Centripetal 12th Edition

I WAS WORKING ON THE PROOF OF ONE OF MY POEMS ALL THE MORNING, AND TOOK OUT A COMMA. IN THE AFTERNOON I PUT IT BACK AGAIN. - OSCAR WILDE I WROTE FROM A SENSE OF NEED. I NEEDED SOMETHING TO DO. YOU CAN’T JUST SLEEP ALL DAY LONG. - SNOOPY OUTSIDE OF A DOG,

A BOOK IS MAN’S BEST FRIEND.

INSIDE OF A DOG,

IT ’S TOO DARK TO READ.

- GROUCHO M ARX -

12th Edition

F

Fall 2006

E DITOR Ivy Page P RODUCTION M ANAGER Craig Rebele L AYOUT M ANAGER Natalie Watson L AYOUT Ivy Page Craig Rebele Nicole Bailey A DV ISORY E DITORS Dr. Liz Ahl Dr. Paul Rogalus S ENIOR E DITORS Meg Kennedy Ivy Page Natalie Watson A SSOCIATE E DITORS Sean Asmar Nicole Bailey Brittany Brockner Jordan Huckins Miranda Perry

Submission Guidelines: Submissions are open to students, alumni, faculty, and friends of Centripetal. All submissions must be typed. No hand-written submissions will be accepted. Prose should be no more than 3,000 words per piece; poetry (up to 4 pieces) may be any length, any style. Micro-Fiction should be 500 words or less.

Graphic Fiction, up to 4 pages; black and white art or photography, up to 4 high resolution images.

Submissions should be e-mailed as attachments to poetswriters@mail.plymouth.edu. All submissions must contain name and contact information for the poet/author, as well as a brief note on the contributor. Centripetal accepts one time North American Rights for print and online publication. All rights revert to the authors upon publication.

C OV ER P HOTO Amy Gratton

Acknowledgements: Plymouth State Poets & Writers would like to thank the following for their support of this issue of Centripetal: all of the contributors, with special thanks to Plymouth State University, the Hartman Union Building Staff, Mandarin Taste, Rodney Eckstrom, Robert Reynolds, Dr. Liz Ahl, and the PSU English Department. We would especially like to thank Dr. Paul Rogalus, our advisor, without whom this would not have been possible.

CENTRIPETAL IS PRINTED BY K ASE P RINTING, I NC. 13 H AMPSHIRE DRIVE, UNIT 18 HUDSON, NH (603) 883-9223

Poets and Writers 19 Highland Ave. Suite A14 Plymouth, NH 03264 (603) 535-2236 poetswriters@mail.plymouth.edu

B USINESS M ANAGER Meg Kennedy

CONTENTS 1 2 th E d i t i o n

CENTRIPETAL

THE PAINTER BRANDI PHILBRICK Rest now by your canvas, love as her water colored vines entwine you, decked in lilac blossom bruises.

You lie, enclosed in her woman-want: she, the grateful model masterpieceyour submissive work of art.

Watch, love as your reds become violetsviolent watercolors, pulsing, raised, and lovingly alive.

Convince yourself, love As you view your violence That the canvas didn’t care And that your art Aptly expressed your affection.

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ZOMBIE BRANDI PHILBRICK “You do the little job you’re trained to do.

Pull a lever.

Push a button.

You don’t understand any of it, and then you just die.” ~ Chuck Palahniuk

You shuffle off to work; this is how you live-you’re drained of life even before you start-so you are damned no matter what you give.

You wake from the alarm of crying kids, monotony lies on your toast like art-you shuffle off to work, this is how you live.

The business won’t allow feelings to thrive; you’ll keep your head in check- you have no heart, so you are damned no matter what you give.

The world exists in grey; your mind’s a sieve from popping pills while sitting in your car-You shuffled off to work, this is how you live.

Your boss, a corporate drill sergeant who waves production in your face- a tell-tale chart, so you are damned no matter what you give.

You’ve given up your soul, and you’re captive to jobs and pills that tear your mind apart; you shuffle off to work; this is how you live, so you are damned no matter what you give.

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MOTHER AT WORK LYNN RUDMIN-CHONG By all appearances a baby stroller Blanket carelessly hanging out Is abandoned On a university sidewalk The place is empty, end of day But for the stroller Where is the baby?

A swoosh, a swish!

A young woman, blue-jeaned Lithe as a boy Long-legged drops from a tree Arms extended upward Face looking upward – radiant, pleased – And I look up to her little girl Sitting on a branch (Not low at all) sturdy Straddling, learning her lesson: How to be secure in a tree

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