Views and Mechanics Publisher's Note Review of Down to a Sunless Sea Review of Words of a Feather Creative Nonfiction Burning Men By Gerard Sarnat Integration By David Caplan Hands Across the Sea By Jennifer Mazik Poetry I Can't Wait Until the Resurrection By David Halliday Dashing With You By Mick Joyce Island of Hong By Mick Joyce Fiction The Price of Shoes By Sandra M. McDow Jeux d'Esprit By Julio Peralta-Paulino Feed Me, Pet Me By Stephen Dorneman The Lovely Peasant By G. David Schwartz About the Contributors © 2008, 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 Editor - Elizabeth Murray Copyeditor - Kathy Skaggs 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. |
Island of Hong By Mick Joyce You are an island in a sea of blue, Somewhere, hidden like the moon in clouds So far from anything, like my thoughts. Drifting like dried wood To warming sand Seeing a reaching hand. I’d like to think I’m the only one who knows. Of gentle streams Hugging the hot rocks, Embracing the scratches of pain, Kissing the gashes With soft ripples of satin, Smoothing the earth in your mirth. Doves singing from tree tops Fire throats hiding in your undergrowth And in your inlets Cranes caprioling Storks dipping their heads Pink pelicans paddling in spongy lily beds About your pure blue skies And pure white clouds Sunbeams streak the blue Spread out against the sky, Unfastening pieces of paradise, Mellow showers with hidden powers, Come and go, keeping the loam lush Rainbows that cover the heavens Staying for a little while Just enough to make me smile And look up and away. And think of pawing in play. A prism in the sky Making me want to fly Colors nursing, My heart bursting. One dire day Lost and lonely Hungry, and bruised You welcomed me with a blaze, Taking me into your deepest hollow Feeding me passion fruit, Letting me drink coconut cream, Caressing my wounds with sweet honey, I just want to stay My mind astray. Oh mass of mystic moves Isle of self-denial I think of you. As I ponder my fate And wait and debate. What sharks swim off your shores? What cats claw in your woods? What diamond-backs hide? I don’t care as I stare Munching on mangos Twisting and tangoing in the hot sand Trying to understand All the bits and pieces I can. |