2005 Winter - Wisconsin Writers Association

Page 22Growing Old by Jane C. Ellis, New BerlinPoetry Winner, Summer ContestHealthy aging is knowingthe important word in growing old is growing,the right path through life is up, not over the hill,change is a basic reality and everything becomessomething else in time.Life, unlike the game of musical chairs, moves usthrough infancy, childhood, youth and maturityto a tune called the march of time.We can never stop at youth or return to it.Health is a reflection of habits, choices and behavior.If you eat too much cake at your centennial birthday party,it will not ruin your good health, but it could give youa bellyache.The Misstep by Pat Fitzgerald, RacineFlash Fiction Winner, Summer ContestI should never have gotten out of bed that morningbut the evergreens outside the window, bent horizontalfrom the roaring southwest wind, plus Ted shouting,"Tornado! Get in the basement now," necessitated swiftmovement.Sam, our German short hair, was presenting a challengefor Ted. The basement frightened Sam since hewas a big-footed pup. He'd watch with terror-filled eyeswhenever I'd carry a load of laundry into the unknowndenizens of a place surely filled with horrors no dogshould experience. Ted had attached a leash to Sam'scollar and was below him by several steps, enticing himwith a doggie biscuit, but Sam refused the bribe. Thefeet he'd now grown into were riveted to the top stairs.We heard the swack of wood ripped from our home.I swooped up Sam and hustled downward. The dog wastoo startled to do anything but remain motionless in myarms, but my mind wanted me to move faster than myown size nines carried me—and Sam. I stumbled overthe bottom two stairs. The next crack I heard didn'tcome from the wind deconstructing our house, but froma bone in my ankle. Sam and I had achieved safety inthe basement, but this time I'd be the one who neededcarrying. #Reflecting on Poetry’s Practical Applications at4:00 in the Morning by LaMoine MacLaughlinWriting muse-less?Worse than useless.Chasing Saturday NightPoems About Rural Wisconsinby Michael KrieselMarsh River EditionsM233 Marsh RoadMarshfield, WI 54449www.marshrivereditions.com“Michael Kriesel writes regional poetry of themost important kind, drawing on family andmemory and a deep sense of place to evoke theregion of rural Wisconsin, yes, also the region ofthe mind, the soul, and the heart. With a seeminglyeffortless lyricism and narrative energy,these poems explore thegifts the world gives us.”Ron Wallace“Michael Kriesel is poet ofeminent power and grace.He has an earthy appetitefor probing the depth andbreadth of the human spirit.Honest and wise, vivid andpassionate, his poems arebrave and wild-winged..Chasing Saturday Night isthoroughly satisfying, ashimmering gift not to bemissed.” Ellen Kort“The unforced sincerity of Michael Kriesel’s voice allowsthe complex components of his poems to combine into adeceptively simple authority. Spilled jam, the smell ofmatches, a sinister barn, an old man zipping up hispants—all these images are in the service of a largerscene and story, indeed a history which transcends thelocal, likable voice. These unpretentious, vivid poemshave larger and lasting resonances: they linger in thememory.” Rachael HadasMichael Kriesel won the 2004 Lorine Niedecker Awardsponsored by the Council for Wisconsin Writers and haswon prizes in poetry contests sponsored by the WisconsinAcademy Review, The Writer, Rosebud, Nerve Cowboy,Free Verse, and the Wisconsin Regional Writers’ Association.He has received two Pushcart Prize nominations andserves on the Wisconsin State Poet Laureate Commission.#