Monday. Much trust in irrigation. Rain
on the streets. Inside, couches
sprout plots of rotund buns. Lady
neighbor weeping; my seat becomes
her garden…
From Getting My Head Checked” by Scott Wordsman
Contributors: Anne Anthony, Michael Cocchiarale, Joan Colby, TS Hidalgo, Kathie Jacobson, Kara Bright Kilgore, Nathan Willis, Scott Wordsman
Let us know what you think! Tell us about your favorite piece in this issue using the comments section below.
Joan Colby never fails to charm me with her intelligent, powerful, poems. She is an acute observer of the animal kingdom complete with its human overlords.
Enjoyed Joan Colby’s “Myself as Jehovah”–a strong last stanza!
I enjoyed Joan Colby’s take on the dynamics of bird feeding, the graces and the least favored.
Reading Kathie Jacobson’s work is like lifting up the fallen and unnoticed leaves of the world, flattened by experience, to glimpse breathtaking insights and read startling descriptions enhanced by unspoken, yet savagely felt, nuance. Just amazing. I held my breath, tasting every single word.
I loved “Myself as Jonah.” What a wonderful “bird’s-eye view” of nature…so full of color and vibrance…and humor. Especially love preparing lunch counters for the lovable con artist cowbirds. The ending is powerful. Beautifully written, from beginning to end.
I’m a recent fan of Joan Colby’s work. I’m glad I’ve found her in this virtual world.
In Kathie Jacobson’s “Thirst” I felt yearning, terrible risk, pain and beauty- the bridges, the buried frog, too physical an experience of thirst and suffocation. Nearly redemptive. Ultimately, the mother ‘s significance overrides- so well drawn- awful, full of wretchedness. The images in this are just awe inspiring, wrenchingly so. Deeply moving writing.