Featured Works: Week of Jan. 22 (Winter)
Winter came quickly here in Philadelphia. The week before Christmas, dried leaves still blew around our browned grass. In the past few weeks, snow has enshrouded our area, leading to delays and cancellations, but also sled rides and winter reflection. This week’s contributors examine that turn of the seasons into full-fledged winter. In “Tonight It Looks Like Someone Forgot to Turn Off the Lights” by Jim Zola, winter makes a father contemplate past and future. “In That Winter Meadow” by Lyn Lifshin paints a vivid landscape of the change of...
Read MoreFeatured Works: Week of Dec. 25 (New Year)
The goal, for each new year, is to learn from our past so that we do not repeat our mistakes. Our contributors this week gaze into the past, future and present, helping us navigate a new path. “Yet Another Year” by Bibhu Padhi looks backward — and forward — with a mix of hope and trepidation. “The World As It Could Be” by Nathan Large imagines a dystopian future. “Against Black Riders from the Desert” by Henry Goldkamp contemplates the nature of existence over a round of...
Read MoreFeatured Works: Week of Nov. 20 (Thanksgiving)
This week in the United States, we celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday for food, family, and a host of hang-ups. Our contributors this week touch on one of those troubles, namely family friction. “Pet” by Rob Hunter reimagines an animal nuisance as a member of the family. “Approximately 465 Words of Sterling Wisdom” by Janice Canerdy offers tips to figures out if you’re annoying. “Past, Present, Popcorn” by Brett Riley links the making and consumption of a snack food with family...
Read MoreFeatured Works: Week of Nov. 6 (Travel)
One of the most wonderful discoveries to me as a young reader was that, through words, I could go anywhere. Let’s take a trip with this week’s contributors. “Automne Memoires en Provence” by Larsen Bowker uses evocative images of a place to recall a friend. “Flying to New Jersey” by Michael Fraley whisks us across the country in a trip as full of anxiety as wonder. “The Church of Los Corales” by Julia Torres provides a snapshot of both a place and a community. “The Mad Girl Remembers Leaving the Old Year Behind in Madrid” by Lyn Lifshin shares the experience of...
Read MoreFeatured Works: Week of Oct 30 (Fall Garden)
Deep into Autumn here in the Northeastern part of the United States, our contributors cultivate a vision of the season. “Incoming Fall” by Joanna Weston provides a snapshot of a garden in early fall. “For Solitude’s Sake” by John Grey evokes that certain quality of autumn light that produces conflicting emotions. “Biophilia” by Michael Estabrook captures a moment of beauty in a backyard garden. “The Garden of God” by Michael H. Brownstein uses the garden as a metaphor for grief. “Cauldron” by Ayaz Daryl Nielsen reveals to us the calm magic of sunset. “Fall in...
Read MoreFeatured Works: Week of Sep 4 (Beauty All Around)
Through the eye of an artist, the eye of a poet, we can find beauty everywhere, as this week’s contributors demonstrate. “American Exceptional” by Llyn Clague serves as an ars poetica, finding inspiration all over America. “Cleveland Haiku #384” and “Cleveland Haiku #385” by Michael Ceraolo encapsulate moments in the city where he lives. “Always Assessing Size” by David Thornbrugh contemplates what animals notice about the world. “Blue Loneliness,” “Distinct” and “Exile” by Fabrice...
Read More