Barclay Ann Blankenship

Recent Writing and Publications

Mystery Tribune •

For Some Must Watch

Alice watched the river flow by, waiting to see the body flow with it. She gripped at the book in her lap with white knuckles. It was still morning. The body drifted closer, closer, closer, until it was not a body. Larger than a child, smaller than a man, the driftwood was large enough to still deceive a paranoid mind and poor eyesight. Looking down at the book’s dark cover, she swelled with the urge to throw it into the river and let it join the remnants of her imagination.
Apricity Magazine •

Doldrum

It must have been June during this last moment of Carolina air, ripened by whiffs of straw, damp from afternoon moisture. Evenings so sweet They drip down the back of my arm in colors of peach juice. I’ll capture it like a creature, obsess in phases. Press its delicate memory into cardstock, wings spread in dissonance, its beauty preserved as cold as a marble bust. Or maybe, I’ll hold it under the weight of my palm, guide it into a tall mason jar, so I can unscrew the life s
Cold Mountain Review •

We are in a fragment

We are in a fragment and this might be boring. Might be so much sadness in one place that the emptiness tightens the chest knocking against ribs until they're tough. Might be that we are small and miracles come in phases, bright flashes so fast that we miss it altogether. Might be God. Our punishment and cure, Are you there are you there? Might be hard to think of after. A semi-circle of waking, sleeping, moving soft and fuzzy in a dream. Each day a familiar plateau.
The Isolation Journals Archives •

Prompt 43 - Say It New - One Syllable Romance

It knocked on the wood dock, soft and quick like a lost bone. She saw it bob to and fro in the lake tide and trace the pier leg as it came towards her. The glass flask was full of some of the lake by now, as well as a scrap. A note, she did hope, a friend. She watched it move back and forth, up and down, to the beat of the lake. With each bob, it seemed it would go under and be lost to her if she did not move fast.
Sheroserevolution.com •

They Said, You’d Be So Pretty If You Just Lost Some Weight

When I was younger They told me, “You’d be so much prettier if you just lost some weight.” So, I carved at my thighs with a butter knife, I smoothed down my cellulite with the back of a sugar spoon, and grew frustrated with the hunger of my soft stomach. I wished it all to vaporize like water does from skin. I learned to compare until it was habitual. Didn’t matter what about as long as there was a silent rivalry between me and whoever. So, I ran around tracks, I ra
Sheroserevolution.com •

Today, I Am Breaking Up With Fear

This year has quickly become the year where I want to stop trusting my fear more than my own common judgement. Now, this year, at only seven months young, only a little over halfway through its existence, has proven remarkably stressful for pretty much everyone. While fear is certainly around most everyday in some way or another, there seems to be more fears lately. Fear, amplified. Fear for the future, fear of no future, fear to misspeak, fear that your voice will be unheard, or worst, ignore

Welcome!

I'm Barclay Ann and I'm happy to see you here. I'm passionate about telling stories; yours, mine, theirs, anyone's, and everyone's.

On any given day you could often find me playing an old guitar or reading an even older book. Chasing sunsets, strong coffee, hiking on bright days, talking on the phone with my mom, and singing loudly in my room to Fleetwood Mac are just a few of the many other things I love in this life. I received my B.A. in English, Literary Studies with a minor in Communications from Appalachian State University in 2020.