The Literary Magazine of the Osterhout Free Library
Double Dig
Harold Jenkins
Break the surface with the pitchfork
shave off the sod with the spade
Five feet wide, fifteen feet long
Dig out the first row
one foot down, one foot long
put it in the wheelbarrow
Add compost to the trench
loosen the soil with the fork
try not to think about you
Dig out the second row
toss it Continue reading “Harold Jenkins, Spring•Summer 2017”
Superimposed
Stacy W. Dixon
The trees had only to grow
a few more feet, Continue reading “Stacy W. Dixon, Spring•Summer 2017”
Fold’s Point
Jeremy Nathan Marks
When I was thirteen and we first went to Boston
I met RFK’s silhouette
What the impact was
what that profile meant
introduced a certainty that
I could go on to The Kennedy School
staying true to kismet
My father said get perfect grades
you should never err— Continue reading “Jeremy Nathan Marks, Spring•Summer 2017”
Hunting Season
Jan Chronister
An orange fist sticks out of a bureau drawer
catches my eye, a square of Mother’s black and many-colored
afghan we brought back from Florida last winter
along with quilts, costume jewelry and ceramics—
politely accepted, stored away in darkness, forgotten.
Glow of neon yarn on November morning
reminds me Ruby will never
crochet or stitch again
dress for church
paint another plate.
The hunter will find Continue reading “Jan Chronister, Spring•Summer 2017”
Of Lifeless Equivalencies
Sarah Bigham
The first was made
without sugar,
an error of haste or
stress or
care.
Instead, a slab entombed in thinly
ridged metal,
anemic cardboard, and
impenetrable plastic:
embalmed
for a celebration not
my own.
I do not want Continue reading “Sarah Bigham, Spring•Summer 2017”
Word Fountain 