Creative
Nonfiction
March Contributors
Daniel Bailey, Chel Campbell, Ari Cordovero, Zary Fekete, L.F. Graubard, David Hensen, Sara Hutchinson, Uma Jagwani, Richard Leise, Lorette C. Luzajic, Magda Lynne, Alex Palmatier, A.L. Smith, Lillian Taylor, and Katie Vinson
March Highlights
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the red-haired american
CNF by L.F. Graubard
“Ronald Pelton. Pale, soft voice, face like the uncle who teaches you chess and guilt. Not dangerous at first glance, but glowing underneath.”
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this is about nothing
CNF by Uma Jagwani
“In the elevator, I look at my sweaty, meaningless face and feel disappointed. Not white! As if one day, I’ll step into this elevator and exit on the seventh floor as a part of the ruling class.”
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chosen descent
CNF by Zary Fekete
“I think about how much of my life has been engineered for ease. How many ramps I’ve taken without noticing. How often I’ve mistaken friction for failure instead of proof of contact.”
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whiskey and fire
CNF by A. L. Smith
“The library book says you need a candle, a personal item from your target, and the incantation— then, BAM! Hexed!”
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the aching absence of song
Micro CNF by Alex Palmatier
“I wonder if you were put away for longer, things would have been different. Or if they gave you a guitar. What I would give to hear you play again.”
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plucking
Micro CNF by Chel Campbell
“A white egg cracks. Death’s indifferent eyes cloud over with the golden yolk of time.”
six
by Magda Lynne
“The danger, unmistakable. Without a word, I duck low. At six, it isn’t far. Another dinner plate breaks on the kitchen floor.”
plucking
by Chel Campbell
“A white egg cracks. Death’s indifferent eyes cloud over with the golden yolk of time.”
the box
by David Henson
“I’ve heard of people who eat in their box, curl up and sleep in it…almost never leave. Don’t let that happen. The box isn’t for living in. The box is for living out.”
the apple and the tree
by Lillian Taylor and Richard Leise
“Principal Morgan would be retired by the time their offspring were old enough for secondary school. So, Tucker was it. No more Nolans. No more Nolans, he said, melodically.”
whiskey and fire
by A. L. Smith
“The library book says you need a candle, a personal item from your target, and the incantation— then, BAM! Hexed!”
the red-haired american
by L.F. Graubard
“Ronald Pelton. Pale, soft voice, face like the uncle who teaches you chess and guilt. Not dangerous at first glance, but glowing underneath.”
this is about nothing
by Uma Jagwani
“In the elevator, I look at my sweaty, meaningless face and feel disappointed. Not white! As if one day, I’ll step into this elevator and exit on the seventh floor as a part of the ruling class.”
an aching absence of song
by Alex Palmatier
“I wonder if you were put away for longer, things would have been different. Or if they gave you a guitar. What I would give to hear you play again.”
i could have saved my dog
by Katie Vinson
“I don’t have her, I could have had her, should have had her snatched, stealed, soughted police, priests, hitmen, even a hitman would’ve grabbed her, I left, walked in, walked out, I walked right fucking past her…”
oratory
by Ari Cordovero
“I thought of Saint Joseph’s hands — the way they were carved, cupped, as if holding something fragile he hadn’t asked for. My body was already doing the same.”
you help me feel less alone in this
by Nora L.S.
“Red solo cups and a single cigarette are passed around by people who, more sober than they’d like to be, seem to like the idea of partying more than this party itself.”
whiskey and words
by Sonali Kolhatkar
“My childhood memories of Dubai were marred by Baba’s whiskey and words. He liked his drink served in a cut crystal glass with exactly two cubes of ice, topped off with water. He would go through an entire bottle a week. By himself.”
the things she carried (and how much they weigh)
by Uma Jagwani
“My body has a shelf where all the memories of my dead aunt are stored.”
ode to ghost hunting
by Chel Campbell
“…it delivers us to our haunted spot, a campsite where, some forty years ago, teens were murdered by two brothers with shotguns. Point blank.”
when it rains
by Christie Goodman
“Blood sprayed from the wound in her head, like a fire hydrant, soaking my face and chest in deep, hot red.”
two essays
by Billie J Daniel
“My girlfriend thinks when I drink, I’m chasing a memory, a certain feeling from my childhood that doesn’t exist anymore.”
my dad wants me to listen to more pink floyd
by Audrey Hollenbaugh
“I used to have this idea in my head that healing from my past would mean I could suddenly do all the things I want to do and feel perfectly fine…I’ve realized that it isn’t quite like that.”
the brownsville code
by L.F. Graubard
“Months blurred. Death moved on little cat feet—alarms, gurgles, a gasp at 3 a.m. I pushed wheelchairs and watched bodies fail in slow motion.”
invisible
by Josh Price
“The dark becomes morning and I catch myself staring at the sun. I pull out my eyes, to keep them from burning.“
the bug
by Catherine Lutz
“Winter has had its way with the bush on which the berry hangs, denuding it of its leaves and stripping the fruit of any seeming life.”