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MUS MUSE IS THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY THE LIT WORDS+IMAGES PREMIER ISSUE ISSUE01.08 MUSE MUSE IS THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY THE LIT JUDITH MANSOUR-THOMAS Editor Muse – (myooz), noun; Classical Mythology. 1. any of a number of sister goddesses, but more commonly the TIM LACHINA nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over THE BALLOT Design Director various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric PEGGY LATKOVICH poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia this time Assistant Editor i know (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and ALENKA BANCO Urania (astronomy); 2. the goddess or the power regarded as the only Art Editor way to be inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like. free inside a broken America Welcome to the inaugural issue of Muse. Our concept is is to speak straightforward: Visual arts have long inspired literary artists in SUBMISSIONS louder than a vote their craft. Ohio is long overdue for a journal whose sole focus [email protected] is to promote literary artists and their work. swallow old reasons [email protected] and promise to always [email protected] always be the At the same time, we cannot and should not ignore the wealth in change visual arts that the region has to offer. It is my hope that in each issue of Muse, we will publish on the inside cover, a literary artist’s response – be it a poem, a short story, a play, or an essay – to the outside cover, an image created by an area visual artist. KELLY HARRIS Muse is a celebration of inspiration, spanning from the mundane to the extraordinary. Each issue will feature articles, book reviews, short stories, poetry, a calendar of literary events and opportunities, and anything else that might inspire readers and writers. Founded in 1987 as Ohio Writer, Muse is the quarterly journal published by The Lit, a nonprofit literary arts organization. No part of this journal may be reproduced So without further turgid or academic explanation, I hope you without written consent of the publisher. Visit us at www.the-lit.org. will enjoy Muse as much as The Lit enjoys publishing it. We are COVER silence #2, 11 x 14"douglas max utter, 2005 dedicated to promoting literary excellence, with a touch of THELIT elegance and a soupcon of humor. CLEVELAND’S LITERARY CENTER ARTCRAFT BUILDING JUDITH MANSOUR-THOMAS 2570 SUPERIOR AVENUE SUITE 203 Editor CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 216 694.0000 WWW.THE-LIT.ORG MUSE MUSE IS THE QUARTERLY JOURNAL PUBLISHED BY THE LIT JUDITH MANSOUR-THOMAS Editor Muse – (myooz), noun; Classical Mythology. 1. any of a number of sister goddesses, but more commonly the TIM LACHINA nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne who presided over THE BALLOT Design Director various arts: Calliope (epic poetry), Clio (history), Erato (lyric PEGGY LATKOVICH poetry), Euterpe (music), Melpomene (tragedy), Polyhymnia this time Assistant Editor i know (religious music), Terpsichore (dance), Thalia (comedy), and ALENKA BANCO Urania (astronomy); 2. the goddess or the power regarded as the only Art Editor way to be inspiring a poet, artist, thinker, or the like. free inside a broken America Welcome to the inaugural issue of Muse. Our concept is is to speak straightforward: Visual arts have long inspired literary artists in SUBMISSIONS louder than a vote their craft. Ohio is long overdue for a journal whose sole focus [email protected] is to promote literary artists and their work. swallow old reasons [email protected] and promise to always [email protected] always be the At the same time, we cannot and should not ignore the wealth in change visual arts that the region has to offer. It is my hope that in each issue of Muse, we will publish on the inside cover, a literary artist’s response – be it a poem, a short story, a play, or an essay – to the outside cover, an image created by an area visual artist. KELLY HARRIS Muse is a celebration of inspiration, spanning from the mundane to the extraordinary. Each issue will feature articles, book reviews, short stories, poetry, a calendar of literary events and opportunities, and anything else that might inspire readers and writers. Founded in 1987 as Ohio Writer, Muse is the quarterly journal published by The Lit, a nonprofit literary arts organization. No part of this journal may be reproduced So without further turgid or academic explanation, I hope you without written consent of the publisher. Visit us at www.the-lit.org. will enjoy Muse as much as The Lit enjoys publishing it. We are COVER silence #2, 11 x 14"douglas max utter, 2005 dedicated to promoting literary excellence, with a touch of THELIT elegance and a soupcon of humor. CLEVELAND’S LITERARY CENTER ARTCRAFT BUILDING JUDITH MANSOUR-THOMAS 2570 SUPERIOR AVENUE SUITE 203 Editor CLEVELAND, OHIO 44114 216 694.0000 WWW.THE-LIT.ORG 8 WHAT YOU LEARNED IN BOXING 0 1 ROBERT FLANAGAN 9 ELLIS ISLAND EYES 08 MELISSA HINTZ 11 THINGS UNSEEN SUSAN PETRONE 13 A BRIEF ESSAY ON THE HUMAN CONDITION 14 BEACON MELISSA HINTZ 15 IN ONE WORD, WHAT’S THE STORY ABOUT? WENDY A. HOKE 16 AMISH EPISCOPALIAN: ON NEGOTIATING TASTE NEAL CHANDLER 20 LESS DAVID GOODMAN 20 VITAMINS NIN ANDREWS 21 WHAT’S GOOD TODAY? BONNIE JACOBSON 22 WHY I WRITE NONFICTION LEE CHILCOTE 25 HE STRIKES AGAIN! RICE HERSHEY 26 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 31 HOLLYHOCKS DAVID LEE GARRISON 35 IS IT REALLY THAT HARD? PHONE ETIQUETTE 01 false holes, real pockets, 76"x 86", mat dibble, 2007 MEGAN LUBBERS 08 M U S EM 4 8 WHAT YOU LEARNED IN BOXING 0 1 ROBERT FLANAGAN 9 ELLIS ISLAND EYES 08 MELISSA HINTZ 11 THINGS UNSEEN SUSAN PETRONE 13 A BRIEF ESSAY ON THE HUMAN CONDITION 14 BEACON MELISSA HINTZ 15 IN ONE WORD, WHAT’S THE STORY ABOUT? WENDY A. HOKE 16 AMISH EPISCOPALIAN: ON NEGOTIATING TASTE NEAL CHANDLER 20 LESS DAVID GOODMAN 20 VITAMINS NIN ANDREWS 21 WHAT’S GOOD TODAY? BONNIE JACOBSON 22 WHY I WRITE NONFICTION LEE CHILCOTE 25 HE STRIKES AGAIN! RICE HERSHEY 26 CALENDAR OF EVENTS 31 HOLLYHOCKS DAVID LEE GARRISON 35 IS IT REALLY THAT HARD? PHONE ETIQUETTE 01 false holes, real pockets, 76"x 86", mat dibble, 2007 MEGAN LUBBERS 08 M U S EM 4 WHAT YOU LEARNED ELLIS ISLAND EYES IN BOXING The Czech woman waits a dozen beaded chains encircle her neck ROBERT FLANAGAN from her mother, her aunts, Although Billy Conn claimed boxing was simple -- keep your chin your opponent’s collarbone to help stop the bleeding. With a her grandmother. down, your hands up, and your ass off the canvas, Patty McCandless puffy eye, you were not to blow your nose as you risked closing the had found you could learn a lot in the gym, if you could take the pain. eye and having the referee stop the fight. They were not on the ship First off, you learned that if you went into the ring, you You learned that everything was a matter of timing. were bound to get hit. No matter how good you were, you got hit. Don’t let your man get set to deliver. You see him get ready, ei- but they stand with her now Even the best got hit. Skeeter McClure, Willy Pep, even Sugar Ray ther beat him to the punch or change the distance between you. in line after line after line. Robinson. So you didn’t need to feel when you ate leather that Everything was a matter of angles. Never square up, but come it meant there was something wrong with you. And when you in on the angle. Don’t ever back up in a straight line, but al- got hit right, your eyes watered. But you learned that tears meant ways slip away to the side. Everything was a matter of knowing. He sees her eyes nothing, they were only an involuntary reaction, they were noth- Know what it was your opponent most wanted to do and then like a spring sky. ing to be ashamed of. It was the same with everyone. It was like stop him from doing it. Be smart — don’t fight the other man’s bleeding — you got cut, you bled. Like getting tagged on the side fight, fight your fight. Box a puncher and punch a boxer. A big I will marry her, he thinks. of the jaw where a nerve crossed over the bone there — when the hitter against a stick-and-move jabber could make lots of mis- nerve was pinched, your legs jackknifed and you went down. It takes and still win, but a boxer against a puncher could not af- Their lines diverge was automatic, it had nothing to do with character, toughness or ford to be wrong even once. A man with knockout power was will, it was just structure and mechanics. One of the many hard like someone born rich, he had an edge you’d never have. he has lost her facts of life, as your coach explained, which you might as well learn Life was not fair. You could be Rocky Marciano, come along before he could ask her. now as later. and knock out over-the-hill Joe Louis and grandpappy Wal- You learned that you could get cut and knocked down and cott, have a tough time beating a second rater like Roland LaSt- still go on, that you were not as breakable as you’d secretly feared. arza and light heavyweight king Archie Moore, never fight one On the streets of Brooklyn You learned that feeling afraid before a bout was nothing heavyweight of note while in his prime, yet have people call he hauls and sells fish to worry about.