Winter 2015: Poetry
Two Poets in the Weight Room
by Tricia Knoll
Verlena carries a black cane. I have lumpy veins. Our ages add up to nearly a gross of years in this hotbed of stair steps, ellipticals, rowing machines, barbells, mirrors, and sweat. Neither of us has stomach for the maiming news on silenced TVs or a captioned chef stuffing wieners with cheddar cheese. I flaunt red nails on heart-monitoring handlebars. She wears a red sweatshirt. We show up. I suggest we wait for the firefighters’ free gym access at eleven. They are cuter than the upper-chest guy pumping up to dazzle skinny boy learning squats. Verlena lays down her cane, leans into the upper-back torture rack. She laments no one guesses she eyes groins and puffed-out pecs. Doing lat pulls, I huff out how much I admire tight-spanked butts when stuck in traffic, those men in two-tone bike shorts zipping up the right lane, the swervy audacity of steel-strung calves on sculpted seats. The firefighters never come. Something burns. The two lifters trade hints on mixing slow counts with heavy reps. We flesh out odes. They count haiku.
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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 |