Photograph of an old, gray-brown house sitting near the shore

Translation: Side Entrance to the House

AMAL AL SAEEDI
It always felt as though I was on the cusp of betraying some kind of covenant if I acted out of my own free will. Like someone who drives an expensive car, but doesn’t own it, and is worried about embarrassing themselves if they get into an accident—ignoring the fact that this accident would put their life in danger.

Close-up images of cardboard boxes.

More to the Story

MICHAEL DAVID LUKAS
Any story—any history, for that matter—is a series of inclusions and omissions, a series of truths and deceptions. The story Grandma Betty liked to tell about her life was not dissimilar to the one Grandma Guta and Grandpa Abe told about theirs. A story of hard work and progress, another version of the American Dream.

heart orchids

December 2024 Poetry Feature #1: New Work from our Contributors

JEN JABAILY-BLACKBURN
What do I know / about us? One of us / was called Velvel, / little wolf. One of us / raised horses. Someone / was in grain. Six sisters / threw potatoes across / a river in Pennsylvania. / Once at a fair, I met / a horse performing / simple equations / with large dice. / Sure, it was a trick, / but being charmed / costs so little.

A sunny, cobblestone street framed by buildings with flat, golden-yellow facades. Ivy creeps between the buildings, hanging above the path.

The Laws of Time and Physics

JESSICA PETROW-COHEN
My necklace has a thin silver chain and a pendant made of sapphires. My mommy says she knew that my mama was ready to die when she gave away her jewelry. I can see it all so vividly. It’s happening now, in June, not then, in June, time is collapsing, June is June is June.

What We’re Reading: November 2024

CARSON WOLFE
Exposition Ladies composes a love letter to the poorly scribbled female characters of Hollywood who exist solely to move the plot along. Each poem takes on the persona of one of these unformed vessels, often beginning with ‘I am the exposition lady’. Reminiscent of Carol Ann Duffy's The World's Wife, Exposition Ladies is a perfect example of how a book can contain a singular idea and expand outward.

Using The Common in my first-year seminars has been fun, fruitful, and helpfully startling for these classes.”

—Martha Cooley, Associate Professor of English, Adelphi University Receive classroom subscription discounts, lesson plans, and more when you TEACH THE COMMON »

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