Winter 2015: Poetry
a welcome weed
by Hannah Sams
i think i’d like to live a life where i’m surprised that i can climb out of bed in the morning or fall asleep without warning before the sun has even set before i’ve said every goodnight with my sheet untucked and my feet exposed i’d like a life like that i’d be okay with a life that startles me into smiles i’d like to be tricked out of agony or despair i would love to have no reason to smile at all a rasping pant like laughter biding its time waiting for my gasp i am a soft-handed farmer and what i sow is not always what i reap but i can let my soles grow black with dirt and leathered until rocks crack under them and when i kneel it doesn’t always have to mean i am beaten because a soft-handed farmer touches sodden and sun-warmed plants in turn presses her lips and cheeks against coy buds with lazy leaves embraces the scratch that ignites the itch and when she feels the world press her down she bends further forward she tells them still that there’s time to grow and doesn’t need her hands at all i would be fine, i think, with a life like that
|
Through the magic of language, 20 poets challenge us to write and live bravely. |
Five risk-taking voices burn with the fire of transformation. |
Four artists share their diverse sensibilities as confident mark-makers. |
With clear eyes and articulate voices, five young women confront terrifying aspects of human experience. |
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 |