Winter 2015: Poetry

Going South

by Christine Gray

Midnight. Interred in this sluggish vessel.
Chugging onward toward a Lethe-colored sky,
black as resignation, empty but for a faint glimmer 
of stars, stalking the train cabin through the haze
of city lights, past a shadowed row of red maples
and oaks. Standing guard. Sentinels raise their
twisted limbs in dismay as the clogged engine
strains against the increasing dampness. I lean my 
head against the window as the whistle fades to whine.
 
Mosquitoes circle in the lamplight.
There’s something earthy out there,
bobbing in the muck
        I can taste swamp honey in the back of my throat
   twisted with roots in the bayou
     i can float with it there

strands of moss entwine with tendrils
            frizzy black tresses floating weedy
  sticks in my fingers
                 clutching wood and dirty moss

        the moon turns molasses as 
               my neck tilts
up
and i exhale slowly
                                     crested iris unfurling

Poetry Through the magic of language, 20 poets challenge us to write and live bravely.		Prose Five risk-taking voices burn with the fire of transformation.		Artwork Four artists share their diverse sensibilities as confident mark-makers.		Young Voices With clear eyes and articulate voices, five young women confront terrifying aspects of human experience.		Contributors Meet the authors and artists – from first-timers to well-established – who grace our sixth issue with their voices and visions.

LETTER FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR POETRY         A Great Wild Goodness by Annie Lighthart         Going South by Christine Gray         a welcome week by Hannah Sams         Ophelia, at Fifty, in a Blue Blow-up Canoe by Deborah Dombrowski         A Passing Music by Barbara LaMorticella         Girl Fishing with Grandpa by Helen Kerner         Perimeter by Amy Schutzer         Two Poets in the Weight Room by Tricia Knoll         Skeletons by Christa Kaainoa         A Poem for Dany by Suzy Harris         Lineage by Amy Schutzer         The Bucket by M.K. Moen         Bernier River by Christine Dupres         Silence by Margie Lee         Advice by Donna Prinzmetal         Sometimes at Night by Jennifer Pratt-Walter         Fissure by Elizabeth Moscoso         Whale by Cathy Cain         In the Modern World by Annie Lightheart         Love poem to an acquaintance by Allegra Heidelinde         Dialogue between Magician and Tattooist by Christine Gray         Under the sign of the water bearer by Jennifer Kemnitz         city spacious heart by Pearl Waldorf PROSE         Bless Our Great Nation, Zambia! Zambia! by Gypsy Martin         Liminal by Stephanie Golisch         The Tomorrow Fire by Kelly Coughlin         Ablaze by Heather Durham         Left As It Was, It Would Come Apart by Jackie Shannon-Hollis ART         Sibling 1 by Michelle Latham         Sibling 2 by Michelle Latham         Sibling 3 by Michelle Latham         Totem by Kelly Neidig         Stratum by Kelly Neidig         Swift by Kelly Neidig         Breaking Free by Erin Leichty         Capture Threads by Erin Leichty         Hardware by Erin Leichty YOUNG VOICES         Visions on the Playground by Meghana Mysore         Chasing Thunder by Berkeley Franklin         Elegy for Christy by Lily Boyd         Social Media by Maya Coseo         A Hundred Acre Wood by Audra McNamee CONTRIBUTORS