Tag Archives: connection

JENISE COOK: Revival

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Edward massaged his seventy-three-year-old back as he sat in his cramped attic. When he opened the largest box, he laughed out loud.

“Grandpa?” Maddox tapped his phone and removed his earbuds. “What’s that?”

“My old vinyls and my record player.”

“Cool! Play them for me.”

Edward’s heart swelled with pride.

Jenise Cook lives with her husband in the north-central highlands of Arizona where it snows. Jenise enjoys visitors to @jenisecook on Twitter and JeniseCook.com, where you can find a list of her published works.

NELLY SHULMAN: Emerald Fingers

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Watering a plant on the balcony, he glanced across the street, comparing his withering creature with a lush garden opposite. His neighbor’s eyes were green, her fingers were emerald. Taking a leaflet from his mailbox, “Plant care for busy professionals”, he smiled for the first time since losing his job.

Nelly Shulman is an author of four popular historical novels in the Russian language. She is working on the fifth novel in this series and on the non-fiction book about the Russian revolution. She is a recepient of three literary awards. nellyshulman.com

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Turning Around

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

I double-fist Coors on the porch. Listen through the Ponderosas for a truck sputtering, a horn. Purple shadows fall. A truck rolls by. The driver might offer a greeting. An invitation. Small talk. But when you live at the end of a road, it always turns around. Never looks back.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA fiction program. His stories, “Soon,” “How To Be A Good Episcopalian,” and “Tales From A Communion Line,” have been nominated for Pushcarts. Yash’s work has been published in The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others.

ANDREA DAMIC: Crumpled drawing #665

Submissions, , , ,

“It’s no good!”

Agitated, she starts another one, ever so slightly twitching her head.

A sudden squeeze on her shoulder.

Big sigh. Breathe… breathe… ever so slowly.

Dark eyes smile victoriously.

She jerks a gaze at the Man in White.

Bars on the windows make eerie shadows on the walls.

Andrea Damic lives in Sydney, Australia. She has written two children’s picture books and is working on a novel.

JEFFREY G MOSS: At the Aquarium, 1995

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Brooklyn winter
winds bite deep.

I hoist my toddler
to the window of
the beluga tank.

We wave our
mitten hands,
catch the attention
of the white cetacean.

Cuttail, like an adorable
cartoon character,
pops into frame.
Melon expands.
Blowhole bubbles stream.
My boy laughs
like a dolphin.

Triangulation achieved.

Jeffrey G. Moss is a Brooklyn born and bred author. He is branching out more and every day.

JENNIFER FREED: I Call My Mother

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , ,

Her talk floats, changes course
like blown soap bubbles. Then—

gone. Someone else’s
laughter comes near, draws hers.

She drifts
toward whoever is taking

her pulse, lifting her spoon,
doesn’t hear me

calling
into the receiver.

I stand in my kitchen, phone to ear,
listening

to the room she’s in

Jennifer Freed writes mostly poems. Her mother survived a cerebral hemorrhage two years ago. Learn more at jfreed.weebly.com.

ROSALEEN LYNCH: Providing Opportunities for Another to Excel

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I let her save me. Let her fish me from the sea and drag me to the shore. Push water from my lungs. Breathe for me. Bring me back to life.

She was afraid of everything until she realised her own strength. And how much I needed her to live.

Rosaleen Lynch is an Irish community worker and writer in the East End of London who pursues stories conversational, literary, and performed. She has words published in Jellyfish Review, EllipsisZine, Fish, Mslexia, The London Reader, Litro, and other lovely places and can be found on Twitter at @quotes_52 and 52Quotes.blogspot.com.

STEPHANIE JONES: When Death No Longer Exists

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I’ll walk with James to Central Park
in the middle of the night

and let him run off leash while
I climb every tree, even the red oaks
that stretch into the stars

until morning brings us to our senses,
squirrels emerge from their burrows
and all the stars disappear.

Stephanie Jones works as a features writer for DownBeat magazine and Hot House Jazz Guide. When time permits, she hosts a podcast called “After the Call.” Jones graduated from Wellesley College having studied with Frank Bidart and Alicia Erian, and earned her BFA in Jazz Performance from The City College of New York. See more at linkedin.com/in/meetmissjonesny.

CANDACE KUBINEC: Passing a Window Late at Night

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , ,

Our eyes met through the glass, a chance that may never come again.
For one short moment we connected. Then just as quickly, she was gone—a graceful, young fawn.
I look for her on clear nights and wonder if she looks for me while eating apples under my tree.

Candace Kubinec posts her stories at storydribbles.wordpress.com and her poetry at rhymeswithbug.com.

KEVIN G BUFTON: Mother Earth

Artistic, Submissions, ,

A fetal ball on freshly-turned loam, her tears seep into the soil. Amanda’s arms cradle her knees tight to her body.

Above: a mother – weeping, grieving, dying.

Below: another – reaching, loving, living.

Green shoots cover her fragile form. Mother is bonded with daughter.

She’ll sleep on the hillside soon enough.

Kevin G. Bufton has been writing flash fiction for nearly eight years and still hasn’t got it out of his system. He lives in Birkenhead with his wife and kids, who seem to tolerate him. He writes his darkest stories wearing his brightest shirts, and believes the world could do with more rum.