I left my small valley-town-dirt-road Pennsylvania for the heat of the city, the humidity viscous on my skin. My fathers had to be here somewhere.
Heroes Mean Nothing; They Never Keep Warm by Shae Krispinsky
Category: Essays
An archive of all of the personal essays we’ve published at Hippocampus Magazine over the years.
Pile Driving, Poetry and Poultry by Sangamithra Iyer
I was 26 years old; the same age my father was when he arrived in America in 1969 with seventy-five cents in his pocket. It was my first birthday without him
The Baptism of Oma Ray by Derick Strode
I grew up knowing Aunt Oma was going to hell. Mom and Dad often talked about it in the front seat of our Thunderbird on the way home from church.
Sunflowers in New Jersey by Mary Diduch
It starts with a blank, raw egg in the palm of my hand. White, cold, and smooth, except for some sand-like bumps.
Sinkhole by William Vernon
Dad’s tooth extraction bled for four days, but he continued his routines with the only apparent minor alteration of one pouching cheek…
Home Fires Burning by Anne Fox
Tonight I’ll blame the sherry for the fanciful images playing in the back of my mind—an evening, a mellow light cast from the hearth into a room textured with polished wood and soft things, a sofa lumpy with pillows, a thick, nubbled carpet, its surface worn to silkiness.
Danger By Its Stem by Elizabeth Langemak
My mother’s mother was a city girl, and no number of chickens – their heads popping off on the block as her husband relieved each body of brain – could make her otherwise. Not that she didn’t try.
How to Move in One Direction While Flying in Another by Janice Anderson
Start with an incident most people see as unfortunate but you perceive as life changing; the skewed perspective will enhance your experience. The incident should happen while on your Outer Banks vacation, the highlight of your year.
A Snip Decision by Jim Gray
In her right hand she holds a blue disposable razor. In her left hand, held taut to smooth the surface and expedite shaving, is my scrotum. My testicles are being prepped for a vasectomy.
Tell Me Something Wonderful by MT Cozzola
When my mom got the cancer, I wanted her to have the best post-death experience ever. She had this thing about being buried alive.
