Table of Contents


Views and Mechanics
Publisher's Note
Editor's Note
Review of The Pittsburgh That Stays Within You
Review of If Instead of Apes We Had Come from Grapes
Review of Anson County
Review of Dissolution of Ghosts
Crossword
(Solution Posted in July. Printable version in pdf format of journal.)
Mar/Apr Crossword Solution
Creative Nonfiction
1998
By Samuel Hazo
Booing the Pope
By Matthew D. Taylor
Sgt. Robert Starbuck, USMC: Elegy and Essay
By John Guthrie
Shrink Wrap, Diet Cokes and a Kazoo
By Sara J. Ford
Poetry
And the Time Is
By Samuel Hazo
In His Winter
By Wanda D. Campbell
Lester
By Thomas Reynolds
Generation Gap
By Valerie Lauria Stanske
Two Poets
By Gary C. Wilkens
Mongolia, 1930
By Gary C. Wilkens
Fiction
A Death in the Family
By John Speeking
Letters
By Suzanne Abbot
Among the Briars
By Pat Tompkins
Filling in the Angles
By Jessica DelBalzo
Miss Mary
By Beth L. Block
Cover Art
Photography by Seth Brown
About the Contributors

© 2006, River Walk Journal and respective authors and artists. All rights reserved. Do not use or reproduce without permission.

River Walk Journal, Inc.
Board of Directors

Chairman - Elizabeth Ross
Vice Chairman - Joseph Koch
Secretary/Treasurer - Geri Stock-Ross
Editorial Director - Patti Kurtz, DA
Literacy Director - Bill Mausteller
Policy Director - PA State Rep. Jess Stairs
Advisory Board
Chairman - Patti Kurtz, DA
Asst. Chairman - Dan Lachenman, PhD
Samuel Hazo
Christopher Leland
Edwin Yoder
Joseph Bathanti
Journal Staff
Publisher - Elizabeth Ross
Editor-In-Chief - Joseph Koch
Sen. Fiction Editor - Patti Kurtz
Sen. Poetry Editor - Neeldhara Misra
Sen. Creative Nonfiction Editor - Brenda Coxe
Contributing Editor - Robert Dittman
Publicity Director (PA) - Geri Stock-Ross

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River Walk Journal, Inc. is a non-profit corporation run entirely by volunteers. For information about volunteer opportunities and internships, visit http://www.riverwalkjournal.org/volunteer.html.

Review of Anson County

Poetry is meant to evoke emotion, paint a picture, or both. Anson County is an example of the last. Joseph Bathanti has given readers a portrait of his own life and the history of Anson County.

If the hypothesis was ever made that it is impossible to render poetic the simple country life, Bathanti has disproved it. For readers familiar with the region, these poems are a chance to see old haunts from a different perspective. Those who have not set foot in the places described may find themselves tempted to search maps and lodging so they can be experienced first-hand.

In his introduction, Bathanti states he knew he was meant to live in the house he and his wife called home for a time in Anson County. Local lore claimed it was haunted – Bathanti considered it charmed. It can also be said that it is blessed – with this poetic tribute to itself and its environs. Anson County is a must read for those who love finding poetry in the everyday life, or for those who cling to the misconception that only the cosmopolitan may be poetic. For education, this is an excellent volume for instructors who want to show pupils examples of poetry illustrating everyday scenes and history.