Author Archives: Editor

“It’s Been a Great 20 Years”

This is my last edition at the helm of Abyss & Apex. I’ll still be around, as its book reviewer and publicist, but it’s time to hang up my Magazine Editor hat and put on my Writer hat. I’m not … Continue reading

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Introduction to October 2024 Poetry (Q4)

Please enjoy the variety of poetry this quarter, final of the year. You’ll find creepy mythological, and fantastical poems, some are inspired by Biblical stories and classic fairytales, others are nuanced with existential or mysterious elements. Some of the poem’s … Continue reading

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Naamah

  ______________ Elizabeth Kirkpatrick-Vrenios’ award-winning chapbook, Special Delivery, was published in 2016, her second, Empty the Ocean with a Thimble in 2021, and her third, Concerto for an Empty Frame by Kelsay Books in 2023. Nominated four times for a Pushcart Prize, twice for Best of Net, she … Continue reading

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Gretel Returns to the Gingerbread House

Gretchen Tessmer Gretel Returns to the Gingerbread House Gretel went back for Hansel but she fell into a trap that wily witch was waiting knowing love would bring her back same old tricks, sweet drinks and pie trays piled high … Continue reading

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You Rumpelstiltskin You

Francesca Leader You Rumpelstiltskin You You came, Spindly fingers sporing, Eyes boring, Voice dewdropped with innuendo That there was nothing You liked more Than a pretty whore With a problem— Pretty (and) helpless, pretty (and) nameless, Your name a secret … Continue reading

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It Happened Just Walking

Holly Hunt It Happened Just Walking A grove of pine trees in the pasture Grown wild uncut for fifty years. A place the old man never steps inside where you venture, on one certain day and time, encompassed by a … Continue reading

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Forbidden Fruit 

Fija Callaghan  Forbidden Fruit      Let us give a voice to the first woman, and reveal to her a world that lies just beyond her reach. Let us bring respite to the fairest of them all, and teach the cost … Continue reading

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Trying not to Turn

Lesley Hart Gunn Trying not to Turn it isn’t natural for the human body to reject the sun. we are conditioned to yearn for the outstretched rays like the handprint of a god on our unworthy heads, but the moon … Continue reading

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Mare Tranquillitatis

Josh Pearce Mare Tranquillitatis a man dreamed of walking on the moon but when he looked back at the path trod said to god i see only one set of footprints in the dust why did you leave during the … Continue reading

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Porphyria’s Lover

Anna Cates Porphyria’s Lover She is his summer fruit and autumn harvest— He tastes in her the change in seasons spring grass in cow’s milk first dandelions in her blood even the moon full and mesmerizing on thawing lake water … Continue reading

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