by Michael Mark
She made the pants too wide
so when he tried them on
he was swallowed up like out
of the Bible. It’s because you
Tag Archives: Family
The Graduation Present
by J.G. Alderburke
When Viola opened her eyes, her husband was gone. She let her arm flop across his side of the bed and sighed. She supposed he could be in the shower or downstairs somewhere but the house sounded too quiet for that. Viola dressed and wandered into the kitchen. She filled two mugs with coffee then walked to the front window. Her husband was on the lawn digging at something Viola couldn’t see. Continue reading
Filed under Fiction
The Third Most Valuable Spice
by Phoebe Yeoh
“Did you know,” my grandmother quipped, “that cardamom is one of the most expensive spices in the world?” We were baking in her big yellow kitchen, our annual tradition on Christmas Eve. Snow fell softly outside the big bay window, glass steamed up with the scent of her famous Pebernødder. “Saffron and vanilla are the only ones that cost more.” She kissed me on the cheek and leaned down to pop a little cookie dough ball into my mouth, just as she always had for the past twenty-three years. Continue reading
Filed under Fiction
When My 13-Year-Old Niece Doesn’t Want to Get the Piñata Candy Anymore
by Jose Hernandez Diaz
I realize she is no longer a little girl. No longer will she read
Where the Sidewalk Ends. She will find new books, new authors, Continue reading
Filed under Poetry
Dragon Run
by Bronwyn Hughes
The rusty Texaco star clung to its pedestal above Main Street, welcoming me back to my hometown. Beneath, a brightly painted visitor center had displaced the long-defunct filling station where we used to smoke cigarettes. Were they expecting tourists? I strained to see the bones of Mobjack Courthouse under a veil of self-consciously cute updates, like sidewalk bump-outs planted with native seagrasses.
Filed under Fiction
Hawaii Pacific Review 