Fiction Commons^™

This Man's Life, Brian Daldorph

Bryant Literary Review

If only for a short time

a man has all that he wants:

Escape, Dolores Redfearn

Bryant Literary Review

Mambo sounds provoke the silence, waking the sleepwalkers in the street below.

A Fifth Of Old Crow, Mitch Lescarbeau

Bryant Literary Review

Feathers black as an undertaker's wingtips,

he struts resplendent with a monocle and a walking stick

Laundromat, Sheila Golburgh Johnson

Bryant Literary Review

Out of the washer

endlessly swirling,

damp and wrinkled

and knotted from harsh

The Man Who Will Perform My Colonoscopy, Charles Harper Webb

Bryant Literary Review

As I slouch in the shower, drained by fear

and laxatives, does he look forward to a day

With Birds Flying Below Her, Patricia O'Donnell

Bryant Literary Review

Where Muriel wants to be is sitting on a terrace, one on a mountain with a view of the ocean.

The Acid God & The Anti-Dad, Saint James Harris Wood

Bryant Literary Review

With his dirty blond grown-out Beatles haircut, secondhand Hawaiian silk shirts and second-rate flip-flops

Love Match, Ann Robinson

Bryant Literary Review

Beast with cufflinks and condoms,

studmuffin with biceps a woman could climb,

Oh My Brother, Katie Koumarianos

Bryant Literary Review

The rifle stands wedged into the ground

between standard issue combat boots

The Higher Faith, Elton Glaser

Bryant Literary Review

New Orleans, August 2005

When the floodwaters licked at our ankles

And wind prowled around the house,

Bravo, Lisa Starr

Bryant Literary Review

And when, at last,

September rolls around again,

there is a wild flurry among the leaves

Older Brother, Thomas A. West, Jr.

Bryant Literary Review

As a child I wondered

what the lobster saw in the last second

before it flopped twisting into boiling

Whistler's Mother, Lisa Starr

Bryant Literary Review

"Why I are you whistling?" I ask.

Have I been? He replies.

Is it annoying?

Into The Storm, Tatianna Williams

Bryant Literary Review

Olivia sits in the chair near the silent radio and reaches for her brush with a trembling hand.

The Charleston Church Massacre, David Dragone

Bryant Literary Review

The reporter with perfect hair and perfect teeth

asked Mrs. Tragedy how she felt

now that her innocent son had been gunned down in church.

A Litany For Tender Mercies And Tougher Meats, Sean Gill

Bryant Literary Review

"Reebs, chicken, poke chop, slice beef, chop beef, turkey laig, links, baked pohtatah, boot ann, bolo,

Grounded, Marilyn Ringer

Bryant Literary Review

From the pavement

of the small-town

parking lot I watch

The Dictionary, Ace Boggess

Bryant Literary Review

I keep a dictionary by my bed
in case a word is spoken when I dream

Lavender Bride, Robert Kostuck

Bryant Literary Review

Svetlana and Valery at the late edge of a summer weekend, aligned vacations, rented bicycles, wool sweaters, damp air spilled inland from the half-empty beaches.

Hitler Stamp, Paul Hostovsky

Bryant Literary Review

I traded ten triangular
Mongolian stamps for Hitler,

Moving On, Joyce S. Brown

Bryant Literary Review

Twenty minutes into death
and whatever happens there,

This And That (For Coleman Barks, October, 2008), Lisa Starr

Bryant Literary Review

A while back you said, You know, one of these days
you're gonna have to write that poem about that deer,

Ginger, Charles Butterfield

Bryant Literary Review

After Sam's truck clears the hill, all Lucius hears is the cooing of wild pigeons in the cavernous haymow.

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.

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?

The Strap, Ruth Latta

Bryant Literary Review

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

I peeked through the planks of the porch stairs

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.

Class Mate, John Kristofco

Bryant Literary Review

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

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.

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.