Exangel

by Marissa Bell Toffoli.

Recurring nightmare:
neck entangled in tree
when lions show up hungry.
Upon waking? So far, nothing.
Eat a twig, wiggle my ears,
keep moving. Always go, go.
Like a gazelle’s dancing body grows longer
every muscle stretches, holds,
reaches. Stillness, the illusion.
My legs propel me
across these plains faster
than you’d expect.
See these spots? My beloved
nuzzles here. He walks ahead
and I follow him to water.
Front legs spread wide we angle
down to ground synchronously,
awkwardly, pull our bodies back
to extend our necks into the mirror pond.
I listen to the gathering herd. I think about
other spotted creatures, mostly predators.
I tried to sell my spots once. No luck.
Went straight toward the men
with their guns. They stared up at me.
No one took a shot so I kept moving.
Head held high, hiding behind
leafy tree limbs, heavy with rejection.
I put miles between me and them.

by Rose Jermusyk. Mother Thrush had four daughters; Fair, Proud, Trembling, and Loud. Fair was a clever creature who happily left the nest with no intention of turning back, except to smile to her mother. Proud took great strides to stand on her own when she left the nest, and often sang to her mother. […]

by Marie Davis and Margaret Hultz. Most people do not expect a tick to find God at a flea market. But, that is exactly where Harold first recognized God — in the smile between two ladybugs. Not the insects, but the ladybugs that are rouged onto old women’s cheeks — the round, rosy kind of […]

by R.J. Fox. Looking back, there are no shortage of reasons why I was bullied. I’m not saying I deserved it. However, I certainly didn’t help my cause. My elementary school social standing left much to be desired, to say the least. I was a nerd and a dork (labels I now look back at […]

by Brian Griffith. Across the modern world, outrage against people who kill the wrong animals is on the rise. For example, when the Dalit (or untouchable) students of India’s Osmania University served beef biryani at a recent social event, about 100 radicals for cow reverence from a right-wing Hindu group, the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parisad […]

by Charles S. Kraszewski. Se vedea fiammeggiar fra gli altri arnesi scudo di lucidissimo diamante, grande che può coprir genti è paese quante ve n’ha fra il Caucaso e l’Atlante. I thought our dog – all 150 pounds of him – had rushed the bed with a shoulder bred to keep legionary beeves in line […]

by Carol Ekster. He dives head first for his dinner. In his bill, whisker like, the gull’s prey excites. It drops from the skies, landing with a crack. Was this a purposeful, compassionate act? Honking loudly with pride his eight legged conquest, is being eaten alive. As he pokes at the crab’s flesh I see […]

by Brian Griffith. In most Eastern religions, animals are taken as souls like us, who are on a common journey, although presently at different levels of awareness. In that case we might all be kindred, and treat each other like cousins twice removed. However, if animals are lower on the ladder of being, then their […]

by David D. Horowitz. I’ve conversed with various friends and acquaintances over the years who feel human beings are essentially greedy, wasteful, and violent. Some even feel earth would benefit were human beings to become extinct. While I share some of their skepticism about human virtue, I tend to praise and appreciate people. We might […]