Fall/Winter 2009-10
tom oristaglio
scott summers
cindy childress
tom rechtin
james b. nicola
debra rymer
doug draime
corey mesler
rebecca schumejda
chris crittenden
arlene ang
joey nicoletti
brad johnson
lorie allred
elizabeth kay
alexander russo
nissa lee
kenneth gurney
jessi lee gaylord
keith brighouse
ajay vishwanathan
ethel rohan
william "cully" bryant
julie steiner
Steiner Interview
by Alex Nodopaka
Jennifer VanBuren
Jai Britton
Alex Nodopaka
Patrick Carrington
Mannequin Envy in memory of poet and artist Douglas Gamrath
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C E Chaffin
Fall 2008
Boundaries
What if the fat man
were just a man, not fat,
and the shapeless woman
not the absence of curve
but the presence of her?
What if we were
instead of seemed,
without prejudice,
conscious and pure?
This is beyond me.
I want to control
the distance between us,
have my inner critic hack
any intimate overgrowth
away, plow a fire break
in the chaparral.
We all enjoy a little blood
spilled now and then
provided it's not ours.
Pity and contempt are sticks
we use to poke the drunk
to see if he's dead,
though unconsciously we rub
the same spot on our bodies
where he was bruised.
This gesture confirms
that anything less
than loving another as an equal
is not compassion.
Next time I am discharged
from the hospital for the smug,
I vow to wear
the blue plastic wristband
until it falls off. So long
will I remember
the poor and the stranger.
C. E. Chaffin has never been published in Poetry, Ploughshares or The Paris Review, though he has appeared in other journals that start with 'P': The Pedestal, The Philadelphia Inquirer Book Review, Plum Ruby Review, Poetry Tonight, Poetry SZ, Poetry Magazine, Poets' Canvas, Poetry Superhighway, Poetry Cafe, Poetry Exchange, and PIF. If he listed credits for more letters this would be an insufferable bio. A retired family physician, CE lives in Northern California with his wife and editor, Kathleen, two cats and a dog. He considers himself a Classicist in art, a Lutheran in religion and a Libertarian in politics. Shoe size: same as mouth. For more of his work simply google "C. E. Chaffin."
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Pauline Lim River of People
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