" I won’t get picked for All-Stars. / Matt will get a Boa Constrictor, name it Piedmont / and put his hand up Kelly B’s shirt, describe / her nipple like a spectacular song." 'Hometown 1980' Poetry by Eric Vithalani shorturl.at/zIoJS

"He lights matches in the dark, consumed by the flames. I go back home and cry in my mother's wrinkled arms. I ask her how to move out, she pats my head and says, “carefully”. " 'On the Spit' Flash by AJ Carr shorturl.at/UloZP

"I heave my way up the bleachers to the tightest, darkest corner I can find. My bulging veins, catching shine and shadow as I ascend... " 'I Sought Him, But Found Him Not' Flash by Niko Magnussen shorturl.at/dirCV

"Daddy has a collection of broken hearts in glass jars that he can’t seem to keep clean, / maintained through years of one-sided solitude and self-sabotage." 'FORMALDEHYDE' Poetry by Mackenzie Enteado shorturl.at/lzkMO

"On July 19, 2022, Amanda Jones, a middle-school librarian in a small rural town in southern Louisiana, attended a meeting of the board of the Livingston Public Library. " "Don't Mess with a Plucky Librarian" Nonfiction by Steven G. Kellman shorturl.at/E6AyL

"My yarn snagged the barstool as I twisted / to meet the face of the person I swore at. / She was ghost pipe, wintergreen berries and smelled / of juniper." 'THE WILD COLONIAL, QUEER GAME NIGHT & Other Poems' Poetry by Amanda Boyanowski-Morin shorturl.at/maCs3

Are people still on here? Lol who do I even follow? Show yourselves! Come into the light.

WRITING ADVICE: Play your own game.

WRITING ADVICE: Never grow up.

Issue 18: thebloodpudding.com/issues/issue-1… FICTION: stephanie marie rick, Jack Barrie NONFICTION: Christine Fair POETRY: ✻ Han ✻, Kenzbeans💔, Kelsey L. Smoot

“I cannot hate the earth I came from, a starved dirt belly in the depths of middle america sermon. My mouth learns to adore before it learns distaste.“ 'Liner Notes For A Quartering' Poetry by ✻ Han ✻ tinyurl.com/6ue6frc6

“your fingers curl in my hair when / the boy in me needs to be held / you tend to him like broken skin / apply pressure where he purples“ 'night balm quatern' Poetry by Kelsey L. Smoot tinyurl.com/2rrr7cyh

“I add red wine and wholegrain mustard to the simmering jus then go back outside to lie in the soil where I’d like to die, when the day comes.” 'Death with Rhubarb' Flash by Jack Barrie tinyurl.com/3h4xvrn8

"Many years have passed since that day I saw him, unviable, without a heartbeat, in a swirl of blood and tissue, to be discarded as medical waste. Not yet human but loved." 'Space' Nonfiction by Christine Fair tinyurl.com/4nyrhd94

“Like the sign of the cross, she knows I am harm, reaches out from across the moon splintering me into confession…“ 'Our Fathers' Poetry by Kenzbeans💔

“In bed, Ella’s stomach gurgled. Not hunger. Something else. Her fingers traced her ribs, more prominent than last week. The blue stains glowed faintly in the dark.” 'Blue Hunger' Short Story by stephanie marie rick tinyurl.com/4b42bhys

❣️❣️❣️

The Blood Pudding Christine Fair ✻ Han ✻ Kenzbeans💔 So grateful to be a part of this issue! Thank you The Blood Pudding 💙

Acceptance on Submittable

STATUS CHANGED TO 'IN PROGRESS' SO DON'T GO TELLING ME THEY'RE NOT PASSING IT ROUND THE OFFICE LIKE LOOK AT THIS MASTERPIECE BETTER THAN ANYTHING DOSTOEVSKY EVER DID, BETTER THAN KAFKA AND ALL THAT LOT