September 2016 Issue #26

Welcome to the 26th issue of Indiana Voice Journal! 

As the weather nods its head ushering in the cooler, more colorful Fall season here in Indiana, this edition of IVJ contains a mix of quality, colorful features as well, including three ekphrastic poems by Neil Ellman, and a small Bicentennial Section to honor Indiana's 200th Birthday. We hope you read, enjoy, and share this issue of IVJ. Thank you for your ongoing support! ~Janine Pickett

POETRY

Three ekphrastic poems by Neil Ellman: "Gaze of Science," "Aeolian Harp," and "Land of Lemons"

A poem by Darren C. Demaree: "Emily As Out In A Storm We Want More Storm"

Two poems by Sukrita Paul Kumar: "Not Just Nostalgia" and "Flights of Freedom"

A poem by Deena Padayachee: "Injustice"

Five poems by Holly Day: "What If," "Charity," "Britomartis," "All This Measuring of Truth," and "The Dance"

Three poems by Blanca Alicia Garza: "Find Me," "Free of the Shadows," and "Soul Serenade"

Three poems by Nicole Brooks: "Day with Holly Golightly," "The Most One Can Hope For," and "The Poet's Apartment."

A poem by Terri Winaught: "Tribute to Tania"

Three poems by Gary Glauber: "Baggage Claim," "Volume Two," and "What Ample Eyes Reveal"

Three poems by Malkeet Kaur: "PMS and the Clouds," "Mutations," and "Entropy and Will"

Two poems by Michael A. Griffith: "Grammy Ruth's Old Lace Afternoon" and "Pop Pop"

Four poems by Michael Lee Johnson: "The Seasons and the Slants," "California Summer," "Common Church Poem," and "Flight of the Eagle"

CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAY

Essay by Lynda McKinney Lambert: "The Connie"

FICTION

Fiction by Laura Saint Martin: "Helen at the Funeral Home"

Historical Fiction By Geoffrey Craig: "The Volunteer"

Fiction by DC Diamondopolous: "Taps"

Fiction by David Allen: "Alligator"

Fiction by Lorie Adair: "Evolution"

Fiction by Tom Sheehan: "Brislings Code"

BICENTENNIAL: HAPPY BIRTHDAY, INDIANA!

The State Poem: Indiana by Arthur Franklin Mapes

Flash Fiction By Gary A. Schlueter: "Hoosier Gridlock"

Flash Essay by Marcia Conover: "Crossroads of America"

Creative Nonfiction by Patty Fischer: "Midwestern Landmark Turns into Tragedy"

A poem by Belinda Hubert: "Indiana Summer"

Three poems by Lucia Walton Robinson: “A Ghazal for Indiana’s Bicentennial,” “Gable in Naptown,” and “Staffordshire Maiden”
Three poems by Marcia Conover: "Earth's Day," "My Indiana Home," and "Old House on the Hill" 

Three ekphrastic poems by Neil Ellman: "Gaze of Science," "Aeolian Harp," and "Land of Lemons."

Neil Ellman, a poet from New Jersey, has published numerous poems, more than 1,000 of which are ekphrastic, in print and online journals, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world. Each of these poems are ekphrastic, which is a poetry form that is a vivid description of a work of art. they are based on paintings by Paul Klee. In each case, the title of the poem is also that of the original image.

A poem by Darren C. Demaree: "Emily As Out In A Storm We Want More Storm"

My poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including the South Dakota Review, Meridian, New Letters, Diagram, and the Colorado Review.

I am the author of five poetry collections, most recently "The Nineteen Steps Between Us" (2016, After the Pause). I am the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology and Ovenbird Poetry.

I am currently living and writing in Columbus, Ohio with my wife and children. 

Two poems by Sukrita Paul Kumar: "Not Just Nostalgia" and "Flights of Freedom"

Sukrita Paul Kumar was born and brought up in Kenya and currently holds the Aruna Asaf Ali Chair at the University of Delhi. Formerly, a Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla, she is an Honorary Fellow of the International Writing Programme, University of Iowa , and of the Hong Kong Baptist University and Cambridge Seminars. She is also on the honorary faculty at the Durrell Centre at Corfu (Greece). She has published several collections of poems and many critical books.
As Director of a UNESCO project, she edited a volume of Urdu short stories in English, "Mapping Memories." In 2006, she published, as its Chief Editor, "Cultural Diversity in India" (MacMillan India). While her latest co-edited volume is" Speaking For Herself: An Anthology of Asian Women’s Writings" (Penguin India), she has also recently published "Poems Come Home" (HarperCollins) and "Rowing Together" (Rajkamal). Her poems have been translated into many languages including French, Chinese, and Swahili.

A poem by Deena Padayachee: "Injustice."

Deena Padayachee lives in Durban, South Africa. He is the author of a book of resistance prose poems, "A Voice from the Cauldron," which was published in 1987. His poems have been performed by the Natal Performing Arts Council and have been published in several international journals and the poetry anthologies. He has also won awards for his short stories.

This is the first time his poem, "Injustice," has ever been published. He wrote it in 1977 after anti-apartheid activist Steve Biko died during interrogation by South African police. "It was a dangerous poem to write at the time as it accused the Apartheid legal system of being unjust," Padayachee says. "It is the kind of poem that is still hated by those who love racism and apartheid."

Five poems by Holly Day: "What If," "Charity," "Britomartis," "All This Measuring of Truth," and "The Dance."

Holly Day has taught writing classes at the Loft Literary Center in Minnesota since 2000. Her published books include Music Theory for Dummies, Music Composition for Dummies, Guitar All-in-One for Dummies, Piano All-in-One for Dummies, Walking Twin Cities, Insider’s Guide to the Twin Cities, Nordeast Minneapolis: A History, and The Book Of, while her poetry has recently appeared inNew Ohio Review, SLAB, and Gargoyle. Her newest poetry book, Ugly Girl, just came out from Shoe Music Press.

Three poems by Blanca Alicia Garza: "Find Me," "Free of the Shadows," and "Soul Serenade."

Blanca Alicia Garza is from Las Vegas, Nevada. She is a nature and animal lover and enjoys spending time writing.  Her poems have appeared in various online magazines, including Indiana Voice Journal. She was also published in the poetry anthology  "Moonlight Dreamers of Yellow Haze," which is available at Amazon.com.

Three poems by Nicole Brooks: "Day with Holly Golightly," "The Most One Can Hope For," and "The Poet's Apartment."

Nicole Brooks grew up in West Central Indiana, and has returned home after more than a decade away bouncing around the South and the Pacific Northwest. She is a writer and dance teacher and works in marketing at Purdue University. Nicole has a degree in dance from Butler University in Indianapolis and also in creative writing from Purdue. After earning her master’s degree in journalism from IU, Nicole reported news and feature stories for newspapers in Indiana and Illinois. She is involved with the Lafayette Writers’ Studio.

A poem by Terri Winaught: "Tribute to Tania"

Terri Winaught was born in Philadelphia and spent most of her life in Pittsburgh, where she works for a local mental-health organization and has a Masters in Education with a specialization in counseling. When not writing, she loves attending Pirates baseball and Pitt football games with her husband; singing in her Church choir; going out with friends for a meal or snack, and saying her favorite expression to people who are nice to her: "You should be cloned!"

Three poems by Gary Glauber: "Baggage Claim," "Volume Two," and "What Ample Eyes Reveal."

Gary Glauber is a poet, fiction writer, teacher, and former music journalist. His works have been nominatyed for multiple Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominations. He champions the underdog to the melodic rhythms of obscure power pop. His collection, Small Consolations (Aldrich Press) is available through Amazon, as is a chapbook, Memory Marries Desire (Finishing Line Press).

Three poems by Malkeet Kaur: "PMS and the Clouds," "Mutations," and "Entropy and Will."

Malkeet Kaur resides in Mumbai, India, where she works as a teacher. Her poems have been published in various anthologies and online journals including Episteme, Barking Sycamores, Acerbic Anthology ( Against Gender Violence), Twist of Fate (Charitable Anthology),Yellow Chair Review, The Awakening of She, and The Significant Anthology. Her poems are mostly existentialist and feminist in nature.

Two poems by Michael A. Griffith: "Grammy Ruth's Old Lace Afternoon" and "Pop Pop"

Michael A. Griffith teaches Mass Media, Public Speaking, Communications, and Creative Writing at the college and adult non-credit continuing education levels. His essays have appeared in Teaching For Success and Lehigh Valley Woman's Journal and his short fiction has appeared on the Twilight Times website. Most recently his poetry has appeared in the Tanka Journal, Three Line Poetry, and Ripen the Page online literary journals. He is Founder and Editor of the poetry journal Hidden Constellation, with a premier issue release date of 12/3/2016. He resides in Somerset County, NJ.

Four poems by Michael Lee Johnson: "The Seasons and the Slants," "California Summer," "Common Church Poem," and "Flight of the Eagle"

Michael Lee Johnson lived ten years in Canada during the Vietnam War era. He is a Canadian and USA citizen. Today he is a poet, editor, publisher, freelance writer, amateur photographer, and small business owner in Itasca, Illinois. He has been published in numerous small press magazines in 27 countries, and edits 10 poetry sites. He is the author of  "The Lost American: From Exile to Freedom" and several chapbooks. He has posted poetry videos on YouTube (https://www.youtube,com/user/poetrymanusa/videos.)  Visit his Facebook Poetry Group and join https://www/facebook.com/groups/807679459328998/. His website is  at http://poetryman.mysite.com/.

Essay by Lynda McKinney Lambert: "The Connie"

Lynda McKinney Lambert is a retired Fine Arts and Humanities professor from Geneva College, Beaver Falls, PA.  She is the author of “Concerti: Psalms for the Pilgrimage,” published by Kota Press.  Lynda is married to Bob and the couple have 5 grown children. They live along the banks of the Connoquenessing Creek in the Village of Wurtemburg, PA.  When Lynda is not writing she is creating mixed media fiber art for exhibitions, attending knitting groups with local enthusiasts, and enjoying her 4 cats and 2 dogs.

Fiction by Laura Saint Martin: "Helen at the Funeral Home"

I am a new writer with two poems published and a mystery series in the works. I live in Rancho Cucamonga, CA, have an Assoc. of Arts from Mt San Antonio College and work at Patton State Hospital.

Historical Fiction By Geoffrey Craig: "The Volunteer"

Geoffrey Craig’s fiction, poetry and drama have appeared in numerous literary journals, including the New Plains Review, Calliope, Foliate Oak, Spring – the Journal of the E.E. Cummings Society and The MacGuffin. He has received two Pushcart Prize nominations.

In January 2016, Prolific Press published his novel, Scudder’s Gorge. Previously,  Wilderness House Literary Review had serialized both his verse novel, The Brave Maiden, and his novella, Snow.

Four of his full-length plays (one co-authored) and ten of his one-acts have been produced. He has directed productions of eight of his plays.

Geoffrey has a BA (Colgate), an MBA (Harvard) and an MA (Santa Clara) in history. He served in the Peace Corps and had a successful career in banking before turning to writing.

Fiction by DC Diamondopolous: "Taps"

DC Diamondopolous is an award-winning short story and flash fiction writer published worldwide. DC’s short stories have appeared in online literary magazines: Antioch University’s Lunch Ticket, Fiction on the Web, Eskimo Pie, Five on the Fifth, Five 2 One and many more. DC’s stories are also in print anthologies: Crab Fat Lit, Blue Crow and Scarborough Fair. DC won second place in the University of Toronto’s Literary Contest for 2016 for the short story, Taps, and won two Soul Making-Keats honorary mentions in 2014 for the short stories, The Bell Tower and Taps. 

Fiction by David Allen: "Alligator"

David Allen is a freelance writer and poetry editor of Indiana Voice Journal. He was born in South Carolina and raised on Long Island, NY, which is enough to make anyone a bit crazy. He is a former sailor, war resistor, and journalist, writing for newspapers in Virginia, Indiana, and the Far East before retiring to Central Indiana. His poems and short stories have been published in several journals and he has two books of poetry, "The Story So Far," and "(more)," both available from Amazon.com. He has a blog at www.davidallen.nu and is an active member of the Last Stanza Poetry Association in Elwood, Indiana. David is currently serving as 2nd Vice President of the Indiana State Federation of Poetry Clubs

Fiction by Lorie Adair: "Evolution"

My book, Spider Woman's Loom was published in 2014 by Foreverland Press. Spider Woman’s Loom was a finalist for the Southwest Writers Award and a semi-finalist for the Dana Award. Additionally, I am the recipient of several Norman Mailer Scholarships and Arizona Commission on the Arts Creative Writing fellowships.I have written for NPR affiliate, KJZZ, and my fiction and creative non-fiction have appeared in Hippocampus Magazine, Kindred, Praxis Journal of Gender and Cultural Critiques, and Terrain.org. I earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Antioch University, Los Angeles.

Fiction by Tom Sheehan: "Brisling's Code"

Tom Sheehan has published 23 books and has had multiple work in most of the following publications: Ocean Magazine, Rosebud, Linnet’s Wings, Serving House Journal, Eclectica, Copperfield Review, KYSO Flash, La Joie Magazine, Soundings East, Vermont Literary Review, Literary Orphans, Indiana Voice Journal, Frontier Tales, Deep South Magazine, Western Online Magazine, Provo Canyon Review, 3 AM Magazine, Vine Leaves Journal, Nazar Look, Eastlit, Rope & Wire Magazine, The Literary Yard,  KYSO Journal, Green Silk Journal, Fiction on the Web, The Path, Faith-Hope and Fiction, The Cenacle, etc.

He has 30 Pushcart nominations, and five Best of the Net nominations (and one winner) and short story awards from Nazar Look for 2012- 2015. Swan River Daisy, a chapbook, was just released by KY Stories and The Cowboys, a collection of western short stories, is in production at Pocol Press.

The State Poem: Indiana by Arthur Franklin Mapes

Arthur Franklin Mapes, a lifetime resident of Kendallville, Indiana, worked 33 years as a machinist at Flint and Walling Mfg. Co.. His hobby was poetry and he wrote about the things he knew, the town and state he loved, and his humble beginnings. Other poems include Our Town, which he wrote for the 1963 Kendallville Centennial, and Blacklegs, about Kendallville's "Sassafras John Bates".

Flash Fiction By Gary A. Schlueter: "Hoosier Gridlock"

I publish the Whitewater Valley Guide which is a free, digitally distributed ezine-thing dealing with entertainment and enlightenment options in the Whitewater Valley of southeastern Indiana and southwestern Ohio. I've recently been receiving a lot of praise for my work from my 3,500 subscribers, make that from some of them. Anyway, it's gone to my head and this is just one result.

Creative Nonfiction by Patty Fischer: "Midwestern Landmark Turns into Tragedy"

Patty Fischer, artist of painting illustrated here, and full-time custodian at the present Anderson High School.   Please visit Patty at her website: penandstick

Flash Essay by Marcia Conover: "Crossroads of America"

Marcia, born in Indiana, grew up in a small Farming community located in northern Madison county. Since she was a small child she has had a compassion for animals in need and a love of Photography as well as the outdoors. She has been drawn to writing short stories and poetry since grade school, poetry being her favorite. She has written short fictional stories while in high school for the “Tartan” her high school literary publication. She also enjoyed working on the Yearbook staff in Junior high through 12th grade. Poetry slowly became her hobby and favorite release. Only since her Mother’s death in 2015 has she began to share her poetry. She is married with 2 grown children and lives on a small farm in Pendleton, IN where she has owned and operated an in home state licensed child care since 1984. Her poems have been published in the Indiana Voice Journal and in several poetry anthologies available on Amazon.

A poem by Belinda Hubert: "Indiana Summer"

In addition to writing fiction and poetry, Belinda Hubert is currently working on a  a collection of short stories about life in the Midwest. Her novel, Shrink Wrapped is available on Amazon. Belinda works as a clinical psychologist in a private practice in Lowell, Indiana.  http://buelasprairiepractice.blogspot.com/

Three poems by Lucia Walton Robinson: “A Ghazal for Indiana’s Bicentennial,” “Gable in Naptown,” and “Staffordshire Maiden”

Lucia Walton Robinson is both a Hoosier and a Southern poet, holding degrees from Butler and Duke. Having edited books in Manhattan and taughtliterature and writing in a Florida college, she’s now ensconced near the Carolina coast and her daughter, also an editor and poet. Her work has appeared in Kakalak 2015, The Penwood Review, The Road Not Taken: A Journal of Formal Poetry, The Southern Poetry Anthology, vol. VII, Indiana Voice Journal, and other publications.

Three poems by Marcia Conover: "Earth's Day," "My Indiana Home," and "Old House on the Hill"

Marcia Conover was born in Indiana and grew up in a small farming community located in northern Madison county. Since she was a small child she has had a compassion for animals in need and a love of photography and the outdoors. She wrote short fiction for her high schools literary publication. Poetry slowly became her hobby and favorite release, but only since her mothers death in 2015 has she began to share her work. She is married, has two grown children and lives on a small farm where she has operated a state licensed child care service since 1984. Her poems have appeared in Indiana Voice Journal and several anthologies.