We have officially reached the final day of 2021, and not a second too soon. What a tumultuous, unpredictable, often heartbreakingly infuriating year it’s been on so many fronts. Even so, WWS members continue to send out their work and publish in amazing places.
I’ve included an excerpt from published pieces (if available) or a blurb if the publication is a book, and a link (if available) to where the pieces can be purchased and/or read in their entirety.
Please join me in celebrating our members who published in December!
Congratulations to Romaine Washington, whose poem “Black And…” appeared in Sapphirehues.
Congrats also to Margo McCall, whose short story “Last Chance” appeared in Hypertext Magazine.
When Kayla closed her eyes, Jim’s propane tank exploded all over again, and when she opened them, the flames she’d driven through danced on Amber’s living room wall. Just a few days ago, she’d been living in the redwoods with Jim. Now she was crashing on her high school friend’s couch, the Santa Cruz Mountains—and probably Jim—turned to ash.
Kudos to Lois P. Jones, whose poem “HOUSEKEEPING: Frida’s Future Kiss” appeared in Plume.
After the palm reader told her no man would ever claim her, she asked to be claimed
by the white horse she dreamt of each evening. It always began with a nuzzle, a warm
breath, a kiss made of clouds that hovered and finally released its rain.
Congrats to Carla Rachel Sameth, whose poetry collection What is Left was published by dancing girl press & studio. Here’s an excerpt from the first poem in the collection, “Drive a Stake.”
Drive a Stake
into the art of lamenting.
Don’t wait for the virus to set in; a mere pause is like sharing
spit. Or like having your wallet stolen with all your kid’s pictures.
In addition, Carla’s poem “I am a woman of almost 62 years old” appeared in the anthology We Were Not Alone, published by Community Building Artworks.
Kudos to Ann Tweedy, whose poem “Intersection–Falcon Heights, Minnesota” appeared in Mobius: A Journal of Social Change.
In July 2016, St. Anthony, Minn., police officer Jeronimo Yanez fatally shot Philando Castile during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, a St. Paul suburb. The world watched the aftermath, live on Facebook. Yanez was charged in Castile’s death. Jurors found him not guilty on all charges on June 16, 2017.
–MPR News
i.
Larpenteur at Fry—9 blocks
west of my old bike route to work.
ii.
Late spring, summer, fall, pedaling for three years
on maple-lined streets. Stopping for little toys
in the road to bring home to my son.
The tiny plastic dalmatian puppy
covered in grime. At work, within a year
of getting the tenure-track job
I’d struggled for three years to get,
I was terrified of being laid off.
Kudos also to Elizabeth Galoozis, whose poems “Undercurrent” and “Quarantine Poem #5” appeared in Miniskirt Magazine. Here is an excerpt from “Undercurrent.”
Dim light, din
of voices.
One drink in,
you pinch my sleeve,
rub the fabric
between your fingers
and get a little skin,
a spark of pain
running down my spine
toward pleasure.
And here is an excerpt from Elizabeth’s poem “Quarantine Poem #5.”
On the mornings we’re both here and awake
I steam oat milk in your favorite mug.
Into it, I pour the pulled shots.
This is known as marking the foam.
A shout out to traci kato-kiriyama, whose collection of poetry and microessays Navigating With(out) Instruments was published by Writ Large Press. Says author Muriel Leung of the book,
“The elegy according to traci kato-kiriyama’s Navigating With(out) Instruments is a hybrid lament in which grief shapeshifts time after time. Each loss that unfolds in these pages cracks open my heart, and I know immediately that only someone who has examined every indelible texture of this ache can write with such sharp clarity. I am put back together by the tenderness with which kato-kiriyama weaves in the love of and for a partner, family, community, and larger vision for social change in between deep mourning, inspiring a world in which we too can become ‘impossible to kill.’ This book has become my poetic guidepost for survival. May it be for you too.”
Congratulations to Ashunda Norris, whose poems “the cop unions is the klan is terrorists i mean terrorism is rampant among the klan | elite of amerikkka & if you reading this poem title is the least of your worries” and “space program for niggas” appeared in Taint Taint Taint. Here’s an excerpt from “the cop unions…”
yo, since the po-lice love killing blck people when we rise up with our machetes
laced with lime juice our glocks clocked n ready our conjure ceremonies complete
what you gon do, pallid when you giving up a job you ain’t never shoulda had &
naming your lame streets black lives matter & making weepy weak apologies on
twitter won’t do. why even bother caring bout this country. amiri was right, some
body gon blow up amerikkka. burn it all down starting with sterling cooper draper
pryce & they lil’ friends’ companies. the future is blck.
Please click here and scroll down to view Ashunda’s erasure poem “space program for niggas.”
Congratulations to Tanya Ko Hong, whose interview “The War Still Within: Seeking Justice with Tanya Ko Hong” appeared on Robust American Love from the Walt Whitman Initiative.
In addition, Tanya’s poem “Bleeding Heart Flower” was published by Poetry Bay.
Smell of incense
under the spring sun
buds blossom
I can’t even open the kimbap lunch box
Headed to a country where no address can be found
leaving my children behind
Life is dots of mystery
everything stops
Congrats to Bonnie S. Kaplan, whose poem “Hello 1919” appeared in Room Magazine.
Congratulations to S. Pearl Sharp, whose essay “The Angel Hug” appeared in Killens Review of Arts & Letters.
Kudos to Karin Aurino, whose poem “Topics Over Time With You” appeared in Red Rock Review. In addition, Karin’s poem “Your Name Is Second Wife” appeared in Constellations.
A shout out to Daria E. Topousis, whose article “Redlining in Altadena” appeared in The Echo.
In March of 1940, a man named Thomas Kido wrote to the Altadena Chamber of Commerce. “Assuming there are no racial restrictions (Japanese) in Altadena,” he wrote, “I would like to have some information concerning the prospects ofmy building a home in your city.”
His price range was $6,000 to $10,000. This was well within range of property in the area; homes east of Lake Avenue were valued anywhere from $5,500 to $8,500 in that year. The chamber sent a response a few days later. It said, “I regret to inform you that Altadena has enforced the racial restrictions which you mention.”