1 EDITOR IN CHIEF: PAMELA USCHUK FICTION EDITOR: WILLIAM LUVAAS ASSISTANT FICTION EDITOR: JULIE JACOBSON GUEST POETRY EDITOR: LESLIE CONTRERAS SCHWARTZ POETRY EDITOR: HOWIE FAERSTEIN POETRY EDITOR: TERI HAIRSTON POETRY EDITOR: MARK LEE POETRY EDITOR: WILIAM PITT ROOT MANAGING EDITOR: ANDREW ALLPORT DESIGN EDITOR: ALEXANDRA COGSWELL CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Sandra Alcosser, Charles Baxter, Frank Bergon, Janet Burroway, Robert Olen Butler, Ram Devineni, Joy Harjo, Richard Jackson, Marilyn Kallet, Zelda Lockhart, Demetria Martinez, John McNally, Dennis Sampson, Rebecca Seiferle, Luis Alberto Urrea, Lyrae van Clief, and Patricia Jabbeh Wesley. Jane Mead, Rick DeMarinis, Penelope Niven, and Red Bird, in memorium. Send submissions, subscription payments and inquiries to CUTTHROAT, A JOURNAL OF THE ARTS, 5401 N Cresta Loma Drive, Tucson, AZ 85704. ph: 970-903-7914 email: [email protected] Make checks payable to Cutthroat, A Journal of the Arts Subscriptions are $25 per two issues or $15 for a single issue. We are self-funded so all Donations gratefully accepted. Copyright@2021 CUTTHROAT, A Journal Of The Arts 2 CUTTHROAT THANKS WEBSITE DESIGN: LAURA PRENDERGAST PAMELA USCHUK COVER LAYOUT: PAMELA USCHUK MAGAZINE LAYOUT: PAMELA USCHUK LOGO DESIGN: LYNN MCFADDEN WATT FRONT COVER ART: ALBERT KOGEL “PESCADOS,” acrylic on canvas INSIDE ART: JACQUELINE JOHNSON, quilts JERRY GATES, oil pastels on paper RON FUNDINGSLAND, prints on paper AND THANK YOU TO: Andrew Allport, Howie Faerstein, CM Fhurman, Teri Hairston, Richard Jackson, Julie Jacobson, Marilyn Kallet, Tim Rien, William Pitt Root, Pamela Uschuk and Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, for serving as readers for our literary contests. To our final contest judges: Kimberley Blaeser, Poetry; Amina Gautier, Short Story; Fenton Johnson, Nonfiction. To Mark Lee and William Pitt Root for proofreading this issue. Special thank you to Patsy Asuncion, Wendy Barker, Alison Deming, CM Fuhrman, Ron and Jean Fundingsland, Olivia Garza, Dagoberto Gilb, Louise Greenfield, Richard and Gay Grossman, Rusty Harris, Hedy Habra, Cynthia Hogue, T.R. Hummer, Richard Jackson, Fenton Johnson, Diana Kostelecky, Kathryn Levy, Charlotte Lowe, Jesse Maloney, Arnold Nelson, M.D., Connie Post, David Ryan, Amy Sayers, Anne Tereshima, Karen Terrey, Carmen Tafolla, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, and Debra Zeeb, who donated to our GoFundMe project to help fund Cutthroat, A Journal of the Arts. We also thank our subscribers around the world. 3 CONGRATULATIONS TO THE WINNERS OF OUR 2020 WRITING CONTESTS! Final Judges: Kimberley Blaeser, Joy Harjo Poetry Prize Amina Gautier, Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize Fenton Johnson, Barry Lopez Nonfiction Prize FIRST PRIZES, $1200 plus publication “The Way Things Are Going in Liberty, Utah,” by Sunni Wilkinson of Ogden, Utah, Joy Harjo Poetry Prize “Speak to me of Love” by Linda Lucero of San Francisco, California, Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize “Legally Speaking, Rats Aren’t Even Animals” by Timothy DeLizza of Baltimore, Maryland, Barry Lopez Nonfiction Prize SECOND PRIZES, $250 plus publication “Fire Season with Rolling Blackouts at the Bodega Bar & Grill” by Susan Cohen of Berkeley, California, Joy Harjo Poetry Prize “We Threw Them Away” by Ruby Murray of Cathlamet, Washington, Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize “Last Sweat” by Richard Hague of Cincinnati, Ohio, Barry Lopez Nonfiction Prize HONORABLE MENTIONS, publication “Before The Mother” by Jed Myers of Seattle, Washington, Joy Harjo Poetry Prize No Honorable Mention was given for the 2020 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Prize “A Moment to Breathe” by K. Ka'imilani of Hilo Hawaii and “The Moral Imperative to Regenerate American Communities—Marlon Foster” by Stephen Erickson of Culver City, California, Barry Lopez Nonfiction Prize 4 FINALISTS 2020 Joy Harjo Poetry Prize “The Devil Is Beating His Wife,” Matt Hohner, Baltimore, MD “Kapok Tree: An Abecedarian Ghazal,” Jen Karetnick, El Portal, FL “Bohemian Rhapsody,” AE Hines, Portland, OR “This Morning After The Riots,” AE Hines, Portland, OR “Triptych for an Artist,” Terry Blackhawk, Hamden, CT “Heaven,” Tina Carlson, Santa Fe, NM “Suddenly Winter,” Sheree La Puma, Valencia, CA “Distance,” Marcia Hurlow, Olathe, KS “Teaching High School in the Bronx During Covid 19,” Colton Green, Bronx, NY “Prayer to the Lake Christine Fire,” Kelly Slivka, Corvallis, OR “My Husband Says the Last Mouse is the Lucky Mouse,” Andrea England, Kalamazoo, MI “The Wandering,” Connie Post, Livermore, CA “Nightmare Woman,” Robin Scofield, El Paso, TX “Tommy,” Matthew J. Spireng, Kingston, NY “Coyote On The Side Of The Golden State Freeway,” L.A. Johnson, Santa Monica, CA “Soldierettes In Our Parents,” Barb Reynolds, Oakland, CA “Recall the Hawk,” Michael Scheiwe, Marquette, MI “Taxonomy,” Kathleen Tibbets, Arlington, Mass “Rules When Setting a Scene,” Jonathan Greenhause, Jersey City, NJ “In Times Like These,” Tim Raphael, Dixon, NM “Sticks and Stones,” Clare Chu, Palm Springs, CA “Mexi-Poet in College en América,” Manuel Calvillo de la Garza, Ithaca, NY “Harjwi’s Sequence,” Gillian Joseph, Charlotte, NC FINALISTS 2020 RICK DEMARINIS SHORT STORY PRIZE “The Letter ‘H,’” John Sheirer, Florence, Mass “Lucien’s,” Clayton Vermuin, Everett, WA FINALISTS 2020 BARRY LOPEZ NONFICTION PRIZE “Confessions of an Amateur Ghost Hunter,” Ashley Memory, Asheboro, NC “Date with a Coyote,” Whitney Vale, Louisville, KY “Make Good Choices,” Elizabeth Tucker, Truckee, CA “The Robbery,” Sue William Silverman, Grand Haven, MI “You Can’t Live Your Life In A Box,” Anne Gudger, Banks, OR “The Blues,” Tammy Delatorre, Torrance, CA 5 2021 JOY HARJO POETRY PRIZE BARRY LOPEZ NONFICTION PRIZE RICK DEMARINIS SHORT STORY PRIZE $1500 1st PRIZE, $300 2nd PRIZE, Honorable Mention JUDGES PATRICIA JABBEH WESLEY, POETRY JENN GIVHAN, SHORT STORY J. DREW LANHAM, NONFICTION GUIDELINES: Go to www.cutthroatmag.com and submit poems and stories through our online submission manager. Submit up to 3 poems (100 line limit/ one poem per page) or one short story or one creative nonfiction piece (5000 word limit/double spaced) in 12 point font. NO AUTHOR NAME ALLOWED ON ANY MS. There is a $23 nonrefundable entry fee per submission. READING PERIOD: August 31, 2021- November 1, 2021. UNPUBLISHED WORK ONLY! No work that has already won a prize is eligible. No former CUTTHROAT prize-winning author may enter the contest he/or she has previously won. Enter as often as you wish. Multiple submissions okay, but we must be informed immediately of acceptances elsewhere. Finalists considered for publication. Winners published in CUTTHROAT and announced on our website, in POETS & WRITERS and winningwriters.com No relatives of or staff members of CUTTHROAT nor close friends, relatives and no students of judges are eligible to enter our contests. See www.cutthroatmag.com for more information. WE RECOMMEND YOU READ A COPY OF CUTTHROAT BEFORE ENTERING OUR CONTESTS. 6 WILLIAM YELLOW ROBE, February 3, 1960-July 19, 2021 WE DEDICATE THIS 15TH ANNIVERSARY ISSUE TO WILLIAM YELLOWROBE, PLAYWRIGHT AND POET, ENROLLED MEMBER OF THE BLACKFEET NATION WHO PASSED OUT OF THIS WORLD IN JULY 2021. BILL’S POEM, “BREATHE DEEPER,” WAS FEATURED IN TRUTH TO POWER: WRITERS RESPOND TO THE RHETORIC OF HATE AND FEAR. WE DEEPLY MISS HIM. 7 BREATHE DEEPER William Yellow Robe Just but a moment, brother, sister, a moment, a small breath, less than a splinter of a fear, less than a moment of hate, that breath, that courage, rushing into you, feel it, enjoy it, now, breathe deeper, slowly, not out of panic, but with the motion, of a mother, your eyes dropping fear from you in tears, clearing and seeing truth, the reality that is yours, the reality you can change, discard the hate and fear others refuse to own, replace it with this breath, your own heart beat, and begin, change is not an end, but a moment, to create life, create yours… 8 CONTENTS JOY HARJO POETRY CONTEST WINNERS: First Place: “The Way Things Are Going In Liberty, Utah,” Sunni Wilkinson 11 Second Place: “Fire Season with Rolling Blackouts at the Bodega Bar & Grill,” Susan Cohen 14 Honorable Mention: “Before Your Mother,” Jed Myers 15 “Rabbit Invents The Saxophone,” Joy Harjo 16 GUEST POETRY EDITOR, LESLIE CONTRERAS SCHWARTZ POETRY SELECTIONS “When Gods Eat Planets,” Martin Arnold 20 “Love Like a Sledgehammer/Love Like a No Passing Sign,” Martin Arnold 21 “They Could Be Clouds,” Martin Arnold 23 “Southern Cross, Thirty Feet High,” Junious Ward 24 “red dirt.ancient,” Natasha Carrizosa 25 “Butterflies on the Floor,” Cassie Premo Steele 27 “Tripping Over a Stone,” Cassie Premo Steele 28 “Dandelion Wine,” Daria Ilgova 29 “Origami,” Daria Ilgova 30 “And Now, I Tip My Hat To You,” Melinda Ruth 31 “Audbade to Missing Mothers,” Leslie Contreras Schwartz 32 “Fire Surge,” Oil Pastel, Jerry Gates 34 POETRY “Report from an Island,” Carolyn Forché 35 “Dead Letter,” Kimberley Blaeser 37 “Another Poem in Which I Watch,” Kimberley Blaeser 39 “My America,” Diana Kostelecky 41 “My Husband Says the Last Mouse is the Lucky Mouse,” Andrea England 42 “In The Cemetery,” Edward Vidaurre 43 “Essence,” Kai Coggin 44 “Letters to My Sister,” Ann Fisher-Wirth 45 “66 children,” Naomi Shihab Nye 47 “Letter to My Father,” Martín Espada 49 “Smell of Soil,” Luis Alberto Urrea 51 “Grievance,” Gregg Hurwitz 52 “Poem For My Unborn Child,” Jamie Ross 53 “Estrella Blanca,” Jamie Ross 56 “Eyes of the Leper,” Jesse Tisinjinnie Maloney 57 9 “Buried Treasure,” Harry Gordon 59 “Basic Training,” Harry Gordon 61 “Badwater,” Harry Gordon 62 “Blessed Are The Peacemakers,” Jacqueline Johnson, Quilt 63 SPECIAL FEATURE: POEMS FROM YOUNG LIBERIAN POETS MENTORED BY PATRICIA JABBEH WESLEY 65 “botheration as a Poem,” Alexandra Tetee Bonar 66 “Endless Odyssey,” Sunny Eddie Crawford 67 “Song for Ducor,” Edward Boateng 68 “I Do Not Know How To Write Metaphors That Don’t Carry Blood,” Ayouba Toure 69 “I Come From a Country That Eats Its Young,” Patricia Jabbeh Wesley 70 “The Dancers,” Jacqueline Johnson, Quilt 71 POETRY “Gun Song O,” Petra Kuppers 72 “Gun Song K, Kaddish,” Petra Kuppers 73 “Terra Rocks,” Marie James-Thiaw 74 “Horses and Sons,” Kurt Trzcinski 75 “Of paradise—language could not take you there,” Jennifer Foerster 76 “Sublingual camouflaged lanterns,” Jennifer Foerster 77 “The lightness of it.