“Cross-Pollination” By: Claire Hopple
The table rocked when you pressed against it. The chair swayed a bit, too. You weren’t sure if it was the floor, the foundation, the furniture. You were beginni...
The table rocked when you pressed against it. The chair swayed a bit, too. You weren’t sure if it was the floor, the foundation, the furniture. You were beginni...
“Why won’t you just cough into your elbows?” Dad’s coughs are echoing off the walls again. It’s been two weeks and both of them are still sick. I sometime...
I wave goodbye and I take my pills I smile at nothing and I take my pills I write a bad poem and I take my pills I taste the cold steel gun and I take my...
Wash your face. Scrub away yesterday’s dirt and last night’s tears. Use your fingernails to claw dead skin away and the hottest water you can stand. Has the pai...
I walked out of the tattoo shop. After I’d sat back in the chair, and my wrist had been cleaned off, and the man with the nose and tongue ring honed in on my br...
“Dysphoria” You can touch, but not too high. You can grab my shoulders, and feel the bones sink into your palms. You can trace my back with y...
The night his dad died, Tyne Darling slept with Oscar Gamble under his pillow. He also kept his fingers crossed on both hands. He saw Jesus doing the same thing...
In the spring, Amanda colored her emotions with a standard 8-pack of Crayola Crayons. Her flowers were cheerful yellow and her sun cast a glowing caress of oran...
“Two Gloves” Cheryl starts her homeless career, hikes onto the freeway onramp. This is the spiritual center of L.A., she says aloud, to no one. One ...
1. From what I knew of her, Jenny was an art kid. She was known for her small eccentricities—paint dotted hands, glittery overalls. Her hair was big, curly brow...