---

Live

and

let live—

that’s rule one.

Don’t be an asshole.

The world’s starved for kindness. Mercy

is still the most beautiful of human qualities.

As the scene grows meaner out there,

the best buck that trend.

Small acts for

others

go

far.

---

Todd Mercer’s short collection, Ingenue, was a winner of the Celery City contest. His digital chapbook, Life-wish Maintenance is available free at Right Hand Pointing. Mercer has been nominated for Pushcarts and Best of the Net awards in Fiction and Poetry. Recent work appears in Literary Yard, MacQueen’s Quinterly and Spartan.