miCRo: “Black Beauty” by Mandira Pattnaik
“Did she remember to unhook her bra, or would she have felt it was better having it stifle her?” In this week’s miCRo, Mandira Pattnaik’s cadence is arresting and immediate.
miCRo: “New Normal” by Dinah Cox
Now, because he was lonely and the pandemic was supposed to be over, he walked five miles to the hardware store.
miCRo: “Wool” by Carly Berwick
In this story, wool is both material and an absorbing emblem.
miCRo: “The World Wants to See Itself” by Inger Christensen, translated by Bradley Harmon
Metaphysical prose by the celebrated Scandinavian writer Inger Christensen
miCRo: “Red Eye” by Neil Serven
In this story, the speaker and his family see a different version of his mother in old photos.
miCRo: Two stories by Matthew Torralba Andrews
In these two related stories, narrative is conveyed through small details.
miCRo: “Toad Soup” by Claire Leng
In a searing and emblematic story, Claire Leng describes the experiences of a fictional family in 1959’s Great Chinese Famine.
miCRo: “Laugh Track” by Will Musgrove
Will Musgrove approaches the topic of grief obliquely, from a narrator who imagines a memorial service they don’t attend.
miCRo: “Aloes” by Edward Sambrano III
A sonnet about plants that almost feel sentient, in a meditation on longing.
miCRo: “Tell me about the future” by Luisa A. Igloria
A poem for those experiencing climate anxiety, with an unexpected turn in the changing environment
miCRo: “By Night in Sanaa” by Patricia Newbery
In this piece, Patricia Newbery explores the nexus between memory, time, and space.
miCRo: “When We Were Astronauts” by David DeGusta
David DeGusta foregrounds the mysticism of the personal against the era-defining scientific advancements of the moon landing, using a precisely-rendered long retrospective POV to take us to new and uncharted emotional territory.
