162 writers find refuge (or do they?) …
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She was astonishingly energized / by the housework tech revolution of the ’50s from Cleansing Waters by Michaeleen Kelly
I miss my old grazing neighbours / I live alone in a high rise now from New Neighbours by Daphne Larner
The loft contained one piece of furniture: / A low cafeteria-style table from Nocturne 77 by Remngton Murphy
I have a job as a part-time virtual administrative assistant, live in a two-bedroom apartment with a roommate and am finding groups to connect with in the community. from A Litany of Leaving by Pamela Hertzog
There was no fresh food at all, no eggs, no milk. Everything was microwavable. from Lady of the House by Rita Hooks
This is her folks’ home. She now has her own place to return to. from Finally Flying Home by Brenda Cullen
Bags packed for summertime / will remain locked as memento to childish hopes from Empty Beds by Fabrice Poussin
You will never confuse this town / for a manicured / and pedicured borough. from Welcome to Alice Springs by Dave Clark
And gone too Fukusuke on Caledonia St, / the steaming pot of tea, Mama-san bearing / sizzling platters of katsudon from Homesick by Jacqueline Kudler
Can you hear it? That tap, tap, tapping on the window? Whoever they are, they can’t see in. from Visitors by GP Hyde
The cold gravy is congealing, but he swallows it down. “That’s not what matters, Mam. I’m going because I’m not worth as much here.” from The Call of the Sea by Christine Collinson
When he closes the camera app, I see his phone wallpaper: a woman, two girls, and the him of the past. from A Feeling is Not a Home by Sarah Kwong
Here, in this warmer place, / maples shrivel and hunch. from In Search of Maple Trees by Marianne Szlyk
I could ride my bike from Nana and / Pop-pop’s little house on that bay, / feeling as free as the myriad seagulls from Ocean City by Nolo Segundo
Though we had never kept buffalo, a few resident Muntjac deer had grown into a small herd during my absence from Homecoming by Matthew Hisbent
Conventional critiques present such places as bland, cultural wastelands beset by cloying uniformity. For adults, maybe. from The Smell of Suburbia by Martin Phillips
There was a lot to think of / a lot to sort out / in their new home from Look Both Ways by Bonnie Demerjian
Nice guy … for an estate agent. Didn’t make any fuss about us being so late for the viewing. from Intellectual Property by Ken Cumberlidge
There was a lot to think of / a lot to sort out / in their new home from Another Country by Lynn White
Annette stood, lifting the vacuum. She looked at Willis and shrugged. “I didn’t hear a thing.” from The King by John Carnegie
She surprised me, “You know I’ve always thought of you as my daughter-in-law.” from Evelyn – The Good Mother by Gail M. Murray
Weave through lunchtime crowds, tourists and shoppers; pass statues of the famous: Parliamentarian, temperance reformer and union activist. from The Place I Call Home by Eithne Cullen
He locks the door / on leaving, unlocks it when he goes / to bed. from Living During the Swansong by Gareth Culshaw
I recall my grandmother closing my storybook as I feigned sleep. It had birds in it: wings, flight patterns, and the kind of insects they liked to eat. from Gravity by Huddlestone Phillips
He used to live for those random glimpses of Julian, the thrill of them, the hot rush of so many different emotions that couldn’t be properly sorted. from A Small Apology by Valerie Hunter
She has got her just desserts, I think. The dog knows what only he knows. from Picture Perfect by Abha Iyengar
hiding in a cave, living on in secret, / painting on walls, meditating, waiting from Refugia by Joan Mazza
There is something unbalanced / and oddly intrusive / in caring for another’s home from House Sitter by Colleen Moyne
I still have a chair that was the first / piece of furniture I put in that house. from Folding Church Chair by Ed Ruzicka
She pulled out a cigarette lighter and a white marshmallow she had in her pocket and she lit the thing on fire. from Fire from the Home by John Kujawski