Sweat trickled down his brow, stopping hesitantly in his thick sideburns before rolling down underneath his plain white undershirt. “One more time?” the little boy said earnestly. One. More. Time. The words stuck with him like glue, transporting him back to the sultry afternoon in a backwoods church in southwest Alabama. St. Stephens Pentecostal church …
Candles for Orlando, June 15, 2016 Five hundred, twenty-five thousand, six hundred minutes. What happens in the span of a year is a blur of motion: feelings smeared across a moving train, purple sorrow, red hurt, green anger, and yellow fear. It’s a whirlwind of emotion, pain twisting around regret and spiraling into depression. But …
After tragedy— when cherished bodies break— we see things clearly. I’m driving to the hospital with lilies for my mother. Ian C. Williams is an MFA student at Oklahoma State University. He has received the Florence Kahn Memorial Award from the National Federation of State Poetry Societies for his chapbook, House of Bones, and his …
The first time I did cocaine was off Billy Joel’s face. My boyfriend, Shawn, lined a row over Billy’s mouth on the cover of Piano Man. I remember leaning down with the dollar bill in my fingers, locking eyes with Billy, wondering why his eyes were sad, and wondering if I was going to do …
Continue reading “Wasted? So is Your Life” By Jacqueline Kirkpatrick
“What are you in for?” The man above me said. The bed creaked as he rolled over to the edge and peered his bald, pale-white head down at me. His skin was unkempt. His five o’clock shadow glowed in the low light. It made my skin itch. “A domestic disturbance. It was nothing really.” I …
Continue reading “But I didn’t do anything!” By Michael Heiss
Burnt Pine 