a journal of beautiful literature
by PAUL ILECHKO I met a man who had the same name as a town in Massachusetts although it seems that the name came first dragging the town in its wake there had been a governorship and there had been a judge who presided over the trials of witches he weighed them against some number […]
Read More Mass MutualI think of eight minutes. Eight minutes from 38,000 feet to the mountainside. Eight minutes to fall from the sky. The businesswoman in the crumpled skirt, her tray-table stored and her belt securely fastened. The schoolchildren passing notes, their luggage placed safely in the overhead lockers. The flight attendant at the end of a […]
Read More GERMANWINGS by Christopher P. MooneyI’ve known Bradley Lastname since 1985. I first met him when I was in Chicago to do a performance, “Love Me Like a Bitter Pill.” Lastname, as you’ve probably guessed, is not Bradley’s real last name. A writer and visual artist, Bradley has long been a legend in the neo-dada and mail art worlds. […]
Read More ART SCHOOL CONFIDENTIAL, creative nonfiction by Peter Cherches & Bradley Lastname1/ Mr. Howard arrived during seeding to exhort the young men of Ripley to take up arms; he wore wired-rimmed glasses and city clothes, dusty from his long journey. He carried a strongbox and a pile of broadsides. Your country needs you! Protect the western frontier! Free uniforms, Free firearms! Stand up with President […]
Read More Mr. Siegel’s Sharpshooters: First Battle, poetry by Andrea WyattI’m not going to tell you how to do it. I know as much as you. Though, making a list can help. I make lists. The lists are all rather comparable, for the most part. Admittedly, I’m too predictable as it. It’s in my best interest to look after what I add or claim […]
Read More How Hank Does It, fiction by Jack C. BuckLOVE NOTE TO WOMEN I HAVE LOVED when the twine grays, know there is still a lettering shaped in your glossed spiral. I gargle Listerine your name to the thrum of the galaxy lodged in my throat, there forever behind my wolf teeth, a song alongside you. BRAZILIAN MUSIC ALL AROUND […]
Read More 2 Poems by James Croal JacksonSlowly, one by one, cows hoof toward the fence and lock themselves inside where the people, who made that promise, looking up from magazines and their manicured nails, try to recall that long ago day they quit doing it. ⊗ JIM VALVIS has placed poems or stories in Arts & Letters, Barrow Street, Natural Bridge, […]
Read More I Can Do It till the Cows Come Home, poetry by Jim Valvisby JERENY TACKETT Mayhem is, to say the least, a divisive band. There is no questioning the important role they played in both the first and second waves of black metal, particularly with their now classic album De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas. However, one can argue that they are more known for their actions […]
Read More Music: A Review of Mayhem’s Ordo ad Chaoby JOE KAPITAN I’ve often heard my hometown compared to Rocky, the movie boxer. It’s not a good comparison. Rocky beat Apollo Creed in Rocky II, Clubber Lang in Rocky III, Ivan Drago in Rocky IV and Tommy Gunn in Rocky V. Cleveland keeps biting the canvas and struggling to its feet for more: KO’d […]
Read More My Theory on the Indomitable Nature of Cleveland, OhioIn 1920, my father, 16, was a guest of the British government. He was a prisoner of their forces occupying Ireland at the time, a group called the Black and Tans. One day he and seven other prisoners were brought out of their makeshift cells to dig their own graves in a small walled […]
Read More Long Ago, My Parents Were Illegal Immigrants, an essay by Donal Mahoney