Issue 7 of Embryo Concepts
Published on October 30, 2023
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 East…
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.…
One of three girls at the party
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 in…
The Sound of Royalty
By Joseph Markell One morning, in the beautiful Royal Court of a very special castle, King Bib the Seventh gave an annoyed shake of his bell to call in his royal accountant. “Henceforth, I shall be known as Splendor the Magnificent.” “Officially?” The accounted questioned. “Do as I told.” “Do as you told?” “Yes.” The…
Starstruck
By Shieva Salenhia A few Sundays ago, I went on one of those big bus celebrity house tours. The kind of tour where you sit in the back of a minibus with the top cut off, being driven around by your tour guide, a middle-aged white man in my case who seemed grateful he at…
agoraphobia I
By Eric Morris post breakfast / climb the stairs / left turninto bedroom / on hands & knees / crawloff aerial rug / twist torso / then asslike a key / slip between the chesser drawer& liminal strip of closet space / cross legs/ meditate in darkness
Unhinging Self-Love for the Third Time to Find I’ve Reassembled Everyone Again
By Bobby Parrott I write down my feelings on a piece of paper and fold it up into a tiny square. Sometimes my body goes but I stay here. My car’s wheels know about the clock of my head, even though the pink trumpet flowers on the table don’t really follow the light. The…
are you new here?
By Finche Greene i’m not too sure how much space i take up but i know it’s a lot—i can never imagine my body as anything more than a cut-out photo pasted into every room i’ve ever been in, edgessharp against the rest of the scenesmiling like i don’t knowi’m out of place hereor anywhere really—well, i hope you’re a good…
I Have No Earth in My Natal Chart
and Mabel Longhetti
By Sam Rauer I Have No Earth in My Natal Chart But I take vitamins And I eat dirt. I eat buttered toast, I have sand in my shoes And spend more on Eau de Sens Than on an Uber back to my apartment From dinner on a Saturday So that counts for something. I never think about money. Even in August, when sleep…
I always have to sit facing the door and
Years ago, I knew a comic who wouldn’t shake hands
By Ron Riekki I always have to sit facing the door “the wise world should look into your moan, –William Shakespeare,sonnet LXXI because the door is where the escape isand the escape is where the life isbecause the life is where the breathing is,and I know a lot of dead people by this timein my…
Earwax and Sucky Writer
By Paul Hostovsky Earwax Sometimes the poem resonatesand the people nod and sigh. They saymmm. They hear you and they feelless alone. And you feel less alonebecause you’ve shared somethingthat belonged to everyone. But thenthere are other times–and you never knowwhich one it will be–when the poemdoesn’t resonate. The lines about the pleasureyou derive from…
For _
By Dana May A landlord’s attorney –“a family man” who hands out utility knives with his law office contact information on them,who has been on this case for years—told me about ________’s deathin the hallway of the fourth floor of Queens civil court one May day.I have a habit of inquiring about her.“A real sad…
Text Messages to My Gay Ex-Husband
By Liz Posner I hate you.I will always hate you.How could you do this to me?What’s the wifi password?That’s not working — what’s the Xfinity login?Did you take the electric razor when you moved your stuff out?What about the cheese grater?Did you cancel those flights to Florida for Thanksgiving?Are you sending me the flight coupon?…