Little Cartoon, James Croal Jackson
“our laughter / snorts out // sunflowers”
The Start of a Bad Joke, Jessica Klimesh
“The gnome turns to the parakeet; his voice is deep, slow, and tedious. ‘It seems that…this…is the start…of a bad joke or…something. Just look at…the first line…of the story.’ The gnome then addresses Old Russ. ‘Is this…funny…to you, Mister?'”
Subway, Nikolaj Volgushev
“In the alley behind the Burger King, I bumped into a strange man. He was very tall and wobbly and dressed in a heavy trench coat. He was wearing a Fedora and shades. I asked if he knew where the entrance to the subway was. The strange man squeaked.”
Inside the Last Cinnamon Raisin Bagel, Benjamin Davis
“I’d been living the same day over and over for nine hundred and forty-one days before I finally turned to my co-worker and said, ‘Hey, Kevin, I have been living the same day over and over for nine hundred and forty-one days.’ Kevin didn’t look up from his desk. He nodded and said, ‘Yeah, man—me too.'”
She, Harsimran Kaur
“She rises from her gentle bed, / With thoughts of kittens in her head”