Tina Kelley Wolf Tree Alone in a field, it grew in every direction, asterisk of wood. If it were fireworks: chrysanthemum, crosette, palm, peony. If emotion: surprise, joy, optimism. If vocabulary: fractal, excrescent. A philosophy: If growth stops in one direction, try…
Ellen Kombiyil In The Old Apartment Before Language Fully Bloomed, The Landlord Tried To Evict Us The skeleton key lost, mismatched furniture hauled to the truck, Ma hollerin I’m ready to be done with this place, re-tracing her pacing…
K.T. Landon Who Are We in Heaven if we are perfect, our past a meadow burning in our wake? Who are you, mother, if not disappointed by me? Who am I without my self-righteous superiority? After the fire…
Marjorie Maddox Inside One house and this rhythm of ritual: 6:00 am, 8:00 am, 4:00 pm—our laptops open in the kitchen, the living room, a bedroom, Hellos at the refrigerator, while ascending/ descending the stairs, the constant tap of…
Twila Newey self-isolation Penelope’s Time to move slowly, up and down, as threads of grass in a strong wind without destination—bend, straighten,…
Sarah Sarai The Crooked Road Without Improvement “…among the most disturbing things to me were the long paved streets.” Nietzsche / Jugendschriften She is young: a fact which proves nothing. A twelve-year old in an abode on the…
Sarah Dickenson Snyder Skinhunger Don’t feel lost right now, I tell myself. Remember the skinhunger of your life— each new romantic love blossoming in your hand having to be on his leg as you sat shoulder to shoulder, the…
Sunita Theiss Sleep Regression Hours pass as he offers his unanswered tears, His pleading cries, anything for a sign from his mother. Tonight he wails, helpless— Will he learn what is true? That disappointments number greater than the waves…
MER VOX Quarterly – Summer 2020 Folios RIDING THE DANGEROUS WIND Flash Fiction curated by Tara Lynn Masih Emma Bolden, Marci Calabretta Cancio-Bello, Kathy Fish, Sherrie Flick, Rosie Forrest,Tara Laskowski, Dawn Raffel, Mary McLaughlin Slechta, Claudia Smith, Julia Strayer “The reality…
J.P. Howard Tanka for my Son During a Pandemic Our teen wants to stay safe inside our home each day We shelter him in Our home, the safest space now We Mamas don’t push, just love Haibun…