“The Boardwalk, 1969,” by Helen Jones
Well I took my three youngest kids and their friends to Santa Cruz. Bought them sodas at the boardwalk, played in the waves, had a great day. And then shit, the real fun begins. When it’s time to go Alice and I get in a tiff cuz she doesn’t want to leave and finally I say “Fine you can walk home.” Home is twenty miles over the mountains, and damned if that brat doesn’t start walking. I figure she’ll be back soon, tail between her...
“Storm,” by Abby Chew
No one asks for silence this morning but we give it without question. The dawn, long past, brought a haze of heat, laid it down over us heavy, not at all like your body over mine. Not at all like that. Last night, a storm struck us down. I watched lightning crack the side of the barn, wind snap the bean trellis, toss it up, spinning. We salvage what we can. The sky doesn’t ask if we want our arms slick with sweat as we pick...
“Our Lady of Sorrows,” by Katherine Van Dis
You think the priest has gone easy on you – ten Hail Mary’s and one Our Father is a light penance. You double the order. If you had told the entire truth, you may have been assigned an entire rosary. You make it all the way through the Our Father and halfway through a Hail Mary before you start reciting, instead, the new words he has taught you for your body: Hail Mary, full of graceful thighs, hallowed be thy neck, thy elegant neck....
“Lift,” by Bridgett Jensen
The grass is so green it’s damp, like it’s making water. Your toes, bare in flip-flops, are wet. Your son Carter talks 100 miles a minute as your feet keep time. The two of you are walking the pugs. When you came out the back door, Carter stood beneath the basketball hoop, tossing the ball up. He’s ten, and he follows a formula. So many shots up—so many baskets in. He does this every evening until he’s got it right. Tonight it went...
Sarah Wetzel Awarded 2013 To the Lighthouse Prize
“River Electric with Light,” Sarah Wetzel’s astounding manuscript, is winner of AROHO’s 2013 To the Lighthouse Poetry Book Prize. Finalist Judge, Tracy K. Smith says, “Like the river of the collection’s title, these poems ride upon a current of arduous insight and indelible imagery. And, like all courageous writing does, they make their own particular peace with the likelihood that even...
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The Q: Imagine what would change if we cast aside our lines to swim in mother waters.
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