In those days, he was always grousing about something. Misplaced glasses, cold coffee, empty sugar bowl. Then after a ten-second spiel, his annoyance would trail off like smoke
Unspeakable by Joyce H. Munro
Category: Essays
An archive of all of the personal essays we’ve published at Hippocampus Magazine over the years.
The Heart’s Chambers by Patricia M. Dwyer
“In a healthy heart…” My cardiologist’s words linger in my mind. I listen carefully as she sketches an image of a heart on the back of her notepad. It looks something like a big beetle from where I lay on the hospital bed…
Things Seen in the Dark: A Triptych by Mary Heather Noble
I thought I heard howling the other night. It startled me from a dream, and I raised my head from the indentation in my pillow to listen again —
Maybe We Can Make a Circle by Nicole Piasecki
I’ve started to write this letter at least 20 times in as many years. Just imagine me sitting alone in my office surrounded by crumpled pieces of paper.
Bad Mother by Kaylie Jones
During the fall of my daughter’s sophomore year at the most difficult and impossibly demanding public high school in New York City, Sandra, our cleaning lady, came rushing into my room wearing a pained look…
The State of Elvis in 2016 by Jim Breslin
In this sweltering summer of discontent, the Elvis impersonator is wedged into a rhinestone-encrusted royal-blue jumpsuit. Our pores sweat like Corona bottles under the blistering sun.
The Birth of Fear by Leanne Sowul
We’ve just finished telling my in-laws that according to a recent consult with my doctor, it will be difficult, if not downright dangerous, for us to have a baby.
Bike Scars by Melissa Coss Aquino
My father whistled for me from outside–a whistle all four of his children growing up in three different households knew and answered…
The Makeup of Things by Chelsea Ardle
Crows line up like racecars at the grand prix, one after the other, pushing their way forward.
Circle Where it Hurts by Leslie Kendall Dye
I care for my mother, who was—is?—very beautiful, very brilliant, very talented. She was a champion ice-skater at Rockefeller Plaza in the 1940s…
