Blowhole of a blue whale, flaccid after death, floats highest of the corpse, becoming island. Flora emerges from seeds dropped off albatross wings. Humans have no more use for them. "Uninhabited Tropical Island" photograph by Matthew Neighbour Written for a brevity contest - exactly 30 words.
Eruption by cicada’s ear. Exoskeleton melting with no knowledge of heat, of flame, of burning…of gunpowder. Gold and violet lights fill ocelli, brighting out dim stars above and tree podomeres below. Does he believe the earth dies? A disorienting supernova. He falls as body dissolves. Brain’s final thought: Doomsday! Photo by Vlad Cheu021ban on Pexels.com…
She has been flailing in the ocean her entire life, yet some tsunamis she sails to fool the world that she is strong. She wishes she were upon stars that fall: meteorites splashing up salt in the stillness of silver night. If she could have even the destructive power of those asteroids that smash valleys…
Dirt smears the wrinkled cheeks of a Mothered woman. Sweat or infant’s piss drips from her brow as she steps off her stoop, arms full of a once-black blanket brown with dog hair and bleach. She gathers the corners and shakes, hard, once, twice; the third shows vigor of red lips no longer seen in…
Across the sky Against the ground My spirit sighs, pants, pumps wings like those of a large bird too heavy to keep pace with smaller tits. Across the sky Against the ground Look up and see a phoenix burning bright defiance but the eruption that begat the firebird hollowed out the past. Across the sky…
Salvos of memories sail through her mind, each one its own galleon, sloop, barque, frigate forming a most daunting navy. Metal rubs against metal so that no man can see the surface of the sea for her might. Nostalgic sadness, nostalgic gladness — like flotsam turned to bombs shoved in cannons — erupt in battle…
Little flame flickers, licking the air. Afraid to lose its new life, it longs to linger, Made, it decides, to devour with devastating tongue. Partial to pure oxygen, it savors the Sylvan, Looking for tree leaves to flesh out its form. Initiator of warmth for night-bound humans, Greed and impatience urge its emergence. Hurried steps…
As a snake newly shed, wet and glistening and ready to be pricked by hawk’s talon, your body slithers along mine. Dripping poison by the Nile’s tides, perfectly positioned to penetrate, your pointed fangs are sharp pearls I covet to adorn my neck and breast — Beast! Anubis would envy your ease of transformation to…
Soft, yet not like silk — this is soft like a bison’s lips nibbling on prairie grass; like a prairie dog’s warm nose, nuzzling another in a snug burrow; like a burrowing rabbit’s legs kicking, flopping ears across eyes, tooth, and claw; like claws of a cat withholding force just so in play with almost-prey.…
TW: psychiatric ward settingLila Andromeda was born May 18, 1999 to migrant parents who trusted lucky numbers. The five points of a pyramid: a solid foundation to finalize and begin. Hello and welcome, that’s right, breathe, you’re on Earth with us now were their first words to her, immortalized in Momma’s diary. Lila called her…
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