Issue #20 (2011) PDF - myweb - Long Island University

More documents

Recommendations

Info

The room gets brighter, and L sees everything in the darkness. He sees a napkin on the shelf beside his bunk, the table below. He sees the light switch, sees the lamp by his bunk, and turns it on. He steps down with the napkin in hand, and on the table he scribbles some words: I‟ve haywired my brain to be out when I‟m done when the day is all over, no more to be won I‟ve poisoned myself as much as I care so no thoughts will spill out, no more than I dare I‟ve programmed my life right down to the end so I have control, this mind shall not bend I‟ve stapled my soul up on that dark wall and shown it to none, and shown it to all I‟ve drank „til I‟m drunk & drank until dawn „til nothing is left, until I am gone. L dresses. He turns off the light, takes his key and several beers, and gently shuts the door. He walks through the ‗forbidden zones‘ like a ghost in the night, roaming the empty hallways, sensing others asleep in their rooms, confined to their quarters, closed away from any paradise of this fifteen-hour cruise, broken from happiness like some cruel, twisted joke. He passes the inner walls like a gust of wind until there‘s no place inside for Jim to hide, then L searches outside. The strength of the nighttime North Sea is stronger than in daylight, and black and black are sometimes broken by the white waves crashing and the lights in the distance, other boats that float in the nothingness. It‘s the outer darkness that L‘s Mormon mother warned him of, constantly pulling and pushing victims out, never to return. On the starboard side the sea pulls L down, and the wind intensifies and rips him up even harder. He firmly holds onto a line with both hands, clinging to his bag of beer, and at one point his feet start to slip from the ground. The winds are so strong, L starts to fear for his life, realizing just now he‘s no longer in his bunk. But after the strongest wind there‘s a calm that sits as L stretches his way from the cable to the helm of the deck. Jim is at the front of the boat, with a rainproof hood over his head. L is very close before Jim notices, and as Jim looks up there‘s a sight of terror without recognition in his face, but this quickly turns to a smile and L sits down. The two try to talk at first, but their words are swept out to sea quicker than can be heard, and they resort to silent contemplation. Occasionally they point out a distant light, or raise their hands above their heads, but mainly they allow the bumpy night to carry off their quiet conversation. They stand at the same time and together make their way through the high winds. Through the entrance door‘s window they see the back of a man somewhat lying down. He‘s clothed, but his pants are shoved past his hairy butt, two female legs springing from each side of him, and before turning away they both see him do a pumping motion. Jim and L move back several feet, not looking at each other. ―I think that was,‖ Jim yells out, staring at the dark sea, ―that was the worst sight I‘ve ever seen.‖ L doesn‘t respond. Minutes pass. They hold the rails and look out. Together they move back to the doorway, passing it without stopping, and look in to see the man and a girl sitting together, fully clothed. Jim and L step back and go inside. It‘s almost five in the morning when the last light is extinguished, and at seven a loud voice begins calling for people to gather their belongings and prepare to dock, as the ferryboat will be docking in the next two hours. This continues in four consecutive languages at fifteen-minute intervals for the full two hours, with a loud siren sounding thirty minutes before the ship docks. 90
Nothing can be turned down, or silenced, and the cramped room smells of stale, sweaty socks, and Lissa begins to cry. This is their welcome to the mainland of Europe. 91
Page 1 and 2:
downtown brooklyn a journal of writ
Page 3 and 4:
Page 5 and 6:
he can see his smiling reflection i
Page 7 and 8:
Magdalena slithers her key into her
Page 9 and 10:
to watch vigilantly over sterile fi
Page 11 and 12:
Should I reach down and cup the pac
Page 13 and 14:
Alicia Berbenick STABLES I had to k
Page 15 and 16:
Mr. Tate beat her after that. He be
Page 17 and 18:
Wayne Berninger GUESS WHO I CUT IN
Page 19 and 20:
John Casquarelli NATURAL MOTION OF
Page 21 and 22:
I came searching for rain hoping to
Page 23 and 24:
Alane Celeste THE HAVE-NOTS Flies h
Page 25 and 26:
Nik Conklin HOLLYWOOD HILLS Hilltop
Page 27 and 28:
Sing me that song of Purple mountai
Page 29 and 30:
THINGS I LOVE I love fine porcelain
Page 31 and 32:
Wendy Eng FOUND POEM: BEAUTY IS ART
Page 33 and 34:
―I think I‘ll check out the buf
Page 35 and 36:
―No.‖ I search for something th
Page 37 and 38:
warm for this heavy cover and I‘m
Page 39 and 40: theme song to ‗The Stripper‘. I
Page 41 and 42: I’m telling you, you gotta rememb
Page 43 and 44: MAKE ME TO HEAR "Make me to hear jo
Page 45 and 46: Aimee Herman DEGREE OF DARK SPACE F
Page 47 and 48: Katherine Hogan BY THE LAKE —with
Page 49 and 50: SAPPHO TO THE MAIDENS What did Sapp
Page 51 and 52: He shook his perfect pointer and ca
Page 53 and 54: AND LATER I SPEAK in a minute I clo
Page 55 and 56: ARRANGEMENTS you can start anywhere
Page 57 and 58: FIELD RECORDINGS No pronunciation o
Page 59 and 60: Giuseppe Infante DINNER FOR TWO Onc
Page 61 and 62: ―You got a woman‖ he said looki
Page 63 and 64: Belynda Jones RED THRONES Amidst it
Page 65 and 66: Jamey Jones AVENUE VISION 1 At prec
Page 67 and 68: LIKE THIS —for Steve Bailey it‘
Page 69 and 70: Kate FOUR POEMS These poems appear
Page 71 and 72: Anna Lindwasser BIRTHDAY sometimes
Page 73 and 74: maybe you could learn to love my ra
Page 75 and 76: even if you message me five minutes
Page 77 and 78: i don't know what living is, but i
Page 79 and 80: Elspeth Woodcock Macdonald IN CLASS
Page 81 and 82: PACKAGE Do you feel me calling you
Page 83 and 84: Uche Nduka HALF PAST ZERO no hard f
Page 85 and 86: Steve Newton DRIVING WITH ABSENT FR
Page 87 and 88: Jon L. Peacock Ferry to the Mainlan
Page 89: ―I‘m fucking going to bed,‖ r
Page 93 and 94: GEESE NO MORE They killed the geese
Page 95 and 96: Beatriz Alzate Rodriguez A STORY OF
Page 97 and 98: Thankfully, the house we stayed in
Page 99 and 100: We were all in the water now. I was
Page 101 and 102: steady with both her hands and her
Page 103 and 104: Lisa Rogal SO MANY THINGS ―You ev
Page 105 and 106: ehind his back like a school teache
Page 107 and 108: Kat: Maybe you should go 2 ER Me: I
Page 109 and 110: Then she hears the crash: a sound l
Page 111 and 112: developmentally delayed. The neighb
Page 113 and 114: P. J. Salber COIN FOR CS You be you
Page 115 and 116: Micah Savaglio A VACATION WITHOUT S
Page 117 and 118: Cancer. FRITZ Pause. FRITZ sets the
Page 119 and 120: Well, level with me. I don‘t unde
Page 121 and 122: THE PARENTS OF AABB1 The parents of
Page 123 and 124: hair on a g- string sing 123
Page 125 and 126: unmentionable slink ambles able (sa
Page 127 and 128: serious cloth loath to fold to how
Page 129 and 130: Jean Verthein CONTINUE Eve disappea
Page 131 and 132: Sarah Wallen OPOSSOMOON —an excer
Page 133 and 134: or spears. Everywhere there are roo
Page 135 and 136: PESTILENCE On a swing at the park.
Page 137 and 138: And somewhere a building is going u
Page 139 and 140: According to the weather lady The c
Page 141 and 142:
You are slipping away In the silenc
Page 143 and 144:
io notes Ana Almurani is an alumna
Page 145 and 146:
directed the world premiere of The
Page 147 and 148:
show all

Issue #20 (2011) PDF - myweb - Long Island University

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?