Still Life 2018

Still Life 2018

The community arts journal of the SVSU Center for Community Writing, the Saginaw Community Writing Center, and the Bay Community Writing Center

www.svsu.edu/communitywriting/ www.saginawcommunitywc.weebly.com www.baycommunitywc.weebly.com

Saginaw Valley State University | 7400 Bay Road University Center, MI 48710 | svsu.edu

Still Life is produced by the staff of the Saginaw Valley State University (SVSU) Writing Center and students in the SVSU Art Department, and it is published by the SVSU Graphics Center. It features creative writing from residents of Saginaw and Bay counties, the counties in which the Saginaw Community Writing Center and Bay Community Writing Center reside, as well as work by out-county residents who visit our community writing centers. All submissions are considered for publication. Staff members are excluded from receiving any awards.

Still Life was originally funded by a Dow Professor Award offered though SVSU’s Center for Academic Innovation. The magazine is now generously funded by Dr. Debasish Mridha of Saginaw, Michigan.

Still Life is produced using InDesign. This issue features the font Adobe Caslon Pro.Cover Art: “Pollock and Jazz,” by N. Clark-Young

SVSU is committed to providing work and learning opportunities without regard to age, color, disability, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, veteran status, weight, or on any other basis protected by state, federal, or other applicable law, and to achieving its objectives in compliance with applicable federal, state, and local laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination.

Copyright 2019, Still Life.All subsequent publishing rights are returned to the artist.

Staff & Credits

Editorial Staff: Joshua Cianek, Samantha Geffert, Emma Kirsch, Kara Steinman, Imari Tetu

Faculty Editors: Christopher Giroux, Hideki Kihata, Helen Raica-Klotz

Visual Artists: N. Clark-Young, H. D. Eagle, Zainab Ali Labbad, Lily Elizabeth Solgat, Chris E. Wisniewski

Layout and Design: Hannah Mose

Printing: SVSU Graphics Center

View from the Eyes of Beloved

by Elizabeth Shorkey

Have you ever seen the playful sun that cheats the moon at cards? The sun that plays peek-a-boo with you through the shadows of the trees? Wears nothing at all and embarrasses the clouds? The sun that likes to skinny dip in the early morning mist? There is a sun that likes to run up the highest hills to meet the sky, as if for the very first time, before running back down. The sun that likes to shoot the breeze behind cowboys in grainy television screens and shoo the fog off farmers’ shoulders and fields? Chase swallows from the cattail ditches and backyard tomato gardens?

Have you ever seen the cruel sun? The sun that kissed your skin in summer, digging your grave in the molten sand? The one that heated the looming pavement just to burn baby’s soles? The sun that won’t forgive you first as it glares at you off the hood of a car? There is a sun that doesn’t care about tan lines or weekly doctor visits and skin grafts.

Have you ever met the sorrowful sun? The sun that calls the clouds into the formation of a heavenly window? For angels and fallen relics to spot their loved ones through? The sun that stared too long at the puppy panting in the shiny sedan? There is a sun that will for a fleeting moment look you in the eyes and smile, showing you its wife’s lingering eyes and all her glowing rings. There is a sun that will sit at your burial, outline the tears on your lov ed ones’ faces, and leave you to grieve with the stars.

Melencolia I

Melencolia I

Chris E. Wisniewski