psychic, reader
by Taylor Alexandra Duffy
The psychic in my building forgot my name. Holding her groceries, holding her elbow as we eased down her garden apartment stairs, she warned me about the siblings I don’t have, to keep an eye on nieces I’ll never know. Oh yes, I said, you’re so right, promising to call the father who’s been dead for years. A week later she was surprised to see me when I ran out to greet the sirens, finding her waiting on the stoop, clutching her chest. Breathless, she grabbed my wrist: darling girl, this was meant for you.
Taylor Alexandra Duffy lives in New York and works in research & development. She specializes in pending patents and penning short short
stories. Her writing has appeared or is forthcoming in *X-R-A-Y, Passages North*, and elsewhere. She was longlisted for the 2021 SmokeLong Quarterly Grand Micro. www.tayloraduffy.com
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What surprising, fascinating stuff can you tell us about the origin, drafting, and/or final version of “psychic, reader”? A couple of years ago I walked by a basement storefront psychic in my neighborhood, and the opening line popped into my head. Most of my stories start with some outlandish or very specific, fully-formed sentence crossing my mind, and I then try to build a world where that statement would make sense. I quickly wrote this piece in the notes app on my phone and the published version is exactly what I wrote in that two-block walk to my apartment.
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Matter Press recently released titles from Meg Boscov, Abby Frucht, Robert McBrearty, Tori Bond, Kathy Fish, and Christopher Allen. Click here.
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Submissions
Poetry, creative nonfiction, and fiction/prose poetry submissions are now closed. The reading period for standard submissions opens again September 15, 2025. Submit here.
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