Happy 3rd Birthday, IVJ! With the release of this, our 25th issue, we begin our third year of publishing Indiana Voice Journal. It's been a wonderful collaborative effort put forth by many creative and talented individuals--poets, writers, visual artists, editors, readers and supporters--our community. We've grown way beyond my wildest expectations when I humbly and yes, somewhat fearfully, published the first little edition just two short years ago. Thank you for writing "life" into these pages by contributing your wisdom, your wit, and your words. Special thanks to DH Allen for letting us use his photography to illustrate many of the features this month. His work can be seen at https://www.instagram.com/
In this issue, we have a true eclectic mix. A smorgasbord of poems, essays, and fiction by today's most highly read authors. Just to highlight a few: In C.B. Anderson's poem, "Dyed in the Wool, and Cut from the Whole Cloth" we learn what the author knows about Indiana poet Jared Carter, and Jared Carter replies with a surprise poem of his own. Check out (and fall in love with her...we did!) Gloria g. Murray's set of humorous poems with titles like,"Damn, You Facebook" and "Letter to a Deceased Husband". In Ananya S. Guha's poem "Children (After Kashmir)" we are shown horrifying news coming out of India. Every poem, essay and story in this issue is worth highlighting but I want to stop talking so you can get to the feast! Take your time. Fill up. Enjoy. ~Janine Pickett
POETRY:
Three Poems by C.B. Anderson: "Dyed in the Wool, and Cut from the Whole Cloth - For Jared Carter," "Mortal Fatigue," and "Harder than Ever"
Four Poems by Jared Carter: "Reply," "Tradition," "Kafka," and "Deposition"
A Poem by Anna Keeler: "Boys Like Hym(n)"
Three Poems by Blanca Alicia Garza: "A Bed of Earth," "My Dear Me," and "Selfishness"
Three Poems by Christie Luke-Jones: "Urban Fox," "The Lonely Desert," and "Opal Coast"
A Poem by Phillip Brown: "Psychotic Praxis"
Three Poems by Don Mager: "May Journal: Thursday, May 9, 2013," "August Journal: Sunday, August 11, 2013," and "August Journal: Friday, August 23, 2013"
Two Poems by Alex DeBonis: "Dragon" and "Underwater on the House"
A Poem by Claire Butler: "Separation"
Three Poems by Billi MacTighe: "Zemblanity,” “Sophrosyne,” and “Querencia”
Five Poems by Dane Cobain: "Fingers," "Views from the Airing Cupboard," "Bending Spoons in the Face of Death," "A Monster Truck in the Middle of Nowhere," and "Seasons Come and Seasons Go."
Three Poems by Jim Boswell: "Exponential Reality," "The Primal Force," and "Loose Ends"
Two Poems by Edilson Afonso Ferreira: "Old Summers," and "Memorabilia"
Three Poems by John Grey: "Spring," "Those Were the Days," and "Trying to Appear Tougher than I Am"
Four Poems by Gloria g. Murray: "At Seventy," "Life," "Damn You, Facebook," "Brown Bag Lunch" and "Letter To A Deceased Husband"
Three Poems by E. A. Feliu: "Broken screen window," "American psycho,' and "The cannabis machine"
Two Poems by Joan Payne Kincaid: "Time to Reorder," and "The Trees are Taking Over II"
Two Poems by Krista Genevieve Farris: "Before the Fireworks: Langston at 2" and "Interpretive Dance with Apple"
A Poem by Sudeep Adhikari: "Speaking Novacaine and Aches"
A Poem by Ananya S. Guha: "Children (After Kashmir)"
Two Poems by Soodabeh Saeidnia: "Darwin Theory and ME" and "Borderline"
A Poem by Sunil Sharma: "Cognition: Self and the Universe"
Three Poems by Stefanie Bennett: "STEALTH," "WINGS," and "EXIT"
Three Poems by Melissa Fitzgerald: "An eviction notice," "Gladiators," and "A love rant"
Three Poems by Nicole Surginer: "Invisible," "Bleeding Heart"' and "Drifting"
Two Poems by Tamsen Grace: "The Ravages of Divorce" and "I Remember Me"
Three Poems by Samuel Franklin: "Spring Break 2010," "Coffee Nights," and "Some Summer Work"
Three Poems by Richard L. Ratiff: "Burma Shave," "Aging Gracefully Ha," and "Prostate"
Three Poems by Ross Polen: “Homemade Wine”, “Kids at Trampoline” and “High School Runner”
Three Poems by Kristen Williamson: "Chaos," "Daisy," and "Falling Apart"
A Poem by Lakesha Landrum: "What do you see?"
Three Poems by Timothy O'Grady: "From Walks Along the Eno River," and two translations from the Korean, "Vase," and "Here and Now"
CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAY
Essay by Scott Thomas Outlar: "The Opening Salvo"
Essay by Adreyo Sen: "Lokhi"
Essay by Susan P. Blevins: "There's a Bear in my Apple Tree"
Essay by Steve Colori: "Who's to Help?"
Essay by Connie Bedgood McWilliams: "Sam the Man"
FICTION
Fiction by Susan Duke: "Ruby"
Fiction by Charles E.J.Moulton: "Whenever He Thinks of Home"
Fiction by Arthur Powers: "Venus If You Do"
Flash Fiction by Stuart Luke: "San shi wu"
Fiction by Christopher Hivner: "One for the Thumb"
Fiction by Philip Matthew Butera: "The Shiny Blue Button"
Fiction by Jim Boswell: "Hunting for Turtles"