My center grows cold and heavy. In Nagasaki, the winter months move on slowly. With my cast iron heart planted firmly in my chest, I find that simple tasks have now become difficult: getting out of bed, grooming myself, getting ready for work. The heater has been on the fritz—that, or my Welsh roommate and I are simply too stupid to read the Japanese on the remote and can’t figure out how to turn it on. After fiddling with the remote for the millionth time, I set the thing down and forget about it. I crawl into the warmth of my comforter and futon mattress and wait for my heart to grow heavier.
Genres
Print & Digital Issues
Featuring:
Issue 109, published January 2024, features works of poetry, flash fiction, short nonfiction, and photography by Carol Alexander, Lis Beasley, Jack Bordnick Studio, Heather Bourbeau, Michael Daley, Keith T. Fancher, DM Frech, Jeremiah A. Gilbert, Ditta Baron Hoeber, Liz Irvin, Richard LeBlond, S. Frederic Liss, Suzanne C Martinez, Ashley McCurry, Robert McKean, Cecil Morris, J. M. Platts-Fanning, Rebecca Pyle, Jim Ross, Christopher Rubio-Goldsmith, Rikki Santer, Fabio Sassi, Zeke Shomler, Caroline N. Simpson, Gerald Wagoner, Richard Weaver, Tracey Dean Widelitz, and Steve Zimmerman.