Global City Review Courting Danger ISSUE NUMBER TEN 1998 EDITOR SR EDITOR Linsey Abrams E .M .B roner MANAGING EDITOR Rachel De Nys ISSUE EDITORS Diana Estigarribia, Jim in Han, a n d LaRose Parris CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Edith Chevat, Marin Gazzan'tga, Laurie Piette, and Susan Thames ASSOCIATE EDITORS Angie Argabrite, Paula Earner, Patricia Chao, Diana Estigarribia, Jim in Han, Christine Liotta, Kristina Lucenko, Mary M cGrail, Laurie Piette, Jan el Radtke, Lauren Sanders, Sarafina Scapicchio, a n d Susan Tompsen PUBLICITY DIRECTOR Leslie Sharpe PUBLISHER Laurie E. Liss GLOBAL CITY REVIEW Courting Danger 19 9 8 NUMBER TEN COPYRIGHT © 1998 BY GLOBAL CITY PRESS ALL RIGHTS REVERT TO AUTHORS UPON PUBLICATION Global City Review is published annually. ALL CORRESPONDENCE SHOULD BE SENT TO: GLOBAL CITY REVIEW SIMON H. RIFKIND CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK I38TH AND CONVENT AVENUE NEW YORK, NY IOO3I PLEASE INCLUDE A SASE WITH ALL MANUSCRIPTS. GLOBAL CITY REVIEW IS DISTRIBUTED BY CONSORTIUM BOOK SALES & DISTRIBUTION i s b n : 1-887369-08-2 GLOBAL CITY REVIEW IS PUBLISHED WITH THE ONGOING SUPPORT OF THE SIMON H. RIFKIND CENTER FOR THE HUMANITIES AT THE CITY COLLEGE OF NEW YORK AND THE ROY AND NIUTA TITUS FOUNDATION. DESIGN BY CHARLES NIX COVER ART COPYRIGHT © 1998 BY IAN SCHOENHERR Contents POETRY Field by Dana Levin 3 Hammering the Mummy by Cynthia Marshall 11 Ticking by Anne-Marie Bnimm 51 Auschwitz 6 1 Reading the Mandelstams by Jean Valentine 62 In My Absence by Mark McBeth 76 Broken Manta by Ross Gay 80 Painkilling by Kym Jones 106 Bang by Elena Georgiou 116 My Student Gives a Speech on the Care and Feeding of the Tarantula by Lonnie Hull DuPont 120 Dear Sister, Unbom by Laura Shovan 12 1 With Withers Unwrung by Gwendolen Gross 159 Isadora In The End by Margaret Redhead Cronin 180 FICTION Inflammation of the Large Intestine by Jill Nelson 4 What Things Seem by Brian Christopher Hamilton 12 The Number Line by Allan M. Jalon 19 Blank'te 27 Parts by Kimiko Hahn 29 Advices by Patricia Dunn 30 When the Social Worker Ladies Came Again by Peggy Garrison 63 The Fourth of Ju ly by Denise Duhamel 100 Wild by Natasha Singh 107 Landmarks by Carol Zoref 123 The Invention of Hovering by Ricardo Pau-Llosa 143 Notv It Is Datvning by Jill K. Magi 156 Man Radios from the G rave by Peter Brown 161 At the Lake by K. Munro 165 NON-FICTION The Unknown Corpse by Rebecca Seiferle 52 The Red RibbonedJourney: An Interview with Edwidge Dandicat by Natasha Singh 82 The Information Superhighway Ain't No Yellow Brick Road by Diana Estigarribia 135 Contributors 181 Upcoming Issues 185 Global City Backlist 186 Introduction DANGER FIGURES PROMINENTLY IN OUR LIVES. WE fear it; sometimes we embrace it. In this way we may discover something indefinable about ourselves, so that facing danger becomes a christening by fire. We glimpse ourselves at a base line, free from limits (both real and imagined), from social mores and convention. Yet for some danger exists as an everyday reality and their lives mirror simply an ability to survive. In all of its manifestations, danger forces us to live in the moment. Do we take flight? Do we stand and fight? Or do we succumb? What seems to be a typical story of unrequited love, “The Fourth of July” by Denise Duhamel, probes the mind of a woman who welcomes danger with open arms; she embraces it as a final repose, a place where she imagines freedom and bliss. Jean Valentine’s spare, haunting words echo the ineffable pas­ sage of death and time in two poems, “Auschwitz” and “Read­ ing the Mandelstams.” In an interview with critically acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat, we learn about the complexities of a writer’s life and the political dangers explored in her new novel, where the language people use is central to their political and ethnic identity— and ultimately, their fate. “Man Radios from the Grave” by Peter Brown is a darkly humorous story, culmi­ nating in a life-death instant of suspense and hilarity. The title “Courting Danger” must deliver on its implicit promise: more than a few spine-tinglers, lip-biters and edge-of- your-seat moments are to be found in this issue. The dangers addressed are sometimes physical, psychological, emotional, and political. Although some things in life come with warning labels— “Caution,” “Beware,” or ‘Watch Your Step,” not all dan­ ger is so easily identified or avoided. For the most part, danger exists beyond the realm of our immediate control. Perhaps it is a common desire that drives us to cross boundaries where our con­ trol ends and the unknown begins; perhaps we need those iso­ lated moments of epiphany and self-awareness to experience fully our individual humanity. Perhaps this is what makes courting danger inevitable. DIANA ESTIGARRIBIA, JIMIN HAN, LAROSE PARRIS Issue Editors Preface GLOBAL CITY REVIEW #IO, “COURTING DANGER,” takes as its premise that being conscious and mortal, all of us court danger daily. The topic attracted a lot of submissions, rein­ forcing our belief that the experience of danger— either physical or psychological, or both— is central subject matter to contem­ porary writing. In these pieces, perceived danger quite often gives way to anxiety, which is probably the hidden/alternative topic of the issue. Where our writers differed was in the situa­ tions and relationships that provoked it. We’re happy to publish the work of old friends and former con­ tributors: Rebecca Seiferle’s meditation on the meaning of the corpse. Kimiko Hahn’s two very short almost obsessive narratives about women— one haunted by totems and the other by the exposed body. Peggy Garrison’s psychologically acute story about a girl who finds no room to be herself in her mother’s house. Denise Duhamel’s work, which reminds us of Muhammed A li’s motto: “Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee.” And Ricardo Pau- Llosa’s sensual and witty fictional world. We’re happy to have found so many interesting new contributors, too. Our interview with Haitian-American writer Edwidge Danti- cat, by Natasha Singh, addresses the literary dangers of cultural hegemony, internal censorship, and reading culturally diverse subject matters reductively.. .i.e., only in terms of identity. And, of course, there’s much more— specific to Danticat's style, her works-in-progress, the “world” out of which she writes. Finally, we’d like to remind our readers and writers that Global City Review actively solicits submissions from women, lesbian and gay, and racially diverse writers. LINSEY ABRAMS Editor-in-Chief Field by Dana Levin The antelope white against the charred hills eaten by fire, the golden trees, the upstairs window, something is running across the field, can you see it coming through the yellow grass, can you see it coming from the windowpane, as you closing the shutters, do you think it is rain? The wind banging the shutters back, the antelope, the golden trees, the skirt of your dress caught on the wire, the trampled grass, the barbed fence, something is running over the field, do you think it is crows, do you think it is dust, are you huddled under the window-frame, are your legs cold, are your eyes shut? Something is running across the field— The wind hurling the shutters back— The antelope, the charred hills. The yellow trees, the parted field. (31 Inflammation of the Large Intestine by Ji l l Nelson I. I’VE GOT THIS SICK FEELING IN MY GUT. IT FEELS like junior high. That ugly feeling when you know something’s wrong and then some scum bag in the hallway tells you your boyfriend is kissing someone else. And duh you feel like such an idiot because the entire school knew this before you. But you have an American History exam and when the bell rings for third period you’re in your seat. Lunch sucks, your ex-boyfriend sits with the popular kids and all their whispering and giggling is directed at you. Get another boyfriend. Graduate from high school, from college. Doesn’t matter. Ancient history. You hear about crap all the time. Peo­ ple deal. Get on with living. Don’t look back. I’ve got this sick feeling in my gut. This time it’s a whole nother deal. Major drama. This time I’m not sure how to get on with living. How do you live when the doctor says you got a year to live, tops. It’s not me, it’s my mom. At first I felt all this rage boiling under my tongue. Now I can’t stop talking. For some reason I can’t stop thinking about my dog. She died the day after my knee surgery. She was a good dog, didn’t shed, small white mutt-half terrier, half poodle. Mom couldn’t take care of the dog anymore, urine on carpet, vomit under bed, lumps on its spine. Constant supervision. The (4 > NELSON • INFLAMMATION OF THE LARGE INTESTINE dog wobbled around the house, bumping into walls, randomly falling down. It was time. Dad brought her to the vet, put her out of her misery. I can accept that, it was for the best. I didn’t get to say goodbye. ii. I had a personal encounter with God in 19 8 1. It was a humid, hot July at Sand Hill Lake Bible Camp. Pastor Nehemia Fury stood at the front of the chapel, sweat pouring off his face.