An independent literary press featuring poetry and fiction at the confluence of Charles Simic and Ray Bradbury. We publish books, a spotlight and a biannual digital magazine, Hidden Peak Review.
“We have created a city
for our best gods.
We have fed it our blue stories.”
— G.C. WALDREP
Spotlight
The World’s Most Powerful Microscope
I wonder if the problem lies with me or infinity. Each day is its own kind of monster. More and more advertising speaks directly to me. Hearing but not listening. Listening but not hearing. Hot breath in my ear while…
Cryptophasia
IT MIGHT HAVE STARTED with our father gifting my sister and me Swiss Army knives for our birthdays. Or maybe it was the broccoli and cauliflower drowned in melted Cheese Whiz he forced us to eat. My twin sister, in…
Untitled (Jellyfish Poem)
The jellyfish take the 6:00 AM train down to the beach. Some of the jellyfish make it through the sliding doors, some of them fall off the platform onto the tracks. I am the only not jellyfish on the train.…
Almost Rich
I’ve been dreaming in my room, not getting anything done. Dreaming about finding pennies from the Roaring ’20s. Picking up the phone all the time, then immediately putting it down. Dancing in a silver light threatening to turn gray. Waiting…
The Difference Between a Lake and a Pond
ALL THAT WINTER, they watched it. Someone had cleared a rectangle of snow from the frozen pond, or lake, whichever it was, that lay at the northernmost side of their neighborhood in Ypsilanti where the streets began to yield to…
Why James Tate and I May Write Alike
I GUESS I OWE everything to the old moose head hanging over the front desk at the Beaver Lake Lodge in Wild Duck, Minnesota. It is a rather large obnoxious thing even for me and it usually needs dusting. The…
A lower middle-class laborer explains the economics
I finally got a refrigerator that dispenses cold, cold ice and water purified by a filter. Some people have these all their lives and some people never have them. I always go for ice now and I go for the…
Time Signatures
AS SOON AS he saw the interior of Maya Winger’s garage, Ram knew he’d be grateful to finish the day broke. She clearly knew she wasn’t just selling her father’s old junk; she offered something else: the man’s actual thoughts,…
Going to Bethel
And he went up from thence unto Bethel: and as he was going up by the way, there came forth little children out of the city, and mocked him . . . And there came forth two she bears out…
People I Know, But Pretend Not To
Meg yells ‘whoa’ on the Ferris wheel but the spinning doesn’t stop. Harold chews one regret after another on a bed made for two. Jackie keeps walking the dog the opposite way it wants. Joe continues to converse with an…
What Happens in BC
I STUMBLE TOWARD SHORE, my teeth clacking together like musical spoons. After carrying me just a few yards, my wobbly pins introduce me face-first to the sand. I lie in a shivering heap and wait for the late afternoon sun…
Bliss of Perspective Reality
WE’RE ALL IN the same space and time, but experiencing different perspective realities. The woman next to me is prosaic. The guy behind me is screaming his esophagus out. And I’m bug-eyed with excitement because I know I’m the winner…
Death Is A Tower (Cento)
I circled the sun with a lasso of figures in the dark, where every atom’s splitting. My fingers tingled, slowly growing numb. To make nothing, draw a circle around what isn’t there. Bless the hands in the mirror, whoever they…
The Inadvertent Adversary
SAM SAT IN HIS usual mom and pop on East Colfax waiting for his usual lunch. When the waitress arrived with the bowl of green chile stew he’d accidentally caught a glimpse of the TV screen on the wall to…
Baby’s On Fire
The stars peck our eyes as the night’s chemical grin rises. The wind plants a good-luck kiss on your cheek. We climb down the ladder, my hands behind your knees as we clear the last rungs. We have always touched…
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