University of San Francisco's Student-Run Literary Magazine
by Clay Hobson Somewhere at the edge of Virginia, there is a house with faded yellow paint flaking away at the corners. In one of its dimly lit rooms, there is a little boy sitting with his legs pretzeled underneath himself with all the sharp edges of barbed wire, fingers tracing patterns through the carpet… Continue reading Myosotis
by Catherine Stansfield I've learned that every day is the day you died each moment, the phone call, empty on my side as a parking lot at dusk, when the sun sets and the masses clear and the deer have already crossed the sea of asphalt in search of green instead of three staring eyes—headlights… Continue reading One Year Later
by Clay Glaus All Bucko could do was watch the dark silver-colored clouds gather above him and hear the crackle of thunder as a storm began to form, making it too dangerous to fly for the day. He was a Canadian goose who had spent the past couple of days making the journey southward to… Continue reading Lonesome Journey
by Travis Stephens She ladles dressing on the salad with a distracted profligacy; it is called Green Goddess, and I drop two cherry tomatoes to the floor. Or are they grape tomatoes? Tiny orbs of seed and acid, like the scrotum of summer, perhaps, or the tiny budding breasts of memory. Or fruit. Not a… Continue reading Pomp & Circumstance
by Peter Bauer The sun grew fat and sank nearer to the horizon. The desert sky bloomed into oranges and purples. In this desert, hidden in the hills and noble cacti, an unnatural structure protruded from the earth: It was a radio tower, set up alongside a recreational vehicle and an old Subaru, some 20… Continue reading King of the Cacti
by Joan Gaustad Part 1: AN INKLING “Does it get any easier after three months?” my neighbor asks as I watch him shove hollyhock seeds, South of France-style, between the alley cobblestones next to his narrow townhouse. We’ve rarely spoken in decades of close proximity, and it takes me a moment to understand what he… Continue reading Why We Stay
by Allen Keith The only faces left are on the clock and the shocked sockets of my walls; one staring back from a mirror, dazed, looking a thousand yards deeper than need be. I asked for this, wanted it, fought for it. It takes effort to attain solitude in a city of six million morons.… Continue reading Cheers
by Vivian Lawry Charlie settles his junk into the leopard-patterned thong and turns side to side, admiring his ink. He hip-checks the dresser drawer that holds his work clothes: thongs in animal prints, solid metallic silks, leathers soft as bridal gloves, paisleys and florals, geometric designs, and specialty ones for holidays. The holiday designs—sequins, hearts,… Continue reading Inked Man
by Kayla Jessop She stole Barney. Before the thievery, the deep purple and bright green dinosaur sat upright, perched against the large, bulky TV stand in our small living room. His once soft fabric was now ruffled and torn, scratchy with the amounts of matted lint trapped in the fur from my sister’s constant, brutal… Continue reading On The Run
In Memory of W.S. Merwin by Trina Gaynon You opened a door to a nightmare. I don't Remember where the walk took me. I cannot tell. Shadows on shadows clouded my vision Of broken lands. Long blue shadows would reign, Made colder by rare blue skies of a belated Spring. Mostly, our sun hides its… Continue reading The Last One
Ignatian Literary Magazine 