CREATIVE NONFICTION BY JOHN C. SPIEGEL "COCOONS"

John Spiegel is an English teacher in Springfield, Ohio where he shares his love for words, beards, and the feel of vinyl records. 

A previous essay, "Like Dad" appeared in the December 2014 Issue of IVJ.

Cocoons

I imagine the first couple of days inside a cocoon are quite uncomfortable for the adolescent caterpillar. A caterpillar eats, grows, and molts its skin up to five times before entering a chrysalis smaller than its body appeared, much like trying on a new pair of shoes that should be your size but haven’t been broken in quite yet, so you wiggle your toes up and down as you contemplate claustrophobia for a single appendage.

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY VERONICA TOTH "A TASTE OF BELONGING"

A junior at Taylor University, Veronica Toth continues to be involved with the wonderful members of the Ethics Bowl team, as well as Taylor’s literary magazine. She has been published in undergraduate literature magazines Parnassus and Catfish Creek, and is currently acting as the creative writing intern for The Other Journal, run by The Seattle School.

The Taste of Belonging

    The saying goes that each time you speak in public, you become a little less nervous. At this current moment, I am certain that is a lie. My suit jacket is already damp, and I keep sipping water because I don’t know what else to do with my hands, which are cold and stiff (my circulation seems to halt in times of stress). In five minutes, we’ll pull out blank notebook paper and debate solely from what we remember.

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY ADREYO SEN "THE BOARDING SCHOOL PROTAGONIST"

Adreyo Sen resides in Kolkata, India.  He is pursuing his MFA at Stony Brook, Southampton. He has been published in Danse Macabre, Kritya and Garbanzo.

The Boarding School Protagonist

It is early on the second day itself that I discovered that my plans of becoming the adored protagonist of my own boarding school story were, at best, premature.

First, of course, was chota hazari, wherein we all lined up to receive a cup of tea and two homemade biscuits from the hands of the “bearers,” the school term for the jack-of-all-trades assigned to each house.  I learned later that this same ritual serves as a kind of attendance-taking in some of India’s prisons.

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY CHARLES E.J. MOULTON "DEFENDER OF THE FAITH"

CHARLES E.J. MOULTON has been a stage performer since age eleven. His trilingual, artistic upbringing, as the son of Gun Kronzell and Herbert Moulton, lead to a hundred stage productions, countless cross-over concerts, work as a bandleader and as an acting teacher. He is a regular contributor for Idea Gems, has written for Shadows Express, Cover of Darkness, Vocal Images and Pill Hill Press. He is a tourguide, a big-band-vocalist, a filmmaker, a painter, a voice-over-speaker, a translator, is married and has a daughter.
Charles E.J. Moulton's passion is creative versatility.

Homepages: http://www.reverbnation.com/charlesejmoulton/ 

http://about.me/cmoulton

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY SCOTT ARCHER JONES "A LOVE LETTER TO BONNIE RAITT"

I currently live in northern New Mexico, after stints in the Netherlands, Scotland and Norway. I believe that this exposure to other cultures makes me a natural to tell a story of a tenuous connection with a blues great.

I'm on the masthead of the Prague Revue. I have a novel out this year, Jupiter and Gilgamesh, a Novel of Sumeria and Texas. I've been a finalist in a few contests but never a winner. I've published here and there but received enough rejection to achieve humility. I'm a finalist in the 2014 New Mexico-Arizona Book awards in four categories.

The publication list is dull but available - what is more important is that I cut and split all my own firewood, live a mile from my nearest neighbor, and write grants for the community.

INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL DECEMBER 2014 ISSUE 5

Welcome to the December 2014 Issue of IVJ!

The stories, poems and artwork wrapped in this issue spill out into warmth, humor, joy, and love. Small gifts we were delighted to find in our inbox. We present them here for your enjoyment. Feel free to open, read, and share with your friends and families. I hope you enjoy the features and don't forget to leave a small gift in return. A few ideas:

1. Subscribe to IVJ... It's free and it will help our stats.

2. "Like" our Facebook page.

3. Leave a $1.00 donation to help us keep the lights on, the internet connected, the journal published.

4. Leave a kind comment for an author. Visit their links. Purchase their books.

5. Feed or shelter a homeless or hungry person, then write/submit an essay or poem telling us about it. I am planning a special issue related to hunger, poverty and homelessness. Date to be determined soon. Submissions are welcome for this themed issue.

Thank you, God Bless, and Merry Christmas from Indiana Voice Journal!

FEATURES:

POETRY

Poetry By Bruce Owens

Poetry By Tom Sheehan

Poetry By Oliver Rice

Poetry By Simon Perchik

Poetry By Atri Majumder

Poetry By James Maxwell

Poetry and Artwork By Heather Rose

FLASH FICTION
Jennifer Lachenauer: "Memory"

Eric Hill: "Stewed Prunes"

FICTION

Carroll Susco: "The Tree"
Tom Sheehan: "The Bill Collector"
Raymond Greiner: "Myrna's Story"
J. Michael Dashiell: "3 Seconds"
Muhammad Nasrullah Khan: "The Lady of Red Light District"

CREATIVE NONFICTION/ESSAYS

John Spiegel: "Like Dad"

Donna Downs: "You Old, Grandma?"
Stephen Mead: "Impressions from the Land Of Vanished Beautiful Things (1)"
Lance Turner: "They're Not Like Ours"

POETRY BY BRUCE OWENS

Bruce Owens has been writing poetry for 50 years.
One of his poems appeared in the Robinson Jeffers Newsletter (No. 93 & 94, Winter & Spring) in tribute to friend, and fellow poet William Everson. He has been a guest lecturer at various colleges in California, lecturing on the nature of the creative process, and he has conducted poetry workshops, mainly with young adults, especially those struggling with various addictions or having come from an abusive household, using poetry as an instrument of discovery for both self, and as an entry into the world around us. His collection of poems: Eddies in the Rush (ISBN 0-971256-0-0 [149 pg.]) was endorsed b C.C. Bailey and poet William Stafford (1914-1993) a "National Book Award recipient."
You can read/purchase more of Bruce's poetry at the following links: 
http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009502667

Catalog Record: A passage through stone : poems | Hathi Trust Digital Library

http://www.solopublications.com/jurn0204.htm
http://itsaboutimewriters.homestead.com/OwensBruceGiveMeAPoem.html

http://www.alibris.com/Eddies-in-The-Rush/book/-97125650

http://www.biblio.com/booksearch/author/bruce-owens/title/a-passage-through-stone/order/priceasc

POETRY BY TOM SHEEHAN

Sheehan served in the 31^st Infantry Regiment, Korea 1951, graduated from Boston College in 1956,  has 26 Pushcart nominations, authored 18 books ( 5 published this year, one mss complete) , appeared in hundreds of Internet sites and publications  around the world, and read at colleges, libraries,  book stores and Open Mic settings from Massachusetts to North Carolina.
Tom is a frequent contributor to IVJ. You can read more of his poetry in the October and November issues.  His books are available at Pocol Press. You can read more of Tom's poetry in the October and November Issues of Indiana Voice Journal.

POETRY BY OLIVER RICE

Oliver Rice’s poems appear widely in journals and anthologies in the United States and abroad. Creekwalker released an interview with him in January, 2010. His book of poems, On Consenting to Be a Man, is published by Cyberwit and is available on Amazon. His online chapbook, Afterthoughts, Siestas, and his recording of his Institute for Higher Study appeared in Mudlark in December, 2010.

                   

THE AWE, THE LURE

The awe, the lure, this morning, is not of the old town,

nestling by the Danube, the remains of Roman walls,

palatial spires of medieval merchants, the dark alleys,

POETRY BY ATRI MAJUMDER

Atri Majumder (born 1993) resides at Kolkata, India. He is currently pursuing his undergraduate degree in English Literature from University of Calcutta.He has two published anthologies-Shadow of Light(2012) and Visible Infinity(2014).

POETRY BY SIMON PERCHIK

Simon Perchik is an attorney whose poems have appeared in Partisan Review, The Nation, Poetry, The New Yorker, and elsewhere. His most recent collection is  Almost Rain, published by River Otter Press (2013). For more information, free e-books and his essay titled “Magic, Illusion and Other Realities” please visit his website at  
www.simonperchik.com

POETRY BY JAMES MAXWELL

James Maxwell resides in Blauvelt, NY of Rockland County. He makes a living as a special education teaching assistant during the day and writes in the evenings. James has been writing for a little over ten years but has only recently started submitting his stories and poetry for publication. His work has been featured in Cease, Cows, Walking Is Honest, and the Ijagun Poetry Journal."

POETRY AND ARTWORK BY HEATHER ROSE

Heather Rose lives in a small mountain town in Colorado with her three kids and guitar-playing husband.  She collects lots of little thoughts about living in a big world in her blog Words Whittle Down and is currently writing and illustrating a children's fantasy series called Knindrome.  Her poem, Opal Lake was nominated for the Pushcart Prize. You can read more of Heather's poetry in the October Special Poetry Issue of IVJ.

FLASH FICTION BY ERIC HILL "STEWED PRUNES"

 

Eric Hill is fascinated with word structure from Kabala to etymology and then placing words together to form sound, color, rhythm and content; poetry becomes central focus of this interest - words magically charged.

Recently he has been published in Rain/Disaster/Party Ijagun Poetry Journal and Behhutet.

FICTION BY TOM SHEEHAN "THE BILL COLLECTOR"

Sheehan served in the 31^st Infantry Regiment, Korea 1951, graduated from Boston College in 1956,  has 26 Pushcart nominations, authored 18 books ( 5 published this year, one mss complete) , appeared in hundreds of Internet sites and publications  around the world, and read at colleges, libraries,  book stores and Open Mic settings from Massachusetts to North Carolina. He is a frequent contributor to Indiana Voice Journal.

FICTION BY RAYMOND GREINER "MYRNA'S STORY"

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 collection of fiction and nonfiction essays titled Hinterland Journal is in the finalization process with Outskirts Press. 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.

 Myrna’s Story

           Myrna Davis was born in 1950 and raised in an American mid western town.  A beautiful child genetically influenced from her mother, combining with her quick and agile mind.  Myrna was chosen homecoming queen in her high school senior year, savoring the honor and attention of this exciting event.  Myrna’s formative years bore the hallmark of a living, Victorian valentine.

FICTION BY MUHAMMAD NASRULLAH KHAN "THE LADY OF REDLIGHT DISTRICT"

Muhammad Nasrullah Khan is from Pakistan currently living in Saudi Arabia, where he is Lecturer in English at Taif University. His short stories are well recognized internationally for his unique prose style, and really naive innocence of rural life of Pakistan. His short story Donkey-Man was selected among the Notable Online Short Stories of 2003 in the StorySouth Million Writers Award. His work has appeared in Newtopia Magazine, Gowanus Books,Offcourse literary Journal University at Albany, The Raven Chronicles, and many others. He exists on twitter as @nasar_peace ,at  [email protected], [email protected],  and https://www.facebook.com/nasar.peace 

THE LADY OF RED LIGHT DISTRICT

Ahmad rushed toward the newspaper office, trying to avoid the stinging, dust-filled wind that seemed getting stronger with every step. It was a brief walk from the parking lot. By the time he reached the office, the other staff journalists, two women and five men, were already tucked into their cubicles like caged rats. Their eyes glued to computer screens.

FICTION BY J. MICHAEL DASHIELL "3 SECONDS"

J. Michael Dashiell lives in central Indiana. He’s had ten short stories published that appeared in Down in the Dirt, Bending the Curve Anthology, Sugar Mule Literary Magazine, Defenestration, Word Riot, Projected Letters, Thieves Jargon, The Circle Magazine, The Blue Review & The New England Writers’ Network Magazine. 

Blog Address: http://romanticismunbound.blogspot.com/

3 Seconds

      My friend’s car laid mangled, a 1990 Pontiac Bonneville, beige colored, four-door model, with its left back end completely crushed, its back bumper twisted into a malicious grin, and what I supposed was the specter of gasoline dripping from its tank. Yet I suffered no injury, not even a broken bone or bleeding wound, just what would later manifest itself as minor whiplash I suppose, without even a visible scratch or bruise to provide evidence of this mishap. The car was in effect destroyed for all practical use, yet I arose from it mysteriously renewed.

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY JOHN SPIEGEL "LIKE DAD"

John Spiegel is an English teacher in Springfield, Ohio where he shares his love for words, beards, and the feel of vinyl records.

  

Like Dad

            Growing up, my father was a source of fear. I tip-toed around him whenever he slept. Whenever we interrupted his sleep, he would jump and shout as he awoke. Too many nights I spent in silence, revering my father’s occasionally angry voice.

  

ESSAY BY DONNA DOWNS "YOU OLD, GRANDMA?"

  Donna Arthur Downs is an associate professor and co-chair of the Media Communication department at Taylor University. She has been full-time teaching various writing, public relations and media courses since 2001 and advises the award-winning student newspaper, The Echo. She is the mother of two faithful sons and the grandmother of two remarkable grandchildren. Downs graduated with an Ed.D from Ball State University.

 http://donnadowns.wix.com/donna

You old, Grandma?

Friday night as I lay beside my baby girl on the air mattress at the foot of the bed in her little room upstairs, deep in thought, she began picking at my hair with her thumb and index finger, pulling it up, letting it go, pulling it up, letting it go strand by strand.

ESSAY BY STEPHEN MEAD "IMPRESSIONS FROM THE LAND OF VANISHED BEAUTIFUL THINGS (1)

As a writer and artist publishing for the last three decades, Stephen Mead has finally gotten around to getting links to his poetry still online at various zines available in one place:  http://stephenmead.weebly.com/links-to/poetry-on-the-line-stephen-mead  His latest Amazon release  is entitled "Our Spirit Life”", a poetry/art meditation on family heritage, love,  and the evanescence of time.
http://www.amazon.com/Stephen-Mead/e/B002P5TVQC/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0/178-9316259-8711759

 Impressions from the Land of Vanished Beautiful Things (I)

 In my mind's eye floats a photograph.  The photograph, in turn, is also the memory of an actual door.  This is how the mind can function as both microscope and telescope; moving in, drawing back, knobs turning lenses from blurriness to magnified clarity.  Writing this makes the whole business sound detached.  Would it be too sentimental, but also more accurate, to say that this invisible mechanism exists in my heart, the entire DNA and cells of my being?

CREATIVE NONFICTION BY LANCE TURNER "THEY'RE NOT LIKE OURS"

Lance Turner is a writer living in Kansas. He has had work appear in The Pierian and Touchstone. He currently works as a lecturer at the University of Kansas.

Previous publications include:

“Regression Therapy” (short story). The Pierian, Albany State University’s Department of English, Modern Languages and Mass Communication’s Literary Journal. Spring 2013: 70-73.

“Detour Ahead” (personal essay). Touchstone, Kansas State University’s Department of English’s Literary Journal. Spring 2007: 41-47.

They're Not Like Ours

Bread of the Dead

FICTION BY CARROLL SUSCO "THE TREE"

Carroll Susco holds an MFA from the University of Pittsburgh and has numerous publications.  She currently teaches comp.  Her chapbook True Fiction A Pseudo Autobiographical Chapbook in Three Parts is available for free at Smashwords.com
http://about.me/casusco

"The Tree"

I asked Dennis if we could get the Christmas tree, but he said he was busy.   I said I knew he was busy.  He said he had to study.  I said I knew that.  It was too early.  But didn’t he want to get one?  But why did I have to have one now?   When then?  Didn’t I understand the pressure he was under?  He had to read for class.

FLASH FICTION BY JENNIFER LACHENAUER "MEMORY"

Jennifer Lachenauer received a bachelor's degree in English from Kean University where she earned an academic award for excellence in essay writing for her capstone course. While actively involved in various forms of writing, her particular passion is short fiction because of how it combines the snap-shot like quality of a photograph with the written word. 

INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL NOVEMBER 2014 Issue 4

INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL

"Grain Belt" © David J. Thompson

NOVEMBER 2014
vol.1 issue 4


~NOVEMBER FEATURES~




IN THIS ISSUE...

~Links to Quick Content~

Poetry By Richard Fein
Poetry By Win Harms
Poetry By Tom Sheehan
Poetry By Margaret Skalbania
Poetry By Changming Yuan
Photography By David J. Thompson 
Fiction:  "The Master and His Dog" By Carol Anne Adamson
Fiction:  "Flittery" By Dallas Gorbett
Fiction:  "An Urban Diary" By Raymond Greiner
Flash Fiction: "Exotic Doodah" By Belinda Hubert
Fiction:  "Following Her Steps" By Desiree Jung
Fiction:  "Foxie" By Kersie Khambatta 

~Scroll Down to Browse~

PHOTOGRAPHY GALLERY "MIDWEST" BY DAVID J. THOMPSON

At the grave of Jimi Hendrix

David J. Thompson's photos have appeared in a number of journals both in print and on-line. He lived in Detroit from 1997 until last October. He has been traveling since then.  

Please visit his photo website at ninemilephoto.com.

POETRY BY CHANGMING YUAN

 
Yuan Changming, an 8-time Pushcart nominee, is the most widely published poetry author who speaks Mandarin but writes English. Tutoring and co-editing Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver, Changming has poetry appearing in 919 literary publications across 30 countries, including Best Canadian Poetry (2009,12,14), BestNewPoemsOnline and Threepenny Review.




poetrypacific.blogspot.ca

http://poetrypacificpress.blogspot.ca/

http://www.facebook.com/poetry.pacific

http://yuanspoetry.blogspot.ca/

Another Seascape

A dolphin jumping high above the horizon

A gull charging down right towards the ocean

A double focus of nature

But a single moment of anti-self 

POETRY BY MARGARET SKALBANIA

Margaret Skalbania lives in Lublin. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow. She paints, draws and writes. Her book of poetry has been recognized as one of the twenty best printed in Poland in 2013. Magaret translates her poetry herself.

departed poet

  

without the complex to the west 

he took with him was inherited from the other poets lower case's outlook 

narrow way of thinking about the historical naivety 

divinity of their ancestors

POETRY BY TOM SHEEHAN

 

Tom Sheehan has 24 Pushcart Prize nominations. 375 western stories on Rope and Wire Magazine.  His published books include: In the Garden of Long Shadows, From The Quickening, A Collection Of Friends, and The Nations, about Native Americans, all available from Pocol Press.

 The Westering (appeared in Word Catalyst, 2009)               

               Born to Wear the Rags of War  (appeared in collection, This Rare Earth & Other Flights, 2003)

               A Last Moment Caught (appeared in Ken* Again, 2009)

POETRY BY WIN HARMS

 

win harms has been published in several anthologies, websites, and has two books published.  she lives in lille, france though she spent her formative years in philadelphia.

 http://winharms.wordpress.com/

CALIFORNIA

you were thinking of taking flight

i was thinking of you

you were talking of california

i was talking about fire

you were dreaming of california

i was dreaming of you

POETRY BY RICHARD FEIN

Richard Fein was a finalist in The 2004 New York Center for Book Arts Chapbook Competition

A Chapbook of his poems was published by Parallel Press, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

He has been published in many web and print journals such as  Cordite, Cortland Review,

Reed, Southern Review, Roanoke Review,  Birmingham  Poetry Review, Mississippi Review, Paris/atlantic,  Canadian Dimension, Black Swan Review, Exquisite Corpse, Foliate Oak,  Morpo Review, Ken*Again   Oregon East, Southern Humanities Review, Morpo, Skyline, Touchstone, Windsor Review, Maverick, Parnassus Literary Review, Small Pond, Kansas Quarterly, Blue Unicorn, Exquisite Corpse, Terrain Aroostook Review, Compass Rose, Whiskey Island Review, Oregon East, Bad Penny Review, Constellations, The Kentucky Review  And Many Others.

FICTION: "AN URBAN DIARY" BY RAYMOND GREINER

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.  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.

 

An Urban Diary

    I awaken to the hydraulic whine of a trash truck.  Nearby, a massive waste incinerator emits a polluting stench mixing with the incessant rumble of traffic.   

           Detroit, once a grand city, is in steep decline with eroding tax revenue caused by urban flight becoming stagnated in the residue of its past.  Littered streets with blocks of abandoned homes are occupied by vagrants and drug addicts.  These vacant homes are windowless, empty remnants of thriving neighborhoods.