Brought to Bed with a Good Book
Jacqueline Saville Kerry agreed to be my birth partner eventually. She’d been in greater denial than me about my expanding waist and […]
Instructions for Maintaining the Fabric of Your Universe
Karen Jones and soft touches in those first few hours of the honeymoon. Slow caresses, case still full of dresses, this room […]
The Language of Flowers
Grace Palmer “Dearest,” he began, but as he hesitated over the next word his pen dribbled ink onto the paper and blotter. Harry […]
He May Be Human, But I Am Not Divine
Rachel O’Cleary He still wants me to finish first, like before. Sometimes he stops himself so that I can. Sidles up to […]
Double universe
Francine Witte There are forests, there are planets, there is the moon. In this universe, you are nothing but a speckity spec. […]
My Body of Work
Hannah Storm When I was little, my favourite season was autumn. It was when the trees turned the colour of my hair. […]
Papier Mâché
Elizabeth M. Castillo I hate papier mâché the stodge, the sticky remains of the glue the way it gets everywhere, and […]
Remediation
Kate Gehan Her son Jonah noticed gray pellets of scat on the roofline leading up to a displaced board under a soffit […]
The Soft Th
Rosaleen Lynch My English teacher counted my ‘you knows’ during a debate and the soft ‘th’ that made ‘dis’ out of ‘this’ […]
Missing Person Sign at a Rest Stop on the Pennsylvania Turnpike
Kate Deimling A blue line of highway snakes across the map.Alongside, a girl named Jean is enshrinedin image on the screen. It’s […]
The Ousterbout
E.E. Rhodes The day is spike-sprackled and winter-glorious, the neighbours are primed, and Gran is squawking fit to burst her way out […]
Dream Baby
Max Hipp Shake your heart like a half-pint of milk, blow in it, put it back in. It’s another night of playing […]
Panache
T.L. Sherwood The thinness of the envelope puzzles me. Harris has sent a slender, white, unusual feather. Days later, an email explains […]
Underworld
Cate West It is morning, early. Sunk on a mattress. The tube isn’t running or she’d feel the joists shaking. If she […]
Polyamory
Elle Shim He loved me the way an orange peeled in the next room permeates the universe for a night. In the […]
Three Poems: Between Two Mouths, Harm, and The Kiss of Judas
Lisa DeCastro Editor’s note: I’m drawn to Lisa’s poetry because it’s both intricate and accessible. Her poems are filled with desire, ache, […]
Three Poems: Lessons in Alchemy, Name Your Poison, Behold, The Universal Uterus
Seanín Hughes Editor’s Note: These poems are taken from Seanín’s debut full collection-in-progress, Reasons for Admission, wherein each poem corresponds to a […]
So That Light Carries Through
Chris Panatier Editor’s Note: Chris has a talent for writing the uncanny, to which I am very drawn, because of how it […]
Our Last Night (tw: abuse)
Travis Cravey Editor’s note: I am drawn to Travis’s writing because his stories are honest and memorable. He features characters the reader […]
Between The Nail and The Skin
Hema Nataraju Editorial note from Janus Literary reader, Myna Chang, who asked Hema to submit her work: I love the way humor […]
Lost Property
Lynda Cowles 13:44 The last train leaves the station. Rails hiss. Cables buzz. Pigeons flap then float back down. On the platform, […]
Accommodation
Kim Murdock Her husband worked late and her daughter was made of clothes and music so Miranda decided to arrange the calendar […]
Speech and Language Milestones
Kathryn Aldridge-Morris Between 0-6 months babies should coo, begin babbling and mimic sounds Heart rate dipping, something about the umbilical cord around […]
Sunshine Sugar
Amy Stone I smile. I can hear those paws in the snow, padding over to where I stand. Sure enough, he’s at […]
Sweet, Sour, Bitter, Salt
Fiona J. Mackintosh In the crouch of twilight, he hums a single tuneless note under the droop of the rhododendrons. From beyond […]
Little Miss Buford
Edie Meade I spend a lot of time on the floor behind the deli counter at Buford’s Grocery, watching the top of […]
Go-Go
Marie Gethins He shouted, ‘What the hell?’ filling his boot with beer as I headed towards the exit A first date at […]
Trent Lock
Rachael Smart The river is black and fast legging it. High up in the bones of the trees, spring comes, pinkly, and […]
I Don’t Want Dentures
Anika Carpenter I’m saving for implants like delft pottery, porcelain painted with windmills and flowers; teeth I’ll show off at the Kings […]
A Paranormal Dialogue
(CW/TW: abuse) Constance Malloy He’s dead. Frozen in time. Etched forever in charcoal, posing with his arm on a chair back. But […]
Halo
Meagan Johanson Your mother was in love with you. Enchanted—everyone was, she says, pulling the hair color box from the bag. Those […]
Pam’s Pantry
Shawn Van Horn I read that they’re finally tearing it down. It has always been there, way before I moved here, […]
Biblion
Shawn Van Horn I’ve broken up with the world. Words are my new mistress. You’re my way out of here. Doors open […]
Vanitas
Jared Beloff Stare hard enough and still edges will followthe lines of your eyes as you move away,a burst of color revealing […]
Matisse’s Bouquet de Fleurs pour le Quatorze Juillet, 1919
Jared Beloff That summer pink flowers gave the least promise,their heads bowed down out of the vase’s slender rimrevealing green stalks shivering […]
The Man in the Moon
Joel LeBlanc The man in the moon sat down on my bed and started smoking a twisted cigarette between yellowing teeth and […]
The Business of Witches
Joel LeBlanc The business of witches is one of harvesting truths like plants of predicting babies and midwifing divorces, taking midnight phone […]
Horseshoe Crabs
Joel LeBlanc I opened my mouth to say something sweet, but you may notice the briny sea that lives beneath my throat, […]
Lesson in Survival
Jamy Bond I’d lost my lover to heroin: lips like small blue balloons, skin like frosted glass. I needed a new life. […]
every time we think of her
Christina Kapp she held an orange / probed her thumb / with enough force / to wrench skin / from flesh / […]
The Muse
Simon Lee-Price My dog takes no interest in other dogs or bones. But if I have to write poetry he sits in […]
When the Scarves Fell
Katie Piper Grandad sat in the chair he always retired to after Sunday dinner. It had slender, polished arms and his […]
Seeds
Jolene McIlwain My wife leans into her pappy―Macon, she said yesterday―in this photo we found folded in a hankie in a […]
Hay Fever
Rebecca Bailey Rude as dandelion seeds, yet you still grow, The dock leaf to my thistle counterpart. For years I reaped, could […]
The Conifer and the North Wind
Geraldine Clarkson He gave me a gift of needles bound round in banana leaves, fragrant, folded in coconut wood. He came to […]
Windows Explorer Cannot Process This Request
Philip Charter Are you sure you want to reopen this application? [Yes] X […]
Sturdiness
James Garza Q: is there something erotic about destroying the environment? A: yes we roll up […]
Consumed
Sarah Green Gamber Sally looked from the cluttered sink to the window ledge where her sister’s diamond ring sat in a soap-dish. […]
The Witch Who Walked The Shore (1st Place)
Gaynor Jones Your mother used to tell you stories about the witch who walked the shore. A gnarled, mangled woman with mossy […]
Interview with Gaynor Jones, First Place Winner
Interview by Sudha Balagopal The witch in your story is a powerful, albeit unseen, character. How did the idea of a witch […]
