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Winter 2016: Young Voices


To Autumn

Autumn strolls along the sidewalk.
Everything around him is cold
except for his hands, which trace green leaves as he walks by,
making them bleed the color of sunsets.
Together, they carelessly laugh in the wind.
His other hand is gripping books;
leather, old and torn, dug up from some musty attic.
Someone forgot about them, but Autumn never does. He comes back every year.
The door slowly opens. Autumn is carried in on a gust of wind.
The scent of rain wafts in and, for a few seconds, you are home.
When his amber eyes look at you, you can taste the cider
surely being pressed in the backyard.
You can tell he is here by the wave of calm that washes over you,
when you notice the year has meandered past like the streams he bathes in.
He scoffs at Summer; her reign is coming to an end. She never learns from her mistakes.
Every year is the same. The light fades but Autumn’s smile never does.
While pouring you a cup of coffee, he recounts his last nine months,
full of laughter and dancing and flying high above the sun-burnt souls.
His beauty never stops giving,
but in his dark, cold nights you find that
your lips are chapped and your coughs keep you from sleeping.
In just a few months, he’ll pack his books and plaid scarves,
never taking the leaves out of his messy hair.
He comes too late. He stays a little too long.
But you always miss him when he’s away.




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Poetry Thumbnail Art   Prose Thumbnail Art   Artwork Thumbnail Art   Young Voices Thumbnail Art   Contributors Thumbnail Art
Poetry

Celebrating nature, home and the cycles of life – twenty poets light the winter night.

 
Prose

Six stories use magic to explore loss, grief and healing.

 
Artwork

With imagery of flora and fauna, four artists animate the winter landscape.

 
Young Voices

Five young women dig deep to each speak their individual truth .

 
Contributors

From emerging to established writers – meet the women behind our eighth issue’s voices and visions.

Table of Contents Button
LETTER FROM THE MANAGING EDITOR

POETRY

        Northwest Equinox by Kris Demien

        Gradations of Gray by Wendy Thompson

        With Gladness by Sara Graves

        Home by Leora Marialicia González

        For a Grade School Classmate by Joan Maiers

        Canning Factory Road by Elizabeth Stoessl

        To Make a Prairie by Carolyn Martin

        At Home by Suzy Harris

        Family Disagreement by Tricia Knoll

        The Bullfrogs by Katherine Boyer

        Cows by Rebecca Jamieson

        Lesson by Stacey Vallas

        Stardust by Erin Iwata

        Perspective by Carolyn Martin

        Lacrosse Season by Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo

        The Tangled Path by Suzanne LaGrande

        Matched Set by Tanya Jarvik

        False Bus Stop by Elizabeth Harlan-Ferlo

        Last Visit by Erin Iwata

        October Walk with My Mother by Ann Sinclair

        First Rothko Exercise by Elizabeth McLagan

        Fractions by Susan Blackaby

        Tea by Melineh Yemenidjian

        Return by Stacey Vallas

PROSE

        Scarab Man by Cynthia McGean

        Planetary Influences by Alida Thacher

        Bone of the Past by Burky Achilles

        Teachings: A Buddhist Ghost Story by Ann Sihler

        Wrangler by Desiree Wright

        A Nicaraguan Spring by Pamela Russell Bejerano

FEATURED ART

        Into the Wonder by Annamieka Hopps Davidson

        Deep Blue Meditation by Annamieka Hopps Davidson

        Weave Me Into the Sea by Annamieka Hopps Davidson

        Crassula 2 by Alison Foshee

        Crassula 5 by Alison Foshee

        Crassula 6 by Alison Foshee

        Warm Autumn by Tamar Hammer

        Girl with Conch by Tamar Hammer

        With Her Dog by Tamar Hammer

YOUNG VOICES

        Love Beyond Loss by Isabel Lickey

        Submerged by Raimy Khalife Hamdan

        Which Way? by Alli Rodenbaugh

        To Autumn by Sara Barkouli

        The Storm by Elie Doubleday

CONTRIBUTORS