Introducing Joy Richu, an accomplished illustrator whose artistry thrives on the power of storytelling. With a unique background in Design and Creative Writing, Joy’s work celebrates the profound beauty of the human experience, whether it’s in our remarkable discoveries, boundless imagination, or the creation of meaningful, inclusive communities. Her portfolioContinue Reading

Dreaming, always dreamingof shimmering turquoise ocean wavessparkling at dusk,singing to me, to us: rush-sush, rush-sush.Hear our wedding song?Sensual sea spray leans in to kiss the sand.Even as night envelops us,I reach into the heavenspull a star from the bowl of scintillating darknesswrite my name and yours in golden lettersand flingContinue Reading

Nam Hoang Tran is a writer and visual artist based in Orlando, FL. His work appears or is forthcoming in Posit, Bending Genres, Midway Journal, BlazeVOX, New Delta Review, Diode, and elsewhere. Find him online at www.namhtran.com.Continue Reading

The body is in a prolonged period of a dry spell,In the bosom, a tangled web of gold.At the sight of a water-soaked gravestone,The skin seethes with jealousy.Ash of grief, cobwebs of loveIn the bosom, a tangled web of gold. There are many words for grief,And love.Between the toes, sandsContinue Reading

I ask my husband,Did you notice the newapartments downtown?He looks at me curiously before he answers. I amaze my husbandby my lack of observation.I fail to noteroad construction,high-rise offices,those apartments built 5 years ago,and highway detour signs. I cocoon myself in a small world.I’m attracted to only important details:the enchantingContinue Reading

Nam Hoang Tran is a writer and visual artist based in Orlando, FL. His work appears or is forthcoming in Posit, Bending Genres, Midway Journal, BlazeVOX, New Delta Review, Diode, and elsewhere. Find him online at www.namhtran.com.Continue Reading

     My cream-colored shrug so easily slipped off my shoulders and ran down my arms to the floor. This is not what I had envisioned as necessary to break the ice and the process of melting away fear and self-consciousness. He saw and felt no fear, only assured of his movements,Continue Reading

Now I would rather remember life than live it.I would rather imagine life than live it.I’d rather watch life going on from the sidelinesin a comfortable chair than stand in the midst of lifeliving it. And maybe that strikes you as sador perverse. And maybe I’m kind of a pervbecauseContinue Reading

All my life, I waited for lovelike pineapple. Sopping bites,hair bristling on skin, tangyand biting. I waited for the nibble on my tongue.It never came. You came,and you were oxygen. You were misting rain,not tidal waves. All my life,I watched my father hail,and I bent towards blue. How to knowContinue Reading

I have sexual amnesia when I try to remember those most intimate moments with Pete. Sex had lured him to me, but my attraction to him was more conscious. A calculated thing. Once, after we had been married about six years, I suggested we consider having other consensual sexual relationshipsContinue Reading