Cats Have Nine Lives and I Wish You Had Millions

by Arianna Taylor Your cat keeps looking at me funny. I don’t understand much, but I know the eyes it's giving me from across the kitchen—like I’m some sort of sick mammal with silk-spiked teeth. It t...

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Where the Mountains Dim

by Sean Gutman An Expanded Exemplum of the Master from Walton’s Voyage in Frankenstein  I had had my fill of the sea. Have you heard the tired joke about the sailor with the oar upon his shoulder? A m...

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Metaphysics

by Sambhu Ramachandran We know the person who peeled an onion             for the first time expected some mystery  to lurk behind layer upon eye-smarting layer            and was terribly disappointe...

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Wireside Chat, Featuring Special Guest Buddy Scalera

YouTube video by SNHU Creative Writing Programs

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If Only Grief Knew How to Slice Cucumbers the Way You Do

by Sambhu Ramachandran I could never believe in a god rising up  from the roiling waters of my identity crisis,  my heart gripped around his bulging biceps like a ship saved just in time. But I put my...

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Everyone Gets Out of This Alive, pt. 2

by William James -for Manchester, NH [2] Sitting on a graffiti’d stone  overlooking the city. Watching  jets take off from MHT.  Ruiner is in my headphones  & hell is empty. There’s sermons  to read, ...

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Everyone Gets Out of This Alive, pt. 1

by william james -for Manchester, NH I drive to the grocery store  to relieve my refrigerator  of its crushing loneliness.  I return empty-handed  because I left my wallet  on my desk. & Elm St.  rage...

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Brooklyn, Still

by Jennifer Ward I remember the winter I turned ten most of all.  One Sunday, my father stood by the front door in his worn blue coat, a coffee mug in his hand. The faint smell of whiskey lingered bet...

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Breath Against the Glass

by Gracie Jones You lean in— our noses almost touch as you fog the glass  between us. Your features shift,  melting into the mist. The familiar smile ripples, loosens  until you become  unrecognisable...

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Wishful Thinking

by Shannon Brown They say bad things come in threes. Instead of waiting for what will happen next, We wonder how many threes there will be this year. That’s not a test of will towards the universe As ...

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Omen

by Jen Drociak Something happened in the spruce tree under the cloak of darkness Something happened in the spruce tree to which no human bore witness  In the tree where only the northern mockingbirds ...

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Under the King of Fools: A Question for an ICE Agent

by Reyna Espinoza What will you tell your children when they are grown and ask who you were? Will you tell them the truth? Will you tell them you were cruel? Will you tell them you enforced the rules?...

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Born of Sunrise

by Reyna Espinoza I was born of sunrise and pesticides,of strawberries and struggles.I was raised with sunburnsand church on Sunday,where my knees memorizedthe wood of the prie-dieu,where prayers were...

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Tony

by Ed Schad Tony the Tiger began to groan free of his box, pacing, padding, rushing  down to disrupt the morning table.  Great though he was, his flakes also great, he increased, deepened, outstretche...

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Pieces

by Kenneth Pobo I turn off the computer and  watch the moon through  a half-closed venetian blind— then head to bed. Sometimes  I can’t sleep because I fear  dreaming. Last night I dreamed I was teach...

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Making Lists

by Kenneth Pobo My favorite is a list  of my top songs.   Almost 3000 titles.   The shortest are by the DC5.   The longest is “MacArthur Park.”   The grocery list bores me. We  discuss at martini time...

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By Our Gate

by Kenneth Pobo our white sweet pea  curls up and above  the top. We don’t let  the gate swing open  for fear of breaking it, no longer use the back  door until frost fells  the vine. My cousin  says ...

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Discontinued

by Jacqueline Hyatt He likes the smell of my perfume, How it sticks to the pillowcase  Hours after I go.  He likes the smell of my perfume; He craves reminders that  He is not alone.  He likes the sme...

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An Ode to My Fallen Lunch

by Jacqueline Hyatt Five minutes in line  And a credit card swipe Of $9.99, my salad was  Easily earned. Kale and spinach,  Cherry tomatoes,  And dried cranberries  In a capped paper cup Took a tumble...

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Sound River

by Dalia Davis Photo taken by author Flames cooled by blue tones.  Rushing  foam faces burst into song groovesswinging past stones. A jazz band of water nymphsquell fire arrows aimed for  my heart  bo...

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One of Us — I’m Pretty Sure, Anyway

by Martin FitzPatrick I turned on the car radio in time  to hear the last minute or so  of “Sweet Emotion”; then the DJ  came on and said, “Some Aerosmith here  this morning . . . one of my favorite  ...

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Graphic Storytelling Challenge

The Penmen Review is proud to share the winners and runner-up comics in Southern New Hampshire University's Graphic Storytelling Challenge! In this experiential learning activity, teams of undergradua...

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We Love You, Mommy

by Martin FitzPatrick They stand on the porch calling goodbye to Mommy,  wishing her a good day at work,  a good journey to work.  Goodbye. Goodbye. We love you.  Have a good day. Have good luck.  Don...

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If Only

by Martin FitzPatrick If you were a songwriter, like with  singing and guitars and everything, then every time you wanted to talk about  being sad, you could say tears, and  whenever you said tears, y...

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The Forest of Whispers

by Mike Solo-Thomson First, I had to make an offering. Instead of easing the cork out of the champagne bottle, I sent it through the air. It cleared the glass balcony and landed in the dry, crusted ea...

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Word for Word Graduate Spotlight, 6/3/26

YouTube video by SNHU Creative Writing Programs

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