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.”
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…”
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.”
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.“
three micros
by Christopher Locke
“A stairwell rises infinite as people stumble through smoke, a dark crush of firefighters splits the surge of jackets and ties; a barefoot woman appears in a green dress on fire.”
things you’re not googling this morning
by Justine Sweeney
“5.43am: How to talk to children about... Instead look up a recipe for muffins, check you’ve got the ingredients in and get cooking before the kids wake up.”
when my father hugs me
by Chel Campbell
“He admits he was young once and did things young men do—and the betta fish is still in that concrete basement, in that old house, circling his aquarium.”
broke
by Johannah Simon
“I keep my damn mouth shut. I can’t afford the truth. Talk isn’t cheap, its expensive AF. And I’m broke.”
exhumation
by Sally Huggins Toner
“Tombstones cover nothing but the earth and the carbon underneath that feeds the leaves of next year’s trees. Tombstones cover lies and the truth. We don't know exactly where she lies.”
words unwinged
by David Henson
“The heaps and our dismay grow. Resigned, we build bonfires and sweep in the words. As they ascend with the smoke, we wonder if we'll ever know their beauty again.”