Flying Island

Winter in Connecticut         by Robert Halleck On a cold, clear, autumn day in Connecticut Bob's guardian angel told him he was going to spend the winter in Florida with the Schwartzes. Bob was delighted, filling his head with visions of being alone in a Connecticut winter: happy hour at the Greyhound Pub, nights watching TV sports, more indoor tennis, lounging in old clothes. Flashing his best cherubic smile, the angel mentioned that on the day of his departure a very nice lady will be moving next door. She has dark hair, smoky green eyes, and will be coming to Bob's house to borrow a hammer. Robert Halleck has been writing poetry since 1958. He was briefly stationed at Fort Benjamin Harrison as a U.S. Army lieutenant during the Vietnam War. Poetry is more than a hobby for him, but it does not crowd out other activities such as golf, autocross racing, and care giving through Stephen Ministries. His recent work has appeared in The San  Di...

                              The Team of Disappointing Men                                                    by Michael Brockley At the misfits’ lunch table at your professional development conference, you introduce yourself  to a man who grew up in a dozen American cities and a woman who earned All-State honors as a  field hockey striker in Ohio. Over appetizers your group steers the conversation toward a lament  about disappointing teams.  The Mets ,  says the traveling man.  You offer the woeful Reds. She  cuts her vegan lasagna into bite-sized cubes. Studies the afternoon schedule, choosing between  this year’s empowerment lecture and a PowerPoint on malingering.  You never called the women you met at a restaurant named for...

Threnody by Shanda Blue Easterday Later the same day I learn the meaning of "threnody," which cannot be repeated too often, this song or poem celebrating or lamenting a life lost but well lived, written to remember the many questions unasked while you were living, such as "Did you read the novels of William Coughlin?" You read most Michigan authors, and I find these books entertaining in a way that you might have, to celebrate your appetite for literature and life, however common or exceptional, like rules for imagists or pink petals on a wet deep green bough. Shanda Blue Easterday is a retired professor of Literatures in English, current editor and contributor for Grit and Grace: A Women Writing Anthology , and editor for Mind Vine Press. She sits on the board of a local school. Her poems have appeared in Aesthetica, The Dos Passos Review , Dislocate , The Louisville Review , Flying Island, and in many other places. Her poetry collectio...