279 August, 2020

Artwork of Brian Grant

local_library Poetry

person_pin Essay

Time Capsule

Issue No. 279 ~ August, 2020

Remember when we stayed inside for days while skipping signals prophesized dire warnings and arcane terms crackled across our radios, our Bluetooth speakers?   Remember an unseasonable February, a mild March, a winter that had denied us snow. Weren’t we ready for a change?   …

map Macro-Fiction

Waiting in Airports

Issue No. 279 ~ August, 2020

Airports are a place devoid of time and existence. Life stops once you step onto the unloading curb, the thick smell of car exhaust and hot tarmac burning your nose. Flights can be as late as they want and you have no control. Drinking beer …

Social Distancing with Emo Philips

Issue No. 279 ~ August, 2020

After decades of stand-up, the comedian sits down to watch the news. What else is there? He practices the clarinet and irons out the details of cancelled shows over the phone, but the days are long. He doesn’t require much sleep. Sometimes he senses the …

The Living Will

Issue No. 279 ~ August, 2020

On the day I am “celebrating” my t-minus one month due date, I have an argument with my husband about writing our wills. “We don’t have anything to will to anyone,” doesn’t fly with him, despite the fact that a mortgage company in Omaha owns …

Dad vs. the Squirrel

Issue No. 279 ~ August, 2020

It was the first time Dad hadn’t worked in 59 years. He didn’t want to retire, but the doctor encouraged him to at least only work part-time and find some relaxing hobbies, for his blood pressure’s sake. He already exercised. He walked around the block …