Today my eyes are filled with drywall dust. The gypsum fire deterrent bonded by thin cardboard breaks easily with the prying crowbar. The new house gutted and needing more work than expected; holes in the sheathing from pests and soggy with water damage. I just wanted something to go our way, for once, Amy says.… more
Author Archives: Ben Drevlow
Two Stories
FICTION by L Mari HarrisThese days, your dad’s attention is on gas prices, grain prices, and something called inflation that the new President—who I voted for, damned straight I did—is working hard to get back under control. Your mom sits in her chair, rubs her feet that she always says are dog tired, and even though you think she doesn’t pay him any more mind than you do, she’s the one who nods and says Mm-hmm every so often.… more
Slush
FICTION by Lilia AndersonWalls of tin that someone convinced people were homes fade behind me, blurred by the fogged mirror and the frozen window I didn’t bother to scrape. It’s ice beneath me, not slush like it was this morning. My car isn’t equipped for it, especially in the pitch black, but it hasn’t been for the last… more
Jesse Salvo
BULL Interview by The DrevlowOne of the best parts of running a lit mag is that you get to talk to about a million different writers and (unlike most readings and AWP conventions), they actually want to talk to you and not run fleeing from the fat loud crazed man with the mohawk. Once upon a time I read… more
Pain
CREATIVE NONFICTION by Myles ZaveloHe’s trying to hold me. He’s trying to comfort me. He’s trying to force me into his lap. He’s grabbing at me. He’s clutching me. He’s forcing his comfort, his support, onto me, severely and earnestly.… more
Tombstone Blues
FICTION by John YoheI got it but my sister did not. Did something konk out from a fever I got? I’ve never known for sure, just that one day when I was eight and my grandparents and cousins were all over to our house for my uncle’s famous Taco Nights I got really really thirsty, I even thought… more
Ponytail Pools
FICTION by Joseph Allen CostaThe detective with the Mario Brothers’ mustache stared blankly at me and that manly caterpillar on his face rose and fell as he moved gum in his mouth from side to side. It was mesmerizing and made me stare at his mouth when he spoke like I was watching one of those dubbed Kurosawa films.… more
A Kind of Miracle
FICTION by Brian McVetyThe center’s walls read like a church basement’s. Every time he walked its halls, he was brought back to stacking plastic chairs and sweeping up coffeecake crumbs while he waited for his parents to finishing mingling in the stale perfume of belief. There is power in you, beyond you. When surrendering is the surest sign… more
It Takes a Lot to Laugh, It Takes a Train to Cry
FICTION by Colin BrightwellShe doesn’t know what it’s like when those trains go by at night. The railroad tracks behind my trailer, carrying freight eastbound to St. Louis, or west to Los Angeles. Better places far away from here. She doesn’t understand how loud it gets when that train passes and that whistle blows and I can’t hardly… more
William Boyle
BULL Interview by Frank ReardonIn a lot of ways, it’s what I dreamed about as a kid in Brooklyn who wanted anything other than cracks in the sidewalk and bus rides and trash in the streets and my decaying neighborhood. I’ve made a lot of great friends down here Oxford. The other side of it is I’ll never quite feel like I belong. I have this ache for New York, which will always be my home, and I miss it and I love it and I hate it.… more
