Moonshine

by Neema Samawi 

I’ve thought a lot about the way I died. Flashes of it come back to me on nights like this, when jackets pile by the door and voices mingle with the delicate taps of wine bottles placed on countertops. Harvey, the host of tonight’s housewarming, hovers in the foyer and gives tours to new arrivals. His eyes shimmer behind fishbowl glasses, darting between the entrance and the guests collected inside. He shuffles from foot to foot, glances at his phone. The doorbell rings.

Two men appear in the doorway, one in a Ralph Lauren sweater, the other with Stegosaurus spikes for hair. “Should we take off our shoes?” Sweater Guy asks, and Harvey gently requests they do. Timberlands, loafers, and about ten pairs of white sneakers line the entrance. I follow them as they follow Harvey up to his bedroom. Continue reading

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Mangoes, 1969

by Lee Cooper

It was a good year for mangoes,
when we lived on rice, canned tuna,
Kool-Aid with too little sugar,
and the mangoes everyone gave us. Continue reading

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What I Mean When I Say I Want to Hold My Grandmother When She Was a Baby

by Marianne Kunkel

A joke.
But really, I mean it—
cradle her warm, wiggly body
dripping in lace blankets.
Eggshell-sleek
face, eyes like dark pencil marks
gouging paper. Continue reading

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From a Drained Concrete Pool

by Everett Jones

My skateboard throws me off, front wheels
caught on a rock in the shallow
end. My knees kiss pavement and instinct shuts
my eyes before I glide Continue reading

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Last Light

by Vanessa Blakeslee

Three days before Columbus Day weekend, the Aurora borealis was predicted to shine over New England with the best chances for clear night skies over coastal Maine, and the elderly father insisted that his sons drive him to see the phenomenon. He and their mother had always yearned to see the Northern Lights but had missed their chance, now that she had passed away in August. A trip to see the Northern Lights was something he wanted to do on what would have been their anniversary weekend, his first as a widower, to honor her memory. Continue reading

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