Winter 2014: Poetry

Introduction

Often, themes emerge in an issue without being solicited by the editors. That’s true of this issue. Grief proves itself a compelling force, making us look more closely at our lives and what we value, persuading us to look ahead in order to live as we want to. Grief can be a result of missed opportunities or the loss of a loved one. In Diane Averill’s “How to Survive the Loss of Your Best Friend,” for example, the speaker urges readers to “Have high tea inside a hyacinth flower.” Grief connects to a range of emotions, from sorrow to love to hope. In that sense, it has transformative powers. In “After the Ice Storm,” the threat of the natural world and sinking ships give way to images of change and power in the form of music: “… rondeau for earth / and sky, rhapsody for a new day, requiem for the forest.”

We hope that readers enjoy and appreciate these poems as much as we did, and find in them some facet of their own story and their own possibilities of transformation.

Darlene Pagán
Poetry Co-editor

Poetry Multi-faceted, poignant and inspiring. We’ve caught thirteen never-before-published poems by twelve master-class voices.		Prose Five women share their talent and themselves in new, surprising and heartfelt ways.		Artwork Established craftswomen and aspiring visionaries add colorful richness to our most recent issue.		Young Voices The lyrical language of five young poets will delight you.		Contributors Meet the authors and artists who make the Winter 2014 edition a rich, varied and engaging experience.

LETTER FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR POETRY         After the Ice Storm by Linda Strever         Waiting for a Diagnosis by Linda Strever         Anticipation by Penelope Scambly Schott         How to Survive the Loss of Your Best Friend by Diane Averill         Current Conditions by Carol Ellis         For a Hot Shot by Susan DeFreitas         Focal Distance by Jenna Thompson         Bridge by Jennifer Liberts Weinberg         Motherhood by Elizabeth Stoessl         Nice Girl Regrets by Pattie Palmer Baker         Lost Child Lullabye by Tiah Lindner Rephael         To Inhabit the Body by Willa Schneberg         Love Letter by Annie Lightheart PROSE         Like Water and Stones by B.E. Scully         Messages by Mary Mandeville         Fear Jars by Jessica Zisa         Pie by Susan Lehman         Confinement by Valerie Wagner ART         Where the Buffalo and Unicorn Once Roamed by Katie Todd         Midwestern Dreamin' by Katie Todd         Monday's Child by Sarah Fagan         Sweet Tea by Sarah Fagan         The Daydream by Kendall Madden         Beatrice by Kendall Madden YOUNG VOICES         Chinese Mangos by Sophia Mautz         The Bridge by Kate LeBlanc         Ephemeral by Jillian Briglia         The River by Sheila Panyam         Compost by Sophia Mautz CONTRIBUTORS