HCE received a lot of high-quality submissions for The Brutal Issue – sadly, too many to fit inside the magazine! So we offered some of our shortlisted contributors the chance to be published on our website.

Keep an eye on our social media for more great writing like this, in the run up to the release of The Brutal Issue…

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Things That Were Lost in the Flood

Cliff Burns

 

old photo albums a wedding

dress letters cards dating back

decades books so many books

bloated with moisture leaking

words a mush of ink plus the

kids’ baby clothes mementos

curios keepsakes priceless to

everyone but the insurance

company which refuses to

process our claim denying

compensation for drowned

treasures a veritable fortune

in gold-encrusted memories

jewels baubles of bygone days

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CLIFF BURNS has been a professional author for more than 30 years, with 11 books and well over 100 published short stories to his credit. He draws influences from numerous genres – “fusing them together into daring, original visions, all the more terrifying for their realism and authenticity. I specialize in narratives of psychological suspense and my tales, once absorbed, are seldom forgotten. They leave their mark.” Cliff lives in western Canada with his wife and several thousand books. ‘Things That Were Lost in the Flood’ is from Cliff’s next collection, The Algebra of Inequality & Other Poems, which will be released April, 2018. His previous collection, New & Selected Poems (1984-2011) was shortlisted for an national independent press award in Canada.

For more information, visit Cliff’s blog, “Beautiful Desolation”: https://cliffjburns.wordpress.com“.