PLR Summer 2006

The Summer 2006 issue of Pebble Lake Review has been sent to the printer and should be ready for shipping soon. The web edition will be available within the next few days. In this issue: work by Kelli Russell Agodon, Richard N. Bentley, Paula Bohince, Kristy Bowen, Jehanne Dubrow, Denise Duhamel, Brandi Homan, Nathan McClain, Simon Perchik, C.J. Sage, and others, plus reviews of I Have Not Been Able to Get Through to Everyone by Anna Moschovakis and Ice Sculpture of Mermaid with Cigar by RJ McCaffery.

We've sold out of the last few issues, so pre-order yours today! $10 for a single issue, $24 for a subscription (3 issues).

CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: PLR is currently accepting submissions of creative nonfiction (memoir/essay) of up to 3,000 words for forthcoming issues. See guidelines for details.

Rosarium Poem #2

Second joyful mystery: Elizabeth is visited by Mary before the birth of John the Baptist.

THE VISITATION

I have given up so much
for this one body—

my skin spins itself into the thread
of my son’s hair-wisp, becomes

his white bud of bone. The deep

between our breaths. You touch
the curve my body makes of this

other body, and my son
wakes for you, the blue light

of your voice, the voice turning

blood into air and air into his
flesh. He knows you already

in the small beatings of his red wasp

heart, the heart I’ve filled
with my brittle nails, the nights

at the door, unable to sleep.

Not Just One

Questions pulled from Steve Schroeder's blog:

One book that has changed your life: Hope for the Flowers by Trina Paulus

One book you have read more than once: The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

One book you would want on a desert island: The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald

One book that made you laugh: Bridget Jones's Diary by Helen Fielding (yes, I said that)

One book that made you cry: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway

One book you wish you had written: Some Ether by Nick Flynn

One book you hope will be written: mine

One book you are currently reading: The Descent by Sophie Cabot Black

One book you have been meaning to read: The Center of Winter by Marya Horbacher

**Apparently, I can't read questions properly @ 1AM. Sorry to S. about the Nick Flynn question. I NEVER meant to say I wish Some Ether had never been written. I thought it said one book you wish you had written. So I've changed it to make it so. There.

at which it is nearest to the sun

I received an email from Perihelion (which means: the point in the orbit of a planet or comet at which it is nearest to the sun. I'm a nerd for words) accepting my poem, "Fall of the Medici" for inclusion in their forthcoming Fall issue. I've been reading P. for quite a while and love it. Check out their roster of current/past poets: Franz Wright, Cynthia Cruz, Matthea Harvey, Ander Monson, G.C. Waldrep, Josh Bell, Timothy Liu, Joyelle McSweeney, Nick Flynn, and others I've long adored.

Holy Toast

OUR LADY OF THE CHEESE SANDWICH

A toasted cheese sandwich said to bear an image of the Virgin Mary
sold on eBay for $28,000. A Florida woman put the sandwich up
for sale, saying it has brought her luck since she found it 10 years ago.

—BBC News, November 2004


For a time, even the smoke hung in the ceiling

light. The burning bread, Mary’s head covered
in the charred wheat shawl. She wondered

who to call first, whether to wrap the Virgin

in Ziploc or foil, to refrigerate or freeze, if the cold
would crystallize the still edible nose. She lit

a candle, watched it cough its butter flame, the hot
stove spark the skillet oil. Everything she knew

about prayer was the night’s winning numbers,

the expletive Jesus. She could manage so little:
a napkin swan, a finger-brush

of char and crumble, an iced tumbler of tea.
The spatula sliding underneath,

flipping her over onto the clean paper plate.

The word uterus is in this post

I've been a bit overwhelmed (in some areas) and underwhelmed (in others). Case(s) in point:

1. THE BIG SICK-ER FIASCO

A week ago I went to the ER for a seriously painful/frightening problem (if I haven't told you what prompted me to go to the ER by now, I'm not going to tell you here). We were wisked in right away (it was around midnight on a Sat.) and then waited FOREVER to be seen. Then the most incompetent doctor in the universe examined me (what later turned out to be an abscessed cyst) and proclaimed that my bladder and uterus had "dropped." He asked me several times how many kids had I had -- after I had told him, the nurse, and the registration form that I was not able to have children. No pain meds, shoddy, rash diagnosis. Then I was off to the ultrasound where they determined my insides had not, in fact, dropped. Blood taken. Sent home with a rx for meds I am allergic to (also I had made note of this on my forms). Three more days of intense pain, then saw my regular doctor who fixed me all up. A grand total of four days of fever, pain, pain, not being able to sit down, and um, pain.

2. WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

Our wedding anniversary, August 9, fell smack dab in the middle of above crisis. Fun. We went for dinner instead of hotel-by-the-beach-glorious-relaxation. We went to a really great cajun seafood place downtown and returned home so I could take more medication and a bath.

3. POETRY CYCLE, ON THE DOWNSIDE

Rejections from The Tiny, The Hat, and The Bedside Guide. I don't feel a tad bad, though. I still love those pubs and know not to take it personally. I've had a great run recently and now it's someone else's turn. C'est la vie.

4. IF I HAVEN'T RESPONDED TO YOUR EMAIL

or post on MySpace, I will soon, I promise. As soon as I

5. FINISH MY SECOND PACKET

for Bennington. God. First packet sent in, returned, wonderful. I love working with Amy Gerstler. This packet -- lord. I'm having such a time with it. In the middle of all the craziness, etc. that's been going on, I can't seem to WRITE ANYTHING. I have to mail the packet off in about 12 days and have exactly 2 poems (+ 2 to revise) written. I need to have 8 poems + 2 3-5 page annotations/book reviews/essays. I'm going to die.

6. PEBBLE LAKE REVIEW

is coming soon. I'm waiting to receive all of the book reviews for this issue (of The Animal Gospels by Brian Barker, Part of the Bargain by Scott Hightower, I Have Not Been Able To Get Through To Everyone by Anna Moschovakis, and Ice Sculpture of Mermaid with Cigar by R.J. McCafferty.

7. THE LAST HURRAH (FOR NOW)

We said goodbye to Todd last week at dinner at Barnaby's and drinks at Onion Creek. He's made it to NYC driving a giant U-Haul. Not recommended.

8. I'M BETTER, WILL WORK

for the next 675 days while finishing the MFA. Please call me then. Just kidding.