Unwanted Visitors is also a paperback. Pick up the paperback from Prolific Press; the stories and poems published online are free to read here.
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A Thousand Ways by Kim Cope Tait
A Thousand Ways I didn’t know I could be satisfied with my palm flat on the back of a boy whose heartbeat was a whisper on my skin. I didn’t…
Poetry
Absolute Resolution Rarely Occurs by Josef Krebs
ution rarely occurs It’s usually the slow drip drip of perhaps The caution or uncertainty of hope without faith As the evolution avoids or maybe just doesn’t identify itself As…
Poetry
Acorns: An Invasion by Cordelia M. Hanemann
clatter of acorns peppers a machine-gun fire barrage across the bow of my deck, by day, by night, until I think enough –surely there are no more acorns left in…
Fiction
Enderly, Come by Ruth Andrews
Enderly, Come ~The Church Secretary~ Her Indulgency ran from five in the morning to whenever Hank got up. It was her only opportunity to do what she wanted, and she…
Fiction
I Am Not Lazy by Terry Sanville
I Am Not Lazy “Hey, Mom, where did you find that?” Jennifer pointed to a framed piece of embroidery hanging on the dining room wall. Kathleen stopped setting the table…
Fiction
Between the Trees by Gabriel Sage
and then abruptly lurched to a stop as if the driver tried shifting the gear into park before he put his foot completely on the brake. The door flung open…
Fiction
Campfire Stories by Katie Strine
Campfire Stories I asked him to tell me ghost stories, haunted tales with so much falsity they became a novelty, continually passed from one friend to one fire to another…
Poetry
Detasseling by M. N. Hanson
Detasseling My first summer in the corn, Greg Schneider crushed his leg in a combine at a farm down the road. When I couldn’t eat dinner that night, My mother…
Poetry
Swarmers by Cassandra Rose Clarke
Swarmers We drift, snowflakes and stars, never melting, forever burning, the scent of flowers and fresh dirt propelling us along once-invisible veins of travel, now illuminated by the spring sun—ancient…
Poetry
The Artist by R.J. Davey
The Artist He applies the first deft brushstroke To a blank canvas stretched upon an old easel At first careful, then carefree As something inside him is released A piece…
Fiction
Life by David Novak
Life “It don’t feel right, Warden. It just don’t feel right at all. Not one bit.” There was a stench in the air. A new stench, that is. A stench…
Fiction
Who She Was Remains by Ken Leland
en, already knows the loss I feel, and knowing, she is hurt and a little angry with me. Still, we agree it’s been far too long since I traveled home.…
Poetry
Midnight Shadows by Timothy Wilkinson
Midnight Shadows Tree-cast shadows upon the fence In moonlit darkness Twilight sent Bold and black they linger there On sun-bleached pine In sultry air But shades of that from which…
Poetry
You Follow by Madeline Grove
You Follow Running through the woods down the sinister path, you follow. Your cold sneer, the reason for my nightmares. Your harsh touch, the reason for all of my pain.…
Fiction
A Siren in the Rain by M. C. Kaske
So, there I stood, alone on a suburban street corner not far from the empty soccer field. The early October evening was marked with the welcoming scent of autumn decay,…
Micro- Flash Fiction
I’m Number 12 by Kristina V. Ramos
Flash Fiction! I’m Number 12 Suffocating. Not the it’s-too-hot-in-this-cashmere-sweater suffocating, but rather burning chest, blood in my mouth, and bulging eyes kind of suffocating. There could have been so many…
Poetry
Spark by Jakob Chapman
Spark Daily warming—chopping kindling. Damper open. Build the wooden cabin higher, within the black, cast-iron stove. There is something primal in fire. Humans desire private red flames—to warm old hearts,…
Poetry
Mama Goose by Heather Truett
Mama Goose We had four geese, and then two of the geese appeared with their own brood, yellow balls of fluffy feathers, downy and bright against the green grass. My…
Fiction
Double Heaven by Jane McAdams
Double Heaven The dominoes were slick and black. They were professional gaming equipment, serviceable in color, their red and white spots aligned martially, in rows that suggested a deeper than…
Poetry
Shipwreck by David Pring-Mill
Shipwreck Wrecked and beached, I saw a sailboat in the same state. On a bed of jagged stones, it slept, surrounded by cellphone photographers, more concerned with novelty than the…
Poetry
The Town by Katharine Benelli Coggeshall
The Town Have you ever noticed, small towns have a smell? A delicate welcoming scent that creeps into your soul. Impossible to manufacture by fat-cat reproductionists bottling sincerity sold on…
Poetry
Abused by Suzanne Cottrell
Abused Battered by force Our trunks repeatedly hit Accidentally or Intentionally Scrapes, cuts, bruises, welts, fractures Lightning scars, hurtful words Weighed down by snow and ice Like guilt and poor…
Poetry
The Past that Visits by Laurie George-Decker
e rain hates the sun, Like good hates evil, Like flesh hates thorns. You remind me of my mistakes, Show them to me with perfect vision. Yesterday, you didn’t speak…
Poetry
Ferris Wheel by Janet Butler
Ferris Wheel Carnival lights sparkle in a confetti of reds and greens and yellows, shooting stars about to lift and burst held in a magic stasis by the warm airs…
Poetry
Once Lost, Now Found by Maria DePaul
rected By the side Of the road Were accompanied By a sign For a pastor Who had opened A new church On the edge of town. Formerly itinerant, He had…
Fiction
Silence of the Cats by Robert Allen Lupton
his parole officer as soon as he stepped off the bus from prison. He committed a burglary less than an hour after he registered at the halfway house where he’d…
Micro- Flash Fiction
The Warlocks by Gordon Brown
Flash Fiction! The Warlocks The corn had been mowed down, leaving behind fields of sharp brown stubble, stretching out under the grey sky until it hit the tree line. Every…
Poetry
Susie Q in Puppy Love by Marta Ferguson
eyes and think he’s never really bonded with anybody either. And he needs that. He’s mostly lab, some border collie: Rosencrantz. In the system since puppyhood and never had the…
Fiction
Promises to Keep by Chanacee Ruth-Killgore
Promises to Keep I stood out on the patio in the crisp morning air and whistled for my dogs, Harlow and Hunter. The trees whistled back, a mocking of my…
Fiction
Bury ‘Em Deep by Tiffany Michelle Brown
Bury ‘Em Deep Fire-colored leaves crackle beneath my steel-toes as I follow Charlie to the back of his pickup. A gust of wind blows up the corner of the blue…
Fiction
Daytona by LaRue Cook
Daytona Sam stood on the concrete porch of his ex-wife’s trailer in Inwood Indiana, doing his best to fill the doorway. “Your daddy’s here,” Helen screamed into the dim light.…
Fiction
The GPS of Horror by Anita G. Gorman
The GPS of Horror Miranda stopped in front of the resale shop and looked in the window. So much debris, so much junk, so much stuff that people didn’t want…
Micro- Flash Fiction
Touch-Me-Nots by Guy Biederman
Flash Fiction! Touch-Me-Nots I knock on Sandra’s front door and notice the peephole at eye level. It’s been two years. I wonder if she still has that black-haired pug. I…
Poetry
The Perfect Roommate by Guy Biederman
to your ad in the Inwood Gazette for a roommate. I don’t smoke, watch football, or leave the toilet seat raised. I pay my rent two months in advance, always…
Fiction
Helen Got the Day Shift by John Wolf
the north entrance of town says: MARMONT, FROM OURS TO YOURS! The lake underneath the bubble letters looks like Marmont, the family playing on the beach doesn’t look like anyone…
Fiction
The Ride Home by Thomas Cannon
The Ride Home Cleo stepped out of the town hall meeting. All of his buddies were inside giving their testimony. Not that it was anything more than standing up and…
Poetry
Three Beers Past Midnight by Alan Meyrowitz
ent diatribe and final condemnation— dignity’s death So, he said of love decayed and more recounted, unlikely tales of burden even for a drunkard grieving and yet my glass reminded…
Fiction
The Little Girl Who is Really a Giraffe by Susan Woodring
ster died for the first time—cause unknown—my mother invited my great aunt Freda to come and live with us. Her flight from Houston was delayed, so she just met us…
Poetry
The Name Cascade by Edward Ahern
The Name Cascade The same names percolate through a family like a roof leak. And except for the Juniors and Seniors, no outsiders notice. My mother’s father was Edward Willman…
Poetry
Exhumations at the Burying Point by Christopher Greer
ving Work to resurrect The decaying ones Again. Jaws, mattocks, heavy Hands ripping, tearing In the earth. Plumes Of breath betray the breathing. Upturned roots and dregs, souls Spun up,…
Poetry
Sunday Driving by Thomas Locicero
Sunday Driving for my sister, Vicki I was rarely home but home when the news came, Awakened five minutes before the phone rang, Dressing as if my lover’s lover approached.…
Poetry
Courage by Mary Pacifico Curtis
Courage This world holds both poison and medicine – two leaves that look the same – the shiny one makes quinine and the other kills. Our guide picks up two…
Poetry
The Old Train by Joseph J. Kozma
The Old Train The train took off With the squeaks of 100% superheated rust. Then it jerked as if in the delivery room following the sounds of push. The caboose…
Poetry
Nez Perce Creek by Cynthia Hilts
Nez Perce Creek Three great blue herons Share a patch of clover by the stream Four circling ospreys Childish peeps and fleet shadows Seventeen burning sienna dragonflies Mate, divebomb, clatter…
Micro- Flash Fiction
The Ransom by Bruce Levine
Flash Fiction! The Ransom It was only a matter of minutes. We had a short break, so I laid it across a couple of chairs while I went to the…
Fiction
The Costa Rican Dagger by Clark Zlotchew
write this report—some will no doubt call it a confession—as I sit in this cell awaiting my fate. I put this on paper so that people—including my wife—will understand my…