December 23, 2019

“Professor of Death,” A Short Story by Dan Coleman

Posted by Jack B. Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

Editor’s Note: This short story will take you through a few unexpected turns with each chapter. You may begin to think you are being treated to a horror/fiction story and then maybe it’s really about a romance. Or is it? In any case, we hope you enjoy each chapter. We present these three intriguing chapters of the short story “Professor of Death” – beginning tonight and continuing throughout the week. ** Things were getting a little too scary to suit Robert Fountain. He could feel the times changing around him, sense the movement of sinister winds, like the rolling in of a tidal wave, and he didn’t want to be standing on the beach when it got there. He was a man with two professions, one public, in which he was a respected authority of some…

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December 21, 2019

“American Child” – A Poem by M. Sullivan

Posted by Mike Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

I’ve walked along the maps of my home around the bends of the Housatonic River and up Mount Greylock hanging over Jamaica Plain I’ve run my fingers over the shores of Nantucket and felt the Mystic and run my gaze over Watatic the high Wachusett and felt the rumble of the Mattapan line and wandered the streets of Swampscott and of Chappaquiddick I remember the first bus I took to school named the Cummaquid Chief and how I thought as I shook afraid that the bus would be driven by a head- dressed brown- skinned face- painted man with leather moccasins and fierce gaze the names meant nothing to me no near mountain no great cove nothing that lay in the midst of waters nor far off among the waves there was no place I…

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December 19, 2019

“Satiety,” and Other Poems by Brian Rihlmann

Posted by Mike Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

SATIETYthere used to be a much longer delay between hope and disappointment now, I pluck the fruit and it withers in my hand I know it’s bitter before my tongue does soon I’ll leave the fruit and nourish myself on emptiness I’ll chew the blue of the sky I’ll taste the black of the night and be filled ** REBORN and when the pain finally goes as inexplicably as it came we grab its arm to drag it back through the door like a spurned lover saying “please stay… I didn’t mean it” we believe if we let it go then it has no more meaning than a passing cloud a brief summer storm a dead leaf blowing down the street in the wake of a truck it must mean something more than that we think— we think so and thus it is reborn to scream at us through all our days and nights ** QUIT WEARING OTHER…

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December 16, 2019

“The Man in the Iron Hat,” a Short Story by Audrey Kalman

Posted by Mike Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

The hat was a marvel, like a chastity belt or a grate over an abandoned and dangerous well. The wide curve of its bowl fit the man’s head perfectly. The thick brim jutted over his eyes, hiding everything above the horizontal plane of his vision and much to either side. It was astonishing that something intended to be worn could be fashioned of a material so ancient, so dense and pebbly and so, well, iron age. Yet the hat seemed to him the most natural thing in the world. He didn’t wear it with pride but he didn’t resent it either. It simply was. He put it on every morning. It sat on his head through breakfast with his wife and children, through the tedious search for his briefcase, the train ride to the city, the day in the office, the ride home, drinks, dinner, TV, lovemaking—three times a week—until, just before he laid his head on the pillow,…

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December 10, 2019

“Acquaintance,” Flash Fiction by Ramisa Alam

Posted by Mike Rochester in Member Writing & Art, Writing

“Would you like to see the menu?” the waiter couldn’t help himself from approaching Lisa. “No thank you. I’m waiting for someone.” She has been waiting for quite a while. She doesn’t mind waiting in such a nice place. Smooth jazz playing and she has her phone to keep her company. Lisa prefers this eatery to other ones nearby. This is the only place that has enough space to fit her laptop, papers and coffee mug on a table for one. Some days she plugs in the headphones, gets into the new assignment and hours goes by without her noticing. When it comes to meeting someone for the first time, this place is tops at cordiality. She looks down at her phone to check the time. It’s 4:54 What’s taking Nina so long? Nina has a habit of being late, Lisa knows that. Nina must have gotten into those hairstyle tutorial videos and lost the track of time. Classic Nina! Despite never meeting her…

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“Professor of Death,” A Short Story by Dan Coleman

“American Child” – A Poem by M. Sullivan

“Satiety,” and Other Poems by Brian Rihlmann

“The Man in the Iron Hat,” a Short Story by Audrey Kalman

“Acquaintance,” Flash Fiction by Ramisa Alam

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