As If the World Might Hold Another by Allison Adair
“We approach
middle age as undiscovered country when
really it’s the same old alley, the bowling pin
that wobbles like a drunk but won’t go down.”
Toward Evening, Teton River by B.J. Buckley
“Polyglot wind: her too many voices,
her tangled tongues,
all of them sharp.”
Lake Macbride by Kathleen Maris Paltrineri
“In quietude I feel I am everywhere at once—my own body rehearsing its wintering act, too. I look up from the table to the far side of the lake to see a buck limping, his hind legs sixteenth-notes in the dry leaves. From far off, a shot sounds like an encyclopedia falling to a wooden floor and like the echo of its striking.”
I don’t know what to do for my own sons by Jessica Pierce
“One of my first shifts in the ER, I looked down the throat
of a young boy and saw a nail. The boy smiled. He coughed.
The nail quivered.”
Your Body, Still Your Body by Donna Prinzmetal
“It’s too good to last, this early sunshine in April,
this smell-of-cut-grass morning
and this body, with its mirage of infinite breaths,
its lie of immortality.”
My Mother Says She Won’t Outlive the Dog by Rebecca Brock
“My own heartbeat
neither wants or doesn’t want to live.
It just does.”
Passage by thandiwe Dee Watts-Jones
“It’s official: dementia and medication. Not unexpected. But getting the ICD code is like being pinned. Mom does not protest.
The transitions before me are not unique, I know. Yet the fact that they’re universal and part of life matters as much to me as cocktail party chitchat.
What I treasure are tiny pearls that appear in mundane surroundings, a particular moment between particular people.”
toward the south, past st ives by Livia Meneghin
“past weatherworn bluffs and farther than any bird known, the swift sleeps on the wing, leaving grief behind“ Enjoy this audio recording of “toward the south, past st ives” by Livia Meneghin from Vol. 32:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Livia Meneghin is a current MFA candidate and writing instructor at Emerson College. She
I Tell My Dying Cat Stories About His Food by Kristine Nowak
“He half-licks at the food, turns away, or shifts, licks at himself and tears out patches of gray fur. This food was living light, green where it drank from the sunlight.” Enjoy this audio recording of “I Tell My Dying Cat Stories About his Food” by Kristine Nowak from Vol. 32:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the
La Femme by Nicole Miyashiro
“They tried to scratch off the paint. A portrait. They tried to scratch. A woman. The paint. A woman with a long face.” This audio recording of “La Femme” by Nicole Miyashiro from Vol. 32:1 of CALYX Journal was inspired by Diane Samuels’ art piece, “Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas/Testimony Against Gertrude Stein”, 2011 (ink
Soapstone by Courtney Huse-Wika
“We didn’t hear what she couldn’t say because the prairie stitches women’s mouths shut.” Enjoy this audio recording of “Soapstone” by Courtney Huse-Wika from Vol. 31:3 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Courtney Huse-Wika teaches writing in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She believes in the art of collection: overheard quotes, bird facts, forgotten stories,
Decisions by Livia Meneghin
“consider the (curious)(strained) way she admires the hummingbirds (hovering)(swirling) above her head, and the air now saturated with (teargas)(sun)(clementines)“ Enjoy this audio recording of “Decisions” by Livia Meneghin from Vol. 32:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Livia Meneghin is a current MFA candidate and writing instructor at Emerson College. She is the author of
What I Mean by “I Love You. Goodbye.” by Kristine Nowak
“When I imagine a life after this one, I imagine a field. And in this field, there are people running toward each other, delighted to be able to.“ Enjoy this audio recording of “What I Mean by ‘I Love You. Goodbye.’” by Kristine Nowak from Vol. 32:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Kristine Nowak
Absentee Ballot by Willa Schneberg
“You are tired of pretending to be the authority on democracy when you believe all governments stink, some just smell more rank than others. As you sing the praises of the secret ballot, you pray that no one will step on newly laid land mines walking to the polling site.“ Enjoy this audio recording of
Rings of Pink, Enheduanna by Nicole Miyashiro
“revolve this landscape encased by pulverized petals the stories round the wood in areola waves” This audio recording of “Rings of Pink, Enheduanna” by Nicole Miyashiro from Vol. 32:1 of CALYX Journal was inspired by Diane Samuels’ art piece, “Autobiography of Alice B. Toklas/Testimony Against Gertrude Stein”, 2011 (ink on handmade paper, coated in pulverized
Aubade with Hot Cross Buns by Siobhan Mulligan
“Unasked, she doesn’t think to pray. Half a bun is gone before she makes time, not for a holy act, but an attentive one, attuned to the soft chew of raisins on molars” Enjoy this audio recording of “Aubade with Hot Cross Buns” by Siobhan Mulligan from Vol. 32:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here.
Just Nerves by Caroline M. Grant
“The dentist reassures me that my tongue looks fine, that the sensation I feel of its edge fraying against my teeth is “just nerves.” He assures me that it won’t choke off my breathing. Mostly he has answered “I don’t know” to my questions, but I trust this (I don’t have much choice.) The pain
The Why Nots and The Whys by Marcie Roman
Enjoy this audio recording of “The Why Nots and The Whys” by Marcie Roman from Vol. 31:3 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Marcie Roman lives in Evanston, IL. Her stories have been published in Split Lip Magazine, Black Fox, The Gravity of the Thing, and Blotterature. Her collection, Residential Units, was a finalist in the 2019 Autumn House Press fiction
Facedown by Sherri Levine
Enjoy this audio recording of “Facedown” by Sherri Levine from Vol. 31:3 of CALYX Journal! “Facedown” was the winner of the 2019 Lois Cranston Memorial Poetry Prize. Read the full poem here and buy the issue here. Sherri Levine is a poet and teacher. She lives in Portland, OR, where she teaches English to immigrants
Sausage by Ilene Rudman
Enjoy this audio recording of “Sausage” by Ilene Rudman from Vol. 31:3 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Ilene Rudman is a psychotherapist and career counselor living in Maynard, MA. Her work and poems focus on remembering, nourishing silence, and naming the unnamable. For fifteen years she has been in a weekly poetry master class
The Rape of the Sabine Women by Judith Sanders
Enjoy this audio recording of “The Rape of the Sabine Women” by Judith Sanders from Vol. 31:3 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Judith Sanders’ work has been published in journals such as The American Scholar and on the website Full Grown People. She won the Hart Crane Poetry Prize and Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Prize. Her manuscript, The Universe
Isako Isako Review by Katharine Coldiron
Enjoy this audio recording of a review of Mia Ayumi Malhotra’s book, Isako Isako, by Katharine Coldiron from Vol. 31:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Buy a copy of Isako Isako here. Katharine Coldiron’s work has been published in Ms., the Times Literary Supplement, BUST, the Rumpus, and elsewhere. She lives in
The Multiverse by Emma Bolden
Enjoy this audio recording of “The Multiverse” by Emma Bolden from Vol. 31:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Emma Bolden is the author of House Is an Enigma (Southeast Missouri State UP), medi(t)ations (Noctuary Press), and Maleficae (GenPop Books). The recipient of a 2017 NEA Fellowship in Poetry, her work has been published in
Reasons For & Against Dating Tyrannosaurus Rex by Emari DiGiorgio
Enjoy this audio recording of “Reasons for & Against Dating Tyrannosaurus Rex” by Emari DiGiorgio from issue 27:2 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. Emari DiGiorgio is the author of Girl Torpedo (Agape, 2018), the winner of the 2017 Numinous Orison, Luminous Origin Literary Award, and The Things a Body Might Become (Five Oaks Press, 2017). She’s
Aubade for Dreamland by July Westhale
Enjoy this audio recording of “Aubade for Dreamland” by July Westhale from Vol. 31:1 of CALYX Journal! Buy the full issue here. July Westhale is the award-winning author of Via Negativa, Trailer Trash, The Cavalcade, and Occasionally Accurate Science. Her most recent poetry can be found in The National Poetry Review, Prairie Schooner, and Quarterly West. Her essays have been nominated for Best American Essays.
“The Groves” by Sandell Morse
Sandell Morse’s work has appeared in Creative Nonfiction, Ploughshares, the New England Review, Fourth Genre and Ascent. She has won second place in the 2015 Tiferet nonfiction contest and has been named a finalist in the Orison Books Anthology 2015, nonfiction contest. “Hiding” is a notable essay of 2013, listed in Best American Essays, 2013.
“Fixing the Phoenix” by Rebecca Keller
Rebecca Keller is an artist and writer. She has published in New Fairy Tales, Calyx, Public Historian, “Crossing Lines”(MainStreet Rag Press), Alimentum, Great Lakes Review and other journals. “Excavating History” is her book of art and essays. Her awards include two Fulbrights, grants from the NEA and the Illinois Arts Council, the Jakobson Award from the
“To My Little Sister, Driving Drunk,” by Caitlin Scarano
This week we are excited to share Caitlin Scarano’s poem “To My Little Sister, Driving Drunk,” which was published in CALYX’s 27:3 issue. Caitlin Scarano is a poet in the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee PhD creative writing program. She was a finalist for the 2014 Best of the Net Anthology and the winner of the 2015 Indiana
“From White Space to Black Letter: Taking My Place in the Women’s Torah” by Ada Molinoff
This week we are pleased to have Ada Molinoff reading her short story “From White Space to Black Letter: Taking My Place in the Women’s Torah.” Ada Molinoff earned her MFA in nonfiction from Pacific University. Her poems have been published in literary journals, newspapers, and anthologies. This is her first published memoir piece, and
“Identity” by Airica Parker
Today Voices of CALYX is proud to bring you Airica Parker’s poem “Identity,” which appeared in Volume 28:3 of CALYX, available here. Airica Parker’s work appears most recently in Camas, Driftwood Press, CALYX, The Fiddlehead, and Lalitamba. The Poetry Foundation selected her as a 2011 finalist for a Ruth Lilly Fellowship. An accomplished performer, instructor, and
“Whitetail” by Abby Minor
CALYX is happy to showcase Abby Minor’s piece “Whitetail,” which was published in volume 28:2. Abby Minor has studied at Smith College, The Penland School of Crafts, and The Pennsylvania State University. Her book reviews and poems have appeared or are forthcoming in The Georgia Review, AGNI Online, Pleiades, and The Fourth River, among others. Also a visual artist,
“Free Range” by Kathleen Kelly
Happy Friday, CALYX-ers! We are already on to week two of Voices of CALYX, and today I’m excited to present Kathleen Kelly’s poem “Free Range,” which was published in Volume 28:1. A first-generation editor and poet, Kathleen A. Kelly’s poems and essays have been published in North American Review, PoemMemoirStory, Rain Taxi, CALYX, and Nimrod. She completed Ph.D. coursework in literature
“The Girl Who Flew” by Camellia Phillips
We’re proud to exhibit our first audio piece, written and recorded by Camellia Phillips. Camellia’s piece appears in Volume 27:3 of CALYX Journal. Camellia Phillips is a longtime grant writer with nonprofit organizations focused on social justice and civic engagement. In addition to CALYX Journal, her fiction has appeared in cream city review and her