Soil Inventory

Toya L. Walker
I keep finding my mother in dirt.

After Graduation

Laura Jane Crawford
In the straitjacket of summer, we go to a movie about a dying man.

Motherhood

Kate Blakinger
For a time, I dreamed of babies.

Therapy

Dawn Tasaka Steffler
She always knew there was a mean girl inside of her.

Wellness Check

Kim Murdock
And she's whirling again, our mother, hair plastered like so much seaweed against her face.

Rowing

Jeff Friedman
He was so angry he couldn’t hear what she was saying.

We Chose “Resting Pose” Because He Was So Very Tired by the End

Emily Rinkema
Rusty was in no condition to be taxidermied, but it was too late.

The Suicide’s Sister

Sarah Freligh
I used to catch him studying the map of his right hand, forefinger tracing a highway of veins coursing north from wrist to palm, peninsula of fingers jutting into the air.

Four Seasons with Uncle Pidio

Veronica Montes
In the winter of my eighth year, Uncle Pidio pressed a nickel into my palm for every walnut I extracted, intact, from its shell.

Past Midnight, the Chicken Falls On Her From Above

Nicole Brogdon
bumpy webbed feet scratching her chest, beak pecking her arms as she enfolds it— what’s she supposed to do with this creature?

I ran into God in the snack aisle at Costco

Beth Sherman
where He was debating whether to buy shrimp chips or chocolate donut bites...

Kidney

Lindsey Godfrey Eccles
Now little brother’s scrambled up like eggs. Can’t hunt can’t fish can’t sit.

What I Believe About Work

Ra'Niqua Lee
I cut bubble wrap in a windowless factory. This is machine work, for metal levers. Human work is me feeding plastic to boxes.

The Absolute

Gary Fincke
To follow our guide is an absolute.

On the Rocks

Tina Barry
Life has dwindled for Sarah. One busted knee and there goes the sequined skating costumes, the tiny skirts and razor-sharpened skates. Forget triple axels and the ecstatic crowds.

Where it leads

James Montgomery
For years, doctors shone torches, scientists ordered scans, the child sitting patiently throughout, occasionally lifting his palm from his forehead with a tiny suction-cup pop.

Pocket Dad

Nicole Brogdon
Once, I was small and he was a giant, making me jump for the razor strap hanging above the toilet, to whip me.

Extremophiles

Emily Hall
Knee-deep in the eggy marsh, Dr. Smith and three classmates lifted a refrigerator from the water like pallbearers. Hinges rusted, drooping.

Only Perfection Can Save Us

Chelsea Stickle
There’s a cemetery under my house where I’ve buried all the old versions of me that didn’t work out, abandoning them in the damp darkness that would otherwise gnaw me to the bone.

Returned

Brandon McNeice
We lost the case on a single word I bent. The interpreter oath pinned my lapel. Not asylum, “haven.” I said it softer, my tongue stalling on the s, and the officer checked “safe.” The folder shut like a door.