Sculptures by Christina Murphy

A Change of Life by Peter Charles

Social networks are a very real form of Virtual Reality,

Details by Shane Graber

Freckles by Kim Teeple

/the signs of transformed life are everywhere,

Louis Comfort Tiffany by Bill West

Lately

Don't Even Think About It

Snowman by Heidi Heimler

Out of Rock! Now

Old Man

The Bicycle Mechanic

Excerpts from our

Ann Walters

Managan

Lauren Strait

In Time

Poetry Prompts

The line may be elegant and graceful or infused with a powerfully rhythmic and whiplike force.

Kate and Mark are lovers who share a bond over their troubled pasts. Kate is a counsellor who helps Mark cope with his guilt over the death of Agnes, an elderly painter he befriended while working as an estate agent. Mark was involved in a shady scheme to buy and rent back Agnes’s house, but the company he worked for evicted her without his knowledge. Agnes hanged herself in her garage, and Mark discovered her body. He quit his job, left his partner Steve, and became homeless until he met Kate at a sports centre.

The story alternates between their present relationship and Mark’s flashbacks of Agnes. Kate tries to understand Mark’s demons and support him, while Mark struggles with his remorse and self-loathing.

Bonnie Peeples claims that her family heirloom, a woollen carpet made from the fleece of a green sheep named Sam, has gone missing. She calls the Missing Persons Bureau and two police officers come to investigate. They soon discover that Bonnie is not as senile as they thought, and that there is more to the story of Sam the Ram than meets the eye.
The story is written in a humorous and whimsical tone, with references to nursery rhymes and Irish folklore. The author uses dialogue and description to create vivid characters and settings, and to reveal the mystery behind the green sheep. The story explores themes such as family history, identity, memory, and belonging. It also challenges the stereotypes and prejudices that people have about the elderly and the mentally ill.

A character driven story set in a French restaurant: This short piece explores themes of loneliness, aging, and identity through the protagonist's quirky and humorous voice.

Excerpt from Chapter 12, "No Longer a Ward of the State," from "Point of Comfort," by Judith A. Lawrence," a Memoir in two parts, published January, 2023..

"The last weekend of June, Johnny and I drove to Maryland. We applied for our marriage license and were told we would be able to pick it up in two weeks.
We hoped to be married in the same Methodist church as Ben and Elaine.
On a Friday night Johnny pulled up in front of the house in his clunker of a car. I stole down the stairs with my beat up suitcase full of my personal things with a few clothes stuffed in. It would be all I had if Violet would not allow me to retrieve other things when I returned."

There are two constants in the poetry of John Mannone: love and science… And they are intertwined--his poems flow effortlessly between poles of desire and precious, precise knowledge.

In the world of poetry there is no one who can mine science for metaphor the way Mannone does. Nor move to love so naturally.
--Roald Hoffmann, chemist and writer, professor emeritus at Cornell University and co-recipient of the 1981 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

The Boy by Yvette Managan is a short story about a young boy named Mickey who struggles to adjust to his new baby sister and his mother's strict expectations. He finds solace in his loyal dog Smokey and his adventurous spirit. The story follows him on a Christmas Eve when he goes to church with his family and then races home with Smokey, enjoying the freedom and joy of being a boy.

Shadow People is a short story about three cousins who live in a mansion called Violet Ridge near Seneca Lake. The cousins are David, Trey and Katie, who have different ages, personalities and challenges. David is a schizophrenic who smokes and eats peaches to cope with his condition. Trey is a loyal and protective brother who starts seeing shadowy figures in the woods. Katie is a religious and eccentric girl who loves her dollhouse and teacups. The story explores their relationships, their secrets and their struggles with mental illness, loneliness and family history.

Gilbert Sorrentino was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1929. In 1956, Sorrentino founded the literary magazine Neon with friends from Brooklyn College, including friend Hubert Selby Jr. He edited Neon from 1956 to 1960, and then served as editor for Kulchur from 1961 to 1963.

After working closely with Selby on the manuscript of Last Exit to Brooklyn (1964). Sorrentino was an editor at Grove Press from 1965 to 1970, where one of his editorial projects was The Autobiography of Malcolm X.

Wendy travels to America to meet her husband Bertram. She is his second wife, his first died in a car crash and she is nervous; insecure about their relationship and her decision to join him as he completes one last work assignment before he retires. Along the way, she encounters various obstacles and challenges that test her courage and faith. The story explores themes of love, and loneliness.