An Interview with Missouri State Poet Laureate, Karen Craigo By Molly Bess Rector The following interview was conducted via Slack on May 26, 2020 MBR: Hi Karen! How are you today? KC: I'm great! How are you? MBR: I'm doing well. It's gorgeous weather here—one of those porch-sitting days. KC: It's nice here, too, in a cloudy way. Perfect … [Read more...] about An Interview with Missouri State Poet Laureate, Karen Craigo
The First Day By John Mort I hadn’t driven that little Nissan for almost five years but it ran nice. My brother kept it for me while I was away. She took the big Ford SUV and it was a fine car, all right, but nothing I wanted. The little Nissan was economical and never caused any trouble. An hour after sunset I parked between two big trucks and walked slowly through … [Read more...] about The First Day (Fiction)
Sucker Flats By Matt McGowan Two days before Thanksgiving, Patsy and I were sitting in the office and arguing about stuffing. You have to cook it inside the cavity of the turkey, I told her, or you can’t call it stuffing, but she just kept on about a fancy casserole she’d learned from her sister-in-law in Oklahoma City. It’s not stuffing then, I countered. “Fine,” said … [Read more...] about Sucker Flats (Fiction)
Featured Poet: Susan Powell Susan Powell and her grey wolf, Idgie. “I was born in Altus, Arkansas, during a snowstorm on January 31st, 1954, two weeks before my expected arrival that Valentine’s Day. After the war and ten years of praying, my parents were finally credited with an off-beat child who did everything early, from walking at ten months to reading Sunday … [Read more...] about Featured Poet: Susan Powell
The Closing The hands grasping the loan papers have long Broad fingers, farmer-strong, His father’s gift to him, along With the money that allowed the son To escape the farm. The elder had worked hard, was one Who had what is called luck. Why should the boy craft or husband When he could do . . . something else? So he went Dutifully to school, worked hard, was as … [Read more...] about Poetry: Robert L. Mahon (Issue Ten)