University of San Francisco's Student-Run Literary Magazine
by Jacob Strunk Content warning: depictions of substance abuse, violence, and suicide I flicker to life. In the gloom, I watch her trembling hand pull slowly away. Breathing, I reach out, find purchase, take hold. She retreats a step at a time. I find my footing. I begin to rise. I hunger. She’s let me… Continue reading Last Call at Lake Country Lodge
by Sarah Inouye Content warnings for extended exploration of grief, death, and loss of autonomy. Briefly, disordered weight and body thoughts. What I knew of love, in my final year, coalesced in my green truck. It had been abandoned after the flood that one summer. It was a Californian miracle, both truck and overflow. No… Continue reading The Transfer
by Jennifer Fischer Content warning: references to mass gun violence and the accidental death of a child. Kate made her way to Tommy’s bathroom instead of her own. She sat on the toilet and stared at the white shower curtain with a large T-Rex vomiting out a rainbow on it. Her heart raced, but she… Continue reading Tommy’s Dragon
by Richard Weems When the dog bites into my father’s forearm, I am tempted for a moment to intercede. After all, there have to be more ideal points of attack than that tough strip of muscle. My research suggested the belly was the most vulnerable and scrumptious entryway, but, in the end, I defer to… Continue reading Dog Bite
by Theo Fox Perhaps it was their sad, triangular eyes, or the way their waddling bodies bobbed in and out of the field of view of his binoculars, but every time Eli settled down amongst the heather-dotted rocks to observe the puffins, instead of feeling voyeuristic he felt exposed. The afternoon ocean smashed into the… Continue reading Convergence
by Jennifer Love I’d become accustomed to the scalp scent of her bowed head when she knelt in prayer before my perch on her desk, which she’d been doing increasingly often since the death-prediction incident. There was a palm-sized, purple velvet pillow for me up here, adorned with gold tassels and surrounded with precious objects… Continue reading Creature, Stirring
by Erik Peters We sit on the terrace. Evening gathers in the arid valley at our feet, pooling in the dells. Mexico City, a distant memory veiled in industrial haze, lies just over the next ridge. Birdsong fills the darkling air—flock and family exchanging the day’s news. In the village below, life is as it… Continue reading Mexican Elegy
by Sarah Carolan TW: Drowning The peninsula claimed over two hundred ships in as many years. Victims would run afoul on hidden shoals or be driven off course by unpredictable gales. Others overestimated their maneuverability within the narrow, limestone-filled straits. But only one shipwreck, Griffin Lyons, captured Kat’s attention, and she blamed his demise on… Continue reading Lion of the Lake
by Daniel Tarker “These reunions are always. . .” I tried to find the right word, but it was elusive. Miserable. Depressing. Death-defying. I finally settled on “unbearable.” I raised my plastic cup of microbrew and added, “the only thing that makes these events bearable is the booze.” Jennifer smiled politely and looked over at… Continue reading Love in a Capitalist Hellscape
by V.A Wiswell 2022 My earliest memory is of violence. It follows me like a shadow. A lost dog. A nightmare. My sister Katelyn is singing “Landslide” from top to bottom, over and over, as we walk alongside the empty two-lane road after a full day of swimming at the lake. We’re almost home when… Continue reading Landslide
Ignatian Literary Magazine 