465 posts by Mike Rochester

July 20, 2021

“Incompletist,” Poetry by Tom Pennacchini

Incompletist It’s all a bit sketchy don’t you know what with the RMS and all.  Formal education and I didn’t work out but I was on my way across the country to fulfill my own peculiar and particular manifest destiny which at the time (at the time)? was a semi – conscious state of befuddled uncertainty laced with a lack of pragmatics that was nothing short of utter ineptitude.  (Oh essential humor I laugh to myself now at the notion of then going clear across the country to maintain my standards and my continuous quest for success in failure). We arrived at the train station and said our goodbyes.  After you left there was a welling and a filling and at the same time a depletion of air.  I rushed outside after a constricted couple of…

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July 15, 2021

“Seal on the Run,” A Short Story by Ewa Mazierska

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Whenever Robert and I travel to Scotland, to our house in Aberdour, we go for a walk towards Kirkcaldy, where one can see seals lying on the rocks. Sometimes we are accompanied by a friend named Scott, who spent many years in the British base in Antarctica. He entertains us describing the lives of different types of seals. What all of them have in common, however, is that they are patriarchal. Dominant male seals take possession of their territory by forcing other male seals to lie down in submission and fight with those who dare to challenge their power. Once these macho males announce themselves as winners, female seals start climbing to the beaches, waiting to be impregnated. In this way, their life in harem begins. It is a slow and passive life: waiting for…

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July 12, 2021

“A Walk in the Woods,” A Short Story by Robert Perron

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Johnny knocked at the kitchen door, side of the house, just like when he and Mike were kids. But this fall day they were thirty and Johnny wore his deputy sheriff’s uniform, olive jacket over beige shirt, a badge on his left breast. In the driveway, his Department of Corrections sedan. Mike turned the inside knob and pulled open the glass-paned wooden door. “Should I put on a pot?” he said, lips crinkling to a smirk, knowing the visit wasn’t social, certain it had to do with his soon-to-be ex-wife. Every day papers in the mail, his lawyer, her lawyer, the town, the state, the county. Now a visit from the sheriff’s department. Mike’s parents’ kitchen of faded linoleum, paneled cupboards, and fixtures from the forties centered on a square, wooden table with four chairs….

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July 8, 2021

KJ Hannah Greenberg — Guest Blogger

Posted by Mike Rochester in Guest Posts

Bleary Eyed While Fired Up My eyelids want to dance together. My brain would rather watch a YouTube video about New York City’s housing market or about a kid being born to a goat herder’s favorite doe than edit one more essay in the book galley spread before me. My life partner struggles to appreciate that every pass I make on my manuscript represents one less set of communications that will be needed between me and my publisher. The lone adult child, who still lives at home, offers to fill a hot water bottle for my back, to grill fish filets for our dinner, and to drag all our garbage to the curb. After spending a few minutes updating my poetry submissions log, I return to my opened file. In truth, I am grateful…

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July 5, 2021

“Meeting in the Middle” — Poetry by Alison Jennings

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Meeting in the Middle, Lebanon, KS The center of these United States lies in this heartland space, where love does battle with our hates, where politicians court their base; yet there should be some room for peace: our modern civil war must cease. Lies in this heartland space proliferate, become more lies. It’s something that we need to face or else this fragile union dies. How can we mend the social quilt? Can democracy be rebuilt, where love does battle with our hates? Let’s hope it has the upper hand. The intervention of the Fates may be required for us to stand on principles, but not take sides, to have a chance to heal divides. Where politicians court their base, there’s no chance for compromise. “Dog whistles” emphasizing race – or victimizing Anglo guys –…

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June 30, 2021

Adam Burrows — Coffee House Music for FC

Posted by Mike Rochester in Audio Arts

Editor’s Note: This month we’re delving into the music world with our artist feature. Adam Burrows brings his Nashville folk sound to the Café for our patrons’ enjoyment. Sit back and take a listen to his latest album, “Conversations,” with a fresh cuppa! *** Adam Burrows creates unpretentious music that invites the listener to pay attention to the beauty found in everyday life. He draws both from his own life and the lives of those around him to tell deceptively simple tales that resonate with the universal. Over a decade ago, Burrows left his native Ohio for Nashville, TN, in search of a music community that would help him grow as a songwriter. His time in Nashville was fruitful, allowing him to develop his craft, form lasting relationships, and release several acclaimed records. He has toured the…

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June 27, 2021

June Edition of “The Break from HOKAIC”

Posted by Mike Rochester in News

Jason’s Notes From the Lab… My YouTube channel has been growing, but I wanted to supercharge it with a promotions company. I tried two of them: Sprizzy and Social Growth Engine. They both work the same way. I give them money and a video. They promote the video. My channel gets views, which bumps things up in the algorithms and makes it perform better overall. Here’s my experience and opinion with them. Sprizzy incorporates your video into ads they run on YouTube (and I think some other platforms), getting it in front of many eyes that are at least marginally interested in your content. You get to set your budget for each video, with a minimum effective spend of $40. Social Growth Engine has an army of minions. You give them a link, they tell their minions to go…

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June 24, 2021

“Who Must Be Fed,” by Julian Warmington

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

It took only a moment for her hunger to overwhelm her. In place of her contented satiation, there was a desire to feed that now burned inside of her, familiar yet new. It ached, burning inside. Instinct overrode any logic lingering in her mind. She needed to feed. She already knew that the usual fruits and nectars wouldn’t satisfy this craving. There was something more she needed, something vital and warm that would complete her. This was what she had been born to one day consume, and she was ready. With a flutter of her gossamer wings, she leaped into the air in search of the nourishment she craved. She flew for some time, her mind singly focused on seeking. It wasn’t long before she picked up the smell of a source. The sweet, heady…

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June 22, 2021

“Tatiana’s Tango,” The Poetry of J.P. Christiansen

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Tatiana’s Tango Her sex is a tango, sung in any language, please, in a black and white picture, mono chrome, with shadows of that desire, please. She stands under the lamp-post dividing day and lust, the music of a moon having come out to guide you, Tatiana. The small orchestra plays the seductive tones, the singer caresses words and refrain, here in the bar in Warsaw, 1938, where two bodies meet in a dance to celebrate life. A tango may last three minutes. I listen to the scratched vinyl surface of the 78. A memory arises with each turning of the needle in its grooves. Haunting notes and voice of a song which used to be. Now, 1939, and the gramophone is silent. The vinyl is broken. Did the walls fall on you, too, Tatiana…

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June 18, 2021

Juneteenth: A Day of Remembrance and Celebration

Posted by Mike Rochester in Writing

Editor’s Note: Black lives matter. Creative lives matter. We’re very fortunate to see both embodied in The Fictional Café’s Residency program. In both instances, these are word-artists who had already discovered The Fictional Café and been published here. Mbizo Chirasha was asked to become our Poet-in-Residence because of the powerful messages of freedom from oppression and tyranny in his poetry. We are saddened to learn that he remains in exile, now for four long years, in large part because of his book of poetry, A Letter to the President, which drew the ire of the dictatorship in Mbizo’s native country. Against powerfully thwarting odds, we’re trying to help. Derrick R. Lafayette is, with pun intended, our Black Knight of fiction. His fierce, compelling stories captivated us from his first submission. His strong advocacy for our…

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