"... couldn’t we just leave, couldn’t we, couldn’t we just, just go home, just slink home, slither home and ..." @ediemeade.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/ pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/

Urgent Care

Edie Meade My son gripped his left index finger in a coil of righthand fingers so anyone in the urgent care waiting room could see the punctures go purple before their eyes drifted onto me, the mot…

pitheadchapel.com

"But such violences cannot be cushioned." "But there’s no retracting icy metal touching bare skin." "I tell you things will get better ..." "The truth is we’re birthing a revolution." @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/and-treebear...

And Treebeard Said, “I Must Do Something, I Suppose”

Erin Vachon I tell my friends it will get bad, then better. Soon. A timeline sketch. Summer, then. We will conquer. At protests, we flex such chants into religion. I. I. Believe. Believe. That We. …

pitheadchapel.com

Stunning piece from @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social "You ask me what I want your child to call me once he starts talking. Not aunt. Not uncle. Aun-cle, maybe? I say, Ent. Like the trees in The Lord of the Rings. Druids do befriend oaks and maples."

Erin Vachon (they/them) 🍉@erinvachon.bsky.social · 3d ago

I’ve got a new flash in this month’s @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, a true story that reads stranger than fiction. Thanks a million to @kimmagowan.bsky.social for loving this, because I truly love Pithead Chapel. ✨🖤

This stunning flash from @erinvachon.bsky.social in the new @pitheadchapel.bsky.social was just what I needed to keep going today, and maybe it's what you need, too.

Erin Vachon (they/them) 🍉@erinvachon.bsky.social · 3d ago

I’ve got a new flash in this month’s @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, a true story that reads stranger than fiction. Thanks a million to @kimmagowan.bsky.social for loving this, because I truly love Pithead Chapel. ✨🖤

"There is magic in believing we’ll soar through this." @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. Read this NOW 💚⚡

Erin Vachon (they/them) 🍉@erinvachon.bsky.social · 3d ago

I’ve got a new flash in this month’s @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, a true story that reads stranger than fiction. Thanks a million to @kimmagowan.bsky.social for loving this, because I truly love Pithead Chapel. ✨🖤

"As if you had another option, eight months in. Your child, a renter inside a bloody studio apartment. A mandatory eviction, about to bust the hell out." Devastating, undeniable, and inspiring work by @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social

'I know. I say, It could happen at anytime now. Your smile spreads the wingspan of a wren, brown-feathered.' 💚 Just a beautiful and hard-hitting piece from @erinvachon.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/and-treebear...

And Treebeard Said, “I Must Do Something, I Suppose”

Erin Vachon I tell my friends it will get bad, then better. Soon. A timeline sketch. Summer, then. We will conquer. At protests, we flex such chants into religion. I. I. Believe. Believe. That We. …

pitheadchapel.com

A heartfelt thank-you to our longtime nonfiction editor, @stateofkate.bsky.social, as she steps down from her role. We’re so grateful for all she has contributed and wish her all the best! At the same time, please join us in welcoming @dawnsteffler.bsky.social as our new nonfiction editor!

A fantastic new story by @mpershan.bsky.social in the latest issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social. Bad luck, strange rituals, and a letter perfect ending. Love this one.

Melody Had To Wear the Wings

Michael Pershan I called up Melody and told her she had to wear the wings because her mother died in June. I reminded Melody of her bad fortune—that just three weeks after the funeral she herself l…

pitheadchapel.com

If you're an English teacher looking to assign a story that involves a winter ritual wherein a poor woman who's had a tough year has to strip and wear a bird costume and undergo a painful ritual for reasons that are difficult to explain and impossible to justify, look no further!

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 3d ago

Our September issue is live! Art: Trevor Cunnington Fiction: @erinvachon.bsky.social @mpershan.bsky.social Lisa Beech Hartz @skoeplin.bsky.social Nonfiction: Shara Sinor Alexa Loftus Marin Smith Poetry: @Ediemeade.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

I’ve got a new flash in this month’s @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, a true story that reads stranger than fiction. Thanks a million to @kimmagowan.bsky.social for loving this, because I truly love Pithead Chapel. ✨🖤

And Treebeard Said, “I Must Do Something, I Suppose”

Erin Vachon I tell my friends it will get bad, then better. Soon. A timeline sketch. Summer, then. We will conquer. At protests, we flex such chants into religion. I. I. Believe. Believe. That We. …

pitheadchapel.com

Good September morning. I have a prose poem in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, which is a towering dream of mine come true! The poem's called "Urgent Care." pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/

Urgent Care

Edie Meade My son gripped his left index finger in a coil of righthand fingers so anyone in the urgent care waiting room could see the punctures go purple before their eyes drifted onto me, the mot…

pitheadchapel.com

New issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social! Tip of the cap to editors @kimmagowan.bsky.social, @brttnyblm.bsky.social, @karenkay.bsky.social, Dawn Tasaka Steffler, et al, for another fine-looking issue!

Volume 15, Issue 9

COVER ART BY TREVOR CUNNINGTON   FICTION AND TREEBEARD SAID, “I MUST DO SOMETHING, I SUPPOSE” BY ERIN VACHON MELODY HAD TO WEAR THE WINGS BY MICHAEL PERSHAN BORDER ROAD BY LISA BEECH HARTZ WAT…

pitheadchapel.com

Thrilled to be in this lovely issue! pitheadchapel.com/watersnakes/

Watersnakes

Sydney Koeplin Later, they will debate who saw the snake first. The girls won’t agree on whose shout warned of the danger in the water, though Renee will insist that whoever it was screamed like a …

pitheadchapel.com

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 3d ago

Our September issue is live! Art: Trevor Cunnington Fiction: @erinvachon.bsky.social @mpershan.bsky.social Lisa Beech Hartz @skoeplin.bsky.social Nonfiction: Shara Sinor Alexa Loftus Marin Smith Poetry: @Ediemeade.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

"...until my son told me actually his finger didn’t hurt much anymore couldn’t we just put a Band-Aid on it and be more careful in the future,...." My lord, this is an extraordinary piece of writing (perfect last lines!) by @ediemeade.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 💙💙💙

Edie Meade@ediemeade.bsky.social · 3d ago

Good September morning. I have a prose poem in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social, which is a towering dream of mine come true! The poem's called "Urgent Care." pitheadchapel.com/urgent-care/

Our September issue is live! Art: Trevor Cunnington Fiction: @erinvachon.bsky.social @mpershan.bsky.social Lisa Beech Hartz @skoeplin.bsky.social Nonfiction: Shara Sinor Alexa Loftus Marin Smith Poetry: @Ediemeade.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

Volume 15, Issue 9

COVER ART BY TREVOR CUNNINGTON   FICTION AND TREEBEARD SAID, “I MUST DO SOMETHING, I SUPPOSE” BY ERIN VACHON MELODY HAD TO WEAR THE WINGS BY MICHAEL PERSHAN BORDER ROAD BY LISA BEECH HARTZ WAT…

pitheadchapel.com

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Essays feat. @willowswept.com @pitheadchapel.bsky.social @januaryhouselit.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com...

Smart Search List of the Day

The Smart Search List of the Day is: Essays feat. @willowswept.com @pitheadchapel.bsky.social @januaryhouselit.bsky.social et al. https://duotrope.com/search/smart/nonfiction/essays-AdrYRuzW

duotrope.com

"On Sunday afternoons for easy money, innocent prancing at kids’ birthday parties, horsey-rides, candy-sticky fingers tangling his mane" Such a brilliant lightness of touch in this one from @travisflatt.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/the-centaur-...

The Centaur Dances the Giddy-up Buck

Travis Flatt On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at Studs, his taut biceps and pecs oiled, his flanks brushed to a sheen, where he’s got a stable of regular fans—customers, rather—to cheer at his …

pitheadchapel.com

This heartbreaking CNF by @mooninabucket.bsky.social from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives took my breath away with its raw details and depth of emotion. Parenthood is truly the scariest hood you'll ever go through. #archivechallenge pitheadchapel.com/when-my-daug...

When My Daughter Says She Cut Herself at School

Francesca Leader I hear her say she didn’t mean to cut so deep. That her father left his razor out (though I begged him to be careful), so she took it, just in case. She tells me the blade’s sharpn…

pitheadchapel.com

“When you were born I became tears/blood/breastmilk, the mattress soaked through” how motherhood is a rent in your very soul. Of course this was nominated for BSF. @kathrynreese.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🧡🔥🧡🔥🧡 so proud of you

Kathryn Rw Reese@kathrynreese.bsky.social · 3w ago

Stoked that this little story has been nominated for Best Small Fictions: pitheadchapel.com/birthright-b... Thanks to the team at Pithead & congrats to the other nominees

Stoked that this little story has been nominated for Best Small Fictions: pitheadchapel.com/birthright-b... Thanks to the team at Pithead & congrats to the other nominees

birthright/bloodline

Kathryn Reese   When you were born, I was sent away to the witchdoctor/my grandma’s house/the place where they teach babies to sleep. You, a bundle in my arms/a portacot/still in my belly. Me, a pr…

pitheadchapel.com

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · 3w ago

Delighted to announce our Best Small Fictions nominees for this year! @jaimegill.bsky.social @kathrynreese.bsky.social

Delighted to announce our Best Small Fictions nominees for this year! @jaimegill.bsky.social @kathrynreese.bsky.social

“It’s easier to cross-stitch a hummingbird’s heart.” That image and more in: “The Crone Prays.” Prose poetry from @bethgordonpoet.bsky.social in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/the-crone-pr...

The Crone Prays

Beth Gordon   Some days it’s easier to tell the people I love that there’s a palm reader in my head: a parlor of empty nests: a pile of rusted bikes. My heart is a tapestry of moonshine. It’s …

pitheadchapel.com

Ask me what I love about this CNF by Liam Carnahan from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives and I'll tell you: the craft, the tension, the unforgettable ending! #archivechallenge Couldn't find Liam to tag him but find him on his website liamcarnahan.com ❤️ pitheadchapel.com/ask-me-how-m...

Ask Me How My Mother Died

Liam Carnahan Ask me how my mother died, and I’ll tell you it was an infection. Ask me how my mother died, and I’ll tell you it was inaction. We made a promise to her before the surgery, but we cou…

pitheadchapel.com

I love the speculative dreamscape and “what ifs” in this CNF by @thorntonforreal.bsky.social from the @pitheadchapel.bsky.social archives. #archivechallenge pitheadchapel.com/the-snow-in-...

The Snow in Duluth

Lisa Thornton   The boy I met on a rooftop in Nepal, the one who pushed a rowboat onto the lake in the middle of the night while monkeys screamed at us from the trees, calls me in a dream. He …

pitheadchapel.com

I am almost five years sober. One of the reasons I am so gratified to be in the latest issue of @pitheadchapel.bsky.social is because the piece talks about my first few months in recovery. Here is the link if you are interested in reading it: pitheadchapel.com/first-step/

First Step

Zary Fekete   The mirror in the airplane bathroom is too small to see my shoulders, so I only look at my eyes. Outside the window, it is winter, and everything below us is the flat, gray white of M…

pitheadchapel.com

Excited to have "Unknown Caller" in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social . They have been an aspirational target since I picked writing back up — and it's more proof that my particular flavor of alexithymia and neuro-spiciness has a home outside my own head. 😀 pitheadchapel.com/unknown-call...

Unknown Caller

Chris Dodds   Fourth missed call from the same unknown number. No message. My wrist complains when I flip the phone onto its face on my desk.  I rub the joint, which makes my other wrist ache. *** …

pitheadchapel.com

New poem up at @pitheadchapel.bsky.social pitheadchapel.com/the-crone-pr...

The Crone Prays

Beth Gordon   Some days it’s easier to tell the people I love that there’s a palm reader in my head: a parlor of empty nests: a pile of rusted bikes. My heart is a tapestry of moonshine. It’s …

pitheadchapel.com

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · last mo.

Our August issue is live! JH Lucas Dodge Zelko @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social Jacob Schrodt Jeffrey-Michael Kane @liquid-chicken.bsky.social @zaryfekete.bsky.social Matthew Trumbull Kinga Varga-Dobai Andrew Christoforakis @bethgordonpoet.bsky.social Kaylan McCann pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

Brilliant stories in here One of them by @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social ‘Once I read a poem she wrote about a girl who eats her own shadow to feel whole’ Captivating throughout

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · last mo.

Our August issue is live! JH Lucas Dodge Zelko @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social Jacob Schrodt Jeffrey-Michael Kane @liquid-chicken.bsky.social @zaryfekete.bsky.social Matthew Trumbull Kinga Varga-Dobai Andrew Christoforakis @bethgordonpoet.bsky.social Kaylan McCann pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...

Astonishing...but true:) I have a piece in @pitheadchapel.bsky.social 🥰 It is very humbling to be here with these incredible artists. Thank you!!! #writingcommunity

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social · last mo.

Our August issue is live! JH Lucas Dodge Zelko @sarpsozdinler.bsky.social Jacob Schrodt Jeffrey-Michael Kane @liquid-chicken.bsky.social @zaryfekete.bsky.social Matthew Trumbull Kinga Varga-Dobai Andrew Christoforakis @bethgordonpoet.bsky.social Kaylan McCann pitheadchapel.com/volume-15-is...