Laura Zucca-Scott’s most recent poem to appear here was A Time of War (July 2012). On a Southbound TrainBy Laura Zucca-Scott It felt goodRiding on a southbound trainListening to old tunesPlaying close to the heartIgniting the mind Italian sunScorching through the grimy glassBlinding a soulToo tired to thinkOf all that had beenOf all that will be It […]

Marc Carver’s most recent poem to appear here was Cat (September 2012). The CaretakerBy Marc Carver Pinter talks to me from the grave.Now i understand why i could not shake off those words.Whatever i did, they stayed. Millions of people have heard those wordsand they meant nothing to them.They mean everything to me.Five years is all it […]

Jeff Burt’s poem Whisks and Sticks appeared here in September 2012. Backyard ImprovementsBy Jeff Burt Should we have a rain gaugeso that it can tell us when to worry?So that it can tell us when the soil is shiftingand the roots uprootingand the worms are clamoring for air? Should we add a sundialwith an old Roman faceto […]

This selection is from Jenny Morse’s poem “Speaking to You,” in which the speaker addresses a beloved in order to face the frustrations and challenges the speaker feels and deals with as the beloved dies or as the speaker contemplates the beloved’s death. These sections move through the scenes of identification, guilt, anger, awareness, bargaining, […]

Emily Bertholf earned her BA in English Literature Arts from the University of Iowa in 2005. Her fiction and poetry have appeared in print and online publications such as Litsnack, Postcard Shorts, 6S, and Lyrical Iowa. She lives in Milwaukee with her husband, 3 children, and an 8-year-old pug. Hero SongBy Emily Bertholf This page, fresh canvas invadedby black […]