University of San Francisco's Student-Run Literary Magazine
by Nicole Cifani Lehmann-Haupt I’ve figured out how to solve for the coworker crush. Since we work remotely, all I have to do is find a way to see her in person. By doing so, I will prove to myself that the entire notion of fantasy-based infatuation is a myth, predicated on old sailor songs… Continue reading Coworker Crush
by Rowan MacDonald I met the badger on a cold night in May, in the cobblestone alley two streets down from the Rose and Crown. I needed to pee after too many pints of the Crown’s finest and knew my bladder wouldn’t survive a journey to the nearest taxi rank. The alley was deserted and… Continue reading What a Badger Might Say If You Met Him Down a Dark Alley One Night in May
by Edward Michael Supranowicz Julie wandered the street like an orphan, an orphan of everything. Her clothes hung on her like she had slipped into them absentmindedly and was still trying to put them on. Her straight black hair was clipped into brutal bangs in the front and straight across on the sides and back,… Continue reading Middle of a Room
by Simon A. Smith The first eight months of 2019 brought Chicagoans a minor celebrity claiming that he was the victim of a racist hate crime, a five-foot alligator nicknamed Chance the Snapper marooned in the Humboldt Park lagoon, and a summer marred by over 1,500 shootings. It’s hard to say which one got the… Continue reading The Treatment of Injuries
by Devan Hawkins Early in the evening, there was never any rhythm. The night of the Redcoat Club Reunion was no exception. A waitress would bring in a tray loaded with plates of uneaten food and crumpled napkins every few minutes, and clearing it was more like reaching for a glass of water at night,… Continue reading The Redcoat Club Reunion
by Brett Biebel I’d had sex before I met Davey, but not much, and it was mostly unsatisfying. With guys who were real earnest. Too earnest, probably. Like you could tell they prided themselves on respect, but maybe it was all just a pantomime of respect, and they were only doing it so they could… Continue reading The Boy Martyr
by Alexis Pearson If not for my bare shoulder unexpectedly caressing your cheek stamping the beginning of a prolonged goodbye into the raw breath of strangers still I would not know how to turn walls into boats, your hands a sea with no bed my feet dangling. If learning to tread water means first drowning… Continue reading Glass Cages
by Stephen Mead The paper cuts, the finger bleeds, but a clot comes, & will the pages stain? Try different parchment, re-do or remake a pattern of the red. Has the hand been through a lawnmower? Are razors seen in sheets? Faithless but for masochism, no deep trust but for the overboard & loving the… Continue reading Listen
by Huina Zheng TW: mentions of abduction, human trafficking, abortion, rape, sexism? Even though I took Gaokao, the national college entrance examination in China, over a decade ago, I dream that I am taking the exams at least once a year. In the dream, everything is dark and blurry. In a classroom where other examinees… Continue reading The Pilgrimage of Gaokao
by Erik Peters “What are you afraid of?” “Nothing,” I lied. “Then get in the water!” “No, I don’t want to.” The sun beat down from above and the sand radiated heat from below. I was beginning to panic. I wouldn’t have come on the bike ride if I’d known we would end up at… Continue reading Sea Monsters
Ignatian Literary Magazine 