1 The last unenriched food on Earth is a tin of dog meat. Like the chew toys that decay too slowly, this tin long outlasts its purpose. No more dogs in the world to call back to their dinner bowls. Few creatures survived the heat of those summers. It is a rich man who buys…
Tag: Death
The Horse From Pit 91
We pulled you from the ageless darkand embraced your bones in plaster—a hasty sacrament to noteyour restoration to the world of light.Now you stand in tribute to your kind:a breathless monument of when you lived.I hope you had some peace, a sip of cool,dark water before your hooves got stuck.You must have panicked, alerting wolvesto…
Sunflower Heart
They say I have to write a story. It’s what I wanted when my back was breaking. You should be careful what you wish for. At least there’s a window and I can watch the evening primroses opening while I think. I lift the lid on my tea mug and smell the green tea. This…
Slow TV
Gareth Durasow grew up in Castleford, West Yorkshire. He has been a teacher, a tailor, a soldier, and a spy. As well as Neon, his short stories and poetry have been published by The Fiction Desk, Dead Ink, The Rialto, Shearsman, STORGY and Ad Hoc Fiction. His poetry collection Endless Running Games is available from…
Dishonorable Trade
the rain chills him to the marrow.he is meant to be human, not humane,and the potential of the axe is resting, for now, on the scaffold. a lady’s head is bowed as she steps forward to the crowd, the weather darkening her hair, weighing her crown. the man can see the vertebrae of her spine,…
Elicit
“Elicit” was originally published in Forklift, Ohio. I am the stretch of easementbeneath a stretcher beneathyour broken body, your weight,and I hate that the last hand you feltwas gloved in blue latex, attached to a man who detached himselffrom the boy who lay bleedingbefore him. I am the minivanand the pilot, frame and feet, I…
The Train Journey
The journey was peaceful. I closed my eyes most of the way, sat back and thought of all the wonderful things I had done that day. When I opened my eyes the frost was settling on the fields and trees, and the other passengers were either asleep, reading, or eating. When I got to the…
The Death of the Motherless Kitten
I saw it from across the road, while waiting for the green man. It was mewling for its mother. Lost, I thought. Everybody, in their suits and ties and pencil skirts, turned to look, but they never slowed their strides. A mother and child might have stopped for a few seconds, passingly interested. I probably…
Poem in Which You Unfriend the Dead Girl
because what else were you supposed to dowait for her to check-in at the pearly gates just because she was your one cigarette per day that summer because she grinned like a slinkycould unbutton your jeans without breaking eye contact you’re supposed to wait – some sailor’sghost in your desk chair – the distant creeping…
Crash & Fly
Airplane Steel body. A coffin in motion. Can be torn apart like a child’s toy. Acronym names. Machines. Cold blooded. I never thought I’d get on one again, step across the threshold to the rows of seats and feel that plastic air breathing on my neck. I look out the small window, press my forehead…