For Older Readers

The stories and poems in this section may be most appropriate for young adult readers, but have something that can be enjoyed by everyone.

small fishing boat

What a Fisher Should Call It

Every day I woke fearing the sea. Fear made my shoulders slump. It soured my mouth and released acid in my stomach. Seeing my pinched face across the breakfast table, mother’s eyes shone with tears. She reminded me, “Arlith, you were happy...

a jar of marbles

Worlds Over The Edge

Another marble clacked over the rocks and disappeared over the edge. It was like putting a penny in one of those funnels at the mall, Rila thought to herself, that no matter how wide the journey, it always went to the same place. The ocean was only...

blue jay

Blue Jays in Miramar

Reaching past burgundysignposts pointingeast to An-Nur Mosque Blue jays singfor black boyson vacation And the swelling of musicrattles their small and newbones, shrill azurite motifs Beckon like a wrenchwedged between a door to duskand a place...

three autumn leafs against a dark forest

Three Sadnesses

1. The Invisible Butterfly Some lonely whisper half-caught in the morning light: earth does not support, yet all life is sustained… but it was only an echo. The music had vanished and left the air empty, as empty as Daisuke’s butterfly...

woman and cat reaching out towards each other.

Nine by Nine

When Marie Rosalind Gupta found her aging cat, Miffy, hunched up and stiff beneath her bedside table, she made a solemn, silent promise: she would do everything to never feel such terrible loss again.

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