Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social
writer, editor, axolotl with a pretty good throwing arm
''Why do I have to understand what you're saying all the time?"
— Cory F.
https://neutralspaces.co/patforan/
''Why do I have to understand what you're saying all the time?"
— Cory F.
https://neutralspaces.co/patforan/
“The zoo ghost doesn’t let us sleep at night. His tears get louder and louder.”
@happilander.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mile...
@happilander.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mile...
Mileva Anastasiadou — Does It Have Pockets
Dead Boxer Has Wings
www.doesithavepockets.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:22 AM
“The zoo ghost doesn’t let us sleep at night. His tears get louder and louder.”
@happilander.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mile...
@happilander.bsky.social in @doesithavepockets.bsky.social www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mile...
“… you just want that storm to break, need to feel that thunder in your bones even if lightning gotta strike you first, you just gotta know — *can I beat that devil?* — before the sky boils and the rain whips, and …”
@mynachang.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@mynachang.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
Deal Breaker, 1937 — Ghost Parachute
Devil days got that fool magic brewin’ in the hot, you know what I’m talking about, those close Kansas afternoons when the thunderheads build and build, climbing up the sky like they trying to get int...
ghostparachute.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:17 AM
“… you just want that storm to break, need to feel that thunder in your bones even if lightning gotta strike you first, you just gotta know — *can I beat that devil?* — before the sky boils and the rain whips, and …”
@mynachang.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@mynachang.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
“We will fight and tear and scream until our throats are raw. Beat our fists like knights who refuse to lose, after their weapons, their armor, is gone. No monster will stand a chance.”
@pintsncupcakes.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@pintsncupcakes.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
She Said God But She Meant Silver — Ghost Parachute
Not silver-tongued like the devil but silver bullets like the ones that kills werewolves. Alice always switched words, said something other than what she meant. But we’d all gotten used to it, gotten ...
ghostparachute.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:12 AM
“We will fight and tear and scream until our throats are raw. Beat our fists like knights who refuse to lose, after their weapons, their armor, is gone. No monster will stand a chance.”
@pintsncupcakes.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@pintsncupcakes.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
“… and whisper if only we all could …”
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
There’s a Dead Cat in the Installation — Ghost Parachute
I want to scream at you but I know you don’t want to hear it as you wander around the abandoned drug store turned found art showcase, old boxes of meds, the kanji, hiragana, katakana in red, blue, whi...
ghostparachute.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:06 AM
“… and whisper if only we all could …”
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
@lumchanmfa.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/januar...
“Secrets wisp into ears and out the windows into the fresh air where, weightless and powerless, they can finally dissipate. ‘You’re my best friend,’ we say.”
@chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2025/12/31/i...
@chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2025/12/31/i...
In the Dark by Chelsea Stickle
There are things that are easier to say in the dark. Things that bubble and ferment inside until we’re drunk with distended stomachs. Exhaustion rolls in like the tide. We beg for sleep and prostra…
lost-balloon.com
January 2, 2026 at 3:02 AM
“Secrets wisp into ears and out the windows into the fresh air where, weightless and powerless, they can finally dissipate. ‘You’re my best friend,’ we say.”
@chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2025/12/31/i...
@chelseastickle.bsky.social in @lostballoon.bsky.social lost-balloon.com/2025/12/31/i...
“They say the moan of his sax is sexy but she knows it’s lonely.”
The Sax Player by @charhamrick.bsky.social in Flash Frontier flashfrontier.com/december-202...
The Sax Player by @charhamrick.bsky.social in Flash Frontier flashfrontier.com/december-202...
December 2025: DANCE | NGĀ KANIKANI | Flash Frontier
flashfrontier.com
January 2, 2026 at 2:57 AM
“They say the moan of his sax is sexy but she knows it’s lonely.”
The Sax Player by @charhamrick.bsky.social in Flash Frontier flashfrontier.com/december-202...
The Sax Player by @charhamrick.bsky.social in Flash Frontier flashfrontier.com/december-202...
“You will always be a child here, this place where listening happens.”
“The clock harbors a heart. It beats and beats …”
“A life is looped yarn and slipped knots, chains and accidents. Bearable, you hope.”
this by @melostrom.bsky.social in Prime Numbers Magazine www.press53.com/issue-281-fl...
“The clock harbors a heart. It beats and beats …”
“A life is looped yarn and slipped knots, chains and accidents. Bearable, you hope.”
this by @melostrom.bsky.social in Prime Numbers Magazine www.press53.com/issue-281-fl...
January 2, 2026 at 2:51 AM
“You will always be a child here, this place where listening happens.”
“The clock harbors a heart. It beats and beats …”
“A life is looped yarn and slipped knots, chains and accidents. Bearable, you hope.”
this by @melostrom.bsky.social in Prime Numbers Magazine www.press53.com/issue-281-fl...
“The clock harbors a heart. It beats and beats …”
“A life is looped yarn and slipped knots, chains and accidents. Bearable, you hope.”
this by @melostrom.bsky.social in Prime Numbers Magazine www.press53.com/issue-281-fl...
“Trust me. I, who have neither / head nor heart, whose name is not mine but Girl.”
the opening poem in More Flowers by @susanlleary.bsky.social, coming soon from @triohousepress.org
the opening poem in More Flowers by @susanlleary.bsky.social, coming soon from @triohousepress.org
Sharing the opening poem, “Pseudo Myth” from MORE FLOWERS, out with @triohousepress.org on February 1st, 2026! 🌺
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
#smallpoemsunday
@tomsnarsky.bsky.social
January 2, 2026 at 2:46 AM
“Trust me. I, who have neither / head nor heart, whose name is not mine but Girl.”
the opening poem in More Flowers by @susanlleary.bsky.social, coming soon from @triohousepress.org
the opening poem in More Flowers by @susanlleary.bsky.social, coming soon from @triohousepress.org
Reposted by Pat Foran
Nice way to start and end a year!
December 31, 2025 at 10:49 AM
Nice way to start and end a year!
“... I retreated to my room, the ache like a bruise. I couldn’t get my tiny grasp around the heft of it.”
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @haydensferryreview.bsky.social haydensferryreview.com/sumitra-singam
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @haydensferryreview.bsky.social haydensferryreview.com/sumitra-singam
HFR-Sumitra Singam
haydensferryreview.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:18 PM
“... I retreated to my room, the ache like a bruise. I couldn’t get my tiny grasp around the heft of it.”
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @haydensferryreview.bsky.social haydensferryreview.com/sumitra-singam
@pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @haydensferryreview.bsky.social haydensferryreview.com/sumitra-singam
“The way I’d savor, lovesick, a stricken voice preserved on tape as if in amber. The way I banked those messages. Playing them over and again as proof that once, I had made him care.”
@patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in @anotherchicagomag.bsky.social anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/12/23/u...
@patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in @anotherchicagomag.bsky.social anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/12/23/u...
“Useless Machines” by Patricia Q. Bidar
The way I’d savor, lovesick, a stricken voice preserved on tape as if in amber. The way I banked those messages. Playing them over and again as proof that once, I had made him care. Echo of skin an…
anotherchicagomagazine.net
December 28, 2025 at 4:13 PM
“The way I’d savor, lovesick, a stricken voice preserved on tape as if in amber. The way I banked those messages. Playing them over and again as proof that once, I had made him care.”
@patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in @anotherchicagomag.bsky.social anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/12/23/u...
@patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in @anotherchicagomag.bsky.social anotherchicagomagazine.net/2025/12/23/u...
“I’d assumed he was referring to the aesthetic aspect of my skeletal structure, perhaps complimenting me on high cheekbones or a soft jawline, without directly saying so. But then one day he asked …”
@jekwriter.bsky.social in @mrbullbull.bsky.social mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
@jekwriter.bsky.social in @mrbullbull.bsky.social mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
My Ex Ray’s X-Ray Vision | MrBullBull
mrbullbull.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:08 PM
“I’d assumed he was referring to the aesthetic aspect of my skeletal structure, perhaps complimenting me on high cheekbones or a soft jawline, without directly saying so. But then one day he asked …”
@jekwriter.bsky.social in @mrbullbull.bsky.social mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
@jekwriter.bsky.social in @mrbullbull.bsky.social mrbullbull.com/newbull/flas...
“It was much better, she says, in the [calendar] [cyclones] when the [human] [doctor] took you gently by the [hand] and spoke to you with …”
@mattkendrick.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
@mattkendrick.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
Efficiency measures
by Matt Kendrick It’s [sunrise through mist] and I’m sitting with [old woman] in the [kitchen]. My [laptop] is open on the [table] in front of me. [Old woman] is scratching the yellowing [na…
citronreview.com
December 28, 2025 at 4:03 PM
“It was much better, she says, in the [calendar] [cyclones] when the [human] [doctor] took you gently by the [hand] and spoke to you with …”
@mattkendrick.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
@mattkendrick.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/e...
“Here’s a truth: you’ve fallen for a conspiracy. The heart is not the real heart of the body, it’s the stomach, but stomachs are ugly when you peel the skin back.”
@moisesthehuman.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/p...
@moisesthehuman.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/p...
Promise me something sweet
by Moisés R. Delgado Our mom’s first word to me, and later to Ruby, was eat. The nurses probably expected an I love you or mi precioso, mi preciosa as they handed us to our mom, but thosewor…
citronreview.com
December 28, 2025 at 3:58 PM
“Here’s a truth: you’ve fallen for a conspiracy. The heart is not the real heart of the body, it’s the stomach, but stomachs are ugly when you peel the skin back.”
@moisesthehuman.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/p...
@moisesthehuman.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/p...
“And then. We crawl out into the night, its cold black air, search lights behind us.”
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/b...
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/b...
Bounce, Dance, Dig
by Claudia Monpere The month we are goats, we sleep huddled together. We thrash bushes with our heads. Curl our upper lips, sniffing each other. We nibble on our mothers’ floral skirts and f…
citronreview.com
December 28, 2025 at 3:53 PM
“And then. We crawl out into the night, its cold black air, search lights behind us.”
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/b...
@claudiamonpere.bsky.social in @thecitronreview.bsky.social citronreview.com/2025/12/22/b...
“A moon rises over snowfall one night and thinks itself a sham.”
“And this the dark moon knows. It is neither light nor blanket.”
A New Home by @eileentomarchio.bsky.social in @necessaryfiction.com necessaryfiction.com/stories/poin...
“And this the dark moon knows. It is neither light nor blanket.”
A New Home by @eileentomarchio.bsky.social in @necessaryfiction.com necessaryfiction.com/stories/poin...
Points of light, day 1 – Necessary Fiction
necessaryfiction.com
December 28, 2025 at 3:48 PM
“A moon rises over snowfall one night and thinks itself a sham.”
“And this the dark moon knows. It is neither light nor blanket.”
A New Home by @eileentomarchio.bsky.social in @necessaryfiction.com necessaryfiction.com/stories/poin...
“And this the dark moon knows. It is neither light nor blanket.”
A New Home by @eileentomarchio.bsky.social in @necessaryfiction.com necessaryfiction.com/stories/poin...
Pleased to be in Chiron again with a dream poem about Max (and Harold and Maude)... Thanks, Michael Hathaway. Also grateful to @moistpoetryjournal.bsky.social and @hanvanderhart.bsky.social for first publishing it!
Purchase: www.lulu.com/shop/michael...
#poetry, #published, #poem,
Purchase: www.lulu.com/shop/michael...
#poetry, #published, #poem,
December 28, 2025 at 3:43 PM
I love this @sfreligh.bsky.social story I first read in Milk Candy Review and I love hearing Sarah read it and I love @podcastmicro.bsky.social happy 5th @drewhawkins.bsky.social and Dylan and team! micropodcast.org/podcast/klei...
December 28, 2025 at 3:37 PM
I love this @sfreligh.bsky.social story I first read in Milk Candy Review and I love hearing Sarah read it and I love @podcastmicro.bsky.social happy 5th @drewhawkins.bsky.social and Dylan and team! micropodcast.org/podcast/klei...
“… and he will and I will, and he will and I will, and …”
@sudhasubraman.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/18/i...
@sudhasubraman.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/18/i...
It’s Not So Bad That Appa Is Dead ~ by Sudha Subramanian
otherwise, he will call me, or I will call him, and we will talk about his allergies, his prostate, his knees and elbows. He will ask about my day and I’ll tell him what I cooked. “Do you really kn…
milkcandyreview.home.blog
December 22, 2025 at 2:38 AM
“… and he will and I will, and he will and I will, and …”
@sudhasubraman.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/18/i...
@sudhasubraman.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/18/i...
“…grape-scented lip balm, a mental image of Lauren’s bird-bone clavicles, her diary/scrapbook/photo album, mascara, the memory of her grandfather/pastor yelling that she couldn’t be baptized after all …”
@heatherbelladams.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/11/w...
@heatherbelladams.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/11/w...
What Kira Packed ~ by Heather Bell Adams
What Kira packed for summer camp: expired sunscreen, face powder, the pink Bible her grandparents gave her when she was born, tampons, hairbrush full of shed hair she never cleaned out, grape-scent…
milkcandyreview.home.blog
December 22, 2025 at 2:33 AM
“…grape-scented lip balm, a mental image of Lauren’s bird-bone clavicles, her diary/scrapbook/photo album, mascara, the memory of her grandfather/pastor yelling that she couldn’t be baptized after all …”
@heatherbelladams.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/11/w...
@heatherbelladams.bsky.social in Milk Candy Review milkcandyreview.home.blog/2025/12/11/w...
“And how would she ever be gracious, bending to pat a page boy’s head when she didn’t really know what the word gracious meant? How would she ever know the way of being a bride?”
Frankie McMillan in @moonparkreview.bsky.social moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
Frankie McMillan in @moonparkreview.bsky.social moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
The existential crisis of the bride (a triptych)
By Frankie McMillan The existential crisis of the bride There she was in her wedding dress, about to throw the lucky horseshoe to her bridesmaids when there was a neighing at the church door…
moonparkreview.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:28 AM
“And how would she ever be gracious, bending to pat a page boy’s head when she didn’t really know what the word gracious meant? How would she ever know the way of being a bride?”
Frankie McMillan in @moonparkreview.bsky.social moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
Frankie McMillan in @moonparkreview.bsky.social moonparkreview.com/issue-34-win...
“… I know I’m your only sister and you felt you had to ask for a toast despite your misgivings, but maybe if you didn’t always have misgivings about me I …”
Your Perfect Day by @jacqdoyle.bsky.social with art from Angel Dionne in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
Your Perfect Day by @jacqdoyle.bsky.social with art from Angel Dionne in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
NUNUM Winter 2025 Volume 8, Issue 4
David Sydney, Dawn Miller, Jacqueline Doyle, Kelly Ronayne, Kristen Reece, Owen Brown, Pia Quintano, Steven Ostrowski and Angel Dionne have come together to give us NUNUM’s Winter 2025 issue.
online.fliphtml5.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:23 AM
“… I know I’m your only sister and you felt you had to ask for a toast despite your misgivings, but maybe if you didn’t always have misgivings about me I …”
Your Perfect Day by @jacqdoyle.bsky.social with art from Angel Dionne in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
Your Perfect Day by @jacqdoyle.bsky.social with art from Angel Dionne in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
“He knows all about the colour blue, all about its folds and shadows, and He hums Blue Velvet in my ear while Mom hisses through the line you’re married now, goddamit.”
Blues by @dawnwriter.bsky.social in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
Blues by @dawnwriter.bsky.social in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
NUNUM Winter 2025 Volume 8, Issue 4
David Sydney, Dawn Miller, Jacqueline Doyle, Kelly Ronayne, Kristen Reece, Owen Brown, Pia Quintano, Steven Ostrowski and Angel Dionne have come together to give us NUNUM’s Winter 2025 issue.
online.fliphtml5.com
December 22, 2025 at 2:18 AM
“He knows all about the colour blue, all about its folds and shadows, and He hums Blue Velvet in my ear while Mom hisses through the line you’re married now, goddamit.”
Blues by @dawnwriter.bsky.social in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
Blues by @dawnwriter.bsky.social in NUNUM online.fliphtml5.com/kmmwt/drrt/#...
“Endorsed by many leaders of the free world, these patented ears boast an advanced option which eradicates cognitive dissonance, allowing you to double down on your beliefs and …”
@kiklodge.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/advanced-opt...
@kiklodge.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/advanced-opt...
Advanced Option Ears - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by tommao wang on Unsplash by Kik Lodge These scientifically approved bone conduction ears radically remove background noise such as squeaking, rumbles and rustling, or any self-help opinion voi...
gooseberry-pie.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:29 AM
“Endorsed by many leaders of the free world, these patented ears boast an advanced option which eradicates cognitive dissonance, allowing you to double down on your beliefs and …”
@kiklodge.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/advanced-opt...
@kiklodge.bsky.social in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/advanced-opt...
“My husband Gerald reached out to caress the pot’s bumpy, dynamic surface with an eagerness I haven’t known for some time.”
Brett W. Summers in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/hiding-in-th...
Brett W. Summers in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/hiding-in-th...
Hiding in the Control Box - Gooseberry Pie Lit Magazine
Photo by Maria Kovalets on Unsplash by Brett W. Summers The huge ceramic pot arrived from the art island in Japan in a wooden box sturdy enough to serve as a side table in our living room. My husband ...
gooseberry-pie.com
December 15, 2025 at 3:25 AM
“My husband Gerald reached out to caress the pot’s bumpy, dynamic surface with an eagerness I haven’t known for some time.”
Brett W. Summers in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/hiding-in-th...
Brett W. Summers in @gooseberrypielit.bsky.social gooseberry-pie.com/hiding-in-th...