Creative Writing Commons^™

Gerstler's Triumphant Return (1972), Julie Zuckerman

Bryant Literary Review

Sitting among the malodorous teenagers--boys ripe with day-old sweat, girls thick on jasmine scents--Jeremiah Gerstler tried to check his mounting vexation.

Nothing At All, Ali Morreale

Bryant Literary Review

You sit and you look at all the strange faces,
on the bus that drives you not far.

Elvis At The Dunkin Donuts, Gregg Moglia

Bryant Literary Review

Coffee at hand I sit alone and begin
To read some Walt Whitman

Making History, Charles Webb

Bryant Literary Review

Columbus didn't think, "I've discovered
America!" He was happy just to find dry land.

Gift-Wrapped, Daniel M. Jaffe

Bryant Literary Review

Will there come a point during your El Al flight home from Israel when you can politely question the elderly man in the middle seat beside you as to why, during taxi yet before take-off, he ensconced himself toe-to-head within a 30-gallon, heavy-duty, clear plastic trash bag?

Poem For Humphrey Bogart, Herman Bush

Bryant Literary Review

You always said the world
was three drinks behind,

At The Post Office, Martha Christina

Bryant Literary Review

A blue tooth device
glows behind the ear

Heist, Rachael Colasanto

Bryant Literary Review

Your scent lingers on my pillow.
You've entered my space,
The place for my thoughts.

Lost Memory, Jane Stuart

Bryant Literary Review

You were--
you are--
a dream

The Strap, Ruth Latta

Bryant Literary Review

"Carmen? Carmen Lawrence? Where are you, girl?"

I peeked through the planks of the porch stairs

Lost At Sea, Dylan Thomas

Bryant Literary Review

One dark day
my love was washed away

A Fried Egg, Ellen Cooney

Bryant Literary Review

a fried egg
a small sun

She Feeds Me Now, Susan Johnson

Bryant Literary Review

I read cookbooks as if they were ancient texts,
the life of grandmother's grandmother translated

Phantom, Adam Matson

Bryant Literary Review

The pinky finger betrayed her. It sent a signal to Martin, who reached out from beneath the frilly cuff of his costume and grasped it.

Cul-De-Sac, Dennis Saleh

Bryant Literary Review

The night at
the door is
torn and frayed

The Accident, Victoria Melekian

Bryant Literary Review

I pass the stone walls
of the bridge. Bouquets

Clown School In France, Lee Kisling

Bryant Literary Review

How do these two things fit together--
the rain falls on the just and the unjust, and yet

Class Mate, John Kristofco

Bryant Literary Review

"Hey, has anybody seen my Hawthorne?" Terrence Terrill poked his head into the small living room.

Zoot: A Rondel, Philip Dacey

Bryant Literary Review

In '42, Los Angeles banned the zoot suit.

Crime came woven into the clothes some wore.

Drownproofing, Tom Chandler

Bryant Literary Review

Just cup your hands

and peel back

water like sky.

Saguaro, Dennis Saleh

Bryant Literary Review

The desert night

touches the air

like the perfume

of a woman

Rhetor, Dennis Saleh

Bryant Literary Review

"Words fail me." Why read further then?

Well, because you see the words do continue,

A Wake, Carol Harada

Bryant Literary Review

It's good to see the body, to know the difference. This bruised shell, with the jaw wanting to flap open, is not she.

An Element Of Style, Charles Sabukewicz

Bryant Literary Review

A noun by definition

can be almost anything:

Ice, Holly Guran

Bryant Literary Review

You are no companion

for this aging lover

lying in wait under snow.

War Story, Brian Taylor

Bryant Literary Review

A barrage of bullets sprays through the air,

crossing the battlefield as the enemy pushes forward.

Curly*, Nora Barry

Bryant Literary Review

He sits on the ground his long hair flowing in the breeze. Beside him is the burial scaffold of his child.

Mommy What Is War For?, Ellen

Bryant Literary Review

One rainy day some people get scared

spill drips of innuendos

Luke's Dad, Cari Oleskewicz

Bryant Literary Review

Ellen needs a drink, and wants to slap her sister for suggesting a fountain soda at the food court.

Alzheimer's, Theadora Siranian

Bryant Literary Review

At night an ancient giant with smooth blue skin

pulls the stopper from the bottom of the world,