Gram's Sitting Room by Nells Wasilewski
Furniture draped in white covers looked like hovering ghosts. Allie yanked the cover from the baby grand piano first and tossed it aside. Faint echoes, both of past laughter and sketches of…
Issue
Issue #1
Everything we printed in Issue #1 of Dual Coast Magazine: 144 pieces of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, art and more, free to read online in print order.
See the contents of Issue #1 with page numbers, or read the original printed issue there as a PDF.
Sweet & Spicy Cinnamon Cupcakes
Yield: 24 servings CAKE: 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter, softened 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1 cup cake flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon ½ teaspoon…
The Tall Ship Burns by Deborah Guzzi
Burnished gold, aged bronze patinaed by the firelight singed by sullen Sol, not stayed by Poseidon's hand; aflame, aflame, the tall ship burns, see the masts ignite. Impenitent, the sky rains ash…
The Broken Column Painted by Frida Kahlo by Deborah Guzzi
You thought me spineless so in a fit of anger you tore mine out bloodless, I rose sword swallower, strengthened by my tattered paper edges The abyss of your barren soul wrapped…
Dream Catchers by Deborah Guzzi
There was a time when feathers found me like talismans, they came. Without their soft down, I was grounded, the sparrow thought to lend me flight. Now, neither up, nor down do…
Astigmatism by Deborah Guzzi
The curvature of the eye marred by irregularity distorts. Rain falling through the aqueous arch prisms, propelling points of light skyward, produces an aura most saintly. Sunlight swallowed by the curve curls…
A Blooded, Virgin, Night by Deborah Guzzi
Brighter than a fall bonfire but with the chill of ice the Winter sun haloes the gray and barren woodland, throbbing, almost hesitant, with a florescent pulse, brazen in its unrelenting descent,…
Lunar Eclipse by Craig Parmelee Carter
On Saturday morning Alan Carston awoke from a vivid and erotic dream. It had occurred in the early hours while he slept soundly, and unknowingly, through a total lunar eclipse. In the…
Grey by Ashley Sgro
That bright, hazy mist inside the darkness of my kitchen. It wafted through the air like a spark of colored wind, but I barely saw its shape. Its particles boasted brilliance in…
The Oracle of Alta by Ashley Sgro
If a group of travelers were to fly over the town of Alta, they would almost certainly mistake the houses below for a circle of crumpled stones. Every home looked the same:…
Exits by Bryanna Licciardi
Mother is standing by waiting, apron-tied her hair pinned in curls some already falling I’m pushed against his swollen ribs that crack, splinter, my palms wet with soft acid, bone ripped aside…
They Betray Him by Ashley Sgro
“I wish he’d come inside and sleep in his own bed.” “He does this every night, and I’m so tired of trying to make him stay.” “With us?” “With us, in the…
Oregon, for Vacation?
Oregon has 363 miles of coastline. When you think about travel, maybe Oregon does not come to mind right away, but the Oregon coast is there, and it’s free. The good folks…
Here Kitty by Carol Nissenson
Rebecca didn’t think she left the living room window open intentionally, but when she got back to the apartment from her weekly humiliation at the unemployment office, Balboa, the rescue kitten from…
Matinée by John Abbott
The girl lifts her skirt To the boy from Biology Who wouldn’t touch the scalpel But now grips her flanks with nails That should’ve been cut She’s on his lap, back to…
Art’s Bar by John Abbott
One of the only Workingmans’ bars in town Situated near the GM Plant; They catered to the men Who worked the line Kept the food simple The jukebox stacked With blue collar…
Crispy Potato Cheese Balls
8 large potatoes, peeled and boiled 1 teaspoon salt 1 cup milk 1/2 teaspoon onion powder 1/2 cup butter, divided 8 ounce block Colby Jack or Cheddar cheese 1 cup corn flakes…
On What Felt Like the End of Winter by John Abbott
Dead limbs dirty snow a quarter moon left out too long breath sharp with sawdust, fills every step can’t remember every angle branch or leaf if only this rush of light offered…
Call and Answer by Matthew J. Hall
Poems I wrote in the early hours are placed in water tight bottles and entrusted to the tide. I stand in wet sand at night searching for a glass encased reply but…
The Midway by John Abbott
There’d been a rumor All summer that they Would close down the midway By the lake Everyone in town knew It was seedy, no place To bring your kids For a night…