by D. Susan Rutz The carpet was soft under Claire’s bare feet. With each step she pushed her toes into the fibers, and hurried, although she was not sure why the need to hurry. It is merely the phone ringing that disturbs sleep. Her large right toe slams into the chair leg, and pain shoots [...]
Yearly Archives: 2004
Rebirth by P.D Addio
by P.D Addio Jason walked into Jackie’s room. He stood over her as he had on their first meeting. Her eyes were sunken and her skin had grown gray. It clung to her skeleton like Saran wrap so that she more closely resembled a breathing mummy than a living person. Jason lowered his head again [...]
The Touch by Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz
by Carol Culver Rzadkiewicz As a girl growing up in rural Georgia, Leona believed in God. Not that she saw any evidence to support this belief or possessed some mystical conviction based upon what Pastor Wiggins called “sheer blind faith.” Leona simply accepted God, much in the same way she accepted eight o’clock as being [...]
A Kind of Memory by W.A. Smith
by W.A. Smith They are sitting at the table: Grace, the quiet, graceful mother; Ellen, the sister from another planet; Emerson, the Daddy Emeritus; and Charley. Supper is roast beef and mashed potatoes with gravy…and lima beans. There is no room in Charley’s life for lima beans. He’s herded some of them into a split-open [...]
Bitch by Atalaya
by Atalaya She was no beauty. A scraggly, ungainly creature with strange bluish eyes, Griselda lived in uncomfortable and jealous promiscuity with a woman; herself dark, smart and selfish who occasionally and carelessly invited a man into their home. She called him Bill and he smelt rather nice. Evenings with Bill followed always the same [...]
Delivery by W.A. Smith
by W.A. Smith Emerson Johnson joined up soon after FDR finished his Day of Infamy declaration to Congress. Emerson was twenty-five, putting the final touches on his internship. He and Grace had not yet celebrated their first anniversary when he left. But Grace said later they both knew he would be coming back.
I’d Rather be Dead than Cool by Ryan Sparks
by Ryan Sparks It’s a crisp Seattle morning outside, but I am warm inside The Clover, a velvet-draped coffeehouse on Grand Street. John Mayer’s cumbersome voice trickles out of the ceiling speakers, battling with the milk steamer for auditory dominance of all the citizens around me. The place is littered with twenty-somethings writing in notebooks [...]
Interview with poet Leonard Kress by Ryan Sparks
by Ryan Sparks Franklin Street Noise is proud to present its first interview. Poet Leonard Kress took the time to talk with me about his latest publication, Orphics, the importance of classical knowledge, transcending the status quo in contemporary American poetry, and the tricky path a translator-poet walks. “Myth is timeless and universal. So, speaking [...]
True Believer by Gabriella Herkert
by Gabriella Herkert ‘When you first trudged off to kindergarten,’ her mother began. ‘I failed the bar exam,’ Anne hiccupped, her voice breaking. ‘You don’t understand. I totally messed up.’ ‘When you first trudged off to kindergarten,’ her mother repeated, ‘I was concerned about you academically. Learning new things. Reading, writing.’ ‘Everything I worked for [...]
The Way Home by W.A.Smith
by W.A.Smith Laura was sitting up, looking down at him. The blue sheet was pulled to her waist, her breasts rising with her breath. “Good morning, Sweet.”