Joan Leotta has been playing with words since childhood. She has four novels, a collection of short stories and a picture book in print with three different publishers. She has won awards here and abroad for her writing and performing. Her poetry and essays area in Gnarled Oak,Red Wolf, A Quiet Courage, Eastern Iowa Review, Hobart Literary Review, Silver Birch, Postcard Poems and Prose and others. Her second picture book, Summer in a Bowl, comes out in September 2016 Joan also performs folklore and one-woman shows on historic figures. She lives in Calabash, NC where she walks the beach with husband Joe. More about Joan at: www.joanleotta.wordpress.com and on FACEBOOK
Bridge to Freedom
If I could build a bridge long enough to bring you here from where they hold you back. I would not wait, snug in my own house. I would don raincoat and boots to walk out to meet you on my bridge of ideas carrying soup and bread and cheese for us to share in a lunch in the park shelter on this side of the bridge. We could watch the rain as we eat and talk. After our picnic, Refreshed, we would both have strength to remain together or stay alone. On this side of the bridge we can watch the muddy waters roil in the riverbed. Freedom.