Tag Archives: Yash Seyedbagheri

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Captured Love

Submissions, Touching, , , , ,

Mom never lets me visit.
Space is too tight. Writing deadlines.
No mention of a bedroom after a year.

If I question, she says love transcends space. I’m too domestic in attitude. Like Dad.

I spend weekends with movie moms.
At least it’s easy to capture and recapture a hug.

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

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Rich on Five Dollars

Amusing, Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

We count pennies, dollar bills gone.
With each clink of pennies, we imagine the weight of wealth.
But after rent, utilities, closed credit cards, and expensive Merlots we needed but didn’t, we have five dollars.
That’ll buy a McChicken. A Coke. Bags of chips.
At least it’s not two dollars.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. A native of Idaho, Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts, Write City Magazine, and Ariel Chart, among others.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Mourning Mama

Artistic, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

Mom wears a tight smile now.

But give me Mama and fairy tales about overthrowing rich kings.
Mama, an open curtain, waltzing under moonlight after fights with Dad.
Mama, drowning fatherly fusillades with dirty jokes.
Not Mom who draws curtains, slinks through bills and empty rooms.

Mama.
A cracked word.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His story, “Soon,” was nominated for a Pushcart. Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, Café Lit, and Ariel Chart, among others.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Inbox Emptiness

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , ,

Nancy vanquishes electronic rejections from lit mags, slays alumni newsletters, and eliminates campaign letters.

They call her, “Dear Nancy.”

She prefers Nance, Nanny, old nicknames conveying light footsteps, laughter, whispered secrets. She wishes they’d ask about her worst day. Her favorite movie.

Empty spaces taunt.

Full inboxes hide so much.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, Café Lit, and Ariel Chart, among others.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Cracked Lives

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

I smash Mother’s clay flowerpot with a basketball. It splits into multiple pieces.

Dad sifts through the pieces.

“Some things can’t be replaced,” he murmurs.

I wish he’d hate me. Or hit me. Yell.

I glue piece after piece. Fill the pot with the lilacs Mother had planned.

Cracks remain.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. A native of Idaho, Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, CaféLit, and Ariel Chart, among others.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Invaders

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

Once, we called people coming to the hills visitors.

Virus spreads. They’re invaders. Carriers.

Rolling beige RVs and trucks resemble tanks.

We defend the market. Wrap ourselves in the royal we. Sterilize, stock toilet paper. We don’t see frightened families, young couples wearing naked impulse and fear.
Invasions are easier.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, Café Lit, and Ariel Chart, among others.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: I Am

Artistic, Submissions, , ,

I am clipped diagnoses.

Dead wife? What good is lamenting?

Runaway parent? Think of the hurt you were spared.

But at night, I cry for patients. For a boy who once wore a broad smile, now a fool in an office searching for lost mothers and wives.

I am questions.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, CaféLit, (mac)ro (mic), and Ariel Chart.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: The Nose Knows

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

I have Dad’s nose, long and hawkish.
I also lose my temper over small noises, criticize people’s musical choices.

I feel shame and power.
I also try not to use the word “I,” Dad’s favorite.

Surely a nose isn’t a harbinger. I also have Mother’s eyes.

I block all mirrors.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. Yash’s work is forthcoming or has been published in WestWard Quarterly, Café Lit, 50 Word Stories, (mac)ro (mic), and Ariel Chart.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Dinner Dreaming

Submissions, Touching, , ,

Nick feels shame buying TV dinners. Stroganoff. Salisbury steak.

Others buy steaks, corn. Things that connote family. Families who move about, laughing, sharing secrets, brushing past Nick.

He picks up a steak, marvels at its robustness. Drops in the cart.

Nick imagines a wife smiling across a table.

He smiles.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His work has been published or is forthcoming in Literally Stories, 101 Words, (mac)ro (mic), and Ariel Chart.

YASH SEYEDBAGHERI: Home, Where Are You?

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Nick’s hometown is missing. Where are silent evening streets, where he cruised in his Subaru and listened to oldies?

Cars roar, faces consumed by exhaust.

Where are the small shops, sizzling with pizza and cigarettes? Easily walkable blocks?

Skyscrapers rise, proud monsters.

Nick wanders, denying, not ready to bury home.

Yash Seyedbagheri is a graduate of Colorado State University’s MFA program in fiction. His stories are forthcoming or have been published in Café Lit, Mad Swirl, and Ariel Chart, among others.