October 2024 | poetry
Hook mouthed; a cadaver turns to kiss me—
Danny—adrift through skin, grabs
my filament of fishing line, pulling back
to bloom. He wears a lesion,
maybe three, dark and almost blued
to midnight, tells me it’s a birthmark
I’ve forgotten. The dream is 1986—
when death was stored in a dimpled
bottle, amethyst, scented, Halston Z-14
in every cabinet. I wake, find myself
poolside with shadows of old friends.
Gifts of age creep pockets—cock rings,
magnifier wipes, phones programmed
with reminders. Tired of survival,
dried like air cured cod, I flee Danny’s
pancake-hidden lesions, step into the afternoon.
Timeless scrotum by the pool, I swim
in yet another hour, outdoor showers and cabana
crypts. Lounging, friends and I are varicose,
a clot of sixties, seventies, a murder
of anniversaries breaking loose
and traveling to the heart. Time repeats,
a second AM/PM pillbox. I’m losing them.
I’m losing them all, again.
Robert Carr
Robert Carr is the author of Amaranth, published by Indolent Books, and two full-length collections published by 3: A Taos Press – The Unbuttoned Eye and The Heavy of Human Clouds. His poetry appears in many journals and magazines, including the Greensboro Review, the Massachusetts Review, and Shenandoah. Forthcoming collections include Phallus Sprouting Leaves, winner of the 2024 Rane Arroyo Chapbook Series, Seven Kitchens Press; and Blue Memento, from Lily Poetry Review Books. Additional information can be found at robertcarr.org
October 2024 | visual art
Steel Wheels (detail)
Yellow Apples
LeTourneau House (detail)
Stephen Curtis Wilson
Wilson was a medical-surgical and generalist photographer, writer, and communication specialist in the health care and library science fields for 36 years – cut steel in a foundry and drove a truck for a time. “I’m interested in the artfulness of those things that make up the region where I’ve lived all my life,” Wilson said. “My photographs are little portraits of central Illinois. I seek out the time-worn, curious, and funky, exploring rural communities and urban neighborhoods for reminders of humanness, culture, and community.” He is a graduate of the University of Illinois, a juried Illinois Artisan for Photography, and a member of the Peoria Art Guild. stephencurtiswilson.com.
October 2024 | visual art
Dandelion UFO
Pam F. Martin
Pam Martin is a retired therapist who enjoys reading, writing, photography, and walking in the woods with Papi, the elderly rescue chihuahua. She and her husband retired to Deep River, Ontario, having fallen in love with the area years ago due to the pine trees and the best-grilled cheese sandwich ever. Pam was born in Ottawa but spent most of her adult life in Prince Edward Island, working for a few years in Northern Saskatchewan. After being in La Ronge, SK, she doesn’t understand why anyone would travel anywhere but north! Her favorite thing about living in Deep River is the abundance of trails – water, rocks, trees, plants, mosses, and lichens, a world of glory for the walker and photographer, as are the early mornings with the mist rising off the river.
