Winter 2014: Poetry

To Inhabit the Body

by Willa Schneberg

She tells me that as soon as those protrusions
sprouted, she knew they didn’t belong.
They feel as alien, she says,
as the frilly pastel undies
her mother made her wear.

Grown, her body becomes her canvas.
She is sleeved-up with blue snakes coiling
her arms, their tongues darting out
underneath her chin.

She understands it is different for me,
that I don’t want a permanent
testament to anyone inked in my skin,
and that when my chest was renamed breasts,
I welcomed those modest orbs.

She tells me that no one will ever talk at her tits again.
We both agree that is a perk, and that jerks
ogling me is my burden for liking mine;

and she will awaken from surgery
relieved that underneath her bandages
her chest is flat like a door
that opens into a garden
where she finds herself inhabiting
the body she was meant to wear.

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