Winter 2016: Young Voices
To Autumn
by Sara Barkouli
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.
|
Celebrating nature, home and the cycles of life – twenty poets light the winter night. |
Six stories use magic to explore loss, grief and healing. |
With imagery of flora and fauna, four artists animate the winter landscape. |
Five young women dig deep to each speak their individual truth . |
From emerging to established writers – meet the women behind our eighth issue’s voices and visions. |
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 |