Depth Perception
“Depth Perception,” A Short Story by David Patten
“Lend Your Ears,” Poetry by Tapeshwar Prasad
Lend your ears I have other ways To enamour your heart Hark! My calligraphy Lending your ears On the wings of a butterfly – One flower to the next ** Colour of my grief I puff up the earth A little more, from Under my grave To see you blooming Colour of my grief – The blood of my poppies Rooting the nerves, inside ** Scarecrow of the night You have been So easy upon me Like a butterfly of my dreams Yet, the reality; outside was maintaining an eerie silence in this turbulent night I settled down With an imagery of the fore Cozy in my sleep Yet the evil spirit of the night Was hell bent over frightening me, with its Scarecrow imagery ** Trollybag I was all seeing – You, that were…
“Sound Escape Theater” Created by Jill Korn
Welcome back, for the last week of May, I’d like to introduce you to “Sound Escape Theater,” created by Jill Korn. To listen to a radio play is to become a character in someone else’s story. Bring your own imagination to our plays and let yourself be transported to other places, other times, other lives … How many years does it take to feel you really belong? For Francine, living on the Isle of Donan, nothing will ever be the same now that her reason for being here is gone. But Francine is a survivor. Outwardly conventional she may be, but like a true Frenchwoman, she’s up for a little rebellion when the opportunity arises. Galore! was conceived and produced during lockdown, and inspired by the beautiful Isle of Arran which lies off the west…
“Pain of the Poet,” Assamese Poetry by Guna Moran
PAIN OF THE POET Original: Assamese: Guna Moran Translation: Bibekananda Choudhury Creator means poet So many innumerable poems did my mother write In the fresh leaf of the heart From the date she conceived me in her womb Who has bothered about the silent poet? I don’t know how much help I could be Having now understood the value of labour of the creator At least I could discover my sangfroid brother As I write My mother lovingly serves a cup of tea And says, looking at me From the corner of her eyes “Poem is one only Only writer is different But the pain of all the poets are All the same” The sun is burning to light others— Fuel cannot give light to others Without burning itself Don’t write much My darling I…
“The Night’s End” Created by Jimmy Horrors
Happy May, Fictional Cafe Listeners! We’re going to start the month with “The Night’s End” podcast created by Jimmy Horrors. (With a name like that, you gotta wonder if he was born to be a horror writer or he chose to be). This is a short story podcast. With a focus on dark speculative fiction, it hopes to leave you wishing for the night’s end before each story is through. Back into the world of spine-tingling terror, Jimmy Horrors takes us into the mind of a man who is a guest of honor at a ball. Slowly, he realises that something is not quite right. Story was written by James Barnett Jimmy Horrors takes us on the journey of a woman who is a passenger on a bus. Not at all the type of bus…
“Sometimes We Fall,” Yong’s New Book!
SOMETIMES WE FALL takes readers into the lives of people searching for self, sense of belonging, and their version of truth: A son protects a secret that could destroy his family’s reputation and fortune. A daughter searches for the truth as her mother descends into dementia. A mother asks an unexpected friend to look after the baby she plans to abandon. Their paths are not easy and inevitably they fall. Some pick themselves up and some can’t or won’t as they struggle to find the reason for their failures. Yong Takahashi is the author of Observations Through Yellow Glasses, Rising, Sometimes We Fall, and The Escape to Candyland. She was a finalist in The Restless Books Prize for New Immigrant Writing, Southern Fried Karma Novel Contest, Gemini Magazine Short Story Contest, The Writers’ Mastermind Short…
Carolyn Adams — Art and Poetry
“Epiphany” In the Absence of Red Alarms My blood sisters remember what I’ve almost forgotten, the menses that measure our time. I’ve lapsed my membership in that club, I travel free from the 30-day clock. My time is counted differently now. Days are years, years are millennia, millennia are without measure at all. There is no monthly debt; all accounts have been balanced. I spend myself as I wish now, with no child or threat of one. I’ve reached a bargain with the planets, their moons, the sky and all of its diamonds. I won’t wish on anything anymore. I have what I need. Days pass quietly here in the corner of the universe where I savor the slight air of a spring night, where my steps have taken 60 years to make sense. I…
“Points to Make,” Poetry by John Grey
POINTS TO MAKE Today began like a heart on fire. In between there was this hot-cold-hot-cold movement to establish the fact of me. It ended like a man with something to bury. I woke to the sight of a burning house, instructing firemen where to point their hoses. Family units are brittle. I’ve known this all along. I fell asleep that night like someone on a long, long highway. There must be something here about love – no, yearning – that’s it. In future excavation, you who yearn to uncover the ancient will find nothing but ancient yearning. Today, everything moved. It tried to leave me behind but I kept seeing me by my side. By night, I’d made it. I vowed to teach the light – teach it something new. I’m who I am…
Interview with InkWell Publishing by Lorraine Martindale
InkWell Publishing Interview Q&A With Beverly Floyd and FC Barista Lorraine Martindale Beverly Floyd’s advice to writers: You are more than the words you put on paper. Discover who you are and what you want your writing to do for yourself, your readers, and the world. The founder of InkWell, Beverly Floyd, speaks about her inspiration in starting a new press, how writers can prepare for publishing, and challenges she’s faced beginning her new venture. A true advocate for writers, she believes in writers’ visions for themselves, and works closely with each writer to help them share their unique stories with the world. InkWell is presently accepting submissions for next year, and is looking for summer interns. Fictional Café: Inkwell is a rather new indie publisher. What is your former publishing or writing experience, and what…
“Caalo Xan” by Jude and Keith
Welcome Fictional Cafe Listeners, this week we will be covering Caalo Xan, by Jude and Keith! Caalo Xan provides the listener with a fun-filled Audio Adventure, complete with Original Music, one of the largest diverse cast in Audio Drama, and cinematic style SFX. Twice a month for the last five years we have tried to provide that warm towel of Sci-Fi that comforts and arouses the creative mind. (And like Douglas Adams would always say – “A towel, [The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy] says, is about the most massively useful thing an interstellar hitchhiker can have…” After Caalo and Chuck’s mission in Drusk City goes awry, they are pursued by a pack of Norhounds. Caalo and Chuck are surrounded by a pack of Norhounds and must find a way to gain the upper hand. We hope you’ve…