Still Life 2020 Still Life 2020 The community arts journal of the SVSU Community Writing Center www.communitywritingcenter.com Saginaw Valley State University 7400 Bay Road University Center, MI 48710 www.svsu.edu Still Life is produced by the staff of the Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) Writing Center and students in the SVSU Art Department, and it is published by the SVSU Graphics Center. It features creative writing from residents of Saginaw, Bay, and Midland Counties, the counties primarily served by the SVSU Community Writing Center. The work of out-county residents who visit our community writing centers is also considered for publication. Staff members are excluded from receiving any awards. Still Life was originally funded by a Dow Professor Award offered through SVSU’s Center for Academic Innovation. The magazine is now generously funded by Dr. Debasish Mridha of Saginaw, Michigan. Still Life is produced using Adobe InDesign. This issue features the Adobe Caslon Pro font. Cover Art: “Wheat #1,” by Katherine Huber. SVSU is committed to providing work and learning opportunities without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, weight, or on any other basis protected by state, federal, or other applicable law, and to achieving its objectives in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination. Copyright 2021, Still Life. All subsequent publishing rights are returned to the artist. Staff Editorial Staff Printing Natalie Delemeester SVSU Graphics Center Caroline Helmstadt Elizabeth Kennedy Editors Hannah Mose Christopher Giroux Imari Cheyne Tetu Hideki Kihata Helen Raica-Klotz Layout Hannah Mose Table of Contents Editors’ Note 7 “you’re killing me,” Maggie LaVictoire 9 “Goodnight Moon,” Mark Brenner 10 “The Cinder Blocks Remember,” Donny Winter 11 “Food Coloring,” Marjorie Talaga 12 “Split Personality Parade,” Vanessa Willette 14 “Bench,” Bridget Therese Cusick 15 “Strike,” Brenna Dean 16 “Beach Towel Fashion Show,” Jennifer Nichols 17 “Social Surgery,” Alexis Beauchamp 18 “We Saw Each Other at the Circus, the Lion Tamer Winked at Us,” Benjamin Champagne 19 “Words Between Us,” Joshua Gillard 20 “Traffic Signs,” Hannah Gradowski 21 “Light in the Dark,” Kaili Goodrich 22 “Broom Clean,” Stuart Barbier 23 “Be,” Kelli Fitzpatrick 24 “Branches,” Katherine Huber 25 “Upside Down Club,” Josh Crummer 26 “A Box of Diamonds,” Rosemary Kavanagh 28 “Forgotten Angel,” Don Popielarz 30 “Downtown,” Matthew Kowalski 31 “Student Experience,” Imari Cheyne Tetu 32 “Cathedrals,” Karen Lulich Horwath 34 “Recess[ed],” Elizabeth Terry 35 “Can You Smell the Burritos, Enchiladas, & Tamales in My Kitchen?,” Lauren Wells 36 “I Wish I Was an Astrophysicist,” DJ Slater 38 “Journal of Life,” Andrew Dudewicz 39 “Naturally,” Caroline Helmstadt 41 “Gone with the Wind,” Nicole Vogelpohl 43 “Heartsong 2020,” Serena M. Pittman 44 “Miles,” Mark Sheffield Brown 45 “Consumption,” Todd Stockmeyer 46 “Home from the Conference,” Bruce Gunther 47 “Humanity’s Rainbow,” Michelle Perreault 48 “grief is the song stuck in your head when you wake up,” Katy Haas 49 “Existence,” Matt Chappel 50 “The Little Things,” Devin Kemani Butler 51 “Post-Post,” Cbxtn Fig 52 “Having found,” Jeff Vande Zande 54 “Gateway,” Carter Anolick 55 “Falcon, Fly On,” Tristan Harman 56 “Offerings,” Jared Morningstar 57 “Social Media Friends,” Julie Debats 58 “Grandma’s Hands,” Chris Lucka 59 “do you remember,” Denise Hill 60 “The Conversation, with a Golden Shovel,” Deda Kavanagh 61 “Rising Flowers,” Grace Biber 62 “Taraxacum,” Austin Bauer 63 “what america has done to its veterans,” Matthew Sauer 64 “No Longer Me,” Devonn Fernbach 65 “Cultivation,” Katrina J. Stevenson 66 “Choosing the Horse,” Suzanne Sunshower 67 “Love Cremated,” Rachel Diehl 68 “Premortem Examination,” Drew Eastwood 70 “Tomatoes,” Kathleen Tighe 71 “Stars to the North,” Taylor Tucker 73 “Standing Song,” Joshua Jordan 74 “toxic,” Jaden O’Berry 75 “Remembrances of You,” Pearl Thomas 76 “The Moral of the Movie,” Eric P. Nisula 77 “tu me manques,” Madeline Bruessow 79 “La Fiesta de Traje de Saginaw,” Lauren Wells 80 “Our Own Magic,” Jolyn H. Ohlendorf 81 “there and back again,” Madeline Bruessow 82 “Oleg,” Nicole Vogelpohl 83 About Our Contributors 84 About Our Writing Centers 93 Acknowledgments 93 About Our Benefactor 94 Editors’ Note Welcome to the 2020 issue of the award-winning Still Life; we are proud to report that for the third consecutive year, Still Life has received a first-place award from the American Scholastic Press Association. (This makes us “3 for 3”!) We remain grateful for the ASPA’s feedback and their recognition—and reminder—that the arts, particularly on the community level, matter. In this issue, you’ll find work by old friends and new voices. Their willingness to trust us with their creative work remains humbling. And to know that these poets and artists took the time to share their work, when many have literally been dealing with life-and-death matters linked to COVID-19, reminds us that the arts make life all the richer. That richness is on display on the following pages. This year, many of the visual artists who submitted were working with “alternative photography” techniques, and the results are, as always, stunning. Many of our poets in this issue similarly offer us other “alternatives” for our reading pleasure—visual poems and prose poems, rhyme and free verse. What remains tried and true in this issue (and, well, in all our previous issues) is that creativity abounds in the Great Lakes Bay Region. These poems and photos—shared in a pandemic; often produced in a year of political divide and civil unrest—remind us that we are more similar than different. Our common bond is our humanity, defined by moments of heartache, loss, and, unfortunately, violence, but also flashes of hope, love, and joy. To our contributors, thank you for sharing those moments with us. To our readers, thank you for valuing this work with your attention. To our benefactors and supporters, thank you for making this publication a reality. And to our winners, congratulations. This year’s winners were as follows: Mark Sheffield Brown, who received top prize in the Adult (Age 19+) category; Lauren Wells, who received top prize in the Young Adult (Age 13–18) category; and Jolyn H. Ohlendorf, Lauren Wells, and Madeline Bruessow who won in our 2020 “Poetry Postcard” contests. Be safe, stay healthy, keep making art! Christopher Giroux Assistant Director, SVSU Writing Center Co-Director, SVSU Center for Community Writing Associate Professor, SVSU English Department Hideki Kihata Professor and Chair, SVSU Art Department Helen Raica-Klotz Director, SVSU Writing Center Co-Director, SVSU Center for Community Writing Still Life 2020 9 10 2020 Still Life you’re killing me Maggie LaVictoire Your eyes Are like sap that drips Kindness into my being They bring me to life After the winter air Has made me grow Cold But I fear what might happen When that sap turns to syrup And I can no longer spring back To blooming flowers That you pick to hang in your ribs To collecting what drips Through your cracks So it can seep back into mine But for now Your eyes are like sap And I can’t wait to feel that first Drop. Still Life 2020 11 Goonight Moon Mark Brenner That’s us reading Goodnight Moon. Those are your yellow SpongeBob pajamas, and that’s your little brother’s stinky blue blanky. There we are saying goodnight to the moon again. Three of us. Outside—cold and dark. Stay here, boys. That’s you laughing at the cow jumping over the moon. Those are your last sips of water. There you two visit the bathroom again, scampering down the hallway. That’s your little brother climbing over you, back into your car bed. There you are pointing at the two little kittens. That’s us whispering “hush.” There you are, tugging your ear and closing your eyes. There we are hugging goodnight. Goodnight dirty socks and underwear. Goodnight doggie and kitty and mommy. Goodnight Legos and Lincoln Logs. Goodnight Buzz and Woody. There I am, looking in your old bedroom, looking out at the moon alone, Grey, rocky, and dark, waxing crescent— Goodnight my boys. 12 2020 Still Life The Cinder Blocks Remember Donny Winter Fingerprints are fossils on countertops and the thermostat has forgotten its function— each room sits preserved like abandoned museum exhibits and the walls creak as they waken with my footfalls. The house stirs back, but strains to breathe. My father’s voice lingers in the background and speaks to the beat of these dry 1960 beams. I take out my phone to capture this space and smile at its futuristic glow that’s out of place— but I must record to remember. I wonder if these walls recognize me; I’ve grown up and all perspectives have changed— tables have shrunk and the ceiling fan’s strings tickle my forehead like willow branches combing across a late-summer yard. At first, I’m a time-traveler, but so much is the same. I’m thirteen and each window is a matte-painting framing every familiar view: a field rolls toward an amber sunset, the jack pine waves hello in the kitchen, and the woods stretch behind. Yes, grandma’s house is cold now— but underneath rotted composite, a desperate layer of pastel blue, and a coat of forgotten pink, these cinder blocks still remember. Still Life 2020 13 Food Coloring Marjorie Talaga Yolks, detached with reverent hands from Clinging albumen cushions, Stare up like lemon suns herded together, Quivering in their new glass home. Yellow, most luminous of all, color of joy, happiness and creativity.