Fall 2012: Poetry

Personal Interview

by Penelope Scambly Schott

Tell me about your family.

	We all have impeccable grammar.

Where did you grow up?

	Under the dining room table
	with a white bed sheet for walls.

Do you have any siblings?

	I dressed my sister in doll clothes.

What is your first memory?

	Being scolded.

What are you most afraid of?

	Being scolded.

How many children do you have?

	A son. A daughter.  
	Dozens of kids

	on the edge of the playground
	waiting for recess to end.

Do you have any pets?

	The last dwarf elephant
	to survive on the island of Crete.

Do you believe in God?

	Which god? I need a god
	who believes in me.

Which is your favorite sin?

	Pride. I always aim high.

Have you ever been arrested?

	To my shame, I have not.

Tell me about your mother.

	She attended the school of discontent.

And what about your dad?

	My father invented language.

What languages do you speak?

	French, Spanish, Dog.

What about English?

	I inhale and exhale it.

How do you like your breakfast egg?

	In a Limoges china eggcup
	with a miniature silver spoon.

Do you have a favorite color?

	Yes, but I can’t tell you which
	for fear of offending the others.

What is the best thing that ever happened to you?

	That you care enough
	to ask me these questions.

Are you telling the truth?

	No. Maybe.

Poetry Fourteen poets fill this section with mothers, daughters, sons; with dreams, promises, hauntings; with joy, pain and what lies in between.		Prose I am a world creator ... . I am a voice finder. (S. H. Aeschliman, “On Voice”) Meet five prose writers who will guide you into unique worlds and invite you to hear their creative voices.		Artwork Three photographers and two painters make the pages of this journal sparkle with color, light, variety.		Young Voices We are proud to introduce five emerging writers whose work shows a depth of talent and creativity that will delight you.		Contributors Here are the 27 authors and artists whose work make our first online issue so extraordinary.

LETTER FROM THE EDITORS POETRY         To the Friend Who Talked Me Down by Amy Schutzer         Memorial Day on South Greeley Avenue by Penelope Scambly Schott         Lost Rubies by Deborah Brink Wöhrmann         Everything between your palms by Jaime R. Wood         315C by Kristen Roedell         In 4th Grade, Sally Teaches Me the Bases by Betsy Fogelman Tighe         Swan Song by Jaime R. Wood         We by Carrie Padian         The Supplicant by Emily Pittman Newberry         Jailhouse Call by Kelly Running         spoon by Brandi Katherine Herrera         my in mind ungrammared kiss by Melanie Green         Beyond Reach by Leah Stensen         You must give up your dead by Kristin Roedell         Tree Ghosts by Tricia Knoll         Personal Interview by Penelope Scambly Schott         Fairy Tale I Haven't Read Yet by Donna Prinzmetal PROSE         One Small Thing Right by Nicole Rosevear         How Mom Played Sad by Sally K. Lehman         Running with Dragons by Trista Cornelius         High Priest by Robin Schauffler         On Voice by S.H. Aeschliman ART         Lush iii by Tina Tran         The Commuter by Denise Hrouda         Which Witch by Denise Hrouda         The Center of Two by Jolyn Fry         A Knot Unties by Jolyn Fry YOUNG VOICES         weight bags by Calli Storrs         No Parking by Frances Bringloe         Falling in Love by Chaquita McClendon         Go On Then, Gunslinger by Allison Stein         Fishing Float by Sage Freeburg CONTRIBUTORS