February 6, 2023

Deux Poèmes from Deux Poets

Deux Poèmes from Deux Poets

Today, Fictional Café introduces two fine poems from two fine American poets in our virtual magazine. Please let us know what you think of their work in the Comments section at the end of this post. Frank De Canio Language Primer     I might as well become a child again,  since my substantial English goes as far  as what my senorita comprehends.  As such, my native tongue becomes a bar  against pronounced exchanges with my friend.  She understands enough of what I say  to stumble through the meaning I intend,  but not enough for me to get my way.  Yet, speaking fluent Spanish to her peers,  she leaves me feeling witless in my age,  while she with rapid fluency endears   herself to those in the proficient stage  of verbal mastery.  And I must wait  on textbook…

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February 1, 2023

Robert Lunday’s Poetic Moments

Robert Lunday’s Poetic Moments

Little Man I need what I earn and could use a little more. But the little man in me needs none of it. He squats like an undiscovered arthropod and bottom-feeds on my mutterings. He sits in the position known as Lotus with his knees at forty-five degrees. The supposed virtues are his zodiac and if he’s naked you try not to notice. Fragment Please believe in me and do not doubt what I say. This foaming mouth is Aphrodite but the hands are Hephaestus clawing the air as he falls through the heavens in dismay. You break my heart but I take the pieces and make from each a thousand more. Gravel Gravel was on the menu. It was the thing you weren’t supposed to eat. It was there to make everything else look…

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January 29, 2023

“Man Does Not Live By Words Alone”

“Man Does Not Live By Words Alone”

Poetry by Dana Yost Rainbow   Through the window  the sun blew into  a glass of white wine  then refracted into a rainbow  upon the skin of lemon-pepper chicken  as we talked about Nazi death camps  and soldiers killed by sniper fire  in Vietnam. A teacher dead  in the recent derecho.  It was such a peaceful  setting for death, wasn’t it?  The seven of us around the table  and one finally mentioned  amnesty for draft-dodgers,  and no one went berserk,  no one even disagreed.  We shook our heads  at the insanity of war,  at the cruelty of death,  and my classmate  posted photos on Facebook  of herself in hospice,  ready to die from cancer.  “I’ll be here for the end,”  she said from her living room  couch, under a blanket. I looked   for a rainbow but…

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January 20, 2023

“Paper Dolls” by Rachel Gonzalez

“Paper Dolls” by Rachel Gonzalez

A Short Story by Our New Writer in Residence He has a collection of paper dolls and a workshop dedicated to them. It’s a perfectly maintained and organized room filled with tools of his trade. Xacto knives and self-healing mats, tacky spray for stubborn pages, creasing tools for the ideal line. There are no unruly folds or crinkled edges in his workshop. He’s a sentimental man. His favorite paper dolls live in a box on the highest shelf.  Sometimes he pulls them out to admire them, or to take inspiration for his newest project. His process is very thorough: First comes the raw material. He can spot the potential of a page from a mile away. Be it the pattern or the texture or the pliability, he knows a good page when he gets his…

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February 16, 2022

“Python,” An Excerpt by Rob Swigart

“Python,” An Excerpt by Rob Swigart

Rob Swigart brings Lisa Emmer back for Python, Book Three of his fascinating mystery series. I met Rob Swigart on the afternoon of April 29, 1977, at the University of Oregon Bookstore, where he was autographing copies of his first novel, Little America. Although we lost touch with one another for many years, Rob published more novels, many of which I’ve read. One day, perusing my bookshelf, I picked up Little America again and read Rob’s inscription. I turned to my computer and quickly found an email address for him! I’m very happy to know Rob once again, today as a friend and fellow novelist. Rob shared “Water,” a short story with us on FC a few years ago, and today we’re helping bring attention to his latest work, Python, the third book in his…

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February 13, 2022

Valentine’s Day 2022 at the Café

Valentine’s Day 2022 at the Café

Three of our Coffee Club Members Share Their Valentine Stories Thank you, thank you everyone, for sending us your Valentine stories! We baristas have read your work and have tried to select works which portray different human perspectives – this in these days of a seemingly endless pandemic which has darkly colored the Be My Valentine emotions for a lot of folks. Our first Valentine’s Day winner is Wiam Najjar’s short story,”Valentine.” Wiam Najjar is a writer at heart and a school principal in mission. She leads teachers and students then goes home to her sacred haven; writing. She’s been published in online magazines and writing blogs and was shortlisted in the 2018 Memoir Magazine #MeToo Essay Contest. You can check out her articles on MyDramaList and her blog WiamNajjar’s Haven. Valentine “Valentine, you forgot your coffee!” She turned…

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February 1, 2022

Let’s Celebrate Valentine’s Day Together!

It isn’t a contest, but you can be one of the winners Dear Fictional Cafe Coffee Club members,Valentine’s Day is just two short weeks away and what the world needs now is love, more love. How would you like your flash fiction, short story or poem on the theme of love to be chosen for our Valentine’s Day blog post? If you’re interested, please send your manuscript, following our usual FC submission guidelines here to me personally at jack@fictionalcafe.com. Your story will be reviewed by three FC baristas and the ones we choose will be our Valentine’s Day gift of love to all the world (really! FC is read in 67 countries!). Please get your entry in ASAP – the deadline is Feb. 12. I can’t wait to read your poems and stories! Jack Jack B….

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December 16, 2021

Founder Jack’s New Novel and a Great Offer

Founder Jack’s New Novel and a Great Offer

Get a book and a chance to do some good at no extra cost! Fictional Cafe Members: Enjoy a great read and support cycling safety too! If you ride a bike, as I do, you might be interested to know we ride one of the most innovative machines in world history. Bikes became popular in the 1800s because of a shortage of horses caused by –  whoa! would you believe a volcano eruption? – and henceforth were called “hobby horses!” Before they made the first airplane fly at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, the Wright Brothers had a bicycle shop where they sold (doh) bikes named “Van Cleve” and “St. Clair.” Mark Twain wrote a ludicrously humorous article about his experience riding – and falling again and again – from a “penny farthing” bicycle, pictured here. I got…

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