Spring Issue 2024: Revival
Welcome to the Spring 2024 issue of Poor Yorick Journal! We are so excited to share this with you al…
Spring Issue: Rediscovery
Welcome to the Spring Issue of Poor Yorick Journal! We are delighted to share a selection of wonderf…
Valentine’s Mini-Issue: “After Julian” by Christie Cochrell
After Julianby Christie Cochrell When Julian’s ashes had been strewn in his familyR…
Three Poems by James B. Nicola
Tetradic Sequence from Below and Above, Before and After blocked ears, closed minds, rage;wisdom fal…
November Double Feature!
Hello from Poor Yorick! And welcome to our November Double Feature. This month we are highlighting t…
Announcements from Poor Yorick
Hello from Poor Yorick! A couple of announcements from our editorial team: Our submissions are cu…
The Poet’s Mask, a Poor Yorick Special Issue
Editor’s Note The theme for this special issue emerged from multiple sour…
An Interview with Brittany Rogers on her debut poetry book “Good Dress”
Brittany Rogers is poet, visual artist, educator, and life-long Detroiter. She has work published or…
December Mini Issue
Editor’s Note: Occasionally while going through submissions, we come across works that j…
Three Poems by C.A. Shoultz
The Ruins Along the mountain pass I made my way, Beneath the razor edges of the hills, Below the pea…
Shadows Long and Shadows Short by Jeremy Gadd
Shadows do not own their shape but rely on that of their origin— whether alive or inanimate stone— a…
Lead: Three Poems by Jessica Martin
Our golden apparitions decay and leave the poisonous lead behind
Tell Them (the song all of me sings) by Meghan K. Strapec
I’ll alight on this wing, my own song to sing, til darkness makes its call
Space Signals by Mackenzie Hurlbert
He was a quiet man, with a quiet life in small town Middlebrook, Pennsylvania. He could count on two…
Submissions Closing May 1-September 1
Poor Yorick will be closed to new submissions between May 1 and September 1.
Remembering Yorick by Elizabeth Sylvia
Often, at home, I unpinned Yorick’s bells and put them on myself, taking a bit of laughter’s weight,…
Bacon Pancakes by Mercury-Marvin Sunderland
They may not be French onion soup or chicken parmesan or banana bread, but I’m going to enjoy my bac…
“From the Found Journal of Captain Miles Standish” by Richard LeBlond
A fictional reenactment of the pilgrims’ first day ashore in the New World, on what is now the Provi…
“Words Matter” by Ellen O’Donnell
When history unfolds before our eyes, someone captures in words what our emotions cannot articulate.…
“I Don’t Know Anyone in the War” by Karen Schubert
Walter Cronkite ends the news with the number of American & Viet Cong dead, so older girls in bell b…
Two Poems by R. S. Mengert
The Assistant Vice-President of Student-Teacher Adversity examined your contents, looked for abnor…
Two Poems by Darren Demaree
I tend to see horses on the second floor of this new house, which we bought with money that wasn’t o…
Submissions Closed: The Poet’s Mask
Announcing our latest call for submissions in honor of National Poetry Month
Four Poems by Elle Shim
The Moving Man Said This house is haunted, and then he sat down my couch.He said it casually, like a…
Three Poems by Tim Suermondt
King Sing Street No king has ever walked the streetor sung there, but it does seem regal,nestled in …
“Windowsill” by Carrie Jewell
Out of one window you can see a whole pasture, waving, the name of which I’m not sure I ever knew.
Hallow’s Eve Horror: a Poor Yorick Special Publication
Our special issue celebrating the spooky, creepy, and downright horrifying.
“Stetson” by Rikki Santer
They say Custer died in his cattleman-creased Stetson. My Annie Oakley knock-off from the local K-ma…
Uncovering My Grandfather’s Past by Michaela Lawlor
As I begin my second semester of the MFA program at Western Connecticut State University, I am excit…
“The Distance Between Two Points” by Ken Post
I always wondered where the expression “as the crow flies” originated. A crow does a lot…
“Ode to a Lawn Sprinkler in Contoocook, New Hampshire” by Suellen Wedmore
I believe in permanence,your brass head whirlingdroplets into the seared August air,without complain…
“Beauty, Prayer, and the Sticky Image: My iPhone Practice” by Randall VanderMey
My hand slides into my left front pocket, reaching for my iPhone. It’s not blind reflex or mechanica…
Now Accepting Submissions: Hallow’s Eve Horror, a Poor Yorick Special Publication
Show us your best flash fiction, non-fiction, poetry, or photo essays that will make our hearts poun…
“An Eternal Light” by Mara Fein
Loss can be a terrible thing, but not always. In some cases, “gone” is good. After all, absence make…
In the Time of Corona: a Poor Yorick Special Publication
In May, we invited the writing community to contribute to this special issue addressing the chaos, i…
“Inventory” by Claire Van Winkle
one yard of faded pale hair, braided; (tied off with a bow— stored inside the next-to-bottom drawe…
“This Piece Just Didn’t Grab Me:” Reflections on Rejection from the (Former) Editor
As the Poor Yorick Editor, I didn’t want to wear an ermine cape. I went into the experience steeled …
“Danish Girl About Town,” by Harvey Soss
Let us postulate Hamlet had knocked up Ophelia, Quietly, on the sly. And, before dying, she gave b…
“4 Objects, 21 Lessons,” by Steven Wingate
"Freshly divorced, I drive from Miami, Florida, to Durham, New Hampshire, with my new girlfriend, wh…
Excerpts from THE FURTHER ADVENTURES OF ADMIRAL DOT, by Nance Van Winckel
This series, which I call The Further Adventures of Admiral Dot, combines two sources. One is a set …
“Curiouser and Curiouser,” by Deborah H. Doolittle
Afterwards, once the neighbors were gone, the curtains shifted back to the places they had occupi…
“My Brother’s Brother,” by Austin Adams
At 4:44 a.m. on Monday, May the 2nd, as many as four or as few as two assailants forcibly entered 13…
“Lost and Found,” by Marlene Olin
Ten years old is the worst age ever. Betsy's too young to be interested in boys and too old not to b…
“The Last Eighty-One Seconds,” by David Miller
Pudgy pre-acnoid twelve-year-old. First rock vinyl jacket. Stares at final I’d love to turn you on…
“An Amputee Looks Through a Ring,” by Dina Peone
I wore it on my right middle finger: one of ten short but slender, pale, nervous, guitar-blistered f…
“May 7, 2017,” by Christopher Kobylinsky
His grandmother’s old Replogle rests by the window. Spinning it around, he finds the pink lip of Ch…
“The Book,” by John Bonanni
My father had an unusual book that rested on his work desk. It was worn and brown. The covers looked…
“The Nile River: The Holder of Ancient Secrets,” by Gabrielle Frulla
The Nile River, the world’s largest river, spanning 4,132 miles, was considered the source of life b…
“Along the Nile,” by Heather Bourbeau
Ten years ago, before the protests, before the disguised military takeover, I bought a used photo…
A Thousand Words, Give or Take
By Josh Fox Capturing images has been an art form for nearly as long as human society ha…
Ginger Rogers’ Hand in Her Own Legacy
By Briana McGuckin Ginger Rogers knew that the artifacts of her career would outlast her, and that s…
Ginger Roger’s Feathered Gown
Rikki Santer remembers one of Ginger Rogers' most famous outfits, the ostrich feather dress from Top…
Worth More Dead Than Alive
By Gabrielle Frulla Most people walk through a graveyard, crowded by crooked and crumbli…
Requiescat in Pace
A letter to his Excellency detailing the grave robbery of Father John Doyle.
Jamestown 1609-1610
By Rebecca Shaw The winter of 1609-1610 was one that the colonists of Jamestown, Vir…
A Curious Case of Colonial Cannibalism
The tragedies of the worst winter in Jamestown's history haunts one family nearly four hundred years…
Cluttered Space
By Chelsea Nevin Imagine laying on a blanket in the middle of a cool summer night, a light breeze ti…
Stones Fall from the Sky
Sherry Rind examines our night skies. Is it a shooting star or flying debris?
She Met the Red-Haired Artist
By Gabrielle Frulla Jeanne Calment was a French woman who possessed the title of a super-centenarian…
Buying Pencils
Marc Meierkort introduces us to the young girl who sold Van Gogh his art supplies and her memories o…
Contemplating One’s Omphalos
By Joshua Fox When it comes to navels, you have your “innies”, where your navel caves …
The Omphalos of Pritchard McCovey
This story follows Pritchard McCovey as he reflects on moments of his life, bouncing between the goo…
Two Tragedies
M.S. Rooney takes the time to remind us of the tragedies of Sodom and Gomorrah, and how unforgiving …
The Solid Truth
By Chelsea Nevin There are many cities that have disappeared into the ocean over the centuries. One …
German Immigration and New York’s Garment Industry
By Lisa Peterson By the turn of the 20th Century, German immigrants, many of them Jewish, were comin…
It Doesn’t Cost Anything to Promise Love
Ruth must clean out her deceased Aunt Fanny's apartment and in the process uncovers the truth about …
Gott Segne Amerika
By Josh Fox While America hasn’t been the greatest country in the world for long, it’s been …
The Stranger in the Box
Sara Etgen-Baker is digging through her grandmother's attic one day and comes across a box of old ph…
The Origin of Wishing Wells
By Rebecca Shaw Wells have inspired everything from songs and ballads to fables and poems. Throughou…
The Velvet Album
Barbara Krasner explores an album left behind by her deceased grandmother, whom she has never met.
The Evolution of Photography
By Rebecca Shaw It is the only window we have into the personal lives of our family whom we have los…
The Life and Times of Artists
By Josh Fox The life of an artist is one that seems undeniably tied to the whims of fate. Sometimes,…
The Jazz Age
By Lisa Peterson America’s prohibition period and the 1920s overlapped and created a decade known as…
The Testimony
This poem by Diane G. Martin memorializes her Great Aunt Lillian's days as a flapper driving around …
Obscure Items in Obscure Places
During one of my many travels through abandoned insane asylums, I stumbled upon a forgotten object t…
Behind the Film: A Q&A with Sharon Woodward and Stephen Barker
Poor Yorick: What got you and your group interested in the topic of the Indian Army in WWI? Sharon: …
Museum Spotlight: Florence Griswold Museum
The Florence Griswold Museum is a nationally recognized center for American art and history. The 11-…
The Indian Army in the First World War
The film documents research being carried out by participants from the local Hindu, Sikh, and Muslim…
A New Home for a Historic House in Trumbull
I. John Naeher, director of operations at Christian Heritage School of Trumbull, Connecticut, was in…
The Alchemist’s Bench
In this fiction piece by Josh Woods, a professor in Missouri buys a glossy black wooden bench adorne…
The Art of Alchemy
By Rebecca Shaw The saying, “You can’t turn lead into gold” has been tossed around for generations w…
Opening a Closed Book
A small box of family treasures given to Gayla Mills by her father sparks a journey through the gene…
Person Behind the Prose – A Q&A with Gayla Mills
By Mattea Heller Poor Yorick: In your essay, you state, “There’s a story here.” It seems that…
Anna’s Billy Club
Grandma always blamed the pain in her arthritic knees on the diner. Anna was a small-framed, round-s…
Ode to a Bright Idea
A common household annoyance begins with a flash and a small puff of smoke. It’s time to change a li…
Greer County’s Dizzying Colonial History
By Kevin Hudson Ryan Clark’s experimental form for his poems, in which he dismantles his source mate…
Excerpts from ‘Old Greer County’
These two poems are part of Ryan Clark's series exploring the history of the part of southwest Oklah…
The Conjurer
This poem by Susan J. Cronin implores of the reader the same thing painter Hieronymus Bosch, who die…
Bosch’s Works: Not What They Seem
By Gina DiGiovancarlo Hieronymus Bosch’s The Conjurer is a genre painting, set in a daily situation …
How to Own a Star
By Dr. Leslie Lindenauer Joyce Munro’s “Let Evening Blush to Own a Star” ranges across time and spac…
A Mysterious German Bible from 1898
When I was sixteen, a European exchange student enrolled at my small-town high school for the year. …
Let Evening Blush to Own a Star
By using form, poetry, and visuals, Joyce Munro's story moves beyond fact and prompts readers to con…
Campbell Soup Kids
I found a toy that may have belonged to your great-grandparents once upon a time. A little thrift st…
Skeleton as Cultural Icon
by Josh Fox Skeletons—we all have them. We all know about them. Starting off with 270 bones when we’…
Velvet Painting
This cheeky poem by Wichita writer Linda Imbler pays homage to a skeleton as a piece of art.