Indiana Voice Journal

July 1, 2015

Photography By David J. Thompson: "Detroit"

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 website at ninemilephoto.com.

Nicole Murphy Bagwell is from Chicago, Illinois, but she has been an Arizona resident for the past six years. She's a lover of cats and a new found poet. She enjoys writing about the LGBT community, and her goal is to bring awareness to teen suicide. She is also a devoted Chicago Blackhawks fan, and even has a tattoo to represent her love for the team. You can follow her on twitter: @AdditkedRiot

Darren's poems have appeared, or are scheduled to appear in numerous magazines/journals, including the South Dakota Review, Meridian, The Louisville Review, Grist, and the Colorado Review.

He is the author of "As We Refer To Our Bodies" (2013, 8th House), "Temporary Champions" (2014, Main Street Rag), and "Not For Art Nor Prayer" (2015, 8th House). He is the Managing Editor of the Best of the Net Anthology. Darren is currently living and writing in Columbus, Ohio with his wife and children.

www.darrencdemaree.com

Poetry By Woodrow Hightower: "Twin Revolutions"

Woodrow Hightower is a native of West Point California. He is a poet currently working on a first volume of material, loosely titled “So Low” and has lived in many different locales throughout the US. His work has been called “highly original and playfully abstract.” Currently Hightower resides in San Francisco’s Mission District with wife Twyla and their two Tibetan spaniels.

Andrew Hubbard recently moved back to Indiana after ten years in Houston, Texas. He has had five books published, including, most recently, his first book of poetry, "Things That Get You," which was produced by Interactive Press.

Dan Jacoby was born in 1947 in Chicago. He is a graduate of St. Louis University. He has published poetry in Belle Rev Review, Black Heart Press, Canary, Chicago Literati, Clockwise Cat, Cowboy Poetry Press, Dead Flowers a Rag, Floyd County Moonshine, Indiana Voice Journal, Haunted Waters Press, Deep South Magazine, Lines and Stars, Red Booth Review, Wilderness House Literary Review, Steel Toe Review, Red Fez and the Vehicle. He has work soon to be published in Bombay Gin, Fishfood Literary Magazine, Maudlin House, R.KV.R.Y., and the Tishman Review.. He is a member of the American Academy of Poets.

Peycho Kanev is the author of 4 poetry collections and two chapbooks, published in USA and Bulgaria. He has won several European awards for his poetry and he’s nominated for the Pushcart Award and Best of the Net. His poems have appeared in many literary magazines, such as: Poetry Quarterly, Evergreen Review, Hawaii Review, Cordite Poetry Review, Sheepshead Review, Off the Coast, The Adirondack Review, Two Thirds North, Sierra Nevada Review, The Cleveland Review and many others.

Nominated for Best of the Net and the Pushcart Prize, Donal Mahoney has had work published in the United States, Europe, Asia and Africa. Some of his earliest work can be found at http://booksonblog12.blogspot.com/

Six Poems By Milt Montague: "A Grandfathers Reverie", "Eitan My Love", "Maya", "Michaela My Heart", " My Grands", "Parting"

Milt Montague is a 90 year old who has been writing only for 4 years. The following poems are about his 3 young grandchildren who are native Indianians residing in Indianapolis.

Deonte Osayande is a writer from Detroit, Mi. His poems and essays have been published in over a dozen publications including Word Riot, The Missing Slate, and New Poetry From the Midwest and have been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. He has been a member of the Detroit Poetry Slam Team multiple times which he now manages. He's currently teaching at Wayne County Community College, and through the Inside Out Detroit Literary Arts Program.

His new chapbook, Cover The Sky With Crows, is available here:
http://eljpublications.com/available-titles/cover-the-sky-with-crows/

Arthur Powers is from Illinois. In 1969 he went to Brazil as a Peace Corps Volunteer and lived most of his adult life there. From 1985 to 1992 he and his wife lived in the Brazilian Amazon, working with subsistence farmers in a region of violent land conflicts; through his experience with the farmers, Arthur came to appreciate more deeply his own Midwestern heritage.

Arthur received a Fellowship in Fiction from the Massachusetts Artists Foundation and numerous other writing awards. He is author of two books of fiction and of a poetry chapbook forthcoming from Finishing Line Press (see below). His poetry has appeared in many anthologies & magazines, including America, Chicago Tribune Magazine, Christianity & Literature, Hiram Poetry Review, Kansas Quarterly, Main Street Rag, Roanoke Review, South Carolina Review, & Southern Poetry Review.

www.arthurpowers.com

Cindy Rinne creates art and writes in San Bernardino, CA. She co-authored with Michael Cooper Speaking Through Sediment (ELJ Publications). Cindy’s book, Quiet Lantern, is forthcoming (Turning Point) and spider with wings is forthcoming (Jamii Publishing). Her poem, “Mapping” was nominated for the Liakoura Award by Pirene’s Fountain. Cindy is a founding member of PoetrIE, an Inland Empire based literary community. Her poetry appeared or is forthcoming in Young Ravens Literary Review, Rose Red Review, Eternal Haunted Summer, Cactus Heart Press, The Wayfarer, Dual Coast Magazine, Artemis Journal, Meat for Tea: The Valley Review, and others. www.fiberverse.com

Three Poems By Scott Sherman: "They Used to Talk About Burning Cities," " Riding Into Sunsets," " #85"

Scott Sherman is a graduate of Ursinus College, where he got his BA in English. His most consistent love is creative writing, specifically poetry. His writing often revolves around dreams, youth, and the frontiers experienced in life.

http://www.shermanwriting.com/

Cecilia Soprano lives in Westchester County and makes her living as an organic gardener and artist. Her poems and artwork have been published in La Joie magazine and UC at Santa Barbara among others. Her artwork is often featured on the covers of Inner Directions magazine.

She is a member of the Greenwich Art Society and the Katonah Museum Art Association. She has published three small books and has had several one woman art exhibits. Her love of nature and gardening provides the space for uninterrupted inspiration. Her intention is to make images and words that describe beauty and uplift the human spirit. My art is about making the simple sacred and the ordinary extra-ordinary.

"The reason why we exist is to remember why we exist and to realize our interconnectedness with all things." WEBSITE: www.Amichiart.com or CeciliaSoprano.com

Flash Essay By G David Schwartz: "July Shards: Darkness Is Not Only For Night, Its Also For A Drink"

G. David Schwartz - the former president of Seedhouse, the online interfaith committee. Schwartz is the author of A Jewish Appraisal of Dialogue and Midrash and Working Out Of The Book Currently a volunteer at the Cincinnati J Meals on Wheels, Schwartz continues to write.

His latest book is Shards And Stanzas (2011, Publish America).

Sheehan has 28 Pushcart nominations. In the Garden of Long Shadows and The Nations (Native American fiction collection) were recently published by Pocol Press with solid reviews in Serving House Journal. Now in the Pocol production cycle are Where Skies Grow Wide, Cross Trails, Between Mountain and River and The Cowboys, the last five titles from Pocol Press are all western short story collections. In addition, a new collection, Sons of Guns, Inc. was just released (print and eBook) by Nazar Look Books in Romania and is on Amazon. Where Skies Grow Wide has been released and is available from Pocol Press.

DB Cox is a blues musician/writer from South Carolina. His poems and short stories have been published extensively in the small press, in the US, and abroad. His first collection of short stories called “Unaccustomed Mercy,” published by Studio Books, is available at the Amazon Kindle Store.

Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois has had over eight hundred of his poems and fictions appear in literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad, including INDIANA VOICE JOURNAL. He has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize for work published in 2012, 2013, and 2014. His novel, Two-Headed Dog, based on his work as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital, is available for Kindle and Nook, or as a print edition. He lives in Denver.

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 book, a collection of fiction and nonfiction essays titled Hinterland Journal was recently published by 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.

Flash Fiction By CN Hueston: "They Called Her Detroit"

C N Hueston surrounded himself with books at an early age. He admires the classics, history, philosophy, and biblical commentaries as well as the beat generation viewpoint and beyond. He says "My wife and son are excellent writers so I thought after years of pondering, I'd try my own hand at it". He added "Poetry is not my forte unless it's humorous" and They Called Her Detroit is one of his first attempts at a more "solemn reality based" poetry as he describes it. His concerns with social issues and the plight of dying American cities drew him to respond to the call for works on Detroit.

Adam Matson is originally a native of Acton, MA, and he now resides in Malibu, CA. He has previously had short stories published in The Berkeley Fiction Review, The Driftless Review, Crack the Spine, The Broadkill Review, Happy Magazine, and The Cynic Online Magazine, with forthcoming publications in The Bryant Literary Review and Infernal Ink Magazine. His short story, "Dairy Queen," was published in The Indiana Voice Journal in February. He has also published a collection of short stories called Sometimes Things Go Horribly Wrong (Outskirts Press).

Matt McGowan grew up in Southwest Missouri, primarily in Webb City, a small town founded on lead-ore and zinc mining. He finished high school there and attended the University of Missouri, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in journalism. He works as a science and research writer at the University of Arkansas. Before that he was a newspaper reporter. Recently, his stories have appeared in Pennsylvania Literary Journal and Open Road Review.

Alan Semrow lives in Wisconsin and is a graduate of English from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point. His poetry and fiction have been featured in multiple publications, including BlazeVOX14, Red Fez, The Bicycle Review, Earl of Plaid Lit Journal, Danse Macabre Literary Magazine, Potluck Magazine, Blotterature Lit Mag; The Rain, Party, & Disaster Society; The Commonline Journal, Crack the Spine, Indiana Voice Journal, EAP: The Magazine, Former People: A Journal of Bangs and Whimpers, Golden Walkman Magazine, Barney Street, and Wordplay, and he won the Essayist Award from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point English Department for his nonfiction work. In 2015, his stories are set to be featured in several journals, including TWJ Magazine, The Corner Club Press, The Biscuit, Eunoia Review, DoveTales Lit Journal, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Calliope Magazine, The Chaffey Review, and The Radvocate. Semrow spends the majority of his free time with his boyfriend, friends, family, and Shih Tzu, Remy. His blog can be found at http://alansemrowriter.wordpress.com.

Phil Temples lives in Watertown, Massachusetts, and works as a
computer systems administrator at an area university. A native of
Bloomington, Indiana, he has published over seventy works of short
fiction in print and online journals. Blue Mustang Press recently
published Phil's murder-mystery novel, “The Winship Affair." And his
new paranormal-horror novel, "Helltown Chronicles," has been
accepted for publication by Eternal Press.

Fiction By Allison Whittenberg: "Ride the Peter Pan"

Allison Whittenberg is a poet and novelist (LIFE IS FINE, SWEET THANG, HOLLYWOOD AND MAINE all from Random House). She lives in Philadelphia.

Indiana Voice Journal June 2015 Issue #11

NATURAL FORCE CREW, MILAN, ITALY. PHOTO COURTESY OF JAMES LAWLESS.

Happy Father's Day this month to all you incredible guys out there. Whether you've helped birth a child, a story, an idea, or a poem...you are a Papa. In this issue we're thrilled to be dancing in the streets of Milan with James Lawless aka"Teach" and the B-Boy's Natural Force and Open Road Crews. If that doesn't get your adrenaline flowing, fly on over to BB Riefner's multi-generational poem Circus Song and catch a view from the high-wire, or slow dance with Sheehan as he honors the muse in A Salutation to Saugus, Embassy of the Second Muse. In a more thoughtful, or reflective mood? Visit a Japanese restaurant with poet John Grey as he shows us This Is How Exactly, or ponder The Holiness of Minute Particulars with author James Owens. Want to explore some weightier matters? DB Cox wonders about Treyvon Who?, and Raymond Greiner reminds us why Falling Back To Butterflies is necessary. Need a little romance? Check out Decker by A.D. Ellis, Leaf In The Wind by Charles E.J. Moulton, and the romantically humorous Freddie by Steve Slavin in The Wedding Date. Okay, I could go on and on about all the great stuff in this issue, but I'll stop here. Enjoy the read!
~Janine Pickett

POETRY

Two Poems By DB Cox: Before Nightfall

A Poem By Jonathan Dick: Renting The Moon

Three Poems By Dorian Dyler: And I Became

Three Poems By Dallas Gorbett: In Another World

Three Poems By John Grey: Sunset, Santa Cruz County

Three Poems By Lewis R. Humphries: Kindling

Three Poems By Steven Jacobson: Kitty-Kat

Two Poems By Richard Kostelanetz: Mirror Stories

Three Poems By Milton Montague: Gift

Three Poems By JoyAnne O'Donnell: Springs Window

Three Poems By James Owens: Broken

Three Poems By BB Riefner: Circus Song

Four Poems By G. David Schwartz: I Knew A Girl Named Martha

Three Poems By Tom Sheehan: For One Woman Raised on High (haibun) (or Love behind the Door)

A Poem By Jorge Vazquez Jr: We Are Defined By Our Shadows

Three Poems By Dr. Mel Waldman: My Father, Tell Me about the Afterlife

CNF/ESSAYS

Essay By Raymond Greiner: Falling Back To Butterflies

Essay By James Lawless: B-Boys In Milan, Italy

Essay By Tom Sheehan: A Salutation to Saugus, Embassy of the 2nd Muse

Essay By Kathryn Streeter: What Shakespeare Taught Me About Family

FICTION

A Novel Excerpt by A.D. Ellis: Decker

Fiction By Liz Flaherty: Roll Back The Clouds

Fiction By Jason Constantine Ford: A Choice Between Two Rivals

Fiction By Sharon R. Hill: Life in Silhouette

Flash Fiction By Belinda Hubert: Paul

Fiction By Jim Kjeldsen: The Giant Gila Monster

Fiction By Alex Mantel: An Apologia For Boarding School

Fiction By Charles E.J. Moulton: Leaf In The Wind

Fiction By Sunil Kumar Poudyal: Hardship

Fiction By BB Riefner: A Brush With Reality In The Key Of B-Flat Minor

Fiction By Barbara Kinsey Sable: He Made Me Laugh

Fiction By Steve Slavin: The Wedding Date

Two Poems By DB Cox: Before Nightfall

Jonathan Dick is a 21 year old human being from Toronto, Canada. He is graduating this year from Huron University College with a major in English Language and Literature. In the summer, Jonathan will be traveling with his beautiful girlfriend across Europe, as they dream the dreams they had forgotten. Twitter: @jjdickyboy

Three Poems By Dorian Dyler: And I Became

Three By Italian Poet, Dorian Dyler

And I Became, I'll Have Breakfast, and Shooting Stars

Dallas's short fiction "Flittery" appeared in the Nov. 2014 edition of Indiana Voice Journal. He also had three short stories appear in a local anthology, Stories and Poems of the OLLI Writers. Although he currently lives in Mississippi, he feels his Hoosier sense of humor comes out in his poetry.

Three Poems By John Grey: Sunset, Santa Cruz County

John Grey is an Australian poet, US resident. Recently published in New Plains Review, Mudfish and Spindrift with work upcoming in South Carolina Review, Gargoyle, Sanskrit and Louisiana Literature.

Three Poems By Lewis R. Humphries: Kindling

Lewis is a professional writer and blogger based in Birmingham, UK. He also has a passion for creative writing, and has featured in magazines throughout the UK, U.S. and Oceania.

KINDLING

Ribbons of sallow light,

they stream from single bulb heads,

and gild the hour

of 3 am.

His fragmentary masterpiece,

due homage to her remembrance,

now tendered by

the sleight of hand.

Steven Jacobson was born and raised in the Midwest. He has attended multiple classes from the Loft Literary Center, promoting all levels of creative writing. His goal is to write a second book, the first book called “Spiritual Gait” was published in 2014.

Two Poems By Richard Kostelanetz: Mirror Stories

Individual entries on Richard Kostelanetz’s work appear in various editions of Readers Guide to Twentieth-Century Writers, Merriam-Webster Encyclopedia of Literature, Contemporary Poets, Contemporary Novelists, Postmodern Fiction, Webster's Dictionary of American Writers, Baker's Biographical Dictionary of Musicians, Directory of American Scholars, Who's Who in America, NNDB.com, Wikipedia.com, and Britannica.com, among other distinguished directories. http://richardkostelanetz.com

His eBooks are available on Kindle -- http://amzn.to/udj8TI

Three Poems By Milton Montague: Gift

milt montague, born in new york in 1924, survived Great Depression, school, world war 2. fell in love, married, raised three wonderful daughters, retired. back at college poetry was his new love. recently 33 of his poems were published by 12 different magazines.

JoyAnne O'Donnell is a poet living in Maryland. She enjoys mountain hiking, swimming. The scenery of nature inspires her poetry.

James Owens lives in Wabash, Indiana. Two books of his poems have been published: An Hour is the Doorway (Black Lawrence Press) and Frost Lights a Thin Flame (Mayapple Press). His poems, stories, translations, and photographs appear widely in literary journals, including recent or upcoming publications in Superstition Review, Valparaiso Poetry Review, The Cresset, Poetry Ireland Review, and The Stinging Fly.

B. B. Riefner wrote with chalk on blackboards; then, with a 1918 typewriter on tailgates and picnic tables in South America, Europe and Africa. Today he and his wife live near Washington D.C. with a canine muse and a computer which must be fed daily.

www.bbriefner.com

www.travelswiththebear.blogspot.com

Four Poems By G. David Schwarz: I Knew A Girl Named Martha

G. David Schwarz - the former president of Seedhouse, the online interfaith committee. Schwartz is the author of A Jewish Appraisal of Dialogue and Midrash and Working Out Of The Book Currently a volunteer at the Cincinnati J Meals on Wheels, Schwarz continues to write.

His latest book is Shards And Verse (2011, Publish America).

Names are not real people

Sheehan has 28 Pushcart nominations. In the Garden of Long Shadows and The Nations (Native American fiction collection), were recently published by Pocol Press with solid reviews (see Serving House Journal.) Now in the Pocol production cycle are Where Skies Grow Wide, Cross Trails, Between Mountain and River and The Cowboys, the last five titles from Pocol Press are all western short story collections. In addition, a new collection, Sons of Guns, Inc. was just released (print and eBook) by Nazar Look Books in Romania and is on Amazon.

A Poem By Jorge Vazquez Jr: We Are Defined By Our Shadows

I'm a Mexican American amateur writer/poet with the dream of being professionally published. I come from the small town of Whiting, IN in between Chicago, IL and Gary, IN. Through the help of my high school librarian, Jean Lovasko, I have been published by small publishers and I have received an honorable mention award for the Art & Writing contest of the 2013 year. Even if I never become as well known as J.K. Rowling, Stephen King, or George R.R. Martin, I plan on writing for as long as I can. ~Jorge Vazquez Jr.

Three Poems By Dr. Mel Waldman: My Father, Tell Me about the Afterlife

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.

CNF By James Lawless: B-Boys In Milan, Italy

James Lawless, a north American English teacher, is a former co-editor of an underground college newspaper, a history graduate from a foreign university and a published author. He's currently living near Milan Italy.

"TOPROCK"

B-BOYS IN MILAN ITALY
By James Lawless

MAKE US HAPPY

Breakers in Italy, like breakers all over the world, don't want to be called break dancers. "That's a media term; we're B-boys!," A breaker told me in the street near Duomo Square in Milan.

Kathryn Streeter’s writing has appeared in publications including Mamalode, BLUNTmoms, elephant journal and CSMonitor. The Briar Cliff Review, Volume 26 includes Streeter’s essay, a finalist in their Creative Nonfiction Contest. Connect with Kathryn on her website or on Twitter @streeterkathryn.

In January, our family left our charming Mass Ave condo in Indianapolis and now reside in Austin, Texas.

About the Author

A.D. Ellis is the author of A Torey Hope Novel Series and a new series titled Torey Hope: The Later Years. Her 2014 debut novel, For Nicky, was voted #3 of the Top 50 Indie Books of 2014 by ReadFree.ly readers/voters. She is a member of the Romance Writers of America and the Indiana Romance Writers of America.

Fiction By Liz Flaherty: Roll Back The Clouds

About The Author

I'm Liz Flaherty. I live in the cornfields of Indiana with my husband of—gasp—40 years and I write romance. The genre has changed over the years, as I have, and my writing feels more like Women's Fiction to me than straight romance, but the truth is I always have a heroine, a hero, and a happy ending. When I'm not writing, I sew, making quilts for my grandkids, the Magnificent Seven.

Liz is a multi-published author with Harlequin, The Wild

Rose Press and Carina Press.

Visit Liz on the web here.

Check out Liz's books here.

Jason Constantine Ford is from Perth in W.A, Australia. He works at a book shop and has over ninety publications of poetry and fiction in various literary magazine, ezines and journals from around the world. Edgar Alan Poe and William Blake are his main influences.

Fiction By Sharon R. Hill: Life in Silhouette

Life in Silhouette

"You'll never amount to anything anyway." her father told Patsy when she was just six years old. She’d been told he was drunk, but she was too young to understand what that meant. Patsy regretted allowing herself to be noticed by him and yearned to instantly return to her solitary life as a shadow, or a mere silhouette, in the life of her father, Max Willett. Her pint-sized physical frame absorbed the callous delivery of each word and the intended fear and shame.

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