Just rewrite every single word and then you're done

I made the pilgrimage to Baltimore for the Association of Writers and Writing Programs @awpwriter.org conference this year, and was thrilled to meet up with a few folks from @themetaworker.bsky.social. Our essays about AWP just went up at the Metaworker's website - check it out!

Lies, Agreed Upon was published today at The Jerry Jazz Musician; in this story I wrote in 2022, an old man is forced to reckon with events he'd hoped would stay buried. This piece was a finalist in their 70th Short Fiction contest.
www.jerryjazzmusician.com/lies-agreed-...

M.R. Lehman Wiens — Up North Lit Up North Lit

Burning for You over was published in the Spring 2026 issue of Up North Literary Magazine. A micro fiction about a firey relationship, it's also available as an audio recording read by yours truly.
upnorthlit.org/mr-lehman-wi...

Looking to read some short fiction as the world rapidly decompensates? You're in luck. Amidst the chaos, I've had two more stories published. See below!

"“Thou art a rotten worm, Braden. Be grateful that I speak to you, and do not banish you from my sight.”"

With inky wit, a tale of the pandemic, grace, & our fave prophet, Braden, from @mrlwwrites.bsky.social | www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mr-l... #fiction

Art @anchalastudio.bsky.social

M.R. Lehman Wiens — Does It Have Pockets The Book of Braden

I’m beyond thrilled to see my latest short story go up over at @doesithavepockets.bsky.social

You can read “The Book of Braden” here: www.doesithavepockets.com/fiction/mr-l...

Watch the video. To quote Mayor Frey, the self-defense narrative is bullshit.

“The Party told you to ignore the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.”

Jan. 6, 2021: A visual archive of the Capitol attack NPR’s Jan. 6 archive brings together reporting, video, documents and testimony to show what really happened during the Capitol riot. Explore the timeline, cases and evidence behind the attack.

NPR built a visual archive of the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, showing exactly what happened through the lenses of the people who were there. In Chapter 3, we lay out a timeline of key moments throughout the day as the assault on the Capitol unfolded.

It’s time for the world to Boycott, Divest and Sanction the U.S
Avoid the Olympics, World Cup and other sporting events. There’s no reason to celebrate the 250 birthday of this fallen nation

Screenshots from Andor when the Gorman councilman told Mon Mothma, “They don’t even bother to lie badly anymore. I suppose that’s the final humiliation.”

Yeah, let’s depose the leader of an oil rich nation on shaky legal ground and with very little forethought and planning. I’m sure there’s no precedent from previous Republican administrations that could indicate this is a bad idea.

6. Burial at sea
7. Funeral pyre on a Viking longship
8. Cremation, and then shoot my ashes into the atmosphere on homemade model rockets
9. Mummification, as long as I’m wheeled out for family reunions
10. Traditional embalming and burial

10 things to do with my body once I’m dead, ranked from most preferred to least:

1. Compost me, and give bags of the soil to my friends
2. Natural burial beneath a black walnut tree
3. Cadaver lab
4. Forensic Body Farm
5. Cast me as Yorick in a production of Hamlet

Also included is my list of things to do with my body when I die - feel free to use any of the ideas for yourself, or use the list as my formal wishes if you’re my power of attorney

Featured Story The Legend of Four Winds Butte by D. T. Krippene 1905 Two prospectors tied their mules to a bush at the base of a tall butte perched on top of a desert mountain. “Hey, Sammy,” Jack asked, out of br…

My short story “Numbed to Death” is the featured story in the newest issue of the Bethlehem Writers Roundtable! bwgwritersroundtable.com/featured-sto...

And please also, AGAIN, never forget that they are inherently unethical to use because no one gave permission for their research or writing to be used in it. It is all stolen, and if you're using the plagiarism machine, please keep that in mind.

I guess I’m a poet now! My first published poem, Ekphrasis for Standing Glass Fish, is now up at Pictura Journal:

picturajournal.com/issue-five/p...

Another fun fact - Abecedarians were also a group of early Anabaptists who rejected all sources of human learning, even including the ABCs. Hyperbole, of course, but as someone with Anabaptist roots it was a theme I kept in mind while writing this piece.

Abecedarian Lament by M.R. Lehman Wiens - The Metaworker Literary Magazine "...echoes of Sunday School pull me from my book to the unyielding curve of a church bench." - excerpt from "Abecedarian Lament", creative non-fiction by M.R. Lehman Wiens #MetaworkerMonday

My latest piece, Abecedarian Lament, was just published at @themetaworker.bsky.social! It’s an acrostic using every letter of the alphabet, a poetry form with roots all the way back to early Hebrew scriptures.

themetaworker.com/2025/10/13/a...

Someone just gave me two dimes and a nickel in exchange for my Aldi cart. Truly a lawless era.

A man of the people! Huzzah!

6 days after Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia in 1968, a Prague paper published these “10 Commandments”:
‘When a Soviet soldier comes to you, YOU:
1. Don’t know
2. Don’t care
3. Don’t tell
4. Don’t have
5. Don’t know how to
6. Don’t give
7. Can’t do
8. Don’t sell
9. Don’t show
10. Do nothing’

TACO never fails.

How am I doing? Well in 2017 The West Wing was my comfort show, and now it’s Veep.

Go protest tomorrow!

And ALSO featuring:

A lovely magical realism short story by @mrlwwrites.bsky.social
Queer flash fiction by @leoastrum.bsky.social
Optimistic sci-fi by @element115.bsky.social
Reprint cozy fantasy by @rajivmote.bsky.social
A novelette about longing, wonder and nature by @clhellisen.bsky.social

The oil industry buys off Congress. No action on climate.

The NRA buys off Congress. No action on guns.

Insurance companies buy off Congress. No action on health care.

The list goes on and on.

Money in politics is the root of our dysfunction.

Over the Water M.R. Lehman Wiens is a Pushcart-nominated writer and stay-at-home dad living in Kansas.

My latest bit of flash fiction just went up at Wild Umbrella Literary Journal: www.thewildumbrella.com/post/over-th...

But what if we force people to care? Oh wait…

Tinned fish and drag shows: I can understand if it’s not your first choice, but until you’ve experienced a good one, I don’t think you get to have an opinion on the matter.

Also, if you try to take them from me I will be stabbing your hand with a sardine fork.