Eminence

The land in Nevada seems barren

like evil witch skin until you get

a better view. Start with a

 

close-up of crater valley, five shades

of brown, the ochre lip of serious

plummage, cracked ridge,

 

circular but not perfectly so, its irregular

features staring up at feathery wisps

of malnourished clouds.

 

Something as forceful as god rearranged

what once was, what once lay dormant,

dehydrated rivers, quivering

 

with geologic memories, nothingness pre-

served, dead sea, land succession bolted,

flat-lined except for mountain

 

ridges, curved, curling up toward bleak sky.

Ancient birds, vectors of pestilence, rise

from pink ash beds, illuminating

 

the very place I stand. I reach out, I reach

up, grasping at history’s breath, pulling it

in on top of me, seeking resurrection

 

of soul, spirit, body; acknowledging

the eminent passing of all that I am

into the hot mouth of time.

 

John Dorroh

Whether John Dorroh taught any secondary science is still being discussed. He did manage, however, to show up at 6:45 every morning with at least three lesson plans and a thermos of robust Colombian. His poetry has appeared in about 80-85 journals, including Dime Show Review, North Dakota Quarterly, Os Pressan, Feral, Selcouth Station, and Red Dirt Forum/Press. He also writes short fiction and the occasional rant.

Jim Ross

Remembering the Third Man

Preparing for the Dance

Jim Ross

Jim Ross jumped into creative pursuits in 2015 after leaving a rewarding career in public health research. With a graduate degree from Howard University, since retiring he’s published nonfiction, poetry, and photography in nearly 150 journals and anthologies on four continents. Publications include 580 Split, Bombay Gin, Columbia Journal, Ilanot Review, Lunch Ticket, The Atlantic, The Manchester Review, and Typehouse, with Hippocampus forthcoming. Recent photo essays include Barren, Kestrel, Litro, New World Writing, So It Goes, and Wordpeace. A nonfiction piece led to a role in a documentary limited series. Jim and his wife—parents of two health professionals on the front line and grandparents of five preschoolers—split their time between city and mountains.

Jean Wolff

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Jean Wolff

Jean Wolff has had group and solo exhibits in various galleries in New York City and internationally. In addition, she has published 108 works in 69 issues of 47 different magazines. Born in Detroit, Michigan, she studied fine arts at the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, receiving a BFA in studio arts. She then attended Hunter College, CUNY in New York, graduating with an MFA in painting and printmaking. She is now part of the artistic community of Westbeth in Manhattan.

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