My coworkers have already abandoned their cubicles, headed to the company canteen for lunch. In an attempt to get a leg up on the week’s crunch, I tap away at my terminal. Out of nowhere, my boss stands just inside the partition. He flashes a crooked smile, licks his lips. I try not to notice where his hand lingers, look back at my screen, cold stare, say nothing. He mutters something about a managers’ meeting, turns on his heel, lumbers off in a huff.

a rock
and a hard place
no office party

 

Theresa A. Cancro

In grey goo scenarios, nanobots might replicate [willy-nilly], seizing control of both water supply and bloodstream, causing the average citizen to feel “I’ve been reduced to an accident.”

why carry an umbrella
in the night
when your body belongs to no one, anymore

.

Source: FutureForAll.org
A Layperson’s View of Future Technology and Society
http://futureforall.org/nanotechnology/nanobots.html

Kyle Hemmings

 

After my mother and sister died from a disease the wind blew in from ghost towns, the same white dress they both wore, in different eras, stood in the closet, as if a life of its own. I remember my sister wearing that dress while holding a prayer book, her mouth open, reciting a psalm with the congregation or pretending she was. At night, I imagined the dress freeing itself from hangers, hovering over me. I could feel it breathe. I could hear it whisper. When I worked up the courage to open my eyes and light a candle, I sat next to the old Singer machine and stuck stitching pins into my legs, just to see if I were really awake.

an unclaimed child
walks solemnly into church each Sunday
mouth open to receive The Word

 

Kyle Hemmings

no more surprise prize, a ring, anything, in the cracker jack box, the original junk food. no, you’ll have to settle for a code on your phone that gives you a lame game to chew on.

sailor jack
and his dog bingo
POP UP

 

Theresa A. Cancro

Michael Rehling