By Isabelle Fahey I feel the door click shut behind me and there she is. Mary-Ann, sitting on the top step with a Pekingese. “How’d you end up on dog duty?” She shrugs, not quite making eye contact. “Darryl’s got it worse. He’s in the bathroom with Bingo and that new bulldog thing locked inContinue reading “One of three girls at the party”
Category Archives: Uncategorized
Nails
By Alyssa Landau Molly started getting regular manicures around the age of twenty-nine and a half, though of course her nails had been painted before. She wasn’t an invalid. Her mother taught her to always have them primped and primed for momentous occasions, like birthdays and weddings or important job interviews and promising first dates.Continue reading “Nails”
An Introduction
We published the first issue of Embryo Concepts in December of 2019. Appropriate for a group of writers based in New York, we started off with the theme ‘Subways’. The zine was born from our Wednesday evening writing group, which met regularly every week in rotating apartments and the 6BC community garden in the EastContinue reading “An Introduction”
Sempre Avanti
By Dana May Someone I dated during the beginning of the pandemic said that she thought landscape paintings were boring. She said it as a fact: “Landscapes are boring,” referring specifically to a small, stark winter scene that her roommate had hung on their living room wall. This was one of the relatively few timesContinue reading “Sempre Avanti”
Forest Splendor
By Joseph Markell Jealousy, in the middle of the woods,is a rather odd occurrence.It’s odd because it is so obviously in your head,that it causes one to pause – and to realize,that you are suffering needlessly.Chirp.Chirp.Chirp.
Meditation
By Michele Mekel I walk in the woods, by streams, over rocks.Each step: prayer, petition, offering— To the trillium peeking shyly through the carpet of last year’s leaves, To the thorny black locust that I’m drawn— against all rational judgment—to caress, To the corvid troubadour who announces my approach— a sovereign from a land merelyContinue reading “Meditation”
Mastering
By Karla Linn Merrifield His was the beastliestof kisses,delivered by a mustang stallionon velutinous lips,kiss from Equus ferus caballusto the most fearsome femaleof all:Homo sapiens sapiens—in answerto her first command.He’d nudged me as if to sayawaken.With eyes yet closed in dreamsto morning,I asked for a favor:Kiss me.And he obeyed.But it was I who wastamed.I wasContinue reading “Mastering”
Protective Structures
By Sam Rauer Four days after Santa Con last year, I was faced with a surprising development. Seemingly overnight, stretches of scaffolding had materialized in front of my residence, located on a quiet, residential block of brick buildings and homes with front lawns. Not only was there no construction in sight, there were no postings,Continue reading “Protective Structures”
Splendor in the Los Altos Grass
By Gerard Sarnat “Money can’t buy me love.”-The Beatles We can affirmretail therapyindulgencesdo not bringhappiness, butHavad Biz School*says cash doesbuy us timeand well-being:choose to disentangle,live in the forest,on the beach,close to work.Housekeepers.Gourmet take-out— or when that leadsto complacency —hedonic adaptation— clean or cook foryourself plus family.Didn’t expect empathybut what the fuck,frankly this strikesmoi as self-evident,self-satisfiedContinue reading “Splendor in the Los Altos Grass”
Continental Divide
By Linda Sanchez Sometimes late in the day, Marcus and I sit on the median strip and watch the eighteen-wheelers whiz by, tumblers of cheap supermarket wine in our hands, occasionally calling out guesses about each truck’s contents. Right after school and before dinner the trucks tend to carry elaborate quiches and pasta dishes. AfterContinue reading “Continental Divide”