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![Struck](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/edc7ee956d3647b09ee3ba1d40080878.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/edc7ee956d3647b09ee3ba1d40080878.webp)
Oct 21, 20191 min read
Struck
A tulip poplar In my backyard was struck by lightning the sudden terrible crack covered its beloved trunk with a spider web of blue...
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![Once Upon A Time](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a0a65a8c8e834cb98b1c445f714e789d.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/a0a65a8c8e834cb98b1c445f714e789d.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
Once Upon A Time
Once Upon a Time there was a woman. and she lived. Prince Charming never thundered on his mighty steed from a castle over the hill to...
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![A Marriage in Beds](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/b580534a84f163f0dae7f4d8b860c67b.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/b580534a84f163f0dae7f4d8b860c67b.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
A Marriage in Beds
I. Single The futon’s fabric was bare; the stuffing was shot through with collapse from our sitting lap-stacked in the center. One...
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![House Church](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/aa781bf0386e49888a739c4fa3db1612.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/aa781bf0386e49888a739c4fa3db1612.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
House Church
If we still had house churches today, I’m sure they would be adorned with family size bags of Cheetos, air pods, satellite dish...
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![God's Language](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/9e6796229bb940b9b709a69c97be483b.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/9e6796229bb940b9b709a69c97be483b.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
God's Language
After dinner, the adults chat. I don’t know what they discuss. Their children make demands of me— Bring seven shells down from the...
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![The Voice of the Dove](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/69e25121388b1b8ab3c53a5e94bb1dec.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/69e25121388b1b8ab3c53a5e94bb1dec.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
The Voice of the Dove
I’ve loved the mourning dove since I was a child— The soft, suffusing sound that always calmed Me then as it does now and must calm,...
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![May It Not Come Undone](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/abb585d54407424896ce437e74cc264a.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/abb585d54407424896ce437e74cc264a.webp)
Oct 17, 20191 min read
May It Not Come Undone
Thick rainbow chard and yellow corn; We run past the market tents To where the light hangs over the river In eternal September....
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![A Rainy Day at Newman's Grounds](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/e5433a67390ddeb83e13ebda5ddade7d.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/e5433a67390ddeb83e13ebda5ddade7d.webp)
Oct 16, 20191 min read
A Rainy Day at Newman's Grounds
The raindrops dribble down the shopfront panes while back behind the counter the barista drips her own creation in handled earthenware...
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![The Night Shift](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/ea225cdfadef4fbbb267f93a9ac87cb7.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/ea225cdfadef4fbbb267f93a9ac87cb7.webp)
Oct 16, 20191 min read
The Night Shift
every night we become master burpers, sooth sayers, rockers; our prayers go straight up every night we lose our breath, our pace ...
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![Light in the Dark Night](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/cae547e4969f4e97ad4bc0472fd64435.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/cae547e4969f4e97ad4bc0472fd64435.webp)
Oct 16, 20191 min read
Light in the Dark Night
(A Clogyrnach) Ripples whisper through fields of grass At nightfall when no footsteps pass Over this bare hill Where I linger still—...
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![The Healer](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/7b142432c02849f5987bb20b236731a3.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/7b142432c02849f5987bb20b236731a3.webp)
Oct 16, 20191 min read
The Healer
Four-year-old David who has Downs snuggles into three-year-old Tommy’s chest like a Maine coon cat. He pets Tommy’s head flubs his...
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![Psalm One](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/2cc7d7574f4c4d7b0deb2a09e5404f15.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/2cc7d7574f4c4d7b0deb2a09e5404f15.webp)
Oct 15, 20191 min read
Psalm One
Half-uncial script letters almost as tall as my thumb the same thumb that drew a Cross with Holy Water on an infant’s forehead this...
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![The Gloaming](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bcd943f1e61769f9ad212d5827febcbc.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bcd943f1e61769f9ad212d5827febcbc.webp)
Oct 15, 20191 min read
The Gloaming
There’s a time of day, just before night becomes, in which I feel powerful. I could take on the entire world, during this brief ...
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![Ancient Paths 2018 Pushcart Prize Nominees!](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/fa39c3_326cf7363e9a4798ba3947c984f6a72b~mv2.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/fa39c3_326cf7363e9a4798ba3947c984f6a72b~mv2.webp)
Oct 11, 20184 min read
Ancient Paths 2018 Pushcart Prize Nominees!
Every year, hundreds of presses nominate poems, short stories, and novel excerpts for the Pushcart Prize. Pushcart Press has been judging...
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![Raised Up By Love](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bd78251e615a4f89950df34dbc44f871.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/bd78251e615a4f89950df34dbc44f871.webp)
Oct 10, 201813 min read
Raised Up By Love
This short story has been reprinted from the Ancient Paths archives. It originally appeared in Issue 8 (Spring 2002). In the printed...
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![Run for the Money](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/14b687731c3f4f58a9de074e9c45701d.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/14b687731c3f4f58a9de074e9c45701d.webp)
Jul 20, 20188 min read
Run for the Money
The following short story is a reprint from Issue 11 (Fall 2003) of Ancient Paths. Run for the Money by James Steimle On a sunleaning...
![The Celebration](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/d2c8b2666bab4a61aa6f0789e5ad96a8.png/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_95,enc_auto/d2c8b2666bab4a61aa6f0789e5ad96a8.webp)
Jul 19, 20186 min read
The Celebration
This story is reprinted from Issue 12 (2004) of Ancient Paths literary magazine. The Celebration by Rachel Norris Tracy looked at the...
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![Salamanaca](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/81dab3962ad54f4a83e0657ccbba7999.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/81dab3962ad54f4a83e0657ccbba7999.webp)
Jul 18, 201819 min read
Salamanaca
The following short story is re-printed from the Ancient Paths archives. It was published in Issue 10 (Spring 2003). Salamanaca by...
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![The Lord's Tennis Ball](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/df58b9235be54ead966592f4eafe750d.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/df58b9235be54ead966592f4eafe750d.webp)
Jul 17, 20185 min read
The Lord's Tennis Ball
This short story is re-printed from the Ancient Paths archives. It previously appeared in Issue 7 (Fall 2001). The Lord's Tennis Ball by...
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![The Permission Slip](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/a7d5c424be7f434085f7966b504869ce.jpg/v1/fill/w_514,h_386,fp_0.50_0.50,q_90,enc_auto/a7d5c424be7f434085f7966b504869ce.webp)
Jul 16, 20186 min read
The Permission Slip
This story is re-printed from the Ancient Paths archives. It was previously published in Issue 6 (Spring 2001). The Permission Slip by...
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