Tag Archives: joy

LYNN KOZLOWSKI: Outside the Ice Cream Shop

Artistic, Submissions, , , ,

Four tanned old women sit on a wooden bench. Friends in shorts and colorful tops. No conversation. Each is working on a generous, diet-breaking, double-scooped ice cream cone on the sweltering day. They are happy, engrossed in the cold pleasures of their choices. No worries but the race against drips.

Lynn Kozlowski’s writing has appeared in such places as The Citron Review, The Zodiac Review, Molecule, 50-Word Stories, Every Day Fiction, The Dribble Drabble Review, and Friday Flash Fiction. He has a volume of short pieces, Historical Markers.

MATTHEW EICHENLAUB: Springtime in Maine

Artistic, Submissions, , , , ,

March.
Rutted, half-frozen, mud-soup-ugly
tailspinning tire tracks and grizzled snow
shapeshifting to angry slush clogging
the windshield spray nozzles
on my Tacoma pickup.

April.
Glistening wet branches, swollen green
buds popping, sinful yellow Goldfinches,
black humus, fresh plantings outside
the library, and my stealing a cat-glance
at the landscaper’s helper.

Matthew is fortunate to sometimes live near a lake in Maine where loons swim and sometimes yodel and hoot late at night. And sometimes on a day like this with few clouds in the sky and mountains in the distance a warm breeze will sweep across the lake and take your breath away.

KL MILL: Reunion

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

I am weightless. Untethered. The world and my memory of it fades away, and though time no longer exists, I know that I am waiting for someone.

Fractals of brilliant color burst, and she is there, running towards me.

I bury my face in her fur. Good girl, I whisper.

K. L. Mill is a voice actor, another profession that revolves around words. Most recently her work has been published by Black Hare Press, Hungry Shadow Press, and Atomic Carnival.

CAROL TYMANN: Play It Again

Submissions, Touching, , , ,

A bonus day with my granddaughter
Doing whatever occurs to her moment to moment
Her shameless giggling
Her quick-silver mind
Her soft-as-dough hugs
Her pillowy hand
Her huger-than-life heart
Her limitless imagination
Her endless potential

I’m the luckiest girl alive to tread this giddy path long ago and now… again.

Carol Tymann writes, reads, walks, and plays in upstate New York.

BILL COX: First Steps on the Dark Road

Adventure, Submissions, , , , ,

The little boy runs out into the garden, throwing shards of bread onto the lawn. He watches as sparrows come and feed. After five minutes, he nods with satisfaction. The formula works. He skips back inside, leaving behind a dozen small corpses, wondering who he should try it on next.

Bill lives in Aberdeen, Scotland, yet another time-travelling refugee fleeing from the Ant Dictatorship of the Twenty-fourth century.

CHRIS LIHOU: Aromatic Wood

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

The project did not matter; it was all about the aroma. The more sawdust produced, the more shavings he curled off the wood, the more his nostrils were filled with a smell that transfixed him into a Zen-like state. On some days he was even known to make something useful.

Chris Lihou is retired, now finding his voice via writing; including 50 word fiction.

THAD DeVASSIE: Yellow

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

Is it more than diffused sunlight, of rounded, color-filled smiles, daffodils and aged linseed oil? Yes, of course. But behold the yellow I’ve known, an in-between color — a warning, starting as jaundice, coming full circle with every white faded — teeth, eyes, nail beds — then ceasing in the familiar embalmer’s hue.

Thad DeVassie is a multi-genre writer and fine art painter who creates from the outskirts of Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of three chapbooks and was awarded the James Tate International Poetry Prize in 2020. Find his written and painted works at thaddevassie.com.

AMY PRICE: Younglings

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

In the frosted woodland spotlights they danced,
whimsically, of course, as Younglings should,
to a melody of whistling Robins and crispy, crunchy leaves.
And all the while, they plucked blackberries,
staining fingers and lips purple,
igniting giggles,
as sweet as this moment of childhood magic
before the clipping of wings.

Amy Price is a creative writing student from Wales.

DEIRDRE SMITH: Suncatcher

Artistic, Submissions, , , , , ,

The unannounced sun beams into the kitchen, spotlighting its flaws.
A forensic scene of children’s fingerprints, toasted crumbs, and syrupy smudges.
Crayola-coloured patterns of joy dance across the floor as he bends his way through a window crystal.

In the evening, the truth is gone, but so are the rainbows.

Deirdre Smith has dabbled in writing for as long as she can remember. She is a stay-at-home mom and a part-time Guidance Counsellor. She resides in the always colourful St. John’s, Newfoundland.

BOB THURBER: I’ll need to do some dying before I’m done

Artistic, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

I don’t know how the dying do it.
I keep a list of my dying friends.
When one speaks I listen.
When one makes some remark about death, I jot it down.
There are far fewer than one might think.
It’s life they talk about. The blessing of each day.

Bob Thurber is the author of six books. Regarded as a master of Flash and Micro Fiction, his work has appeared in Esquire and other magazines, been anthologized 60 times, received a long list of awards, and been utilized in schools and colleges throughout the world. He resides in Massachusetts. Visit his website at BobThurber.net.