Calvin Hennick
A Cowboy Cannot Be Without His Hat

Calvin Hennick - A Cowboy Cannot Be Without His Hat

Fiction
Calvin Hennick’s stories, essays, and journalism have appeared in dozens of publications, including Bellevue Literary Review and The Boston Globe. He teaches writing at the Grub Street independent… Read more »
Jill Storey
A Recipe for Certain Times of Life

Jill Storey - A Recipe for Certain Times of Life

Creative Nonfiction
Jill Storey’s essays have appeared or are forthcoming in the Gettysburg Review, Zyzzyva, Salon, Brain, Child and many other publications. One of her essays received a Special Mention for the 2010… Read more »
Maya Schenwar
Barnacle Goose

Maya Schenwar - Barnacle Goose

Fiction
Maya Schenwar is a writer, journalist and editor of the news website Truthout. Her journalistic work has been published in Truthout, The New York Times, The Guardian, The Nation, and others. She… Read more »
Benjamin Goldberg
Church of the Pyromaniacs

Benjamin Goldberg - Church of the Pyromaniacs

Poetry
Benjamin Goldberg lives with his wife outside Washington, D.C. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Salt Hill, Hayden’s Ferry Review, The Greensboro Review, Grist, The Southeast Review, A… Read more »
William Fargason
Egg Tooth

William Fargason - Egg Tooth

Poetry
William Fargason’s poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in New England Review, Grist, New Orleans Review, Bayou Magazine, Nashville Review, and elsewhere. He is currently a poetry MFA candidate at… Read more »
Matthew Sisson
Folly Literature

Matthew Sisson - Folly Literature

Poetry
Matthew Sisson's poetry has appeared in magazines and journals ranging from JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association, to the Harvard Review Online. He has been nominated for a Pushcart… Read more »
Janice Ko Luo
Mon Coeur

Janice Ko Luo - Mon Coeur

Poetry
Janice Ko Luo graduated with an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University in Los Angeles. She has been a Poetry Editor for the literary and art journal Lunch Ticket. She was selected for a… Read more »
Timur Karaca
Object

Timur Karaca - Object

Fiction
Timur Jonathan Karaca’s stories have appeared in Indiana Review and Narrative. He is a practicing anesthesiologist, and a student at the Writers Studio, San Francisco. He lives in Oakland. Read more »
Meg Hunter
Our Apollo

Meg Hunter - Our Apollo

Poetry
Meg Hunter is a Special Educator in Charles County, Maryland. She holds an M.S. in Special Education from Dowling College and a B.A. in English from the University of Maryland, where she lived in the… Read more »
Brandon Amico
Self-Portrait with Oncoming Storm

Brandon Amico - Self-Portrait with Oncoming Storm

Poetry
Brandon Amico is from New Hampshire. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Carolina Quarterly, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Hunger Mountain, Sixth Finch, Tupelo Quarterly, and elsewhere. You… Read more »
Tim Fitts
Stripping Roses

Tim Fitts - Stripping Roses

Fiction
Tim Fitts lives and works in Philadelphia with his wife and two children. He is on the editorial staff of the Painted Bride Quarterly, and his stories have been published by The Gettysburg Review,… Read more »
Barbara Nishimoto
The Firebird

Barbara Nishimoto - The Firebird

Fiction
Barbara Nishimoto was born in Chicago, and grew up along with her two sisters in the western suburbs. She is a Sansei and spent most of her working life as a teacher in such locations as the Alaskan… Read more »
Matthew Gavin Frank
The Mynah Bird Eats Hawaiian Shave Ice

Matthew Gavin Frank - The Mynah Bird Eats Hawaiian Shave Ice

Creative Nonfiction
Matthew Gavin Frank is the author of the nonfiction books Preparing the Ghost: An Essay Concerning the Giant Squid and Its First Photographer (forthcoming July 2014 from W.W. Norton: Liveright), Pot… Read more »
Kate Peper
The Weight of a Bridge

Kate Peper - The Weight of a Bridge

Poetry
Kate Peper is a freelance designer and award-winning watercolor painter living in Marin County, California. Her poems have twice been nominated for a Pushcart and have appeared in the Cimarron Review,… Read more »
Catherine Carberry
There Is Land Everywhere

Catherine Carberry - There Is Land Everywhere

Fiction
Catherine Carberry serves as Assistant Editor of Mid-American Review and Bartleby Snopes. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in publications including North American Review, The Greensboro… Read more »

Egg Tooth

William Fargason

Any way you face me, you’re still naked.
Tell me about your father, his drinking,

where he is now. Tell me why you don’t talk
to him. Tell me more. What I thought

I knew was wrong. My egg tooth breaks through
the outer membrane, lets me breathe. Finally.

The grace that comes with honesty—
I’ve been here before. I love you, too.

But do you? Be honest. This is the first time
you’ve stayed the night. Every piece

you share becomes, somehow, more important.
The first details always are: your hands,

your scent, the hair stuck against your neck—
new as light. My egg tooth pushing through,

blue shell cracking enough for me to feel
the smoothness of your legs against mine.

Your body unfolds like a ballerina. This new world,
our world. The sharpness of the tooth splintering

what kept us apart, what protected us.
Read more »