Edition 10 / Winter 2022

Winter greetings to you all, wherever you may be this February. Someone I work with in education recently described this period of the winter season in Iowa as ‘the doldrums of winter’. I must agree that with each bitter cold, gray sky day that passes, it feels like a very accurate description. That said, what warms me is when I read a poem that resonates deeply, or a photograph that captures a moment of pure joy. Creative expression has the ability to take us out of the doldrums and offer light. As our featured photographer in this edition, B. Lynne Zika, wrote in her artistic statement: “The human spirit is compelled to create. As a species, we’re so fortunate to do so with a pen, a brush, a camera, a needle and thread, a chisel, a vocal chord, a lump of clay.” Thank you to all of our talented contributors for a rich and moving collection of poetry, fiction, nonfiction and photography. To all of our readers, here’s to more sunlight each day, more warmth in our bones, and moving out of the doldrums.

Peace to you,

Laura, Leslie & Mary

Andrea Truitt – poetry
David P. Miller – poetry
B. Lynne Zika – Dear Willie – art
Sheila Murphy – poetry
John Andreini – fiction
Sarah Shapiro – poetry
Tim Suermondt – poetry
B. Lynne Zika – Filligree – art
Peycho Kanev – poetry
Foster Trecost – fiction
Todd Mercer – poetry
Paul Ilechko – poetry
James W. Morris – fiction
B. Lynne Zika – poetry
Brad Shurmantine – fiction
Lorraine Caputo – poetry
Will Cordeiro – poetry
Shirley Hilton – nonfiction
Joan Mazza – poetry
Sigrid Wilson – fiction
Christian Ward – poetry
Sean Burke – fiction
Mary Paulson – poetry
Robert Pegel – poetry
Mark Simpson – poetry
Eva Schultz – fiction
Holly Day – poetry
Michelle Mekel – poetry
David Sheridan – fiction
John Sweet – poetry
John Tustin – poetry
William Cass – fiction
Stephen Deutsch – poetry
Nick Young – fiction
Emi Gonzalez – poetry
Kate Maxwell – poetry

Artistic statement, B. Lynne Zika:

Necessity has often fueled my creative process. As a child, I found poetry drew my inquisitive mother’s attention less often than my diary. During a long adult illness, being bedridden prompted me to explore sketching and watercolors to keep from going mad with boredom. Once I was mobile again, a small Canon provided testimony of my delight in seeing new places. Then the camera was lost in a move, and I discovered I could shoot and explore post-processing with my phone. The human spirit is compelled to create. As a species, we’re so fortunate to do so with a pen, a brush, a camera, a needle and thread, a chisel, a vocal chord, a lump of clay. If we’re really made in the image and likeness of a creator, why, naturally, we create.

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Masthead

Mary Bardsley, Editor
Leslie Caton Frey, Editor
Laura Johnson, Editor

Cover art by B. Lynne Zika

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