Letter from the Editor

Thus having prepared their buds
against a sure winter
the wise trees
stand sleeping in the cold.
– William Carlos Williams, “Winter Trees”

I started this morning with a walk after breakfast with my dog, Emma. In the Mojave Desert we are still kicking around red and yellow leaves in the park, but the mornings are cold enough for a scarf – which is a great delight after the ever-increasing days of breathtaking heat. Even from inside the house, all day we can hear the kids at the park squealing, dogs barking, and in our Winter season, the ice cream truck. These are the best days when people stay outside as much as they can. Sometimes Emma stands up like Snoopy, looking through the backyard gate to the kids in the park, to me, then back to the park. This time of year, we take a lot of walks. 

Today, on the shortest day of the year, we bring you our 2025/2026 Winter Issue. The editors and readers have put together a wonderful winter issue. In case you missed it, just three weeks ago we published an extra issue of poetry and micros, the PM Edition. On our Previous Issues page you can also find our 2025 nominations for Best of the Net and Best Microfiction.

To our current readers and writers, thank you for spending 2025 with us. To our new readers, thank you for adding us to your Winter reading list. On behalf of The Citron Review, wherever you may be, we wish you and yours a restorative Winter  and the promise of a brilliant Spring.

Sincerely,
Angela M. Brommel
Editor-in-Chief
Poetry Editor
The Citron Review

 

Masthead

 

Table of Contents

 

Poetry

Notes on the selections by Angela M. Brommel

Kristen Field, “Carson McCullers was not married when she died, but she did tell Tennessee Williams that she had sex with Gypsy Rose Lee“

Jeffrey Hermann, “32 Degrees Exactly“

JoAnna Scandiffio, “Matchbooks“

Steven O. Young Jr., “Pick Me“

John A. Nieves, “The Gloom Spices“

Martha McCollough, “View of Mountains from the Safeway Parking Lot“

Joshua Zeitler, “Afterimage“

Jeff Mock, “There Is No Penalty for Breaking the Law of Gravity“

 

Creative Nonfiction

Notes on the selections by Ronit Plank

Meredith Seung Mee Buse, “Shoulder Season“

Chris Pellizzari, “My Father’s Bed“

Justine Sweeney, “It Took Us Years to Hear Helicopters Again“

Kate Michaelson, “Desperate, Bright“

 

Flash Fiction

Notes on the selections by Carolyn Abram

Laila Amado, “Zipping around Lightbulbs“

Kianna Greene, “I still hear you climbing to the top of my roof“

Emily Dressler, “Do My Mom’s Suicidal Tendencies Manifest Now as Unfinished Blankets at the Nursing Home?“

Claudia Monpere, “Bounce, Dance, Dig“

Moisés R. Delgado, “Promise me something sweet“

Matt Kendrick, “Efficiency Measures“

 

Micros

Notes on the selections by JR Walsh

Samantha Marie Daniels, “Psalm“

Phillip Sterling, “After“

Peter Krumbach, “Helen Mckenzie“

Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, “Grief in Five Parts“
“Grief, Part I“
“Grief, Part II“
“Grief, Part III“
“Grief, Part IV“
“Grief, Part V“

Tom Walsh, “Tomorrow, Tonight“

Dmitry Blizniuk, Two micropoems
(translation by Sergey Gerasimov)

 

Zest

Find our best interviews and reviews.

 

This year’s Best Microfiction nominations