Month: September 2009

PoetryLeave a comment

Sweetness

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by Neil Carpathios Standing next to me in the pew he slipped me a candy root beer barrel to suck during the dull sermon, as if to say thinking about God doesn’t require a lack of all pleasure. Then before the priest finished his endless ranting on heaven and hell, my father sneaked us out the small side door marked Emergency Exit, which this was. He drove us to Mister Donut for cream sticks and cocoa while everyone else sat sweating in the cramped church, force-fed God-this, God-that. What we talked about I don’t remember, but it wasn’t sin or … Continue reading Sweetness

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Questions

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by Neil Carpathios Is each star a hole a soul made going up into heaven?  Are tears the sweat of vision? Is that formaldehyde behind my earlobes or are my nostrils being ornery?  Is God in the mirror, playing hide and seek, holding His breath beneath glass?  Is the razor in the sink dreaming of a wrist? When I open the window do I hear a bone caught in the wind’s throat?  Was that a rescue boat in my father’s pneumonia lungs that was torpedoed when he quivered in his coma at the end?  And those stars— is each the … Continue reading Questions

Poetry2 Comments

This Is Not a Poem, Damn It

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by Neil Carpathios I swear the sidewalk wants me to write a poem about her; how hard and smooth she is, how wonderfully she provides us with safe footing from point A to point B. At the moment, she is glistening under a streetlight after a long rain, trying to look shimmery, like a woman’s drenched skin stepping seductively from a bathtub, as if I would fall for that trap. She shows me a puddle on which floats a pack of matches like a miniature of Huck Finn’s raft, as if to say: Look at what I contain, see how … Continue reading This Is Not a Poem, Damn It

Poetry1 Comment

Poetry by Allison Whittenberg

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Waters Wine by Allison Whittenberg The balance of bliss is pain The balance of pain is enlightenment The balance of enlightenment is more enlightenment The balance of more enlightenment is transcendence The balance of transcendence is alienation The balance of alienation is bliss § Life Slips by Allison Whittenberg Life slips like two weeks like five years like coupon clippings From a thick Sunday pull out Shiny, vivid Promising bargains in primary colors Coupons expire And expire and expire § Allison Whittenberg is a poet and novelist (LIFE IS FINE, SWEET THANG, HOLLYWOOD AND MAINE all from Random House). She … Continue reading Poetry by Allison Whittenberg

Interviews1 Comment

“Renaissance Writer” An Interview with Steve Almond

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by Dallas Woodburn Steve Almond is a Renaissance Man of the unflinchingly honest written word. He broke into the literary scene in 2002 with his short story collection, My Life in Heavy Metal, which provoked strong reactions from reviewers due to its unapologetic sexual content. Next came a nonfiction book, Candyfreak, which Almond describes as a “diatribe about candy,” specifically the emotional presence candy plays in people’s lives. Almond has since enjoyed success in the novel and essay forms, and his short fiction is regularly featured in reputable literary journals including Tin House. Through his diverse writing forms, Almond continues … Continue reading “Renaissance Writer” An Interview with Steve Almond

Non-fiction and Memoir3 Comments

Iambic Pentameter and the Meter of War

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by Diane Cameron In the 1940’s a young Marine returns from China to a small Pennsylvania town. He enrolls in graduate school and begins to work as a high school teacher. He marries the young woman who had waited for him through the war. They buy a house and invite her widowed mother to live with them. One year later finds the body of the mother-in-law sprawled on the kitchen floor, the body of the wife in the living room, both perforated with bullets. The former Marine is handcuffed and taken away by the sheriff. The local newspapers are filled … Continue reading Iambic Pentameter and the Meter of War

Author Profiles1 Comment

Dallas Woodburn

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Dallas Woodburn is the author of two story collections and a forthcoming novel. Her fiction has appeared in Cicada, Monkeybicycle, and flashquake, and she has also written articles for The Los Angeles Times, Writer’s Digest, and Family Circle. Visit her website http://www.writeonbooks.org to learn more about her nonprofit literacy foundation and youth publishing company. Dallas’ contibution to The Write Room is Renaissance Writer: An Interview with Steve Almond Continue reading Dallas Woodburn

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Heavy Hearted

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by Sean Rogers dry your tears friend. we’re headed the same direction just two different ways. some of those we love have made their own way past the gate. where they gladly wait for us to come and stay at the place they’ve laid, for our day will come when it comes. no need to follow when we know where the path leads. so don’t fret dear friend, our choices become us and what becomes of us is our choice. my heart hurts knowing your pain, as i have known the same. but that’s where it must end. and it … Continue reading Heavy Hearted

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Light Hearted

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by Sean Rogers sometimes it’s tough to be an outcast among friends. too metal for the church people, too churchy for the metal people. i asked my mother one time if i should move somewhere in hopes of finding people like me, she said ” there might not be anyone like you ” that’s the only problem with being an individual you don’t fit in with any group of  people. i’m a poet that’s really more of a singer, a singer that’s really more of a screamer, that plays clarinet but not good enough for the other clarinetist across the … Continue reading Light Hearted