Backblast Area Clear by Karen Skolfield
“Backblast Area Clear” by Karen Skolfield “I shot one of those,” I say to Dennis, pointing at the screen. It’s a light anti-tank weapon, a LAW, long fiberglass tube, next to weightless. I was 17 when I picked it up, drill sergeant beside me on the firing line, an instructor guiding this gigantic straw onto my shoulder. Even the small-size uniform looked ridiculous on me. So I have the LAW on my shoulder and...
Nocturne by Charlotte Muse
“Nocturne” by Charlotte Muse Into the always mysterious air, place of breath and wings, the moon is rising It reveals by its milky light a dull gleam of wakeful eyes The teeth of marauders Outlines of mountains and trees– enough to reassure A path to itself, straight across the water and then up Where the owl’s nest is, and its comings and goings How the owl is its own shadow and its shadow’s shadow An...
No Radio by Sokunthary Svay
“No Radio” by Sokunthary Svay i. Sinn Sisamouth, Khmer poster boy resonating tenor of every residence off rooftops on radios a voice that chilled and warmed Beloved, iconic face decapitated pasted over bodies in posters ii. My father is lost at Gun Hill Road in the Bronx. A voice interrupts my daze sprays 60’s...
L’Orange by Page Lambert
“L’Orange” by Page Lambert I’m having a pedicure at Ivy’s Nails and Spa. The shop owner is Vietnamese. Her seven sisters and one brother work here too. The shop is immaculate. Ivy and I talk about her homeland while she files my toenails. When her father, a prosperous businessman, lost everything, he was given $200 to start a new life...
The Late Afternoon Crashed All Around by Karin Cecile Davidson
“The Late Afternoon Crashed All Around” by Karin Cecile Davidson Excerpt from “The Late Afternoon Light Crashed All Around” – first published in Iron Horse Literary Review, Father’s Day Issue, June 2011 My daddy, Charles Royal Blackwood, III, was ranked a Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps, his uniform sleeve decorated with three chevrons and a pair of crossed rifles. Mama had long since dubbed him Royal...