Mark Williams' fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in "The Write Launch," "Indiana Review," "The Baffler," "Eclectica," "Cleaver," and the anthology, "American Fiction" (New Rivers Press) as well as other journals and anthologies. His poems have appeared in "The Write Launch," "The Southern Review," "Rattle," "New Ohio Review," and "The American Journal of Poetry." Kelsay Books published his collection of poems, "Carrying On," in July, 2022. He lives in Evansville, Indiana, just downriver from where the raid on Newburgh occurred.
The Rubicon
Spring semester, my senior year of college, I won Jenny Muller in a game of Trivial Pursuit. The winning question was, What Native American tribe assisted the Corps of Discovery through the winter of 1804–1805? I couldn’t believe my luck. With the question or the prize. Read more.
Ixmoja
In high school, my friends played trumpets, French horns, trombones, and Risk—conquering make-believe continents while desiring real girls. We spoke on speech teams, competed on chess teams, sang in glee clubs and choirs. Popular boys played football and shot hoops. My friends and I studied Latin. One day I made the mistake of telling fellow trumpeter, Nolan Niemeyer, why I couldn’t practice with him on Saturday morning. Read more.
“Fred’s Theory of Relativity” and “Heaven’s Rules”
“Stupid is as stupid does,” said Forest Gump. So true.
Like the time nine-year-old me, batting eighth,
squared around to bunt and took a Larry Broerman
fastball in the groin that dropped me to the ground,
where the coaches and umps huddled around
and unbuttoned my pants so I could breathe. Read more.