken expectations hidden inside of a familial vault, but the consequences we endure through the sores of our youth.
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The ethereal components of this flash piece juggles the beauty and discomfort that awaits in the afterlife. Kath Richards unearths the nuances of camaraderie, and transports it into an unexpected surrealistic montage. The story follows colleagues, as they share stories, traverse the spectrum of emotions, and juggle with the introspective questions that transcend the many boundaries hidden inside of life and death. The fabric of hell is only a cloak for story, spinning the moments of love and self-discovery, and transforming them from an internal pit of a paradoxical sanctuary.