Mud Season ReviewOn the Family Mantle
by Diandra Holmes
My great grandfather fit into a cigar box
when he was born. His fingers were pale,
wrinkled like poorly rolled cigarettes.
They thought to place his cradle
in the trash heap next to the blue glass bottles
and empty tins of sardines…
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Hitler Stamp
by Paul Hostovsky
I traded ten triangular
Mongolian stamps for Hitler,
Hitler who killed my father’s
whole family.
My father hated Hitler.
He refused to say Hitler’s name…
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The Seven Last Words
by Terry Minchow-Proffitt
Father, forgive them; for they do not know what they are doing. (Luke 23:34)
Looks like we’ll spend the better part
of Valentine’s Day together
at the cancer center, sitting
with our backs against the window
beneath this morning light…Read more
Almost a Mother
by Artress Bethany White
The sight of a postpartum belly
recalls the missing folds
of loose flesh between her own hips
declaring she’d never
given birth, but was once
almost a mother.
It is the heart that contracts
in these moments
instead of the womb…Read more
Morning Prayers
by David Biespiel
Your God says look behind you,
watch your back,
Become the life in your hands,
walk like a shadow,
Lose the afternoon,
knot the hour,
seek the future,…Read more