ABOUT VISUAL ARTIST ALLEN FORREST

Self Portait Oil on Canvase 20" x 20" 2010

Allen Forrest - Graphic Artist / Painter

Born in Canada and bred in the U.S., Allen Forrest works in many mediums: oil painting, computer graphics, theater, digital music, film, and video. Allen studied acting at Columbia Pictures in Los Angeles, digital media in art and design at Bellevue College, receiving degrees in Web Multimedia Authoring and Digital Video Production.

Forrest has created cover art and illustrations for literary publications: New Plains Review, Pilgrimage Press, The MacGuffin, Blotterature, and Under the Gum Tree. His paintings have been commissioned and are on display in the Bellevue College Foundation's permanent art collection.

POETRY BY NABEELA ALTAF

I am a 21-year old female, hailing from Karachi, Pakistan, currently in 3rd year of medical school. I adore books and can often be found among them. Books made me the writer that I am today, helping me in my grammar and spelling. While other children were running away from words and anything that even resembled books, I was being raised on them. As a result of cutting my teeth on books like Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre and even some Sidney Sheldon, I am able to stroke my creativity to aspiring heights and reproduce my imagination on paper. Being a cat person, I aspire to be a vet someday. Although I am quite proficient on the idea of opening an animal hospital, publishing my poems is an aim that I have always kept at the back of my mind. When I am not at my laptop writing, I enjoy quiet soliloquies and Need for Speed: Carbon.

Mama Stole my Eyebrow

POETRY BY JEREMIAH ASHCRAFT

Jeremiah Ashcraft currently resides in Louisville, Ky. He has been happily married for four years.

A Home Life

Most silly days end in blood.  

Yet, the Just are allowed repose like miniature Potters,

i.e., gods 

            I am not just.

I do not have dignified calmness.

POETRY BY BRYCICAL

 I write and travel. I literally say whatever’s going through my mind upon speaking. Some seem to enjoy my no-nonsense honesty. Poetry happens when I organize my thoughts. Speaking of, some of my poetry can be found in Coe Review, Clockwise Cat and Mad Swirl, or here:

http://cargocollective.com/TheBrycical/ 

When Reality Interferes with Day Dreaming—

Fantasizing a Better Life for my Friend

POETRY BY COLIN DODDS

Colin Dodds grew up in Massachusetts and completed his education in New York City. His poetry has appeared in more than a hundred fifty publications, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. The poet and songwriter David Berman (Silver Jews, Actual Air) said of Dodds’ work: “These are very good poems. For moments I could even feel the old feelings when I read them.” Dodds is also the author of several novels, including WINDFALL and The Last Bad Job, which the late Norman Mailer touted as showing “something that very few writers have; a species of inner talent that owes very little to other people.” And his screenplay, Refreshment, was named a semi-finalist in the 2010 American Zoetrope Contest. Colin lives in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife Samantha. You can find more of his work at thecolindodds.com.

POETRY BY PACO JONES

Paco Jones is a poet, musician, photographer and filmmaker living with his wife and son in Seattle. He has been previously published by Alpha Beat Press, Coke Fish, and Currant St. Press.


Write Like Me



sometimes i wonder (i’m in my
              white t-shirt phase)
why i can’t write like i did
                  before

POETRY BY JOHN SIERPINSKI

John Sierpinski is a working writer at the Vest Conservatory for Writers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.  He has recently published in California Quarterly, North Coast Review, and Icon.  He has been nominated for the 2013 Pushcart Prize. He is currently working on a collection.

POETRY BY MEL WALDMAN, Ph. D.

Mel Waldman, Ph. D.

Dr. Mel Waldman is a psychologist, poet, and writer. He is a past winner of the literary GRADIVA AWARD in Psychoanalysis and was nominated for a PUSHCART PRIZE in literature. He is the author of 11 books. 
 

MY FATHER,

WHERE ARE YOU?

POETRY BY BARRY YEOMAN

 Barry Yeoman was educated at Bowling Green State Univ., The Univ. of Cincinnati, and The McGregor School of Antioch Univ., in creative writing, world classics, and the humanities. He is originally from Springfield, Ohio and currently lives in London, Ohio. His work has appeared, or is forthcoming in Red Booth Review, Futures Trading, Danse Macabre, Harbinger Asylum, Red Fez, Vine Leaves Literary Journal, Crack the Spine, Burningword Literary Journal, Two Hawks Quarterly, Wilderness House Literary Review, Soundings Review and The Rusty Nail, , among others. You can read more of his published work at:
https://www.redfez.net/member/1168/bookshelf

FICTION BY GARY ROBERTS "A STEADY ARM"

Gary Roberts is originally from Michigan but is now living in Buellton California. He has been writing off and on since he was seventeen. He has had one story published in THE LUTHERAN JOURNAL entitled "Homefront."

A STEADY ARM

FICTION BY MIKE PEMBERTON "HARVEST RAIN"

Mike Pemberton is a freelance writer and English teacher at Danville Area Community College. His short stories have appeared in various literary journals and he is a frequent columnist in the Sunday Commentary section of the Champaign News-Gazette.
 
http://mikepembertonbooks.com/

Harvest Rain       

    Theresa shut off the shower and shook her thick gray hair. She slid the vinyl curtain away and grabbed a damp towel.  Fluffy, dry ones appeared only in her dreams. She wrapped a second soggy towel around her head and opened the bathroom door.  A gust of crisp autumn air and a howl cut through the comforting steam.

FLASH FICTION BY ERIC HILL "THE FLIM-FLAM MAN" AND "THE BOTTOM"

Eric Hill, born in Washington DC, was first photographed among the cherry blossoms. This, no doubt, forms the basis for his colorful politics and a life long pursuit of cherry pie. That his Grandfather was a minister, no doubt explains, his intense desire to find another way to God than Religion. His writing comes from his profound need to get this crazy stuff out of his head.

He has published with Black Wire,  Indiana Voice Journal, Rain/Disaster/Party, Ijagun Poetry Journal and Behhutet.

Featured here are two flash fiction pieces. 

  
THE FLIM-FLAM MAN

So he took a train to a Station in a town he knew nothing about. He has come to take advantage, but of what? Perhaps a ‘Mark’ but hopefully it is the view or exotic cuisine. He wanted to know: how could there be an evening breeze on a southern porch with moaning slaves, or would a trickling river sound melodious full of advancing solders; to him it is a feeling of wandering toward a cliff on a moonless midnight.

FICTION BY PHILLIP BROWN "COMBAT"

Combat

by Phillip Brown

Walked to the side entrance of the VA hospital. Over thirty years ago fresh out of the Army I landed on the nut ward; top floor of the VA hospital. Since then I hadn’t had much contact. I thought maybe some current health survey glitch and, what do you know, I got a letter.

FICTION BY CLIVE AARON GILL "CEZAR'S STORY"

Clive Aaron Gill’s short stories have appeared in Pens on Fire, Every Day Fiction, espresso stories, Short Humour, Postcard Shorts, The Screech Owl, Linguistic Erosion, Wilderness House Literary Review, Gravel Literary Journal, Shark Reef literary magazine, Larks Fiction Magazine and in 6 Tales magazine. One of Clive’s works was selected for People of Few Words Anthology, Volume 5.

Clive has worked as a salesperson, mediator, farm hand, information technology manager and school bus driver. Born in Zimbabwe, he has lived and worked in Southern Africa, North America and Europe. He received a degree in Economics from University of California, Los Angeles and lives in San Diego.

http://www.amazon.com/Clive-Aaron-Gill/e/B00FADQIR6

CEZAR’S STORY

RETOLD BY CLIVE AARON GILL

Author’s Warning: This story contains descriptions of Nazi horrors.

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.