Bang the Drum
BY ANDY DIBBLE Content warning: torture When the messenger told me his king was about to be a father, I offered my congratulations. But I did not agree to read the princeling’s karma. The messenger’s own karma hung from his shoulders, light and clear. Tracing its weave, I knew he lived a past life in …...
The Last King
BY AVELLINA BALESTRI “Whoso thinks it slavery to serve under an eminent prince is mistaken; liberty is never sweeter than under a pious king.” – Claudian “A Prince whose piety, and whose virtues, combined with a manly firmness and consistency of character, have been for years the grand bulwark, not only of this country, but...
What Grows Remains
BY MICHAEL ANTHONY RE Mr. Edmund Ashcombe had learned the precise hour the garden would tolerate him. It was not in the bright insistence of morning, when grief felt unseemly, nor at midday, when the world demanded usefulness. It was later, much later, when the light softened and shadows lengthened without drama. The grass grew …...
Deus Vult
BY AVELLINA BALESTRI Tom found himself in the manor chapel as the morning sky brightened from gray to gold, with rays of pale light shining through the stained-glass windows and casting rainbow prisms upon the stone floor. He was kneeling with hands clasped tightly together, and his sword lay unbuckled beside him, a testament to …...
The Sounds of Dust and Light
BY MICHAEL ANTHONY RE It was 1935, the autumn light long and hesitant. People passed on the street below, carrying on with lives that seemed both urgent and trivial. Somewhere warm, somewhere summer, somewhere long ago. He allowed himself a rare indulgence and thought of her. Not a clear thought, not a fully formed memory, …...
Horse Power
BY JAMES C. EGAN Well, I had him here, And he galloped away. So keep looking, He’ll turn up someday. Give him an apple And rub his face. He’ll know he found A wonderful place. Breathe toward his nose ‘Cause that’s how they greet. They love to be hugged And given a treat. A carrot …...
Saint Casimir
BY THE TRAVELING TROUBADOR Throughout the ages, there have been countless earthly empires headed by distinguished dynasties that passed down their sovereignty by way of lineage. They were led by powerful kings and influential queens, as well as princes and princesses, trained as heirs to command armies and foster diplomacy. Many were...
The Zeal of a Carmelite
By SISTER AGATHA YEN PHAM O prophet, holy Elijah, Carmelite father, blazing with fire, You cast your life into the desert, A hermit consumed by holy desire. A flame of longing, fierce and bright, Seeking union with the Lord of Hosts, You taught us the sacred Word, To meditate, no matter the cost. Day and …...
Ramadan Reflections
BY ARUSHA AFSAR Composed in 2022. With the passing of each moment, day, week, month and having just having survived an apocalyptic three year long pandemic, reaching Ramadan this year was almost like landing on the safety of the ‘GO’ spot on a monopoly board and collecting $200. A much needed mental, spiritual and physical...
The Joy of the Lion is My Strength: A Christmas Story from the World of The Silver Chair
BY HANNAH SKIPPER It was the kind of Christmas morning that could make a proper Marshwiggle sit up a little straighter, with grim self-satisfaction in their dour personality, as a brisk northeasterly wind swept off the ocean and across the moors, leaving a dusting of sleet across the hilly lichen covered ground where the Narnian …...
