Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine
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Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine Volume 1 Issue 3 Article 1 April 2021 Diamond Line - Spring 2021 Diamond Line Editors Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/diamondlinelitmag Recommended Citation Editors, Diamond Line (2021) "Diamond Line - Spring 2021," Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine: Vol. 1 : Iss. 3 , Article 1. Available at: https://scholarworks.uark.edu/diamondlinelitmag/vol1/iss3/1 This Entire Issue is brought to you for free and open access by ScholarWorks@UARK. It has been accepted for inclusion in Diamond Line Undergraduate Literary Magazine by an authorized editor of ScholarWorks@UARK. For more information, please contact [email protected]. THE DIAMOND LINE AN UNDErgrADUATE LITERARY MAGAZINE SPRING 2021 ISPRING 2021 SSISSUEUE NNOO. .33 The Diamond Line ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS MASTHEAD Issue 3 Special thanks to: DITORIAL TAFF RODUCTION TAFF May 2021 J. William Fulbright College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Arkansas E S P S The University of Arkansas Department of English EDITOR-IN-CHIEF DESIGN EDITOR (PRINT) The University of Arkansas Program in Creative Writing and Translation Bridgid O’Kane Camilla Shumaker Bridgid O’Kane Sophia Milligan ANAGING DITOR And all the undergraduate faculty who encourged their students to submit M E DESIGN EDITORIAL TEAM (PRINT) their work, and the student writers who contributed, without whom Heather Drouse Heather Drouse The Diamond Line would not be possible. Destiny Eberhard FICTION EDITOR Jada Fields Kara Hutchinson SUBMISSIONS Kara Hutchinson Kate Schlie The Diamond Line accepts: Poetry FICTION EDITORIAL TEAM DESIGN EDITOR (WEB) Flash/Fiction Eruby Rodriguez Creative Nonfiction Amelia Bushek Destiny Eberhard Drama DESIGN EDITORIAL TEAM (WEB) Photography POETRY EDITOR Paintings/Drawings/Illustrations/Sequential Art Amelia Bushek Sculpture Danika Sanders Courtney Demmitt Danika Sanders The Diamond Line only accepts pieces by undergraduates at the POERY EDITORIAL TEAM Fuschia Muckley University of Arkansas. The Diamond Line publishes bi-annually each fall and spring semester. This magazine is a product of the course ENGL 3903 Courtney Demmitt PROMOTIONAL MANAGER Bia Edwards offered by Jane V. Blunschi. Bia Edwards For more information about submission guidelines, visit our website: Eruby Rodriguez thediamondline.uark.edu VISUAL ARTS/DRAMA EDITOR PROMOTIONIAL TEAM Copyright © 2021 by The Diamond Line at the University of Arkansas. The Diamond Line reserves all right to materials contained herein for the Kate Schlie Heather Drouse contributor’s protection; on publication, all rights reserved in Kara Hutchinson the authors. No reproduction or use without permission. VISUAL ARTS/DRAMA EDITORIAL TEAM LLUSTRATORS Jada Fields I OLOPHON Fuschia Muckley Heather Drouse C Kara Hutchinson The Diamond Line Literary Magazine has been typeset and designed using Bridgid O’Kane Adobe InDesign 2021. Titles and author names are in 16-pt Avenir Next font. PROOFREADERS Cover: Texts are in 11-, 12-, and 13-pt Avenir font. Running headers, footers and page Amelia Bushek FACULTY ADVISOR Quarantine Sunset numbers are in 10-pt Avenir Next Italics font. Heather Drouse Jane V. Blunschi by Marriah Geels Cover and section titles are in size 20-, 28-, and 60-pt Memimas Pro font. Kara Hutchinson Spread designs were done by editors and the members of the staff. Bridgid O’Kane i ii S TOR T AB L E OF C O nt E nts EDI HE T ROM FICTION LETTER F You Made My Day by Chance O’Neal 1 Copperhead by Abigail Pfeifer 24 DEAR READERS, Downpour by Casey Wong 29 The past year has been revolutionary and innovated, without a doubt. We have adapted to Ode to the Resting World by Bailey Ryer 29 what the new normal has become, which has included meeting exclusively through Zoom and dealing with the hiccups of communication known as “breakout rooms.” The Diamond Line Ecology of Succession by Allison Flory 32 wanted to mimic the world as we see it, showcasing stories that push the limits of creativity and story building. CREATIVE NONFICTION Coping by Julie Gunsaulis 10 We are also celebrating our first birthday! So, we knew that The Diamond Line needed to go beyond the bounds of previous issues and change our image of who we are. POETRY We aren’t drastically different from our previous issues, though. We are still a safe place to From the Bones of Nowhere, Missouri by Claire Riddell 2 express, convey, and publish your most captivating work. Our vision developed to embody pieces that immerse you, the reader, into the author’s story, no matter the genre. The Was an Old Lady Who Lived in a House by Julie Gunsaulis 3 To deliver this to our readers, we chose a blind submission process, deleting the author’s Kintsugi, the Dish, and Me by Susan Nichols 5 name and pronouns from their biography. This eliminated bias and helped our editors focus on the most outstanding pieces for our first birthday issue. Only after the submissions were My Mother’s Beagle by Jennie Orlando 6 accepted did the rest of the editorial staff learn the contributors’ names. Waiting for My Father by Morgan Walker 7 Our image, on the other hand, is all about new formats, designs, and layouts with a hint Pay-Less by Josie Stitt 8 of influence from our previous two issues. Each editor came to production with a new vision in mind: to create something that we could look back on and recognize as the foundational Love Bug Bite by Macklin Luke 18 growth of The Diamond Line. And we wanted to stand out as a modern undergraduate literary Red Wine by Isabella Wisinger 20 magazine and look clean, professional, and personable. The Art of Getting to Know Someone by Elise Lusk 21 We wanted vulnerability in this issue, too, picking our editor’s favorite pieces that are chosen for their excellent use of craft and ability in storytelling. Every piece included gave Fiore Sulla Riva by Abby Hanks 22 us out-of-the-box experiences, grounded us in realness, or left us wishing the author or artist Dead Girls by Charlotte Edsall 27 didn’t stop, all produced by diligent undergraduates at the University of Arkansas. In the Dry Wheatfields by Casey Wong 30 The Diamond Line is extremely proud of this issue and overwhelmed with the amount of support and submissions received this semester. We chose pieces that covered a variety If I Ran Away to New Mexico by Claire Hutchinson 30 of topics while not sacrificing quality. We hope that The Diamond Line can only continue improving in years to come. Ballad of A Rockstar by Isabelle Rogers 39 The Diamond Line editorial staff has built a stronger foundation through layout and design DRAMA while our featured writers and artists continue to break new ground for what literary magazines Wakansica by Mollie Nail 15 are. We are beyond excited to show you who The Diamond Line is and what we are growing into. VISUAL ARTS So, please sit back, grab a cup of tea or wine, and enjoy the stories that you are about to Rainbows in my Head by Meredith Tinkle 4 dive into. We trusted our authors and artists to show us their stories, so trust us to bring you Dysmorphia by Margaret Fitzgerald 9 through them. Self-Portrait in Context by Colleen Lloyd 13 SINCERELY, Lover’s Eyes (Artist as Art) by Jordan Smith 19 Quarantine Sunset by Marriah Geels 23 BRIDGID O’KANE HEATHER DROUSE Other People Think by Meredith Tinkle 28 EDITOR-IN-CHIEF MANAGING EDITOR The Sun Always Comes Back (Series) by Margaret Fitzgerald 31, 35, 38 Extreme Frequency by Colleen Lloyd 40 iii iv flash fiction poetry Chance O’Neal Claire Riddell You Made My Day From the Bones of Nowhere, Missouri Tuesdays are lazy, yet they are not: put this on,” I explain, reaching out to hand A contradiction that stems from my him the mask. He eyes it skeptically like I was Your daddy kissed every knuckle before he swung and called it love desire to relax on a day that demands attention. handing him a live grenade and asking him and only married your momma because she missed her birth control, The morning is spent in pajamas but also in the to pull the pin. I almost ask him again, but he and they raise you on simmering arguments and secondhand thrift car running errands rather than in the comforts clears his throat before I can start. stores, and you never question why they don’t kiss at Christmas. of home. It’s a compromise between fantasy “Look kid, I don’t know if you’re blind and reality that pushes me into the car and off or something,” he says as his hand wanders to the grocery store. through the top shelf, softly grazing the You don’t notice the glass bottle collection until suddenly Daddy’s Compromise took me twelve minutes rainbow-colored glass. Suddenly, his hand drinking every night even though it makes Momma sad, and your on today’s crossword puzzle; contradiction closes in around the neck of a rather pricey neighbors start dropping off food at the doorstep and say they knocked my coffee over as I reached for my bottle before taking it off the shelf and accidentally doubled their recipes, and you hear Momma crying even pencil. negotiating the cap off its top and onto the though you’re supposed to be asleep. The afternoon is spent at work, floor. His lips ensnare the spout before tilting continuing a cycle that I have grown the bottle back and letting the clear fire chase Momma tells you not to tell Daddy that you’ve become a woman, frighteningly accustomed to. Masks hide noses its way down his throat.