INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL AUGUST 2015 "THE NATURE ISSUE" #13

"Friends of Mother Nature" © Jim Warren

Welcome to our Nature Issue! I am deeply grateful to all the talented folks who've poured their art, wisdom, words, and wonder into this special themed edition of IVJ.  A warm thank you to the legendary artist Jim Warren for gracing our cover page with his beautiful painting "Friends of Mother Nature", and to the multi-talented editor Stacy Savage for honoring us with an interview and a poetry contest for a really great cause.

Indiana author Gene Stratton Porter once said, "Nature can be trusted to work her own miracle in the heart of any man whose daily task keeps him alone among her sights, sounds and silences." I believe that's true. Enjoy the wonder, and thank you to everyone who supports Indiana Voice Journal in one way or another. ~Janine Pickett

IN THIS ISSUE

ABOUT COVER ARTIST JIM WARREN

INTERVIEW

POETRY,  A CONVERSATION, AND A CONTEST WITH POETRY EDITOR STACY SAVAGE 

POETRY

ELIZABETH BROOKS: "INDESCRIBABLE PLEASURE", "QUICK DIP", "THE LURE OF THE MOON"

PIJUSH KANTI DEB: "A RURAL LOVE STORY", "BITING ON ASS", "AN ENCHANTING PAMPAS"

MICHAEL ENEVOLDSEN: "SHADOWS OF MOUNTAINS", "WINTER’S SLEEPY EYE" 

CINDY BOUSQUET HARRIS: "SERENGETI TANGENT", "FLAMINGOS OF GRUISSAN"

STEVE KLEPETAR: "LI BO'S GARDEN", "MINNESOTA", "ENTERING THE OLD WOOD" 

JOAN LEOTTA: "RED HAWK"

HAMEETA KAUR MALHOTRA: "CONFINED PARAKEET", "LONESOME TREE", "AND A POET WAS BORN"

DIKE OKORO: "CONFIRMATION", "DON'T FORGET", "LAGOS, NIGHT" 

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR: "RUSH HOUR", "YAWNING STARS", "FILL IN THE BLANKS"

SUNIL KUMAR POUDYAL: "EARTHQUAKE"

CECILIA SOPRANO: "OLD STRUCTURES", "ON THE MOUNTAIN"

VISUAL ART 

JEFFREY Z ROTHSTEIN: VISUAL ART "CORNFIELD" AND "ENCHANTED KINGDOM"

CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAY

FAITH BRITT: "SECRETS OF A MOREL HUNTER"

JENISE ERICKSON: "GETTING WET WITH BIRDERS" ESSAY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

RAYMOND GREINER: "A PLACE TO LOVE"

K.R. RIORDAN: "WHERE IS THE THICKET? WHERE IS THE EAGLE?"

FICTION

TIMOTHY A. CLEMENTS: "PETTY IS DEAD"

JEFF FLEISCHER: "DOVE"

BELINDA HUBERT: "WONDER"

JOSHUA STEELE: "THE CLEARING"

A TRIBUTE TO "CECIL THE LION" 

ABOUT COVER ARTIST JIM WARREN

Signed Limited-Edition

 JIM'S STORY

Jim Warren began painting and selling his art in high school over 40 years ago. Now considered a “Living Legend of the Art World”, Jim continues to create his unique style of art seen the world over.

His talents won him a first place award at his first art show in 1975. Soon after Jim began painting illustrations for books, movies and record album covers, most notably the Grammy Award winning cover for Bob Seger’s “Against the Wind” in 1981.

POETRY, A CONVERSATION, AND A CONTEST WITH POETRY EDITOR STACY SAVAGE

Available on Amazon

Mrs. Stacy Savage is a poet from Anderson, Indiana. She has published eight poetry books, seven of which the royalties benefited charities. Her work has also appeared in Birds and Blooms magazine, Ideals magazine, Asian Geographic magazine, The Heron’s Nest haiku journal, and various publications. In May 2010, she won second place in Spring Mill State Park’s nature poetry contest for her poem, “In Southern Indiana“.  Her poem, “Whispers of Poets Past”, was published on board 20 to 30 city buses in Lafayette as part of an arts project called Words on the Go. Last October, one of her poems was published in a wildlife calendar in Africa. She was a judge twice for the Best Books of Indiana competition in the poetry category.  Recently, she read some of her work on "The Smiley Morning Show" on WZPL radio. Most of Savage's work has been published under her former name of Smith. Stacy agreed to talk with IVJ about her charity work.

ELIZABETH BROOKS: "INDESCRIBABLE PLEASURE", "QUICK DIP", "THE LURE OF THE MOON"

Elizabeth Brooks Manatee River

Elizabeth Brooks resides in Tampa, Florida. She is originally from Trinidad and Tobago.  A lover of life, family, friends, a good book,  lots of laughter and continues to grow and accept many challenges.  She is a librarian by profession and a part-time reference librarian at Saint Leo University, St. Leo Florida. 

PIJUSH KANTI DEB: "A RURAL LOVE STORY", "BITING ON ASS", "AN ENCHANTING PAMPAS"

Pijush Kanti Deb is a new Indian poet with more than 234 published or accepted poems and haiku in more than 75 national and international magazines and journals,[print and online] including Down in the dirt, Tajmahal Review, Pennine Ink, Hollow Publishing, Creativica Magazine, Muse India, Teeth Dream Magazine, Hermes Poetry Journal, Madusa’s Kitchen,Grey Borders, Dead Snakes, Dagda Publishing, Blognostic and many more.
His best achievement so far is the publication of his first poetry collection,’’Beneath The Shadow Of A White Pigeon’’ published by Hollow Publishing. It is available on AMAZON and BARNES AND NOBLE.

MICHAEL ENEVOLDSEN: "SHADOWS OF MOUNTAINS", "WINTER’S SLEEPY EYE"

Michael Enevoldsen is a poet and photographer, who lives in Denmark, just outside the capital of Copenhagen. He has education as both a gardener and preschool teacher. The latter he finished at the University College of the city of Roskilde in 2015. His interests include literature, metaphysics, philosophy, meditation and nature – particularly bird watching and hiking. His poems have appeared in some international magazines, including Lummox Poetry Anthology 4 (USA)  Calliope: Literary and Visual Arts Magazine (USA) Yellow Chair Review (USA), The Commonline Journal (USA), Time of Singing, (USA), Aquillrelle Anthology (Belgium) and Section 8 Magazine (one micropoem combined with two of his photos) (USA). Also he has works in the forthcoming issue of  Madison's Lake Anthology.

CINDY BOUSQUET HARRIS: "SERENGETI TANGENT", "FLAMINGOS OF GRUISSAN"

Cindy Bousquet Harris is a poet and a licensed marriage and family therapist. Her poetry has appeared online and in print journals including The San Diego Poetry Annual, In the Mist, and Spectrum Magazine. Born and raised in the Midwest, she now lives in southern California with her husband and their children.  <cmbharris@netzero.net

STEVE KLEPETAR: "LI BO'S GARDEN", "MINNESOTA", "ENTERING THE OLD WOOD"

Steve Klepetar’s work has appeared in nine countries, in such journals as Boston Literary Magazine, Deep Water, Antiphon, Red River Review, Snakeskin, Ygdrasil, and many others.  Several of his poems have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.  Recent collections include Speaking to the Field Mice (Sweatshoppe Publications, 2013), My Son Writes a Report on the Warsaw Ghetto (Flutter Press, 2013) and Return of the Bride of Frankenstein (Kind of a Hurricane Press).

JOAN LEOTTA: "RED HAWK"

Joan Leotta has been playing with words by writing and performing since childhood Joan recently completed a month as a Tupelo Press' 30/30 poet and has work  the Spring in Knox Literary Magazine, Eastern Iowa Review and forthcoming in Silver Birch Review. In addition to work as journalist, short story writer, author, poet and essayist, Joan performs folklore and "women-in history" stage shows. She often walks the beach in Calabash , NC with husband Joe. Her four books of historical fiction (Legacy of Honor series) are available from Desert Breeze Publishing and on Amazon along with her newly released collection of short stories, Simply a Smile. Her first picture book, Whoosh! (about a father and young daughter's day out sledding) can be pre-ordered from TheaQ and will be released August 2015.

Find her at www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and on FACEBOOK

HAMEETA KAUR MALHOTRA: "CONFINED PARAKEET", "LONESOME TREE", 'AND A POET WAS BORN"

 

Hameeta Kaur Malhotra is a student of M.A. English at Panjab University campus, Chandigarh, India

 

DIKE OKORO: "CONFIRMATION", "DON'T FORGET", "LAGOS, NIGHT"

Dike Okoro, a poet and short story writer, teaches at Concordia University Wisconsin, Mequon. He was a finalist the Iliad Poetry Award and a recipient of a Sam Walton Fellowship. His poetry, stories, and nonfiction have appeared in Witness Magazine, World Literature Today, Yellow Medicine Review, The Caribbean Writer, Reverie and elsewhere. He is the author of the poetry volume, Dance of the Heart. He received his PhD in English from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. 

SCOTT THOMAS OUTLAR: "RUSH HOUR", "YAWNING STARS", "FILL IN THE BLANKS"

 Scott Thomas Outlar survived the chaos of both the fire and the flood...barely. Now he spends the hours flowing and fluxing with the ever changing tide of the Tao River while laughing at and/or weeping over life's existential nature. His words have appeared recently in venues such as Yellow Chair Review, Dissident Voice, Poems-for-All, Tuck Magazine, and Clockwise Cat. Links to his published material can be found at 17numa.wordpress.com.

SUNIL KUMAR POUDYAL: "EARTHQUAKE"

 Sunil Kumar Poudyal is a poet, writer and journalist from Nepal (Country of Mt. Everest-South Asia). His poem, Earthquake, was written under stress while the quakes were still happening in Nepal.

CECILIA SOPRANO: "OLD STRUCTURES", "ON THE MOUNTAIN"

Cecilia Soprano lives in Westchester County and makes her living as an organic gardener and artist.   Her poems and artwork have been published in La Joie magazine and UC at Santa Barbara among others.  Her artwork is often featured on the covers of Inner Directions magazine. 

She is a member of the Greenwich Art Society and the Katonah Museum Art Association.  She has published three small books and has had several one woman art exhibits.  Her love of nature and gardening provides the space for uninterrupted inspiration.  Her intention is to make images and words that describe beauty and uplift the human spirit.   My art is about making the simple sacred and the ordinary extra-ordinary.

"The reason why we exist is to remember why we exist and to realize our interconnectedness with all things."    WEBSITE:  www.Amichiart.com or CeciliaSoprano.com

JEFFREY Z ROTHSTEIN: VISUAL ART "CORNFIELD" AND "ENCHANTED KINGDOM"

Jeffrey Z Rothstein is a free lance writer and artist, whose work has appeared most recently in Fallen City Writers Anthology, Red Fez, Mud Season Review, Kitchen Sink and The Newer York Press. He has also appeared in numerous shows and live readings.  JZRothstein presently lives just outside of Madison Wisconsin, a town which is extremely tolerant towards artists and their eccentric work habits. Visit PhlegmTurtlePalace

FAITH BRITT: "SECRETS OF A MOREL HUNTER"

Although I am a graphic designer, I live for the outdoors. Besides writing and designing, some of my greatest pleasures include hunting for mushrooms and spending summer afternoons in my family's backyard swimming pool. I recently finished my education at Clarke University and am eager to enter the workforce!

JENISE ERICKSON: "GETTING WET WITH BIRDERS" ESSAY AND PHOTOGRAPHY

Jenise Erikson is a Louisiana native, but currently lives in the mountains of Arkansas. She has an M.A. in English and a B.A. in Criminal Justice and worked in the construction industry for many years as well as being reared in a cabinet shop. She likes being outdoors whether hiking, mountain biking, painting or writing.
We live in a grand world and can’t experience it all personally, but we can learn from one another. That’s the beauty of words. Please visit her website at: Mama's Madness

RAYMOND GREINER: "A PLACE TO LOVE"

Raymond Greiner's writings include short stories and essays published frequently in various literary journals and magazines:  Branches magazine, La Joie Journal, Literary Yard Journal, Nib Magazine, Canary Literary Journal, Bellesprit Magazine, Freedom Journal, Grace Notes Literary Magazine. His latest book, a collection of fiction, nonfiction, and two novella's titled Hinterland Narrative is available on Amazon. Raymond lives in a remote area of southern Indiana in a cabin far off a lightly traveled road with his two dogs Orion and Venus. He is a frequent contributor to Indiana Voice Journal.

 

K.R. RIORDAN: "WHERE IS THE THICKET? WHERE IS THE EAGLE?"

I am currently a student at Seattle University, diligently working towards my Bachelor of Arts in English Literature & Creative Writing.  My works have appeared in the Percival Review, a literary journal out of Olympia, Washington. 

My goal in life is to transfer the passion of literature and writing which I possess onto younger generations. 

TIMOTHY A. CLEMENTS: "PETTY IS DEAD"

Timothy A. Clements holds an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University and lives nearby in St. Charles, MO with his wife and two children. 

JEFF FLEISCHER: "DOVE"

Jeff Fleischer is a Chicago-based author, journalist and editor. His fiction is most recently published in the Chicago Tribune's Printers Row literary journal and Steam Ticket Third Coast Review. He is also the author of non-fiction books including "The Latest Craze: A Short History of Mass Hysterias" (Fall River Press, 2011), "Rockin' the Boat: 50 Iconic Revolutionaries" (Zest Books, 2015), and a civics book coming in spring 2016. He is a veteran journalist published in Mother Jones, the New Republic, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Chicago Tribune, Chicago Magazine, Mental_Floss, National Geographic Traveler and dozens of other local, national and international publications.

Website: www.JeffFleischer.com (blog is www.JeffFleischer.com/blog)
Twitter:@jefffleischer
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Jeff-Fleischer/e/B00PIXRK52/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1

BELINDA HUBERT: "WONDER"

In addition to writing fiction and poetry, Belinda Hubert is currently working on a novel, titled Shrink Wrapped and a collection of short stories about life in the Midwest. She works as a clinical psychologist in a private practice in Lowell, Indiana.

 http://buelasprairiepractice.blogspot.com/

JOSHUA STEELE: "THE CLEARING"

Father. Husband. Writer. 

https://www.facebook.com/jsteele1

"A TRIBUTE TO CECIL THE LION" BY ANNA MARIE

REST IN PEACE, CECIL

His mane blew back in gold majestic blends
His face running  through deep African winds
Champion among wilds, swift King among beasts
A dirty man's snare, he was taken from his peace