Contributed By: Patrick Fadely
Don’t talk to Christopher Nelms
He’s hatching an egg in his mouth
And if he speaks
He might drop it
Or if he didn’t drop it
The words might penetrate the egg
And the bird emerge all weird
With a face in its hand and an eye in its ear.
Don’t talk to J. Matherly
He’s hiding immigrants in his gums
And under his tongue
And in the ragged hole left by his wisdom teeth
And if he speaks he might turn them to bullets
To shoot you straight through your curdled heart!
Return to table of contents for Issue 4 Summer 2011
Eric Shonkwiler is the author of two novels and a collection of stories and novellas. The stories in his collection, Moon Up, Past Full (Alternating Current Press, 2015), won a series of honors, including the Luminaire Award for Best Prose, shortlists for the Queen’s Ferry Press Best Small Fictions Prize and the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities […]
In the inner workings of the tulip, a red scar burns hot. The farmer’s blood sears him; he’s relieved when lightning burns the crop. Here’s the thing: until the bud blooms it feels secure. Despite its collected heart, the flower’s dream is torn apart. I’m too weak to bear this impatient grief —a straw in […]
“I was pimped out by an acquaintance when I was at my most vulnerable. It may come across I’m cavalier with this, but I’m not. I’ve just let the shame of it all go.”
