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Summer 2004

From the Editor
Thom Didato

E.L. Doctorow
Jonathan Ames
interviews

"Like Love"
fiction by
Karen Shepard

"Jnun in the Age of Metal"
fiction by
Susan Daitch

"Valet Parking"
fiction by
Geoffrey Becker

"Fox Hunting"
fiction by
Frances Sherwood

"Deneb"
"Praesepe"
"White Hole"
poetry by
Mark Cunningham

"frequently asked questions"
"oh juliet"
poetry by
Daphne Gottlieb

"North of Big Sur"
"Cypress Tree"
"Island or House"
poetry by
Michelle Valladares

"The Poet"
"Under"
"Birthing"
poetry by
Katey Nicosia

"Skater Cats"
"The Blue Boa"
"The Muse"
paintings by
Jeremiah Stansbury

"Studio Sink"
"Johnson Laundromat"
paintings by
Catharine Balco

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Island or House

1.
Imperceptible, when
a caterpillar senses
the time to spin is near.

Memories appear
as shadows or
scent of jasmine, rose.
My grandfather died
when I was two,
his garden on his clothes.

A brittle cactus flower
thrives in the desert.
A scorpion stings once a year.

To escape a tidal wave
a pregnant girl
must choose
the highest point
of island or house.

Later, a ribbon, kelp
are clues —
some one or thing
entered the cocoon,
left blackened spots,
on the monarch's wing.

2.
The time to spin is near.

Memories appear
       as shadows.

Who died when I was two
thrives in the desert.

A year lives in the desert.

A pregnant girl,
sea, a tidal wave
the highest point
kelp,
s b e a c h

  one has entered the cocoon
spots      wing

Someone
left on a monarch's wing
blackened marks.

Michelle Yasmine Valladares's poems have been published by The Women’s Review of Books, Global City Review, and 7 Carmine. She has others forthcoming in The North American Review and Risen From the East: An Anthology. She is currently seeking a publisher for her recently completed work Nortada, The North Wind.

Valladares holds an MFA from Sarah Lawrence College. She teaches at the City College of New York and the School of Visual Arts. She lives in Brooklyn, close to the sea.

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ShoulderBag

From our
poetry archive

“I Dream A Highway”
Maggie Smith
Issue 16 - Winter 2005

"Cypress Point"
Karyna McGlynn
Issue 13 - Spring 2004

Boyle

Marie Ponsot
Interview
Issue 7 -
Summer/Fall 2002