“The Death Issue” December 2015 1

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church's décor. Between the organ and the stained glass is a metal lamp resembling a longboat. The lower section is wider than the upper. Its front aimed at the stained glass. Following this line, the room seems to imitate the bow of a boat with a copper cross its figurehead. Aaron recalls the story of the ark, and how it protected all forms of life during a purge. Another word for a boat comes to mind: a vessel. The more he thinks of it, the clearer it seems that the parable of Noah's ark and the church itself are metaphors for the body as a vessel for the soul. The immaterial essence supposed to withstand all trails, including death. He wonders how many other religions have expressed a similar idea in a different context, and if any would continue to do so once this building has been demolished, buried by debris, or fallen to ruin. Its hidden message further obscured. Two grey haired men in black robes sit near the front of the opposite pew. The youngest is somewhere in his late sixties and has thinning hair. The eldest is a generation older and sits hunched, twisting the end of his beard. With the back of his robe trailing, the youngest moves along the pew and walks to the front. As the composition trails off, the horn dies in faint degrees. “Guten Morgen, Brüder und Schwestern,” the priest begins. Small circle glasses with white metal frames rest on the middle of his nose. The sun reflected on his forehead. When he speaks, he looks at each member of the audience in turn. His voice precise and 61
deliberate. “Was ist Gottes Wille für uns?,” he asks. Michelle understands German, having lived in Berlin for longer than Aaron. To him, the exact meaning of the sermon is lost, but the tone of the speech is soothing, the metre hypnotic. Words he knows break through the haze like the tap of a typewriter hitting the end of a line. Beyond this, Aaron reflects upon the nature of the Christianity: the belief in a cause higher than all life, and in a space reserved for humans besides those that have gone and will come. A gentle hum with a soft hue awaiting the subservient, and a cold fire for those that have fallen back into sin or disbelief. Never to ascend or know true love: the love of an artist for clay. A red Bible is laid open upon a chair. Its cover is the colour of clotted blood, and it triggers a series of thoughts relating to faith: faith in self-sacrifice, and in the return of a saviour; faith in that all life is predetermined, and passes beyond a spectral sphere into God: the ever present, ever knowing, all powerful. A shield for pain, a reassurance for loss. Michelle toys with the seed in her pocket and looks through the glass wall, watching clouds thin out and break away. The congregation stand with pamphlets in their hands. From on high, a man sings in a baritone so rich that it could come from the bottom of a well or an abandoned barracks. “Gott, komm vom Himmel her ab,” he sings. The organ joins. The congregation follows. Their voices almost a singular sound. 62
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A LITERARY MAGAZINE OF POETRY, INTE
Page 4 and 5:
CONTENTS Editorial - p. 4 HARKview
Page 6 and 7:
“when I say that poetry makes not
Page 8 and 9:
language and kind of professional a
Page 10 and 11:
OV: and in actually writing your po
Page 12 and 13: they came from, patent shreds of Ba
Page 14 and 15: do you see the role of those, of th
Page 16 and 17: going along a street in Berlin, you
Page 18 and 19: - do you find that's where your pol
Page 20 and 21: If you can get someone like that to
Page 22 and 23: different from that solitary experi
Page 24 and 25: go, and the guy will always say, ra
Page 26 and 27: and something like a fox scouting f
Page 28 and 29: And I don't care what anybody says,
Page 30 and 31: things, pursuing sex, pleasure all
Page 32 and 33: sudoku, can be done in seconds”,
Page 34 and 35: alloon, and it -it's a boy actually
Page 36 and 37: pool, as “a moon affected by the
Page 38 and 39: All Kinds of Old Feeling John Burns
Page 40 and 41: Exile Nels Hanson My farming life i
Page 42 and 43: Island Ryan Van Winkle when the wat
Page 44 and 45: Catcher Hugh McMillan (In his log,
Page 46 and 47: Inherent Vice Constantin Preda When
Page 48 and 49: Mother Roux Katarina Boudreaux Five
Page 50 and 51: Encore Bacchus descends from the st
Page 52 and 53: Minnows’ Ladder James Reidel Minn
Page 54 and 55: Not that I saw Him arrive or leave,
Page 56 and 57: factory, lights a cigarette. “I'm
Page 58 and 59: at 1406 today. Northwest gale 8 to
Page 60 and 61: The Organ Recital Simon Ward They d
Page 64 and 65: “Michelle,” he whispers, ”did
Page 66 and 67: Contributors KATARINA BOUDREAUX is
Page 68: RYAN VAN WINKLE is a poet, live art
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“The Death Issue” December 2015 1

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