Prose
Go Hard or Go Home
NOT NORMAL On April 26, 2019, the former quarterback of the record-setting Clairton Bears in Clairton, Pennsylvania, was shot dead a block from the stadium where he once led the team to its fourth straight state crown. He was twenty-three. At his funeral, a preacher pointed at Armani Ford’s white casket and said, ‘‘This is …
A World of Tangled Vines, Falling Berries, Bruised Grapes, Rough Rinds, and Ripening Flesh
Mom cracks the packed dirt with a hand hoe and turns it over again and again. She works right through dinnertime and doesn’t come out of the yard when her arms start to ache and her knees stiffen. Above her, the sky closes up. The pace of Eastern Circle slows down. Kids stroll through the projects …
that time u wore enyce kinda changed my life
this may come 2 late 2 b meaningful, but, i used 2 sneak thru ur drawers n read all ur letters. i just wanna confess that 1st. finding those letters 2 ur bffs n hi school boyfriends was 1 of the hi lites of sharing a room with u. ur shorthand was expert level, u made …
Nayla
There was sun and then there was more sun and more sun. You can’t imagine loss when it’s sunny. Everything reflects, the sides of buildings, dirty, dusty windows offer half a version of a sad tired face. You squint and rooms appear tilted, the sky unbearable, and then when—like a turtle, worm, or whatever it is that …
The Finger of God
You have not come to a mountain that can be touched and that is burning with fire; to darkness, gloom and storm. Hebrews 12:18 It was a warm night in early June—the Midwestern kind of warm specific to spring, the air so thick it’s hard to breathe, so wet it feels as if you’re swimming—when a …
Lilacs
There was a photo from my childhood that I hated of me and the lilacs. I was standing in the backyard of our house in New Jersey, and my motherhad asked me to pull a lilac blossom closer to my face. I didn’t want to pose with the lilacs in my face. It felt artificial and …
Nowhere Place
Loosely tethered to my body, my psyche resists its physical boundaries. Reaches out, trying to escape from this breathing object, me, but it can only go so far. My fingers curl and uncurl, clench and unclench. Spasms of habit trigger points of pain in my wrist and the joints of my hands. Tighten my fists until …
The Last Woman on Earth
The Last Woman on Earth lives in Los Angeles. She’s single and in her thirties, five foot seven, 145 pounds, a Virgo. She is the world’s most famous celebrity. Her talk show has the largest viewership of any tv program, with higher ratings than the Super Bowl and reruns of old Miss Universe pageants. The Last Woman on Earth …
Animal Rhetoric
I. Thesis The week before Graham Bryant killed his girlfriend, he turned in a paper to my first-year composition course, Animals and Society, arguing that dogs should have the same rights as human beings. The first paragraph reads: It is agreed there are basic rights that everybody shares. This is supported by the U.S. Declaration of Independence (Wikipedia). For …