Weavers

(for the Hickey Brothers)

by Francha Barnard

They stand side by side in the low-ceilinged shack; two strong young men practicing an old man’s art.

Net pulled to line, hold tight, over, around and through.

Gossamer nets hang low between them. Two taut nylon lines stretch waist-high through the room attached to opposite walls.

Ten phrases of six, then three on the oat, over, around and through.

Bobbins in hand, they snail-pace backwards, catch net to line and tie it tight, eyes never li ing; rhythm unbroken, hours a day; days for weeks.

Ten phrases of six, then three on the lead, over, around and through.

Summertime catchers of sh; wintertime menders of nets, from their de hands grow new webs: Arachne’s opus before Athena’s ire.

Francha Barnard retired to Baileys Harbor a er a career as a school librarian in Sheboygan. In 2010, she received the Peninsula Pulse’s Hal Prize for her poem “Weavers,” and she was a contributing co-editor of the 2015 anthology Soundings: Door County in Poetry. She died July 22, 2022, at the age of 76.

8142 review

volume 1 / 2021 poetry prose photography

volume 1 / 2021

8142-2021.indd 1 11/4/21 5:46 PM

25th Hal Prize Closes September 16

Fall arrives, and the 25th annual Hal Prize creativewriting and photography contest closes. Readers pore through the submissions – nearing 1,000 – in the categories of ction, non ction, poetry and photography. Judges of renown in their literary and photography elds select the best from among the submissions for publication in the 8142 Review.

Volume 1 of the 8142 Review is available for purchase at doorcountypulse.com/shop. It includes 26 works of ction, non ction and poetry, along with eight of the top photos. Volume 2 will be released in November 2022.

Submit your non ction, ction, poetry or photography to the Hal Prize through Sept. 15 at thehalprize.com. Winners receive cash prizes and publication in the 8142 Review.