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The Literary Magazine of West Shore Community College

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Home » Archive for   »  2021 Issue

Category: 2021 Issue

Tang Matrix | John Wolff

Posted onMay 2, 2021May 2, 2021AuthorWSCC Faculty Net AdminLeave a comment

  —for Russell Lux1   I picked those words as if mad, suddenly seeing myself resignedly, somewhat obsessed, I live as in a distant world. —John Wolff   1Explaining an Read More …

CategoriesPoetryTagsJohn Wolff

Eleanor | Lorynn Hackert

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Eleanor was happy to be home. Her small (although she prefers the word comfortable) apartment served as a silent sanctuary in a world that seemed all too loud most days Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsLorynn Hackert

Four Haiku | Rachel Shoebridge

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

The icecaps melted— In the frozen lake ahead. Summer, is coming. Stars in the night sky, fireworks on the fourth of July— The future is bright. Leaves fall around me, Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsRachel Shoebridge

Apollo, Icarus, and I | Jessica Smith

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

The Fallen Child As He bore the sight of a golden chariot crossing above Poseidon, The prophetic God felt hellfire sear His back. Fear and glee swelled in His chest, Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsJessica Smith

Confined | Grace Taranko

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

There wasn’t another house, shop, farm, or any indication of civilization for miles. Oliver knew this from the sleepless nights he’d spent up in the library. He didn’t dare ask Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsGrace Taranko

A Love Letter to The Unknowing Watchers | Lorynn Hackert

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

When I close my eyes I see yours, and his, and his, too, staring back at me. The love(s) of my life. You are always watching me, and you don’t Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsLorynn Hackert

Grace | Debra Bialik

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

In the middle of the meadow, a weeping willow, quiet, still— until a gentle breeze blew. A meadow filled with wildflowers of many colors waiting for someone to pick— shared Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsDebra Bialik

Goddess | Stephanie Wagner

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

The women gather to take up space heaving their weighty bodies into tippy metal lawn chairs They laugh so large you can see the backs of their throats and cry Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsStephanie Wagner

A Year in Haikus | Lorynn Hackert

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Spring The soft lamp light on the cold glass window lit the rain on the other side. Summer The morning rain was hot beneath my calloused feet— the sun’s rays Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsLorynn Hackert

The Moon | Grace Taranko

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorWSCC Faculty Net AdminLeave a comment

The moon yearns to greet the sun. To pass her fleeting rays, her warmth. She carries brilliance and joy while he carries momentary dreams, the majority of these visions forgotten, Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsGrace Taranko

Under a New Moon in August | Stephanie Wagner

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

We sat in unsteady chairs, mosquitos whirring in our ears, the fire belching sparks into the black You stretched towards me with softened hands I stilled You slipped on my Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsStephanie Wagner

Saving Grace | Stephanie Wagner

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe Editors1 Comment

Three years ago, they spent a weekend away, just the two of them. They drank mimosas in bed, soaking in a giant tub big enough for two and making love Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsStephanie Wagner

The Dark Matter Gallery

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 19, 2021AuthorThe Editors1 Comment

Click any image to enjoy it full-size.  Also, please see the Contributors page for bios on the photographers.  

Categories2021 Issue, Image GalleryTagsDylan Ide, John Wolff, Jordan Wolff, Katelyn Gramza, Megan Gydesen

Hold Me | Kennedi Hansen

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Your words hold me But your breath forgot to Catch me. How can I love? When the only way I know how to Is in the way you left me? Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsKenndi Hansen

Curse | Lorynn Hackert

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

You left me this way. A body blown apart by fast moving metal. Fur, feathers, feces, flattened between the cracks of the hot August pavement. What is left of the Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsLorynn Hackert

The Ides of March | Ndio Mitchell

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Bedlam trembles in the theatre. Red mist rises numinous in the morning light. Rising up past Pompey, encased in stone, watching, imperious. Up, past spiteful Brutus, unsteady as he is Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsNdio Mitchell

Nothing is as Good as Skinny Feels | Lorynn Hackert

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Our bones will lie beneath gravestones that read Died At Her Goal Weight. We will smile as the cold Earth hugs us, for we are finally in the body that Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsLorynn Hackert

Contact | Emily Robinson

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

There she stood. Rigid and shivering in the cold, coat collar upturned against the howling wind. Her mane of raven hair was flying around her porcelain face, which was turned Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsEmily Robinson

Anew | Darby Johnsen

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Seed after seed after seed after stalk Growth of weeds and trepidation of block. Lingering ennui, if not now, when? The ambivalence of beginning over again.   ~Darby Johnsen  

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsDarby Johnsen

A Trip To Annie’s | Amanda Babcock

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

I’d only come to the store for some groceries on my way home from the bank and didn’t plan to linger. I didn’t dress for it, either, in baggy jeans Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsAmanda Babcock

Yellow Tulips | Tandy Sturgeon

Posted onApril 19, 2021June 6, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

After the sixth grade graduation, her father would have to go back to Los Angeles. The thirteen-year-old girl, when she eventually grew up to become a woman, never remembered wearing Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsTandy Sturgeon

An Operation In Darkness | Eli Shoup

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorNdio MitchellLeave a comment

“This is a low-class operation, right?” Mr. Finch asked. He warily clutched the holster at his thigh, glancing at his annoyed “comrades.” The claustrophobic interior of the armored truck lurched, Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsEli Shoup

Stephanie | Emily Dykman

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorThe EditorsLeave a comment

Miles of sage green grass, pursued by a gentle river, lead to beautiful meadows.   ~Emily Dykman  

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsEmily Dykman

It Starts With a Lie | Stephanie Wagner

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorLorynn HackertLeave a comment

You spit out the words and a corset of anger wraps my belly I armor blank-faced, shuttered in a fortress of calm, waves of unsatisfying breath barely rippling the surface Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsStephanie Wagner

A Fact Among Others | Ndio Mitchell

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorNdio MitchellLeave a comment

On that first night, it was “It’s not your fault. I love you the same as ever.” Whether the untender silence between them was on account of him or his Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, FictionTagsNdio Mitchell

Christina | Ashley Ramirez

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 19, 2021AuthorWSCC Faculty Net AdminLeave a comment

Knowing as far as the surface, hiding what’s down below. The waves are fierce as the heavy wind blows, but with enough time, the waves calm. Finally, the ships are Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsAshley Ramirez

Four Haiku | Russell Lux

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorLorynn Hackert1 Comment

Blowing sand and snow. A seagull flock soars over waves; only by inches. Walking along beach; a frog hops out of the surf— Looks, then jumps back in. Parasailing dust Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsRussell Lux

Crimson Mandolin | Russell Lux

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorLorynn HackertLeave a comment

Pain as inspiration blesses with blind distaste. They stare at the sun; taste the mandolins blade, all for artistic rapture. Becoming Eve’s forgotten child, alone in paradise, nobody listens to Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsRussell Lux

Selfless Love | Missy Gomez

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorJohn Wolff3 Comments

“I can’t do this!”  I cried to my mother as she caressed my cheek.  My Aunt was on the other side of me, holding my hand. I watched as the Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, Creative Non-FictionTagsMissy Gomez

Nautic | Arthur Demorest

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorLorynn HackertLeave a comment

Churning tides rip through the night. A berserk storm drowns ample sleep. Scarring winds tatter the mind. Shades of pain that color the storm. Holding sails steady for calmer tides. Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsArthur Demorest

Through The Eyes of a Child | Debra Bialik

Posted onApril 19, 2021April 18, 2021AuthorLorynn HackertLeave a comment

Discovering the secrets of our world, through the innocence of play. Dancing to the sound of the music, Trust, giving unconditional love, to those around them. They are heeding the Read More …

Categories2021 Issue, PoetryTagsDebra Bialik

Recent Posts

  • Tang Matrix | John Wolff
  • Eleanor | Lorynn Hackert
  • Four Haiku | Rachel Shoebridge
  • Apollo, Icarus, and I | Jessica Smith
  • Confined | Grace Taranko

Recent Comments

  • Debra M Bialik on Saving Grace | Stephanie Wagner
  • RaQuel Szubeczak on Selfless Love | Missy Gomez
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