On a scale of one to ten, Taylor Hoffman’s confidence bounced between 7.5 and 9. He knew his little sister was going to die, had known it for some time, hadn’t said those words to anyone ever, and didn’t intend to. A solid student, he lived off-campus with two other guys and worked two afternoons […]
Fiction: Vanessa Hoffman’s Conversations on Life and Living and Death and Dying: Section Six Part Two by Victor Kreuiter
Lauren walked around the bed, took her chair, flopped an arm on her daughter’s bed and leaned toward her. “I thought your dad was a jock, okay? For whatever reason. He was on a scholarship and I just assumed it was a baseball scholarship. He had that kind of look, that’s what I thought right […]
Fiction: McQuitty by Ray Greenblatt
The poetry reading had been going well. This annual Philly event drew a sizable crowd, but this year—for unexplained reasons—the hall was jammed. Crammed in the third row, at the break I stood to stretch and look around. McQuitty, one of our greatest local poets, was sitting at the end of the last row. I […]
Poetry: both by Jeff Hartnett
both how wrong the aloneness of my Father’s body, slumped in the reverberant too-small bath. and Mother, cupping His head, mapped with violent-violet scans, explorations of hope, reduced, a crown of purple thorns, a porcelain throne, draped in linen terrycloth. damn God! he’s unskinned, out of his shell of Fatherness, adrift, washed into the sea, […]
Fiction: Vanessa Hoffman’s Conversations on Life and Living and Death and Dying: Section Six Part One by Victor Kreuiter
Lauren Hoffman walked into her daughter’s room, dragged a chair next to the bed, dropped her purse beside the chair and sat. Vanessa was lying on her side, pillows at her back, a pillow between her calves, two under her neck and head. Her hands were under the covers and the covers were pulled up […]
Fiction: Vanessa Hoffman’s Conversations on Life and Living and Death and Dying: Section Five by Victor Kreuiter
Seventeen was grim. There would be weeks when the scramble looked to be paying off. She could breathe easier. Her limbs felt like they belonged to her again. She would get chipper and feel confident that she had some control over her life and her health. She’d look ahead, she’d think ahead and plan ahead […]
Poetry: Market Manufacturing by A.R. Arthur
Market Manufacturing Maroon husks with sutured eyes darting under thin skin give way to the great slumber, The closing off of the pineal gland now doused in copious concoctions of pharmaceutical intrigue- Late-stage Capitalism’s gain is our loss as our souls are surrendered to birth certificates and our skin is rendered cheap paper to be […]
Fiction: Vanessa Hoffman’s Conversations on Life and Living and Death and Dying: Section Four by Victor Kreuiter
Seventeen started out well. Vanessa excelled at school. She had an active social life. She had a job after school, at the public library, three nights a week. She was talking about college. She had a wide circle of friends and finally, a driver’s license, and everything about her life was lighter and brighter. The […]
Fiction: Vanessa Hoffman’s Conversations on Life and Living and Death and Dying: Section Three by Victor Kreuiter
Vanessa spent most of sixteen at home. Her hair and eyebrows grew back, her color returned, and a glow returned to her skin. She lost the lethargy, her eyes brightened, her posture improved, she gained stamina (and weight), and became a healthy sixteen-year-old. There were still routine examinations. Her doctors were relaxed, their comments were […]