Category Archives: National Issue 4 Spring 2026

No one else can see them. No one except the Daughter, that is. In her Family, there is a Daughter and a Son, both quirky and opposite of each other, and there is also a Mother and a Father, who have a toxic relationship that never gets addressed. None of them look alike, but thatContinue reading “No One Else Can See Them – Celia Bonawandt”

do you know that old Pink Bismuth™ commercial,             Bambi-eyed wife with the heatless curlers and the shrew voice that sat in her nose?             the one who called her husband darling and dear and mon petit chou? the one in the teaberry bathrobe?             do you remember her? all dolled up she used toContinue reading “Pink Bismuth – Abbey Bowman”

Aidan Gallagher lay in his hospital bed, eyes plastered open, the first time he heard the wailing. To most, the banshee’s cry would be something to fear. But to Aidan, it meant he would soon embark on a new journey.             Aidan pined for his death as one would long for a lover. A two-timeContinue reading “Forever After – Mickey Black”

Dear readers, I could not be happier to release the Spring 2026 National Edition of The Tributary. This edition blew my expectations out of the water with the amazing work we received from not just all over the U.S., but worldwide. Sharing in greater experiences has been a leading philosophy this year, and while IContinue reading “Letter from the Editor, Spring 2026”

“Why don’t we start with the bodies in the trucks,” Franklin said, placing his cell phone on the table in front of his empty glass and pressing record.     “Just keep my name out of it,” Lopez replied. “Don’t worry. You’ll sound like a cross between a mob informant and a serial killer.” They sat inContinue reading “Transgression – Frank Matozzo”

I am the one holding the lit match.                  And I am the one burning. And                             I like that the fire is kind enough                   to leave me a body in another form. And I am the one pouring the                    water of my eyes to quench the fire.                             To soak the weightContinue reading “Self-immolation – Gospel Chinedu”

Cracked stone throbs like sorrowful hearts, Their stones ajar as an open maw. Midnight drips from the rafters, waxen, Air damp with musk. My skin appears bare— Absent of scratched metal, Chilled at the thought of missed battles, Ghosts appearing as brands. Their whispers no longer a shock, Inflicted with madness long Before my firstContinue reading “Pyre’s Night – Audrey Donnell”

Content Warning: This piece discusses homophobia, discrimination, and hate speech directed at LGBTQ+ people in Africa. It includes depictions of social and familial rejection, historical references to medical abuse, and job loss due to sexual orientation. It directly references suicide. Readers who may be affected by these themes are encouraged to engage with care. HomosexualityContinue reading “A Most Difficult Life: Ignorance Takes on a New Meaning in Africa – Tony Njoroge”

Picked up and taken to sea in her dying waves melting across rock and sand smashing its arms into boulders eager to bruise I’m sinking in the bathtub with melting ice above craters like whirlpools near my feet taking ships and whales sucking us all the below where infinity spheres bodies loop around rope tiedContinue reading “My Bathtub (the Pacific) – Breanna Jones”

On most weekday mornings in Tokyo I board the Keiyō Line with a small stack of vocabulary cards and the quiet determination of a man who has decided, midlife, to become illiterate again on purpose. I mouth syllables under my breath. A, i, u, e, o. Ka, ki, ku, ke, ko. The train rocks gentlyContinue reading “Shisa Kankō…Pointing, Calling – Zary Fekete”

The miracle did not shout my name. It came like a soft tap inside my chest: A delay! A missed step! A quiet feeling that said, Do not go yet. I once turned back for no reason. The bus I missed later broke. People called it luck! I stood shaking! Knowing something unseen, Had stoodContinue reading “Ofo – Anselm Eme”

Franz Kafka moved in with me today into my rented flat with a broken radiator hissing like a dying animal. His hair is greasy with the slime of the grave. His bald pate, coloured like a palm tree in the middle of an oasis of hair, shakes dandruff sequins from the desert mirage onto theContinue reading “An Ax For the Frozen Sea – Rebecca Gould”

If light upon this river would not dim If moonbeams lingered, stars would yet dwell near; If when our Summer sang her final hymn The shadows kept themselves far from this sphere; I would, in earnest, make attempts to stay. But Dusk climbs over every mountain’s peak It’s spectral glance turns living things away  AndContinue reading “October Sonnet – Elenya Hempstead”