Animal November 2024
A Farmhouse by Christopher Woods
A Farmhouseby Christopher WoodsLate at night, at my desk, I hear a cat crying, wanting to come in. I haven't owned a cat in years, not since the last one passed on. The crying continues. I decide to investigate. I look on the back porch, but there is no cat, just...
Animal by John Paul Caponigro
Animalby John Paul CaponigroWhen I was a child, I named all my animals after other animals. My cat was a lion, my dog was a bear, my frog was a bug, my fish was a butterfly, my shrimp was a whale, and my ants were men. Somehow, I knew all animals have other animals in...
Aria the Fox – Feral II
by Sean Bw Parker
Aria the Fox - Feral IIby Sean Bw ParkerAria the FoxFeral IISean Bw Parker (MA) is a writer, artist and musician based in Worthing, West Sussex (UK). He lived in Istanbul for ten years, has written or contributed to a number of books and albums, and given a TED talk....
Aspirations by Helen Chambers
Aspirationsby Helen ChambersTangled in a knot of aching limbs on the wooden bench, Beth hunches her shoulders, sighs and dabs more slate-grey onto the painting. Meg would say it was overworked and then pinch the bridge of her nose in that way she has. In front of...
Blind as a Bat by Sally Anderson Boström
Blind as a Batby Sally Anderson BoströmAt dusk in August, a bat flies into our Airbnb. I am putting the kids to bed in a converted farmhouse in the German countryside that makes me think of escape – of millions of displaced people walking, hobbling along these roads,...
Crows by Mike Wilson
Crowsby Mike WilsonNow is our season of crows, landing in twos and fours, shiny ebony feathers strutting on grief-stricken earth, silhouetted in decaying light. Crows have brain-to-body ratios the same as chimpanzees, neuronal density surpassing primates, but the...
Leftovers by Dave Malone
Leftoversby Dave MaloneEvery night a stray cat sleeps in my car’s wheel well. Her mother’s unknown, her father unknown, and she alone holds reign over the back lot and the kingdom of my car’s tires and hood, her dusty paw prints a stamp of her royalty, a coin washed...
Nightstalker by Tinamarie Cox
Nightstalkerby Tinamarie CoxTinamarie Cox lives in Arizona with her husband, two children, and rescue felines. Her written and visual work have appeared in a number of publications under various genres. She is the author of two chapbooks with Bottlecap Press:...
No eating on the bus by Sheree Shatsky
No eating on the busby Sheree ShatskyWe wait for the city bus. I eat breakfast on the curb. A glazed donut with chocolate milk. I see the bus. I chew and chew. My head bobbles back and forth with effort. I swallow and don’t choke. My esophagus feels stretched. My...
Ossuary by Robert Okaji
Ossuary / Arco Felice / 1974by Robert OkajiSometimes the bone man clattered by, his horse-drawn wagon heaped high with the stripped remains of dismembered corpses, a cloud of flies in his wake. I would watch him from my perch on the hillside above the street,...
Please pat the dog. by Janina Aza Karpinska
Please pat the dog. - The Great Escape - Jersey Cow at the Marketby Janina Aza KarpinskaPlease pat the dog.The Great EscapeJersey Cow at the Market My daily creative practice as a multidisciplinary artist-poet is to be on the alert for material, ideas and inspiration...
Shoe Leather by James B. Nicola
Shoe Leatherby James B. NicolaI do not have a dog. I jog and say hello to all the dogs along the way. I was born in a Year of the Dog. That’s according to the Chinese Zodiac. You’ve seen it on placemats in restaurants no doubt: Year of the Rat, the Cock, and so on....
Space by João Cerqueira
Spaceby João CerqueiraOctober 26, 1957 Since they took me off the street, I have had a better life. I no longer get cold or sleep in the rain. I eat good food. I take a hot shower and feel clean like I've never felt before. People like me and treat me well. It is true...
The Boy Begged the Monarch Butterflies to Take Him with Them by Mathieu Cailler
The Boy Begged the Monarch Butterflies to Take Him with Them by Mathieu CaillerAtop a cliff, he informed them of his home life and school bullying. He whimpered about his grandma’s passing. He confessed, again, to feeling more butterfly than human. Showing the...
Turtles Don’t Jump by Sabine Jaccaud
Turtles Don’t Jumpby Sabine JaccaudIt started with fish. From a pet shop. We were about ten-ish, tweens, my brother and I. We brought home a couple of fish and put them in a big plastic bucket, in the bathtub. Clueless about fish care, but curious about fish in the...
Untaken Photograph by Molly O’Dell
Untaken Photographby Molly O’DellIn the cool green of this early morning, the road to the river’s more like a sanctuary than state route on the way to the store. Just onto the grit and gravel section, past a grove of seven walnut trees, I brake when a black bear cub...
What the Moon Knows That J.D. Doesn’t by Ellen Gerneaux Woods
What the Moon Knows That J.D. Doesn’tby Ellen Gerneaux Woodsthe moon reveals their presence bright eyes like headlights stride insistent determined the moon broadcasts their intention they walk as a mass push buggies they are known as the cat ladies ...
