PoetryWeary Tune by John Grey
There, against the wall. on the sidewalk where fat guts reign, a skinny guy with a voice like a clapped out circus barker sings an old folk ditty and strums an out-of-tune,…
Section
From the Archives
Work from the earlier issues of Dual Coast Magazine: poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, all free to read. These pieces once sat behind a subscription. They are open now.
Poetry
ExperimentalObsolete, Likened to Many Things by Ken L. Jones
I use to think that days melted fast, back in the time it took you to blink forty years after the Beatles Until now, ever since I first dove One hundred New…
PoetryScott’s Last Fruitcake by David M. Harris
“In one of the most hostile regions known to humankind, conservationists unearthed an ice-covered fruitcake they believe once belonged to the British explorer Robert Falcon Scott, the New Zealand-based Antarctic Heritage Trust…
PoetryHeat Wave by Eric Greinke
A prolonged heat wave brings order to our days. Here in the northern woods we’re not used to hot weather. We write letters through the cool mornings, swim through the hot afternoons,…
PoetryFor All Time by Psyche Török
The skeleton speaks. I have been dreaming since my breath turned to cobwebs, poised for all time with my left hand on my cheek, conspiring with forever. Even the bedrock’s bored as…
PoetryLittle Honey by Psyche Török
~ For John Sherman Scheckel, October 17, 1917 – March 19, 1919 ~For Billy Scheckel, January 24, 1924 – April 3, 1926 ~And for Irene Torok, January 31, 1926 – February 8,…
PoetryMojito by Michael T. Smith
The sun’s fingers clenched the land And would not let it sleep With legerdemain, It strangled it to death instead. But It’s ok – que bola. “it’s alright.”I remember the words my…
FictionA Boon from an Angel by Matias Travieso-Diaz
Norman first saw the angel on one of those November nights when the temperature is too low for air conditioning but too high for the heating unit to do any good. Unable…
PoetryThe Dance of Deception by Julia Hatch
To the other couples they looked like any other on the dance floor The elegant woman, draped in a coral wrap, beads and floral-patterned dress The distinguished man in a worn but…
PoetryBreathe Close to Me by Lenny Carber
, Let not your head droop Nor your face grimace In fierce grief, for when I must leave, all will not Leave with me, I promise. The memoires we made Together will…
FictionMud Season by Laura Rodley
The road was mudded out, yet still the mail must go through. Chester gritted his teeth as the studded snow tires of his jeep grabbed onto the ruts and rode them like…
PoetrySuccess by Harris Coverley
I imagine a field between hills Sometime decades hence In some antipodean land (Maybe New Zealand) And within is some youth Having a solitary picnic On a ragged tartan tarp And reading…
PoetryMidnight Sun by Camille Xin
An Italian concerto playing at the edge of Mediterranean Sea as if unscented flame flooded the pebble stone courtyard. You appeared from a secretive back door, terrified, knocking down the veil of…
PoetryThe Admissions Process by Joseph S. Pete
The rich like to lecture you about the much-vaunted virtues of meritocracy while they slip fat stacks of greasy bills into the plump-fingered hands of corrupt admissions officers ensconced at elite ivy-draped…
PoetryBaptism by Cordelia M. Haneman
I am gardening in south Louisiana heat, my Mother’s Day gift to myself, until, red in the face and soaked with sweat, thirsty, I turn on the spigot, watch the rush of…
PoetryBless the Farm Leagues by Daniel Gleason
Bless the turnstile too tight for your young hands to push past, the three silver arms I bumped with my hip that we shot through together like two sunflower seeds spat through…
FictionWagon, Ho! by Suzanne Cottrell
Afternoon thunderstorms converted the front ditch into a stream. Josh, Caroline, and Melissa rushed outside and jumped into their temporary pool. They flailed their arms and splashed water everywhere. They screamed and…
FictionTwirling by C L Killgore
I remember falling down. I twirled and twirled until I couldn’t stand upright. I was giddy and swooned and hit the ground hard. But I laughed. I always laughed. What was it…
FictionA Day on the Beach by Kirk Eckstine
The beach, littered with bone-white shells and coral, soaks up blood with surprising speed. My blood. The sting of salt water on open wounds keep me from passing out. Flayed muscle and…
FictionRound About the Fireflies Light by Rocco Marinelli
As Ray scanned the property, he couldn’t help but notice how run-down things had gotten after mom died. Cancer had come quickly for his mother, and when she left three years ago,…