Fall 2012: Young Voices

Go On Then, Gunslinger

Fiction by Allison Stein

Deserted wasteland wastes souls, leaves men deserted, broken and lonely by the rattlesnake tracks. You find out in the middle of the book that this was once all forests and skyscrapers and statues with cameras that kept people in and feelings out, but it's all gone now, left turn, dirt and dunes. Somewhere at the beginning there's a man inexplicably dressed in all black, a trench coat and a long tattered scarf that flows out behind him. Sometimes, in Japanese cartoons, he has a sword, but in this story he has guns. Two of them. He wields them akimbo, but he always hits, even when he turns his guns to the side. In the real world, this would decrease his legitimacy, but this is a story, a post-apocalyptic desert planet story, and our hero is dark and mysterious and he never plays by the rules. Every step he takes is loaded with self-loathing, every twitch of his fingers is a traumatic event of his past, and every time he pulls the brim of his hat down low, all the pretty girls know he is resisting the urge to cry. Go on then, gunslinger. We have a story to write.

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