Category: The Last Word

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

“The Academic Agenda,” a satirical story by Darryl Lorenzo Wellington

How much did you learn in school? There are hours when the subjectivity of days and nights overwhelms you. To the point that your mind runs smack dab against the Scylla and the Charybdis of the past. The past? And what the hell is it? And when the hell was it? You might sit up…
Bonnie Billet: “Dr Larry Nassar,” a poem

when you stand up to speakyou’re suckerpunchedtold you don’tunderstand ‘the nuanced difference between sexual assaultand an appropriate medical procedure’ he pawed your small girl titshe twisted his fingers into your cunt indifferencegave the doctor all the time he needed wearing 4 pairs of underwearand having your mother in the office doesn’t stop the abuse…
“our next nominee should remember”: A Six-Poem Suite by Michael Chang

our next nominee should remember ne-VAD-daalways moisturizehand sanitizer is your friendand clorox, for when you get to the oval officecheck what city you’re innever wrestle with pigs. you both get dirty and the pig likes it.look out for numero unoavoid kitchenslose the friends from back homefail oftenthe opposite of armor is curiosityif you do the…
“Trump or Wile E. Coyote?”: A Current Events Quiz by Tara Campbell

Choose A, B, or C for each of the numbered items below:A) Real or proposed border control measureB) Scheme to capture Road RunnerC) Both 1) Firearms2) Cement3) Dogs4) Mirrors5) Gas (sleeping/tear)6) Electric spikes7) Black paint8) Invisible paint9) Dropping anvils10) Cactus Costume11) Shooting legs12) Portable hole13) Exploding tennis balls14) Giant balloons15) Misleading instructions16) Steel plates17) Moat…
Four Poems by Schyler Butler

If Forced to Join Maleatra Montanez know that he will sayyour legs burst wide like syrup pouredhis throat the drain what was he to dobut unload blame ontoyour blackstrap skinslaughter within youwhat little dignityremained, boy childof yours in the cornerforever tamed, anotherreceptacle of shame What the Devil Tells Me I wouldn’t blame your fatheror the…
Akusua A. Akoto: Three Poems

Mother’s Dance #1 Mother does notWant to dance aloneCome childShe’s trying to bringYou into the musicOf her tears Her mouth is bleedingIn the center of this prayer.There is no waterIn her danceAs she stumbles forHer father Her hands are achingAnd in her pleaFor salvationShe is naked As hands touch herShe knowsShe will be raped againUnder…
Two Poems by Joanna C. Valente

I’m Tired of Men Telling Me They’re Afraid I’m Going to Write about Them It isn’t a dreamwhen you wake up with snakeswrithing over you your body like a gardena bed of leaves and ivy so twisted and overgrownand full of dirt, dry and barren that you are woken up again as a beasta womana…
Collaborative Poetry: “In a Late Stage” by Tony Mancus & CL Bledsoe

In a Late Stage It’s not a question of outrunningthe bear; it’s a questionof perfectly seasoning the salmon. A man with no hair and a bagfull of herbs is slightly lessdangerous than a clutch of piranha. The equation starts with a soundunlike thunder, someone screamingnumbers into a small bowl. Arrange them just right, and you’ll…
“Four Poems by a Middle-Aged Woman”: Laura Lee Washburn

After the Surgeon Cuts You or the bone snaps in eight places,the world recognizes youas the vessel for their trauma. Strangers say, Chasing the dog,my third toe snapped rightin half. Or Straight up! No break but seven stitches betweenthe smallest and next. I wasstabbed in the headby a guy in a white mask. Or, Doctor…