Category: The Last Word

Writers getting the last word. HFR is invested in elevating art by marginalized groups with this feature.

Two Poems by Ori Fienberg, Originally Published in Vol. 10

Novelty Trade Treaties There’s no way to make a profit on a callfor international unity, no way to solve adistribution function without a point of sale;you have to learn to accept, you have tolearn to just say, thank you to thank you;it’s an ill-wind that blows no ships into portto deliver this gentle tyranny of…
Flash Essay: “Land of Promise. Land of Opportunity. Land of Heroes. Land of Greatness” by Ron Burch

Land of Promise. Land of Opportunity. Land of Heroes. Land of Greatness. Land of Freedom. Land of Landowners. Land of Religion. Land of Justice. Land of White Supremacy. Land of Racism. Land of Lies. Land of Intolerance. Land of Theft. Land of Law and Order. Land of Slavery. Land of Nationalism. Land of KKK. Land…
Three Flash Fictions by Stephanie Yu

Polling Error They came in with guns and tactical vests and smoke bombs. Shouting about Valhalla or uhuru or liftoach pandemonium. It became too hard to make out the words above the shelling and spray. It was morning and the weather had just turned. That first cold snap hung the air but the sun still…
Two Mixed Media Images by Lindsey Morrison Grant

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Mom Orange You Glad I Didn’t Build a Wall Self-identifying as a neurodivergent, two-spirit elder with deep Pacific Northwest roots, Lindsey Morrison Grant’s eclectic journey includes surviving domestic violence, medical gaslighting, heart attacks, cancer, parenthood, and charismatic/evangelical cult involvement. Successful recoveries are attributed to an invaluable support…
Six Poems by Jessica Lawson

seasonal employment the sun sets at 4:36pm today how does early dark affect you solstice is a different day every year how does early dark affect you they have made some cutbacks in the sun department a constant temporary position a temporary constant loss how does early dark affect you solstice has been declared a…
“Skin Parchment,” a short fiction/prose poetry hybrid by Phoebe Rusch

Interstices Two rutted roads cross in a heat-hazed field. An old man with broken legs leans on his crutches there. He looks familiar, like a recurring dream, a flash in your peripheral vision. He shows you all your lives and the choices made, stringing them in the air before you like beads on an abacus.…
Poetry: “America!” by Margot Douaihy

THE OLD DAYS OH THEY WERE THE DAYS TRUE STORYUS KIDS BOLD AS THUNDER BACK THEN YOU KNOW AT MAIN & FIRST ST HE WAITED FOR US UNCLE SAMHIS GREASY HAIR HIS CRYSTAL-BALL EYES TRUST HIMGET READY KIDS HE SAID WE WERE READ GET READYWHERE MAIN MET FIRST SO MANY CARS TRUE STORYEXPLODING WITH TRAFFIC…
Three Poems by Elizabeth Weaver

psychotic denial of pregnancy My sister has a hand-sized birthmark the color of blood on her neckwhere the umbilical cord had been wrapped around her—her fist beneath, first of many quarrels with the world for a redhead born against the August heatwave and into this family. That day I had a fever, sprawled across found furniture and…
GIF Poem: “rorschach test insecure love poems for the 21st century” by Olivia Muenz

*Ed.’s Note: click image to view larger size. Olivia Muenz is an MFA candidate in creative writing at Louisiana State University. She received her BA from NYU and is currently the Digital Media Editor for New Delta Review. Her work is forthcoming in Salt Hill. @oliviamuenz.