Pat Foran

Pat Foran

@pdforan.bsky.social

writer, editor, axolotl with a pretty good throwing arm Out now: Songs from the Blimp Ruins, a flash collection. Published by Silverbacked Punk: https://qgyjj4z.s.gy/sTuEPy Inscribed copies available (message me). https://neutralspaces.co/patforan/

491 followers396 following1.7K posts

Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

"Because that's how it's done." "Why aren't they uneasy, too?" "Vodka gimlets did not give him moves." Melissa! 💖 no-filler flowers in a slice of Bouquet by @melostrom.bsky.social in Inkwell

Melissa Ostrom@melostrom.bsky.social

Your Monday Mocha & the latest issue of Inkwell. Excited to have a piece in this beautiful magazine. Good morning, friends.🐶🤎🍁

Pat Foran reposted

Pithead Chapel
@pitheadchapel.bsky.social

Don’t forget to send us your stories! Deadline October 31

Pithead Chapel@pitheadchapel.bsky.social

We want your stories! The 2026 Larry Brown Short Story Award is officially open for submissions 1st prize: $500 Guest judge: Deesha Philyaw More info: pitheadchapel.com/larrybrown/

Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“They think they might have to confront her about it today.” "𝘚𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 ..." "𝘏𝘦𝘳𝘦’𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘑𝘦𝘢𝘯." a box elder, massaging the gray, seeping “like fireflies,” “like sparklers,” like @kathyfish.bsky.social in The Journal of Compressed Creative Arts matterpress.com/journal/2026...

matterpress.comThere’s Something a Little Wrong with Jean – Compressed
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“They should realize that a boy wakes. Always the next morning or the morning after and looks for her.” “She sets …” “She hears …” “She hears …” “She sets …” @thorntonforreal.bsky.social in Flash in the Court flashthecourt.com/2026/10/09/a...

flashthecourt.com“A Boy Wants His Mother” by Lisa Thornton“A Boy Wants His Mother” by Lisa Thornton is a moving flash fiction with a circular structure. Thornton uses third-person narration to allow the point-of-view character, a grieving grandmother, to …

Pat Foran reposted

Cole Beauchamp 🏳️‍🌈 📖
@nomad-sw18.bsky.social

"Could be, the stand said via semaphore, offering me a Do Unto Others Popsicle the color of a mid-summer Milwaukee morning sky and the flavor of always." Incredible writing from @pdforan.bsky.social in a piece that aches with the melancholy of loss 💔

Pat Foran@pdforan.bsky.social

I lost my Dad this summer and wrote something the day after his funeral mass. Thank you dearest @m-ixedbag.bsky.social and @lit-namjooning.bsky.social team for including it and another piece in your beautiful Issue 3. ❤️https://literarynamjooning.wixsite.com/litnam/post/this-new-zealand-by-pat-foran

literarynamjooning.wixsite.comThis New Zealand by Pat ForanI didn’t see the loneliest tree in the world reaching out to me that morning, remember the conceptual popsicle stand the color of then that afternoon or hear the lo-fi moon static-crackling on my radi...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“... you are a little thirsty, your water bottle is within reach, but rocks in the desert can’t just drink water whenever they want ...” this by @dawnsteffler.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

ghostparachute.comIn your dream, you turn into a boulder — Ghost ParachuteYou wake up and stretch your arms in the direction of the clouds, you have gotten into the habit of sleeping on the roof, so there are actually clouds above you—you love sleeping on a roof so much mor...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“... it’s true that after her kid died, Rita got a little funny. Everyone said so.” “... what Rita wants is to remember, remember everything. That grief can be endless as infinity.” @sfreligh.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

ghostparachute.comHa Ha — Ghost ParachuteFirst thing they do is take away her makeup. Apparently a girl can kill herself with a tube of lipstick or a wand of mascara, though Rita’s not sure how. She herself had swallowed a fistful of pills b...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“... when i touched my grandma’s hands after she died, i learned loss feels like frozen mango skin—& i know your parents will know this too, when ...” @jjpena.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

ghostparachute.comfrozen mango skin — Ghost Parachuteonce upon a time, my grandma had a stroke after giving birth to a stillborn in a crickety bed. she was taken not to a hospital, but to a church. there: the priest adorned her face in holy water & pray...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“Her own husband, Mr. Healey, was as wholesome as an astronaut. The word was, if Mr. Healey didn’t like a man, he would address him as ‘pal.’ If he liked him, he’d call him ‘chief.’” @patriciaqbidar.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

ghostparachute.comThe Hippies — Ghost ParachuteI sliced my hand with a steak knife the day after Christmas, sneaking leftover pie. The wound stung and pulsed. I made my way to the sink, rinsed my hand over the piled dishes. It hurt. The water ran ...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“for excavation is ...” “She whispered her food ...” is and is not was and is the callbacking love this ... great to see this out there, Kathy! ♥️ @kathyfish.bsky.social in Ghost Parachute ghostparachute.com/issue/octobe...

ghostparachute.comArchaeology — Ghost ParachuteMy childhood best friend was beautiful. For many years, she had to wear a back brace. It gave her a dignified air, as if a string were attached to the top of her head, pulling her up tall. She glided ...

Pat Foran reposted

Kathy Fish
@kathyfish.bsky.social

With brilliant examples by @amygcb.bsky.social @karaoakleaf.bsky.social @kimmagowan.bsky.social @megpillow.bsky.social @tcboudreau.bsky.social @drobnik.co @avitusbcarle.bsky.social @pdforan.bsky.social and more! 💙

Kathy Fish@kathyfish.bsky.social

We Real Cool: Flash Storytelling in the Collective Voice artofflashfiction.substack.com/p/we-real-co...

artofflashfiction.substack.comWe Real Cool: Flash Storytelling in the Collective Voice...with PROMPT and So. Many. Examples.
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“Your mother shakes when she delivers her speech. You can see her getting smaller right in front of you.” “Kids have no power when their own parents turn into strangers.” and the ghosts you like best @janstinchcomb.bsky.social in @trampset.bsky.social www.trampset.org/post/somethi...

trampset.orgSomething that Happened When You Were a Childby Jan Stinchcomb...After the rupture your parents become great storytellers, but they only want to talk about each other. As you get older, the stories mutate into tall tales.
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“Someday my memory will cease. A blown dandelion. A child will order the fragments not by time but by the weight of its vowels.” @chelsdingman.bsky.social in TriQuarterly Magazine www.triquarterly.org/issue-170/a-...

triquarterly.orgA Question of Archives — TriQuarterlyLet us not begin at the beginning, nor even at the archive,  Derrida says. As when I had a child after miscarrying, I began to see my father everywhe...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“The dog is sleeping, my husband is sleeping, the children sleep, the flies also, but the wind does not sleep and the moon opens its eyes and blinks.” Pembrokeshire + 1 by @bronwengriffiths.bsky.social in @trashcatlit.bsky.social trashcatlit.com/two-prose-po...

trashcatlit.comTwo Prose PoemsBronwen Griffiths Listen to Bronwen read both her prose poems The Walk From Tenterden It was a hot day in August, the sky blue as an eye, when we set off down the path. But we lost the signs and th…
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“I feel ten, and thirty, and three hundred …” “… and I don’t know how it has all come to this, but what I do know is every single lyric to this song …” @pleomorphic2.bsky.social in @trashcatlit.bsky.social trashcatlit.com/maybe-there-...

trashcatlit.comMaybe There is Nothing That I Can DoSumitra Singam Listen to Sumitra read her prose poem The Lulu Lemon women talk of Romeo and Juliet between sets of bicep curls because Lovefool comes on over the speakers and they remember studying…
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“The song ends. The quiet hurts. I think about that poor sick woman who said she was sorry. Sad Man who wished he could help us but can’t even help hisself.” @tracieadams.bsky.social in @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social www.cowboyjamboreemagazine.com/safe-enough....

cowboyjamboreemagazine.comSafe EnoughSafe Enough by Tracie Adams Author’s Note: This story is part of a collection I’m currently writing called Stories from the Lighthouse Motel. The narrator is a teenager on the run with her mother...
Pat Foran
@pdforan.bsky.social

“Tulsa said The Marlboro man is buried there.” “I told Jason he should rename them all Death Waiver. My kids said knock it off ma, nobody gets you.” a “low and cool” river @aeweisgerber.bsky.social in @cowboyjamboree.bsky.social www.cowboyjamboreemagazine.com/same-river-t...

cowboyjamboreemagazine.comSame River TwiceSame River Twice  by A.E. Weisgerber   Author's Note: I get caught up in how Eagle conveys his love for characters when he puts them in old run-down places, then packages them like gifts in boxes...