STORY OF THE WEEK

STORY OF THE WEEK

A Good Boy By Suzanne Larsen

A Good Boy

By Suzanne Larsen
How strange to imagine himself again running against blue sky. The old world came back, like an old photograph transforming. A pang of recognition hit him. He was nothing if not this.

POEM OF THE WEEK

POEM OF THE WEEK

Georgic: Devotional By Talia Isaacson

Georgic: Devotional

By Talia Isaacson
We tend to ourselves, M said, only after everything else. The body, a tool, bent in one long direction. Sweeping the barn floor, again and again.

FINAL TWO WEEKS TO ENTER

FINAL TWO WEEKS TO ENTER

FINAL TWO WEEKS TO ENTER
Deadline: Fri., July 18, at 11:59 p.m., PDT.

Poetry is “the eldest sister of all arts, and parent of most,” wrote William Congreve. We agree and are seeking poets and poems to celebrate with prizes and publication.

Please see the Guidelines.

NARRATIVE FIRSTS

NARRATIVE FIRSTS

NARRATIVE FIRSTS

First-time authors are a regular feature in Narrative. Read the works of some of the remarkable poets and writers who first appeared here.

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

Greetings from the Desert By Emily Bales

Greetings from the Desert

By Emily Bales
He left me in the Park, the darkness nesting in the tops of trees, sparrows rooting in the leaf litter, the half-moon the amber of a porchlight left on.

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

Wives By Kate Cayley

Wives

By Kate Cayley
They turned back to look at the wall, the house rising behind it, the upstairs windows showing light in every room. Falling across the stains on the wall from the rotten apples.

WINTER CONTEST WINNERS

How Fish Learned to Sing By Debra Marquart

How Fish Learned to Sing

By Debra Marquart
I always wanted a saxophone voice—a voice like a growl in the night, like gravel scratching under tires. Instead, by the lottery of birth, I was given a trumpet voice, metallic and piercing.

FICTION

FICTION

FICTION

FICTION

Life with Mme. Colette, Famous Writer, Anti-Semite, Beloved Friend By Amy Bloom

Life with Mme. Colette, Famous Writer, Anti-Semite, Beloved Friend

By Amy Bloom
Madame shakes off a couple of shawls like an old warhorse hearing the bells of battle.

FICTION

FICTION

So Far Gone By Jess Walter

So Far Gone

By Jess Walter
Books covered every available surface and much of the floor. Leah loved books more than she loved anything in the world, but this . . . this seemed like a sickness, like an infestation of words.

NONFICTION

POETRY

NONFICTION

NONFICTION

The Gambler By Bill Barich

The Gambler

By Bill Barich
The sulky drivers ate at the bowling alley, and they’d taken a shine to Eddie and touted him on the horses ready to win. “Rhythm Lad in the sixth,” he confided. “It’s a sure thing.”

POETRY

POETRY

Some Remarks on Humor By E. B. White

Some Remarks on Humor

By E. B. White
You certainly don’t have to be a humorist to taste the sadness of situation and mood. But there is often a rather fine line between laughing and crying.

CLASSICS

GRAPHIC STORIES

CLASSICS

CLASSICS

Dream Children By Gail Godwin

Dream Children

By Gail Godwin
And as she floated in this silent world, transparent and buoyed upon the dream layers of the mind, she heard a small rattling sound, like pebbles being shaken in a jar.

GRAPHIC STORIES

GRAPHIC STORIES

Let’s Learn English! By Tracey K. Berglund

Let’s Learn English!

By Tracey K. Berglund
A visual exploration of some amusing homophones and homonyms in the English language.

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

Skylight By Jaswinder Bolina

Skylight

By Jaswinder Bolina
Now I’m no longer the buzzards glooming over the mango tree. Now I’m the fuzzy orange sunbeam glazing the buzzards’ shoulders.

POETRY

POETRY

Paean for Dinner Dates with Sarah By Kerrin McCadden

Paean for Dinner Dates with Sarah

By Kerrin McCadden
Isn’t this all one long story of begetting? Forgetting. Whatever. Same thing. Steve comes and Steve goes. We are everlasting.

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

Failure to Appear By Rosalie Moffett

Failure to Appear

By Rosalie Moffett
To be the grass someone’s memory spins its wheels in, the globe brimming with gumballs, or the palm—but I’m not, maybe never.

POETRY

POETRY

Derelict By Nina Peláez

Derelict

By Nina Peláez
The sun starts its strain, rupturing through clouds, melting dusts of snow. My shadow appears and disappears in front of me

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

The Baby By Aaron Poochigian

The Baby

By Aaron Poochigian
Her stubbly crown, prodigious forehead, and concern-pursed brow seem those of Socrates, whose unforbearing inquest shamed the wrong.

POETRY

POETRY

Paradise By Jacob Sheetz-Willard

Paradise

By Jacob Sheetz-Willard
Lord, bless this land with an abundance of shitty baseball teams and rush-hour traffic. Let minor lament ring out from the top of the tallest landfill.

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

POETRY

Willamette Shipyard Blues By Alex Tretbar

Willamette Shipyard Blues

By Alex Tretbar
Lost when they let me out
Just my welding gun
So I went down to the
    shipyard
Where it all began

POETRY

POETRY

Reasons to Go On By Craig van Rooyen

Reasons to Go On

By Craig van Rooyen
Because grass sprouts from the stump’s rings like tiny soldiers, lost in a labyrinth. Because this mess I’ve made I haven’t made alone.

CARTOONS

CARTOONS

CARTOONS

CARTOONS

Cartoon Art Volume 2025-05 By Various Artists

Cartoon Art Volume 2025-05

By Various Artists
Great new toons by Dan Misdea, Theora Kvitka, P. C. Vey, Kyle Bravo, and Chris Weyant.

CARTOONS

CARTOONS

Cartoon Art Volume 2025-06 By Various Artists

Cartoon Art Volume 2025-06

By Various Artists
Great new toons by Drew Panckeri, Suzy Becker, P.C. Vey, Mick Stevens, and Farley Katz.