The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret (Minotaur, September 2023) is a charming locked-room mystery set in that era of the early–and historic–engine-powered passenger liners, as sail gives way to steam. Yet the transatlantic crossing retains full Victorian cachet and privileged-class luxury, with Nev March creating or capturing a range of colorful characters across the spectrum from disarrayed […] The post Review By Lance Mason: The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret By Nev March first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post Review By Lance Mason: The Spanish Diplomat’s Secret By Nev March appeared first on The R ..read more

A parrot perched on the rod of a laundromat cart, multicolored feathers bright as the fluorescent lights above.            Its head counts those who fold and those who wait. Islanders and tourists don sweats and sip espresso on this chilly January afternoon. Much too cold for locals, but I love it, […] The post Key West Laundromat By Adela M. Brito first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post Key West Laundromat By Adela M. Brito appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

From the rooftop terrace of the apartment building that had been gifted to him as a coming-of-age gift from his parents, Matthew looked down towards the neat files of people; tiny, tidy and organised, and the corresponding lines of cars that stopped and went at regular, calculated intervals. It was mesmerising to him; the perfect […] The post PART II BY GRACE ZHAN first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post PART II BY GRACE ZHAN appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

Up north in Maryland the railroad tracks Have been removed, The neat and graded right-of-way Rechristened “cycling trail.” Travelers now drive Along an Interstate, And to the east The exercisers pedal. It piques the second thoughts Of curiosity a bit, a travel Back through time’s Adjusting changes, purpose Now updated. The obsolete Will always get […] The post TRAVELOGUE BY JOHN DOUGHERTY first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post TRAVELOGUE BY JOHN DOUGHERTY appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

America has no need of Milton at this very hour But just a Punch, a Feste, a Touchstone, Or that nameless fool in Lear Should it ever come to that. A certified Shakespearean fool with all The motley, foolscap, bauble – Immunities that mark his passport From sardonic worlds to ours, and confer a license […] The post HARLEQUIN BY JOHN DOUGHERTY first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post HARLEQUIN BY JOHN DOUGHERTY appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

How about imaginary numbers and infinity, Isotopes, electron flow, radio-activity, The shock of The Windhover, the silence Surging from The Listeners, the mystery Of the St. John’s gospel, the enticing list Of other books within a Harper Torchbook I struggled with in history class. And I was like a Saul, thrown from his horse and […] The post PASSING THE TORCH BY JOHN DOUGHERTY first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post PASSING THE TORCH BY JOHN DOUGHERTY appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

I saw my mother once reduced To those good days that sent me rays of hope. I couldn’t help but think: this good day Means you’re getting better and soon We’ll show them; I’ll be taking you right home. What we call hope the ancient Greeks Deemed elpis, a word that loses half its Implications […] The post ELPIS BY JOHN DOUGHERTY first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post ELPIS BY JOHN DOUGHERTY appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

I was anxious and fearful about swimming my 100th mile, the final 64 laps that would earn me a 100-mile Swim Club T-shirt. It would be my 5th consecutive day of mile-swimming, and my shoulders were sore. Mile number 99 the day before had been followed by indigestion and light headedness. Maybe I had become […] The post Cultural Immersion by Carol Severino first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post Cultural Immersion by Carol Severino appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

They must think I don’t belong here as I walk across their campus, me, too old to be a student. Who am I kidding? Too old to be on faculty. One by one, I pass them, their eyes feet-fixed as though the ground might erupt. I’m guessing they’ve been told to ignore all strangers. At […] The post Hold On by Mark Williams first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post Hold On by Mark Williams appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more

The ragged lace of my oldest nightgown hung below the quilted polyester bathrobe I threw on as I got myself out of bed. Someone was knocking at the door. It’s probably just Harry, I thought, as the knocking persisted. My neighbor Harry was always forgetting his house key and asking for the spare I kept […] The post Infamy by Katherine Hanson first appeared on The RavensPerch. The post Infamy by Katherine Hanson appeared first on The RavensPerch ..read more