Views and Mechanics Publisher's Note Editor's Note Review of Lions at Lamb House Review of Jamestown Review of The Children of Húrin Review of The Politics of Life Film Review of "300" Creative Nonfiction Home By Marion Agnew One Foot and Then the Other By Greg Coykendall Poetry Hannah Plays with Light By Kristine Ong Muslim Caricature of an Early Planter By Michael Lee Johnson Comes a Push-Cart Down a Long-Ass Ghazal By Levon DeBranch Modern Day Moses By Bob Boston Squares (2) Plaza De Armas, Santiago, Chile By Graham Burchell Fiction The Larchmont Campaign By Zain Deane Body Warmth By Louise Kantro The Good People Up North By T.M. Spooner Triple Word Score By Patricia C. Meringer Texans Abroad By Franklin Strong Hunting for Manhood By Jason Sizemore Staten Island Zen By Michael Enright About the Contributors © 2007, 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 - Kenneth Weiss, Ed.D 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 Senior Editor - Patti Kurtz Senior Editor - Neeldhara Misra Copyeditor - Kathy Skaggs Blog Contributing Editor - Maggie Koster Education Blog Contributing Editor - Jordan Wirfs-Brock Publicity Director (PA) - Geri Stock-Ross For information about submissions, visit http://www.riverwalkjournal.org/subs.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 VolunteerMatch. |
Editor's Note Hi all, and welcome to the July/August ’07 issue of River Walk Journal. Happy belated summer holidays to all and sundry! Creative nonfiction offerings this issue begin with "Home" by Marion Agnew. This is a touching tale of the trials faced by family members of individuals with Alzheimer's Disease. In our other story, "One Foot and Then the Other", it is obvious that author Greg Coykendall should consider himself lucky to be alive. He bet against Nature and won by a hair in a battle on a mountain. This issue’s poetry offerings include: Kristine Ong Muslim’s “Hannah Plays with Light”, which uses external light to examine internal darkness in one woman’s relationship with her husband. Michael Lee Johnson offers us “Caricature of an Early Planter”. His poem shows one man’s existence as planter, poet, and writer walking the line between winter and regrowth. Levon DeBranch’s poem ”Push-Cart Down a Long-Ass Ghazal” is a tongue-in-cheek look at the Pushcart Prize, poetry, pretension, and the genuineness of life. Rounding out poetry we have Bob Boston’s “Modern Day Moses” and Graham Burchell’s ”Squares (2) Plaza De Amas, Santiago, Chile.” Boston’s poem is a short, sweet picture of how bits of the divine can be found in the ordinary, such as a bus ride. “Squares” shows us a vivid still life of a Chilean afternoon, laughter, color, bugs and all. For fiction this time around first we present the runners-up for fiction in our writing contest the winners of which you saw last issue (shame on you if you weren’t paying attention!) Zain Deane’s “The Larchmont Campaign” is an enjoyably speculative piece about what might happen if one man tried to butt horns with media culture, our passion for sensationalist reporting, and the auto industry all at the same time. Toss in humanity’s inherent capacity for compassion amidst greed, and we’ve got a great story. Louise Kantro brings us “Body Warmth.” Her piece is about one woman’s journey though loss and grief, coming to terms with her own experience with neglect by coming to terms with the horrific neglect of a student in her care and its aftermath. T.M. Spooner brings us “The Good People up North”. This story shows us how people can grow apart over the years, victims of a “comfortable groove” that can leave a relationship official, but stagnant. The story also shows us what it can take to rediscover love. Patricia Merringer’s “Triple Word Score” is a take on how ordinary things like games can provide a vehicle for communicating about, dealing with, and surviving a bad situation with the love and humor intact. “Texans Abroad” is from Franklin Strong. The piece might look like a stereotypical treatment of ignorant Americans abroad at first, but like most things in life, there’s more under the surface that’s worth digging for before the end. We also have Michael Enright’s “Staten Island Zen” - Satori (the lightning instant of enlightenment) can be found in the oddest places. So can the oneness with all things that comes with enlightenment, even oddities like Tourette’s syndrome, and murder. Jason Sizemore’s “Hunting for Manhood” rounds out our fiction selection. “Manhood” is a coming of age story about how a “manly” tradition (on the surface) can be subverted by the simple idea that hurting living creatures carries a cost, not only in harm to the animal but to the wounding of the human heart. Joseph Koch |