Flight

April 2020 | Best of Net nominee, poetry

When I’d walked away

from my beloved house

the new owner called: to say

she’d found a ring

and a feather

stuck into the beam

above the bedroom:

had I forgotten?

 

She’d saved the ring

but she’d lost the feather

I told her to keep it the ring

part of the house

I had its mate

broken in three pieces

in a little tin box

one broken circle enough

 

I brought her a new feather

left it in her mailbox

a long brown feather with

a blue tip and white edges

I’d let her decide

the name of the bird

 

Kelley Jean White

Pediatrician Kelley White has worked in inner city Philadelphia and rural New Hampshire. Her poems have appeared in Exquisite Corpse, Rattle and JAMA. Her recent books are TOXIC ENVIRONMENT (Boston Poet Press) and TWO BIRDS IN FLAME (Beech River Books.) She received a 2008 Pennsylvania Council on the Arts grant.

Jupp Soetebier

April 2020 | visual art

I Almost Missed You #1

I Almost Missed You #3

I Almost Missed You #5

Jupp Soetebier

Raised in the American Midwest in what was once known as The German Triangle, Mr. Soetebier’s work explores what effect his Deutsch heritage, ancestral family, and the myths and traditions of his peoples have had on memory and the way he perceives and goes about the world. Mr. Soetebier received his Master of Fine Arts in Painting from the University of Florida in 1988 and taught drawing at the New World School of the Arts in Miami. He was an original member of the South Florida Art Center and later worked as a decorative painter in New York City and Los Angeles where he was also admitted into the Los Angeles Art Association. A frequent exhibitor at such events as The Other Art Fair by Saatchi, stARTup, and Conception; his work was recently included in the 79th Crocker Kingsley in Sacramento and a solo show at Acumen Gallery in Napa Valley. Jupp currently resides in Northern California with his wife and Leonberger dogs.

Chris Rainbow Buddha

April 2020 | fiction

Christian Cohen-Muhamed was the fruit of a union that celebrated diversity with some enthusiasm. He grew up in a dumpy, used-to-be kind of city, where the little kids at school called him “Chris”. Later, when a few of those kids paid a little attention to high school social studies, they called him “Rainbow”. In college, his frat brothers called him “Buddha”. They said it completed the cycle, but it was a double joke, because all those beery nights had made him newly plump and oddly peaceful.

Buddha’s dad ran a homeless shelter, and his mom worked for a nonprofit devoted to developing minority artists — preferably with an abstract bent, though that was only her personal crusade and not official policy. Worthiness having its price, the family had no money to keep their son in college past sophomore year. So, plumpness and peacefulness notwithstanding, Buddha joined Army ROTC to pay for college. Mom and dad were not thrilled, but they valued autonomy over autocracy and gave consent by silence.

During summer field training, his company fell out for a 12 mile forced march. The Drill Instructor, who wore a Ranger tab, had them chant Ranger marching songs to keep cadence. So there was Buddha, fast-timing through the Georgia woods, chanting with all the other summer warriors:

“Locked and loaded and ready to kill.

Always am and I always will.”

As the summer went on, Buddha got leaner and harder. In quiet moments, he began to feel a little strange to himself. His first major shift in self-image came the day he realized, after some training in combatives, that he had begun to look at everybody else as a target, automatically figuring angles of attack as they walked by. The second shift came when he scored “Expert” on the marksmanship test and the DI called him “Killer”.

Back at school in the fall, the whole frat heard the stories from another brother who’d been there. Buddha no longer looked like Buddha, nor did he still have that peaceful vibe. They kidded him that he needed a new name. They asked him to pick one, just so they could scrap his choice and pick something else to bug him.

He knew that “Buddha” was out and needed burying anyway. “Rainbow” was too gay to stay, even though it would be kind of backwards-cool. “Chris” reminded him too much of third grade. So, with wisdom born of Budweiser, he picked “Rambo”. One minute later, they’d scrapped “Rambo” and given him the handle that stuck for years. The day after graduation, after the commissioning ceremony, his peers toasted him by his new name: Second Lieutenant Christian (“Shiva”) Cohen-Mohamed, United States Army”.

 

Thomas Reed Willemain

Dr. Thomas Reed Willemain is a software entrepreneur, emeritus professor of statistics, and former intelligence officer. He holds degrees from Princeton University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His memoir, “Working on the Dark Side of the Moon: Life Inside the National Security Agency” was published in 2017. A native of western Massachusetts, he lives near the Mohawk River in upstate New York.

Heimweh* is more than a flesh wound

April 2020 | poetry

Geography is not important.

Everywhere

is the operative word.

 

Bared soul.

Barefoot.

Bare.

 

Tread carefully.

Mind your underbelly.

Be a turtle.

 

Carry the essence

in your hold-all.

No roots allowed

past the security check.

They can see with

their X-ray machines.

 

You carry

a sharp, merciless

switchblade

made of stainless

grief.

 

 

*’Heimweh’ is more than ‘Nostalgia’

 

Rose Mary Boehm

A German-born UK national, Rose Mary Boehm lives Lima, Peru. Author of one full-length poetry collection and two chapbooks, her work has been widely published in mostly US poetry journals. Her latest full-length poetry MS, ‘The Rain Girl’, has been accepted for publication in June 2020 by Blue Nib. Her poem, ‘Old Love’s Sonnet’, has been nominated for a Pushcart by Shark Reef Journal where it was published in the Summer of 2019.

Todd J. Donery

April 2020 | poetry

What You Find

What You Find

Todd J. Donery

Todd J. Donery is a Minneapolis based freelance photographer, photo assistant, camera operator, and stage hand. He earned his degree in photography and digital imaging at Minneapolis Community and Technical College. He has also attended Minneapolis College of Art and Design and studied film at Minneapolis Community College. Todd has had solo exhibits of his photography, and has also taken part in group exhibits. He has also had his work published in online journals and print publications. Todd has worked with musical acts to create album cover art, promo photos, event captures, and visuals for live performances. He likes to work with start-up businesses and small businesses photographing their products and personnel to help them build their presence and business. Todd also donates his time and talents to nonprofit organizations and fellow artists who are a tight budget, providing them with headshots, event photos, portfolio images, and original photographs for promotional use. Todd is a founding member of the Homewood Photo Collective. He manages the social media for the group and takes a key role in the production of group exhibits. Todd was also the Vice Chair of the Twin Cities Photography League. There he also manage the social media content, organized meetings with speakers, and played a key role in curating, promotion, and set-up of a group exhibit by the group.