Poetry by Ralph La Rosa This winter night two fugitives from Jackson Prison rob his store out in suburbs where he lives, blind and bind him, knock him out, stuff him on their Dodge’s floor, and drive him north for Canada. They startle him awake before the border, yank him out, unblind his eyes. He’sContinue reading “A Long Walk”
Category Archives: Dark Literature
Shots Ring Out
By Matthew Senn My daddy was a paranoid man. Had every right to be too, ‘course. He’d always figgered someone would come lookin’ for ‘im one day. Never went into much more detail than that. One mornin’, he hears some shots ring out. He was a corn farmer then, our patch a land went fromContinue reading “Shots Ring Out”
The Face Keeper
By Gratia Serpento Kenan watches his wife as she moves about the bathroom, brushing her teeth and readying herself for bed, quietly humming a Black Eyed Peas song as she always does. His wife is wearing old pajamas that have stains and holes, her dark hair tied up in a ratty bun, and she hasContinue reading “The Face Keeper”
A Drive to the Park
By Carl Bluesy “Why did you let me die daddy?” Cindy asked. I was stunned and at a loss for words. An oncoming Honda Civic swerved into my lane. My windshield filled with light. I was in pain as the seat belt tightened across my chest. The light vanished along with my vision. I thoughtContinue reading “A Drive to the Park”
Immeasurable Acts of Violence
By Cullen Corkery At some point, the noise and rhythmic thumping of a bass-boosted stereo became too much, despite the coke we’d snorted earlier in the bathroom upon arriving, and despite the vodka cranberries I’d been guzzling half the night. I focused my eyes and found Ray a couple yards down from the balcony whereContinue reading “Immeasurable Acts of Violence”
The Butcher
By Pablo Agrio He was ready to go, but terribly afraid. Death was knocking at the door and he knew it. He used to be big a man, but old age had shrunk him. White hair with a touch of gray. Liver spots covered his face. A new arrival he was. Hospice the best option.Continue reading “The Butcher”
Worms
by Tyler Grant Worms… There’s so many different kinds: threadworms, roundworms, whipworms, and hookworms, just to name a few. Often, people carry these little parasites for years without even knowing they’re inside them. But they are. And they’re feeding off of us. If enlightened, you might say that’s normal, that there’s medicine for them, butContinue reading “Worms”
Doldrums
By Eve Taft Journal recovered from the CS Dolores, found empty and dead in the water on July 9, 2005. The crew, including Ben Hawthorne, author of the journal, remain missing and presumed dead. July 6, 2005I’m sober again. I took a job on a container ship as an “Ordinary Seaman.” My brother didn’t evenContinue reading “Doldrums”
The Pen
by Merve Oncu She looks at me in the same way as she did ten years ago. Her smile has never changed, but is still the same insulting grin. She wasn’t talking, but all throughout Thanksgiving dinner, her eyes didn’t stop speaking. I want to have an argument with her but she doesn’t say anythingContinue reading “The Pen”
Santa Cruz 1970
By Carl Boon I live over on Collier in a duplex with a Mexican girl who’s studying to be a nurse’s aid. She wants to work in a mental hospital after watching some documentary about schizophrenics on Channel 6. I tell her some of those people would just as soon stick a fork through herContinue reading “Santa Cruz 1970”