Top Stories
New stories you’ll love, handpicked for you by our team and updated daily.
You Should Stop Trying to Be a Better Person
A year ago, I spent two days in the Colombian mountains drinking ayahuasca as part of a spiritual ceremony. An experience that pulled apart every detail of my being and rearranged me in a new sequence. I wish that life became easier after the feat. It didn’t.
By Annaise Michelleabout 13 hours ago in Humans
It’s a fact awards
Do you ever feel that non-fiction writers are the poor relations of the Vocal community. I do! Those nice people at Vocal Media heap much sought-after $200 prizes on poets and story smiths, left, right and center, while leaving us fact factors out in the cold.
By Raymond G. Taylor10 days ago in Writers
Waiting
It could have been the perfect summer day. The hot July sun warmed the water in the backyard pool just enough to be comfortable and refreshing. The laughter of the five little girls echoed against the splashing water as they chased each other in a classic game of Marco Polo. The game distracted them enough that they failed to notice the dipping sun nearing the horizon. Their fingers and toes had long ago turned wrinkly like raisins, but none wondered why they had been left to play so long today.
By A. J. Schoenfeld6 days ago in Fiction
Rock Outgrew Gene Simmons
“And they claim that it's music." — Sampled in Public Enemy’s “Contract on the World Love Jam” Gene Simmons cannot seem to hold his tongue. Just weeks after being named a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors, an award he did not deserve, the bassist from KISS made headlines again, showing how rock stars sometimes age into caricatures. Ironically, the aging rock legend was complaining about rap artists being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
By Carl J. Petersen6 days ago in Beat
Book Review: "American Poetry: A Very Short Introduction" by David Caplan
Help me, I'm stuck in the Very Short Introduction series and I can't get out! No really, this is becoming the same problem I had a few years ago when I got my limbs caught in the British Library Crime Classics series and ended up reading almost 100 of those books in perhaps a few months. Now, I've managed to find one on American Poetry, I have to say it is probably one of my favourites so far. I mean The Beats is good, but American Poetry has Phillis Wheatley and Emily Dickinson so it is, by default, better. The writer doesn't only display his knowledge of American Poetic History, he also provides some historical accounts of the people who wrote them, commenting on where they fit into the greater American landscape.
By Annie Kapur7 days ago in Geeks
ROCK*s EDGY WINNERS
See that rainbow? Let there be lots of gold, good health and peace for us all. ROCK is so pleased with your entries; it was tough so I called in a PhD. of Library Science from New Zealand, a well read and published professor of poetry from Canada as well as some random/anonymous readers from L.A., NYC, USA and all the way to Lisbon, London plus other EU friends from all walks of life. I, of course, made the final decision which was extremely difficult. I wish I had the pot of gold to give you all a decent tip!
By ROCK aka Andrea Polla (Simmons)5 days ago in Poets
Insurances
When I was asked to move from the big city of Philly halfway across the country to the small town of Centerville, OK, I was excited for the new start and the new job. My insurance company offered me a promotion to move because I'm young and unattached. I was to be one of two agents in the branch.
By Julie Lacksonen4 days ago in Fiction
