Editorial

In response to recent attitudes, perspectives, and policies in our current political and social climate, our editorial team wants to make it abundantly clear that Masque and Spectacle is a safe space for… Continue reading →

Hummingbird—Lou Ventura

When I visited you in the hospital,
they would only give you sugar water
as if you were a hummingbird…

Black & White–Alice Lowe

My mother’s hair was jet black; I’ve also called it coal black. What I mean is that it was really, really black, but all blacks aren’t the same, as you know if you’ve tried to wear black pants and a black sweater and found that they don’t match…

PHOTO GALLERY—KATIE HUGHBANKS

My art focuses on the impact of water, air, and light – these are primal elements we all need for life, a need that inextricably links us all. In an ethical world, we… Continue reading →

Evolutionary Shift—Sarah Carleton

For what feels like an eon, we’re in stasis.
We wait for the backyard neighbors to fix the fence,
let the bougainvillea dry to spikes…

Stolen Vows–Barbara Trainin Blank

AT RISE: ANNE places, holding up a mirror and smiling. She hears a knock on the door and admits PERCY

ANNE: Thank God you’re here.
PERCY: I rode like the wind.
ANNE: Thank God you were able.
PERCY: Barely. But what’s the urgency, Anne? Are you not well?…

Emergency Backpack—Deborrah Corr

I’ve never opened it in the six years
since I ordered it to make me feel
link I’m ready to grab and go

when the great upheaval comes…

THE GRAVITRON—JAQUELINE MCCOOL

There are two girls in front of me on the airplane. They remind me of us. One blonde, one redhead. Of course, they’re different. I have brown hair, and you’re dead now…

EXIT—Erin Kim

***Erin Kim is a student attending a school in Seoul, South Korea. When she has not trapped herself in her room alone working on her art, she enjoys playing tennis.

Caitlin–Christine Emmert

CAITLIN: No more! Make the waters still! Make the waters lap like cats at their milk! I cannot hear their angry voices! Not today! (takes her hands from her ears) Do you hear it? I think it took my command. (she runs to front of stage) Not always! Sometimes it crashes and crashes against me….

George Vlasits—David M. Harris

Dear Mr. Vlasits:

By now we’re roughly the same age,
but I can’t call you George.
You’re still the man who exiled me
from your history class…

Brave/Enough–Bets Swadis

A sparsely furnished room. NOCTURNE is in the process of setting up three chairs in the center. Our heroes wear street clothes.

NOCTURNE: (To themself) Yes, they are.

Well who said I was even trying to make an equilateral triangle?

CHRONICLE enters

NOCTURNE: Better how? Better than what?…

From The Lost Brother, part two–Adrienne Pine

I wasn’t in touch with Jordan the rest of the semester. I left a couple of messages for him, but he didn’t return my phone calls. That spring that Lois graduated from the University of Michigan and moved to New York. While planning the move, she and a college friend stayed with us, sleeping on the foldout couch in our living room…

melody of morning—Regina Kim

sliver of sunlight trickles through an open window
gusts of fresh air slip in with it
—a robber tiptoeing inside—
and squirms its way into knitted pajamas…

UNTIL—Mark Blickley

***Mark Blickley grew up within walking distance of New York’s Bronx Zoo. He is a proud member of the Dramatists Guild and PEN American Center. His latest book is the flash fiction collection… Continue reading →

RED FLAGS—E.P. LANDE

“José, I’ve left Peter. I need to talk.”

When I first met her, Daniela was a very attractive, intelligent, 30-something-year-old, married to a pediatric surgeon. As a member of the gym where I was one of the personal trainers, Daniela became one of my clients. We quickly became friends…

The Feral Moment—William Doreski

The feral moment arrives.
I step inside myself and zip up
moy wolfskin, go outside
into the smell of winter blood…

I Turned Into a Siren When the Strobe Lights Came On—Amanda Hawk

In dark corners of the club,
I learn to bend music around my body.
The beat clings to my hips with each sway
and I float over the black linoleum dance floor…

Hell is Empty–Brian C. Petti

MANAGER: Okay, okay. Let’s get started, we have an agenda to get through. Let’s begin with roll call. Lucifer?

LUCIFER: Regretfully, I am here.

MANAGER: Mammon?

MAMMON: Present.

MANAGER: Asmodeus?

ASMODEUS: Luckily for all of you, I’m here…

Directions—Matt Byun

***Matt Byun is a high school student and an aspiring artist who enjoys experimenting with different styles and techniques. His art is inspired by everyday experiences, emotions, and his love of problem-solving. When… Continue reading →

Concertina—Tara Menon

The wind rustles the yellow on the branches,
the wind walks the leaves,
crinkling, scrapping them on the cement
so that they accumulate at the fringes…

The Theatre and Its Double–Mikki Gillette

Actors Ava and Werner’s performances stray from the text as they comment on their character’s behaviors, their own personal relationship and introduce dangerous new elements into the action, blurring the lines between drama and reality.

Loving Grief—Hillary Steinberg

I love grief
and when I say this
others recoil like admitting this feeds the elephant in the room…

water lilies—Grace Lee

a symphony of hues danced upon the pond’s surface,
rippling like blurred, blotted paint strokes.

the azure, lapping water reflects vast, stretching
skies, while the sun spills gleaming gold through
cracks between the clouds…