Winter 2014: Poetry

Lost Child Lullabye

by Tiah Lindner Raphael

Let me witch her into being, moth fingers across my abdomen
in a flicker of evocation. Then it can be the month I feel her swell

to the size of a lemon, stretching the walls of my body
to the shape of home, slick little blood-furrowed membrane

grown from pockets of prayer and winterling stars,
the Virgo of my inner sky.

It will be the year we rock in the tire swing
and draw our sticks through the white, soft sand,

the year I almost drop her, the birthday when I hold her
a little too tight until she squeals and shifts.

Just don’t let it be the night a man asks me for identification,
calls to inquire if someone can explain my presence

on the playground or the unborn daughter I see
ghosting down the slide into my empty arms.

I close out the crescendo, those red and blue aurora-corners
in my eyes so I can search for her, face down in the grass,

where mist like whisper shadow sings to the hot, bittersweet moon.

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