Author Archive

The Animalcuntent
words by Karla Huebner

The Animalcuntent

Dix said that it was an absurd poem, badly written and on a ridiculous subject. “It’s repetitive!” she said. “Like, I can get tired of [...]

Trajectories
words by Ian Sanquist

Trajectories

It was a gesture of good will for the boy to eat his sandwich. So, that was a start. He was looking at the space [...]

Alison Aleister, Party Planner
words by Faith Gardner

Alison Aleister, Party Planner

My new job at the Goodwill suits me because I’m not a people-person person. That is, I don’t mind people – it’s people who like [...]

We Live in a Harmonica None of Us Can Play
words by Forrest Armstrong

We Live in a Harmonica None of Us Can Play

“Huh?” I say once more, then I realize what happened. I reach up to touch my peach-soft forehead, lighter today because my thought-veil is gone.

The Inventors’ Justice
words by Matthew McCain Martin

The Inventors’ Justice

Some of his inventions—the effortless divider, the stretching plane, the miniature handle—lay amidst the floor, adding to the carpet of loss. Craig didn’t care. None of the inventors cared. They just kept inventing.

How to Watch Someone Sleep
words by Katie Manderfield | artwork by Skinny Gaviar

How to Watch Someone Sleep

Written by and reprinted here with permission from S.K. — world-renowned Sleep Watcher scholar and extraordinaire. Very calmly and with a certain intention not to [...]

The Slabtown Rumba
words by Kirsten Gwin

The Slabtown Rumba

Wearing a coat woven from the hair of twenty-two adult male African elephants, Samuel stepped out of his apartment to attend the funeral of a [...]

AIDS Metaphor #37
words by Thomas Kearnes

AIDS Metaphor #37

Over an unseen intercom, a woman trills nursery rhymes in high, breathy notes. The music percolates like a melody from a jack-in-the-box. They are happy. They shriek, they jump, they wag their fingers. One boy shouts, “I love you!” But there is no one else in the room.

Suicide is Not the Answer
words by Elijah Infinity

Suicide is Not the Answer

On a sunny September morning, I was pondering what kind of pills would provide me with the most comfortable ticket out of my body and [...]

Piranhas
words by Colin O'Sullivan

Piranhas

Nobody talks about piranhas anymore. I don’t know why they’ve been forgotten. Used to be all the rage when I was young. Boys mulling around [...]

King of Hearts
words by Simon A. Thalmann

King of Hearts

Marshall Spencer worked in the basement records room of the cancer center in downtown Kalamazoo. I know this because I worked two doors down the [...]

Kreg and Squirrel’s Quest for Food
words by Chris Aitkens | photo by Andrew Martin

Kreg and Squirrel’s Quest for Food

It was a half-hour walk from the punkhouse to downtown Detroit. Kreg enjoyed walking with his friend. They would push each other in a shopping [...]

Cancer
words by Thomas Kearnes | photo by Phil Landowski

Cancer

His back to me, Benjamin sits nude at the edge of the bed. I lie on my side a few feet behind him, also naked, [...]

Brand Me a Sinner

Brand Me a Sinner

Listen. No one is as shocked as I by my love for this man. I read My Booky Wook  (yes, the title is mind-numbingly stupid) [...]

Son
words by Edmund Colell

Son

Phil scratches his shriveled crotch through his Spiderman briefs, sitting at the coffee table with a brown, undersized “BEWARE OF POO” monkey shirt stretched above [...]