Category: The Last Word

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

Two Poems by Rusty Barnes

Date Night at Fuddruckers, Saugus MAYear of Our Lord, 2018 we have no imagination,my wife and I,so we end up here, nestled alongside Route 1,causeway to the NorthShore. on the menuthe biggest effing burgerthey have a pound of meat dressedout in cheese,with a great stack of onion. my wife in all things (almost)moderates herself with…
Poetry: “egg” by Tameca L Coleman

1 the desert demandsa new view when waiting is a death pop out the eyeturn the retinainside out turn out lungsmake the heart speak reverse the gut softenbone let followflesh innards wrapped blood and bone paste a shell in bright sun the exteriorblinds peck away the interior the protective eye has becomea…
Lyric Essay: “When a man says less is more, it’s hard not to hear him (or, on figure painting)” by Sophie Paquette

He teaches us to apply paint in shapes. To recognize shadow and bend before limb. Our subject sprawls on the couch, arms hung along the cushion’s back. I paint the knee sticking out too far and the kimono slides down her leg, pulls her thigh into the light. I like this: leg hiked up like…
“The Dollhouse,” a short story by Meiko Ko

Once more, the man said he was lost. I told him no, he wasn’t, from where I sat I could see him clearly, cross-legged on a braided rug. I said, “You are free. You can leave anytime you want.” He would not believe me. He said I was only a child. Don’t be too sure,…
“Free Car,” fiction by Alex Kudera

After the click, I wonder which I like least, folks who phone too early in the morning or those who call late at night. Then I return to the other room, a small L-shaped kitchen/living room area, pour myself a cup of ambivalence, and lie low on the futon couch with my calves resting on…
“A History of Hosts and Vectors,” poetry by Kristin Abraham

(This will not end well,they said when it began.But momentum appreciatesonly one way, so any onusthey bore was solelyin the act of throwingup their hands to lamentthe thumb of God, how ithovers over our heads.Because no man can ownhis sins when the veryworld is force majeureall the way down to itsspecks and quarks.) Our…
Poetry: Gene Goldfarb’s “they beat the last fish”

senselessfor his pride whenhe stood up to themon his iridescent finsand called their bibledirt in perfect Aramaicso they hid their shameand made him bleedlike his brethrenwhom they strangledand cut up and ate beforethey invented storieslauding themselvesas kings to the cows andsea creatures Gene Goldfarb, a Long Islander, loves writing and keeps trying it. His poems…
Elizabeth Johnston: “Trump Tweets @ Fairy Tales”

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Elizabeth Johnston’s writing has appeared in The Atlantic, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, The Satirist, New Verse News, and Room Magazine, among many other magazines and collections. A teacher of writing, a feminist activist, and a co-founder of the 4-woman writing group Straw Mat Writers in Rochester, NY, she…
“Samson,” a poem comic by Corey Oglesby

*Ed.’s Note: click images to view larger sizes. Corey Oglesby is a poet, musician, and illustrator from the Washington, D.C., area. His work has recently appeared or is forthcoming in Hobart, Barrow Street, DIAGRAM, Beloit Poetry Journal, Queen Mob’s Teahouse, and elsewhere. Currently the Editor-in-Chief of the literary journal Fugue, he earned his MFA in…