Paul Benkendorfer is an author, award winning poet, essayist, and educator whose works have been featured in publications and anthologies around the world. He is an adjunct professor of English at Arizona Christian University and works extensively to teach reading and writing skills to special needs youth. When he is not writing he takes care of his Autistic brother and two rescue dogs. Paul holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, an MA in Teaching Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and is currently enrolled as a candidate in Fiction MFA program at Drexel University.
Pop Goes the Weasel
I stood with my father on the BART platform of San Francisco, our luggage in hand and three plane tickets tucked tightly away in my pocket. We had spent the previous week with my older brother and his girlfriend to celebrate my nephew’s second birthday. The walkway was damp and covered with puddles that had formed during the rainy night. The day was humid, carrying with it the soft heat of a Bay Area July. A weird aroma of cinnamon mixed with the sewer steam of the city wafted through the breeze. Little light crept in the sunny afternoon day from above the stairwell.
Creative Nonfiction
August 2023 Issue
A Bridge Outside Limerick
A lingering chill filled the fresh morning air as the crown of the sun broke over the mountains and hills. Spring had come, but the final fragments of 1915’s winter had not yet dissipated. A plume of breath bleached with every breath he took. He sat, crouched behind a large boulder atop a small hill overlooking the road that meandered through the pass below.
Novel Excerpts
Issue 29
Paul Benkendorfer
Paul Benkendorfer is an author, award winning poet, essayist, and educator whose works have been featured in publications and anthologies around the world. He is an adjunct professor of English at Arizona Christian University and works extensively to teach reading and writing skills to special needs youth. When he is not writing he takes care of his Autistic brother and two rescue dogs. Paul holds a BA in Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, an MA in Teaching Writing from Johns Hopkins University, and is currently enrolled as a candidate in Fiction MFA program at Drexel University.
Pop Goes the Weasel
I stood with my father on the BART platform of San Francisco, our luggage in hand and three plane tickets tucked tightly away in my pocket. We had spent the previous week with my older brother and his girlfriend to celebrate my nephew’s second birthday. The walkway was damp and covered with puddles that had formed during the rainy night. The day was humid, carrying with it the soft heat of a Bay Area July. A weird aroma of cinnamon mixed with the sewer steam of the city wafted through the breeze. Little light crept in the sunny afternoon day from above the stairwell.
Creative Nonfiction
August 2023 Issue
A Bridge Outside Limerick
A lingering chill filled the fresh morning air as the crown of the sun broke over the mountains and hills. Spring had come, but the final fragments of 1915’s winter had not yet dissipated. A plume of breath bleached with every breath he took. He sat, crouched behind a large boulder atop a small hill overlooking the road that meandered through the pass below.
Novel Excerpts
Issue 29