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 For information about submissions, visit http://www.riverwalkjournal.org/submission.html. Questions about promotions, subscribers' services, and advertising should be sent to publisher@riverwalkjournal.org. 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. |
Editor's Note This issue marks our third anniversary. It took me a while to write this one, because the first thing I thought of was, “Three years? Already? How’d this happen?” It’s simple really. We’ve hit the three-year mark because RWJ has great contributors, and great staff, who produce great work, for a great audience. It was true three years ago - it’s true now. Thank you all. After an introduction like that, I hope the rest of this isn’t too blasé. If it reads that way, blame the editor, not the authors. Our offerings this time around are varied, and some might say an odd mix, but once again, it all fits together well. Pat Tompkins’ piece “Among the Briars” may disturb some of our readers. The piece is not explicit, but does deal with a troubling subject. Tompkins shows us how the most commonplace of summer jaunts, in the most ordinary of towns, can lead one down paths best left unmarked, like the tangles in a briar patch. Beth L. Block’s “Miss Mary” is a poignant look at how the lives of people from totally different backgrounds can intersect for no reason at first, and then show us how powerful dignity and compassion in the face of despair can be. John Speeking’s “A Death in the Family” takes us on a journey that’s just a little spooky. By its end, the difference between real and unreal, and the line between force of will, and despair, is more than just a little blurred. On a more optimistic note, we have “Filling in the Angles” by Jessica Del Balzo. Sara J. Ford, whose “Shrink Wrap, Diet Cokes, and a Kazoo” rounds out this issue with a little more creative non-fiction. “Angles” is about a quirky young couple and their relationship. The two of them give readers a look into the frantic self-absorption that is “Teenager” and do so with caustic, wit, needle-sharp style, and some affection too. “Shrink Wrap, Diet Cokes, and a Kazoo” is a lighter piece too, chronicling the author’s misadventures in the sometimes very strange, often frustrating, and very familiar world of living with low-wage/minimum wage jobs. Ms. Ford doesn’t come up smelling like a rose by the end of the piece (more like the smell of wet gorilla suit) but her hard-won insight make me grateful that she put up with it. A reprint of an excerpt from Samuel Hazo’s book-form essay on Pittsburgh adds to our creative nonfiction offerings. His 1998 update of The Pittsburgh That Stays Within You gives readers a glimpse of the poet’s point of view in essay form. Matthew D. Taylor and John Guthrie offer more serious themes in their essays, tackling religion and war. Taylor tells how he learned about religious tolerance as a boy, in “Booing the Pope”. “Sgt. Robert Starbuck, USMC: Elegy and Essay” begins with a short poem, and ends with an essay that only a man who had known what it was to serve in the military in the Vietnam Era could write. Guthrie’s anti-war sentiments ring as true today as the recent dissention seen on the War in Iraq by retired Generals. Six pieces are featured in the Poetry section - together they bring in a new sense of variety that was perhaps less apparent in the themed issues. “And The Time Is” is a discussion on the various aspects and stages in the timeline of a single life - this poem by Samuel Hazo will take you into a trance with its rhythmic and haunting chant. “Mongolia, 1930” and “Two Poets” are the two poems of our returning contributor, Gary C. Wilkens. Both poems are terse, and while they are similar in that they both describe two separate worlds and the lines that connect them, they do so in very different ways. In spite of their strong separate identities, they both leave you feeling amazed at how much can be packed into so little space. “In His Winter”, by Wanda D. Campbell is another poem that speaks of the anomalies of time, and the effects of its passing by. It's also a relatively short poem, describing just a passing thought, but one that almost everyone will identify with as having felt before. “Generation Gap”, by Valerie Lauria Stanske, is about the distances created by age, and is a heart-warming description of it. “Lester”, by Thomas Reynolds, is one of the less terse poems of this edition. Its vivid descriptions paint a close up picture of a man who carries the title name. Joseph Koch |