Spring Journal 2019

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Contributor Bios – alphabetical order by last name.

Cassandra Alfred – Hushed Morning & Dunes (photo). A native of Rockland County, N.Y., Cassandra works as a Registered Nurse. Despite this career choice, Cassandra has a passion for the arts. With the pieces displayed here, Cassandra hopes to evoke feelings of nostalgia – reminding the viewers of laughs shared and summers long since passed. 

Denise T.  Barry – I Am Willow. Denise has always been inspired by Nature. She finds joy in expressing this through her writing. The willow in the photo faces her while she sits at her writing desk. She has also enjoyed practicing/teaching Tai Chi, the art of imitating Nature, for over 38 years.

M. L. Baylor – Nymphalidae. M.L. Lyons is a writer, editor, and arts advocate, currently living in Oregon. Lyons received an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Washington where she was awarded a Klepser Fellowship. She studied in the Master of Publishing Program at Simon Fraser University and later interned with Copper Canyon Press. She is co-editor of the poetry anthology, “Raising Lilly Ledbetter: Women Poets Occupy the Workplace.” Her poetry and fiction have been published in Terrain.org, Written River and has has been nominated for the Pushcart. Most recently she received a scholarship for the Hedgebrook’s Vortex program.

Jill Mason Blake – Returning to the Crooked Willow. Jill is a curious woman and mum who has won numerous Wife of the Year awards. She enjoys getting lost in the woods with her dog, (pretending to do) daily yoga, writing razor-sharp poetry and watching movies on which she has no background information. She has worked as a community organizer, mindfulness coach, and high school health teacher. You can find her now in her favorite job, shelving books at the public library, aka her daily date with Dewey.

Zoë Blaylock – Free. Educated at Harvard and more persuasively in the school of hard knocks and droll encounters, Zoë Blaylock is a committed volunteer who works in healthcare/research ethics at several medical and academic centers in San Diego. HereForThePresent.com

Mela Blust – Natural Medicine.  Mela Blust is a poet whose work has appeared in Rust+Moth, Anti-Heroin Chic, and Califragile, among others, and is forthcoming in The Silk Road Review, The Stray Branch, and more.

Steve Brammell – Migrating Sandhill Cranes. I live in Indianapolis where I write poetry and fiction. I am employed in the wine business. I have worked as a technical/medical writer and journalist. My most recent poem, Ancestors, was published in The RavensPerch Magazine. I also have a poem coming out soon in Flying Island Literary Journal. I was a frequent contributor to Birmingham Magazine, Alabama Magazine, and others when I lived in Alabama.

Terry Brinkman – Outhouse. Terry Has been painting for over forty-five years. He just started creating Poems, he has had five poems in the Salt Lake City Weekly paper. Four Kindle E-Books. Variant and Tide S.L.C.C. Anthologies. A Sonnet in Rue Scribe.

Laura Brinson – Milk Maids. I am a gardener and a writer. Based in Melbourne, I have had poetry and prose has appeared in issues of Regime, Social Alternatives, Vine Leaves Literary Journal and n-Scribe.

Paul Brooke – Six Angles of Puffins & Puffin (photo). Paul Brooke’s poetry has been in such journals as the North American Review, The Antioch Review, International Poetry Review, Isotope: A Journal of Literary Nature and Science Writing, and the Interdisciplinary Study of Literature and the Environment. He is the author of three full-length poetry collections: Light and Matter: Photographs and Poems of Iowa (2008), Meditations on Egrets: Photographs and Poems of Sanibel (2010), Sirens and Seriemas: Photographs and Poems of the Amazon and Pantanal (2015) and Arm Wrestling at the Iowa State Fair (2018). Dr. Brooke is a Professor of English Grand View University in Des Moines, Iowa, where he teaches Advanced Creative Writing, Introduction to Creative Writing, Environmental Literature, and Literary Theory. He was trained as an undergraduate as an ornithologist and later completed his Bachelors and Masters at Iowa State University and his Ph.D. in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Michelle Brooks. Cloud Swirl (photo). Michelle has published a collection of poetry, Make Yourself Small, (Backwaters Press), and a novella, Dead Girl, Live Boy, (Storylandia Press). Her poetry collection, Pretty in A Hard Way, will be published by Finishing Line Press in 2019. A native Texan, she has spent much of her adult life in Detroit.

Janel Brubaker – Snow Boots and Mittens. I graduated from Clackamas Community College with my associates in English and Creative Writing. I also graduated from Marylhurst University with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Writing. I was the Managing Editor of the M Review for one year. My nonfiction has been published in Bookends Review, The Bella Online Review, Crab Fat Magazine, Linden Avenue Literary Journal, Phenomenal Literature, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Sheepshead Review, DoveTales Journal, LEVITATE Magazine, and Timberline Review.

Raymond Byrnes – Anemone. Recent poems by Raymond Byrnes have appeared in Third Wednesday, catheXis, Shot Glass Journal, All Roads Will Lead You Home, Better Than Starbucks, Panoply, Typishly, Waters Deep: A Great Lakes Poetry Anthology and elsewhere. He lives in Virginia.

Carol Flake Chapman – Calling for a new kind of Song. Following a career as a journalist and author of nonfiction books, Carol Flake Chapman returned to poetry, her first love, after the death of her husband on a wild river in Guatemala shattered her world. Poetry, she found, was the language of healing and of deep connection to the natural world. Her memoir Written in Water is in part the story of how nature helped in her process of healing.  www.writteninwatermemoir.com

Beth Curran – Solid Ground & Dusk. I have been teaching high school English for 21 years and strive to incorporate poetry into the daily lives of young people in order to help them cope with their daily struggles and questions about life. My poetry focuses on the everyday struggles and mysteries of being a woman, a wife, a mother, and a New England girl at heart.

Sara Dallmayr – Composition With Mature Willow. I was born and raised in Kalamazoo, Michigan. I attended Western Michigan University and received a BA in English/creative writing/poetry. I’ve worked a variety of jobs including park ranger, administrative assistant at a community development nonprofit, library substitute, professional pet sitter, and post office rural mail carrier, the last of which is possibly the strangest thing I have ever done for money. I hope to attend graduate school for creative writing in the next couple of years.

Thomas Deeds – Forest Pain. I am a semi-retired teacher. Semi because I don’t believe in ever retiring. Many of my poems are situated in nature. I spend many hours outdoors.

M. Christine Benner Dixon – Etiquette. I teach English at the Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, PA, where I also serve as department chair. My poetry has appeared in DreamSeeker Magazine and the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Sophia Falco – Caught in a Spider Web. Sophia Falco is a poet whose work has been published in Inside the Bell Jar, The Mindful Word, and The Esthetic Apostle. She studies literature and creative writing at the University of California, Santa Cruz. In her free time, she is an epic gardener. The tallest sunflower she grew was 16 feet tall.

Lydia Falls – Healing. Lydia Falls is a writer and elementary school teacher who currently resides in Pound Ridge, NY. She lived abroad in South Korea and Taiwan for four years. Her poetry is rooted in reflection and self-discovery, an ongoing process shaped by travel, nostalgia, and fractured memories.

Ye Fan – Noir (photo). Ye Fan and was born in Shanghai, China. After earning a degree in Marketing from Pepperdine University in 2010, she began working in the live entertainment industry with Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG) in Asia, overseeing regional sponsorship for live entertainment events. Fan relocated to New York in 2016 and started school at the International Center of Photography. “Noir” is inspired by Chinese paintings using the blacks, a series of landscapes of New York City during rain and fog, sequenced with abstract images of Greenland and New Mexico. The series is aimed at investigating the feeling of avoid and the characteristics of the color black in different environmental settings – how “blacks” can give you a different feeling depends on the image. “Noir” is an on-going photographic project and aiming to photograph more places in the United States and in Asia.

Hugh Findlay – Welcome to a Rock. Hugh Findlay lives in Durham, NC, and would rather be caught fishing. He drives a little red MG, throws darts on Tuesdays, reads and writes a lot, and makes a pretty good gumbo. His poems have appeared in The Dominion Review, Literary Accents, and New Southerner.

Karran Finlay – Black Branches (poem), Snowshoe Hare & Moss (photos). Karran Finlay was born and raised in Edmonton, Alberta. Her career in marketing and communications moved her to several major cities throughout Canada. In 2017, she moved back to Edmonton, where she currently lives with her husband and two children.

Jeffrey Fisher – Branches of a Rock. I hold four higher education degrees and work at Touro College. I am currently going for an M.Phil./Ph.D.

Michael Garrigan – Dirt Roads and Ravines. My essays and poems have appeared in The Wayfarer, The Drake Magazine, Gray’s Sporting Journal, Barren Magazine, Foliate Oak, The Piedmont Journal of Poetry & Fiction, and San Pedro River Review along with various other journals, magazines, and anthologies.

Anissa Godfrey – To an African Elephant. I am a current MA candidate in the English Department at Northern Michigan University. I completed my BA in English in 2017 at North Central University in Minneapolis, MN. My work explores the intersectionality of grief and joy, and, as of late, I am exploring these themes within travel memoir and travel poetry. I have been previously published in North Central University’s literary journal The Wineskin. In 2015, they published a fiction piece titled, “Invisible Ink.” In 2016, they published a creative nonfiction piece titled, “First Dates: A Series of Unfortunate Events.” I became Senior Editor of The Wineskin in 2017. Additionally, I was chosen by an outside judge to be North Central University’s Senior Class Poet, an honor which allowed me to read original poetry at Baccalaureate.

Giles Goodland – Quoth the Sea. Giles Goodland was born in Taunton, was educated at the universities of Wales and California, took a D. Phil at Oxford, has published a several books of poetry including A Spy in the House of Years (Leviathan, 2001) Capital (Salt, 2006), Dumb Messengers (Salt, 2012) and The Masses (Shearsman, 2018). He works in Oxford as a lexicographer, teaches evening classes on poetry for Oxford University’s department of continuing education, and lives in West London.

Paweł Grajnert – Lake Ice (photo). Paweł is a writer/filmmaker working in the US and Poland.

Tyler Grant – Bulbs. I am a lawyer and writer in New York. I am graduate of Washington and Lee University and University of Virginia School of Law. I am an Eagle Scout and love the concept of leave no trace and that this journal cultivates a broader discussion about nature and our place in it. Three poetry pieces of mine are forthcoming in Cathexis Northwest Press (March 2019 – ‘Splendor’, ‘Mongrel’, and ‘Postage Rate’). My fiction will be featured on The Moth podcast for my “StorySlam” winning story “Rivals.” I was also accepted to attend the Kenyon Review 2019 Writers Workshop. My other written work can be found in USA Today, The Hill, and National Review, among others. I was also selected as 30 under 30 by the Washington Examiner.

Jared Green – Ornithophily. I am an author, experimental literary performer, and professor of English literature at Stonehill College. I have published scholarship on modernist literature and early cinema, books on hip hop and electronic music (as editor), prose poetry, and a children’s book. My fiction was recognized by the state of Rhode Island with a Robert and Margaret MacColl Johnson Fellowship in 2006.

Gerald Greene – The Waterfall. Author of “Kaleidoscope” poetry collection Published by CreateSpace, 2017 and “Turning Losing Forex Trades Into Winners” Published by John Wiley & Sons, 2008. His blog is “Short Stories Rated G” on Facebook His short stories or poems have been published in Guide Magazine, Insight Magazine, Compass Magazine, The Flash Fiction Press, Deronda Review and A Story in 100 Words andJordan Journal Collective. More than 50% of his poems on AllPoetry.com have won AP awards

Gene Hyde – I should hope to pray like trees (poem & photo). Gene Hyde lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Asheville, North Carolina, where he occasionally takes pictures and writes things down. His poetry has appeared in Valley Voices and The Goose: A Journal of Arts, Environment, and Culture, and his essay ‘Shooting Rivers and Smoldering Churches: Fire and Rain in Southern Appalachia’ is forthcoming in Mountains Piled upon Mountains: Appalachian Nature Writing in the Anthropocene (2019, West Virginia University Press). 

John Jacobson – Painting. I live and write in the Catskill Mountains of New York. My writing has appeared in many publications including About Place Journal, Aji Magazine, The Curlew, Intima Journal of Narrative Medicine and Nature Writing. My essay “Fly” was nominated for the “Best of the Net, 2018” anthology.

Eric Jacques – Perceptions of Perspective. I have a BA in International Relations. Late in my college career, I had a Political Resource Brief published. At that time writing poetry was the furthest thing from my mind. But more recently, thoughts that have kept colliding into each other, have somehow become something more than incoherent ramblings. Poetry to me has become an outlet for those thoughts. I find my poems in pictures, sunsets, and in nature. Life is all about perspective. I enjoy motivating and inspiring those around me, giving new perspective to some, most surprisingly of all to myself.

CF Joyce – My Wild River Chives. C.F. Joyce is a poet, novelist, and essayist living in Massachusetts. Her debut novel “Persephone In Hell,” available in ebook and print format on Amazon, tells the story of a Jewish teenage girl growing up in 1968, trapped in her own kind of hell while all around her, the world is changing. Her blog, “In the Beginning by CF Joyce”, is available at: www.cfjoyce.blog.

Sam Kaspar – Ode Against a Dying Tree. I am a lover of nature also, and about one-third of my poetry over the years is nature themed. I hope you will enjoy reading the enclosed submission of my work. I work as a doctor in Iowa and am originally from Canada. I am an avid rower, hiker, and hobby writer.

A.M. Kennedy – Bryce Canyon at Sunset. A.M. Kennedy is a writer, painter, and photographer from Tampa, Florida. She has been previously published in 3Elements Literary Review, Popshot, and The Burningword. For more information about A.M. Kennedy and her work, please visit www.amkennedy.com

Olivia Kingery – American Robin pt.1. Olivia Kingery is a writer in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. She is an MFA candidate at Northern Michigan University. Her work is published and/or forthcoming with The Ore Ink Review, Dunes Review, From Whispers to Roars, and Cosmographia. When not writing, she is in the woods with her Chihuahua and Saint Bernard.

Nicole Lai – Sparrow. A Hongkonger. Battled against herself for years. Poetry is her drug. Being a poet is her life goal. She’s in her final year of MA in Literary and Cultural studies. She’s no famous poet but is passionate about writing. She has 3 poems previously published in HKBU EDGE and Voice & Verse Poetry Magazine.

Paula J. Lambert – Ubiquity: Sparrow. Paula J. Lambert is a literary and visual artist from Columbus, Ohio. Author of A Lesson in Possibilities (2019), The Ecstasy of Wanting (2018), The Sudden Seduction of Gravity (2012), and The Guilt That Gathers (2009), Lambert earned her B.A. and M.A. in English from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and her M.F.A. in Creative Writing from Bowling Green State University. She is a Residency Artist for the Ohio Arts Council, was past recipient of an OAC Individual Artist Fellowship, and was a resident fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts. Her literary work has appeared in a wide variety of literary journals and anthologies, and her visual art has appeared in several juried and solo exhibitions.

Alex Leavens – Great Grey Owl. has worked as a naturalist for the Portland Audubon Society, backcountry ranger and firefighter in the Olympic National Park, and primitive survival instructor in Southern Utah. He holds a B.A. in English Literature from Portland State University and currently lives in Portland, OR.

Audrey Lewis – A prayer on behalf of my trees. I’m Audrey. I currently live in New York, where I’m a writer, a teacher, a sometimes artist, constantly negotiating the difference between who I think I am and who I actually am. My work has been previously published in CatheXis Northwest and High Shelf Press. You can find me online at audrey-lewis.net and on Instagram as @heyaudreylewis

Ed Meek – Heron. My most recent book of poems is Spy Pond. I’ve had poems in The Sun, Plume and The Paris Review.

Terri Michels – Spring & Spring Bursting Forth (photo series). Author and Photographer, Terri DeGezelle Michels is an active hiker, aspiring chef, and Nana to 10 grandchildren, who has published more than 60 children’s non-fiction titles, as well as 100 magazine articles and several photos in national publications. Her newest title, Simon of Cyrene, the Legend of the Easter Egg debuted March of 2017, published by Pauline Books and Media, of Boston, Mass. Terri shares her writing experiences during school visits where she encourages students to follow their dreams and be the best they can be. Terri’s passions include reading, writing, spending time with her adult children, playing with her grandchildren, and photographing the world around her. www.terrimichels.com/

Warren Michels – Spring Thaw (photo). After retiring, I decided to pick up my camera once again. I find photography to be challenging and always wondering where the next image will take me. I love working to find the details in the finished
product.

Julie Monrad – Fade Away (photo). Julie Monrad is a squash coach at a youth development program, chef, writer, and photographer. She loves hard work, squash, words, adventures, margaritas, lattes, rice krispie treats, her dog, her friends, her partner in crime, and her family. Her inspiration comes from all those things.

Marjorie Moorhead – Whistling With a Bird. Marjorie Moorhead writes from the border of NH/VT. Her poem, “Wandering the Anthropocene” was included in 12/2017’s ‘A Change of Climate’ anthology of climate change poems, benefiting The Environmental Justice Foundation. Her work is in several anthologies, and online poetry sites. Her chapbook, ‘Survival: Trees, Tides, Song’ is available from Finishing Line Press. marjoriewritespoetry.wordpress.com

Judy K Mosher – On The Rock. I live and write from my high desert home of 35 years, Santa Fe, New Mexico. My publication history includes Shrinking Bones, the 2018 Chapbook First Prize Winner from The Poetry Box as well as Trickster, Santa Fe Literary Review, Adobe Walls, CALYX and more. Additionally, I co-authored Bosque Rhythms, a collection of poems dedicated to Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. It was a 2015 Finalist in the New Mexico-Arizona Book Awards. My work is found at JudyKMosher.wordpress.com.

Charlene Stegman Moskal – Rock On. I am a member of a vibrant arts community in Las Vegas, Nevada where I am a Teaching Artist with The Alzheimer’s Poetry Project and a Fellow of the New Jersey Writing Project. For three decades prior to moving to Las Vegas, I taught art, speech, and theater at the secondary level in public schools in Brownsville, Texas. I have been a visual artist, a performer, a voice for NPR’s Theme and Variations and always, a writer. I am published in numerous anthologies, magazines, e-zines, including, “The Esthetic Apostle”, “Multibilis”, “Dash”, “Chaleur Journal”, ”Helen” and “The Raven’s Perch”. My poetry chapbook, “One Bare Foot” has recently been released by Zeitgeist Press. 

Keith Moul – What Home Leaves (photo). Keith Moul is a poet of place, a photographer of the distinction light adds to place. Both his poems and photos are published widely. His photos are digital, striving for high contrast and saturation, which makes his vision colorful (or weak, requiring enhancement). poemsphotosmoul.blogspot.com/

Martha Nance – In the Front Yard (photo series). Martha Nance is a physician in Minnesota who lives on the bluffs over the Minnesota River, in an area of mixed fields and woods with a dragonfly-pond down the road. She can spend many hours in the unmowed front field in the summer trying to collect more photographs than ticks. The residents out there, of whom there are many, need and want only for humans not to get in their way. She tries to oblige.

Victoria Nordlund – At the Poetry Reading. Victoria Nordlund is an adjunct professor at the University of Connecticut. Her chapbook Binge Watching Winter on Mute will be published in Spring 2019 by Main Street Rag. She is a 2018 Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize Nominee, whose work has appeared in PANK Magazine, Gone Lawn, Ghost Proposal, Maudlin House, and other journals. You can read more of her work at www.victorianordlund.com/poetry

Thomas Osatchoff – THIS IS NOT A POEM. Thomas Osatchoff is doing field-work for his debut collection of poetry. Recent poems of his can be found in Cleaver Magazine, Harpur Palate, Obra/Artifact, Word For/Word, and elsewhere. Thomas has resided in many places throughout the world where he has had opportunities to develop his perspective.

Ben Packer- Chattahoochee River. I wrote this when I was in Georgia for a spell. It was the first time I have ever been at the river. Seeing it reminded me of how much I was missing living the city life. I currently live in New York.

Seigar- Welcome to My Norway. Seigar is an English philologist, a high school teacher, and a curious photographer. He is a fetishist for reflections, saturated colors, details and religious icons. He feels passion for pop culture that shows in his series. He considers himself a travel and street photographer. His aim as an artist is to tell tales with his camera, to capture moments but trying to give them a new frame and perspective. Travelling is his inspiration. However, he tries to show more than mere postcards from his visits, creating a continuous conceptual line story from his trips. The details and subject matters come to his camera once and once again, almost becoming an obsession. He writes for The Cultural Magazine (Spain) about photography and for Memoir Mixtapes (Los Angeles) about music. He has collaborated with VICE Spain, WAG1 Magazine (text and photography for both) and his works have also been featured in his Vogue Italy portfolio. seigar.wordpress.com

Josephine Pino – Moss has no Compass. I am a biologist, an educator, and a poet and I love writing about nature. It has endless potential to teach us, especially about ourselves. I’ve recently published, or am about to publish, in Raw Art Review, Curating Alexandria, Cathexis NW, and El Portal.

Rhonda Robb – I Am You. I am a 50-year-old woman from Portland, OR. I have a BA in Art and MS in Medical Geography. I currently work as a civil servant in Public Health. On my own time, when not writing poetry, I hike with my husband anywhere our dog can go; and once a year we broaden our minds by traveling abroad.

Nadine Rodriguez – Somewhere, Elsewhere. 23-year-old, latinx Florida International University graduate with a B.S degree in Journalism, a minor in Art, and a Queer Studies certificate. I am currently situated in Miami and working on my photography and creative writing. Growing up in South Florida has provided me with a surreal experience relating to nature and the environment. On one hand, I was always surrounded by humanity: overpopulation, concrete, hurricane-proof buildings, and people. On the other, I was always a few miles away from nature. Beaches, secluded areas of swampy greens, sometimes even parks with towering trees and walkways dividing fields alive with an array of animals. www.nadine-rodriguez.com/

Tonya Russell – If Only. Photographer of color, works forthcoming in numerous literary journals. BS degree in Sociology.

Corey Ruzicano – Still. Corey Ruzicano is a producer/writer/educator from the San Francisco Bay Area. While pursuing her BFA at Emerson College she went through the Creative Producing program under P. Carl and David Dower, and continues to write for HowlRound. She has completed apprenticeships at the Lark, the Orchard Project, and the 52nd Street Project. She has been the Creative Projects Manager of Jeanine Tesori’s studio, Siena Music and A BroaderWay, where she also teaches writing and leadership to young women. She has managed the intern program at Second Stage Theater and fellowships and awards for New Dramatists and aids in making space for writers of all kinds and created community engagement programs for Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. In New York she has assisted on productions with Encore’s Off-Center, the New Group, Trusty Sidekick, Lincoln Center Education, NYMF, Dixon Place, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater and Broadway’s the Hudson Theatre. She is the Executive Producer of Words on White, an art and conversation initiative. With all her work, she seeks to empower voices and stories that encourage more empathic communities and a better understanding of one another.

Tyler Saffell – Uneven and Inclined. There is nothing more fascinating than the splendor of space. I spend a lot of my time simply thinking about the cosmos and our place within it. I’ve spent many hours gazing through my telescope in awe of the heavens just wondering what it would be like to be out among the stars. I’ve been writing poetry for the last fifteen years, but I’ve only recently started to submit my work. I enjoy telling stories through my poetry and more importantly, writing what I am passionate about. Nothing is more satisfying to me then when I am able to both tell a story through my poems while at the same time educating with real facts. My only hope is that when someone reads one of my poems that spark of awe and inspiration ignites the same fire within them that has kept me warm for the last fifteen years.

Sandip Saha – Tune of nature. Sandip Saha is a chemical engineer and doctorate (PhD) in metallurgical engineering from India. He has got three awards for his scientific work and 33 publications on his scientific research work including three patents. He is a winner of Poetry Matters Project Lit Prize-2018. He has published one collection of poems (anthology), “Quest for freedom” available in amazon.com. He is published in many poetry journals including Better Than Starbucks Poetry Magazine, Pif Magazine, The Cape Rock: Poetry, Las Positas Anthology-Havik, Pasadena City College Inscape Magazine, Shot Glass Journal, The Ghazal Page all USA, in VerbalArt, Phenomenal Literature, India and in The Pangolin Review, Mauritius. North Dakota Quarterly and The Wayne Literary Review, both USA have accepted his poems for publication in upcoming issues.

Gerard Sarnat – Haiti Post Hurricane Decampment haiku. is a physician who’s built and staffed homeless clinics as well as a Stanford professor and healthcare CEO. He won the Poetry in the Arts First Place Award plus the Dorfman Prize, and has been nominated for Pushcarts plus Best of the Net Awards. Gerry is published in academic-related journals including Stanford, Oberlin, Brown, Columbia, Virginia Commonwealth, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Wesleyan and the University of Edinburgh. Gerry’s writing has also appeared widely including recently in such U.S. outlets as Gargoyle, Main Street Rag, New Delta Review, MiPOesias, Margie, Blue Mountain Review, Danse Macabre, Canary Eco, Military Experience and the Arts, Cliterature, Brooklyn Review, San Francisco Magazine, The Los Angeles Review and The New York Times. Pieces have also been accepted by Chinese, Bangladeshi, Hong Kongese, Singaporian, Canadian, English, Irish, Scotch, Australian, New Zealander, French, German, Indian, Israeli, Swedish and Fijian among other international publications. KADDISH FOR THE COUNTRY was selected for pamphlet distribution nationwide on Inauguration Day 2016. Amber Of Memory was chosen for the 50th Harvard reunion Dylan symposium. He’s also authored the collections Homeless Chronicles (2010), Disputes (2012), 17s (2014), and Melting the Ice King (2016). Gerry’s been married since 1969, with three kids plus five grandkids. gerardsarnat.com

Mick Ó Seasnáin – Blue Hawk on a Fence. Mick has continually attempted to farm his quarter acre lot in the small town of Wooster, Ohio while catering to the diverse and often unanticipated needs of his tripod-ish dog and three rowdy children. His wife tolerates his creative habits and occasionally enables his binges of writing and photography. Find more of his work at https://tinyurl.com/MickOSeasnain.

C.A. Shoultz – The Snake. I am a poet, writer, philosopher, critic, and lay theologian, currently residing in Dallas, Texas. I graduated from Baylor University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Arts in Great Texts of the Western Tradition, and am currently enrolled in the Braniff Graduate School of Liberal Arts at the University of Dallas, where I am earning a Master of Arts in English Literature. I have previously had poetry published in First Things magazine and on the website New Pop Lit. Additionally, I have had short stories published in Pinecone Magazine, at the website Across The Margin, and on the podcast The Other Stories.

Robert J. Small –  (Photo series) Robert is a retired wildlife biologist that appreciates every outdoor adventure, and is forever grateful for all of nature’s gifts.

John Jay Speredakos – Nest of Echoes. John is a NY-based professional actor and writer with a BA from Muhlenberg College and an MFA from Rutgers University. He has appeared on and off-Broadway, in films, TV, commercials and radio dramas, and is a devoted daddy to his daughter, Calliope. Recent publications include poetry in Typishly, Cathexis Northwest Press, River Heron Review, Gravitas: Volume 18 Issue 1, and upcoming in Likely Red Press. More info, photos etc. can be found on IMDb at:  imdb.me/johnsperedakos

Jed Stampleman – Ursa Minor and Major. Jed Stampleman is a member of the Connecticut Poetry Society. He has been writing poems for more than ten years but is just now his first making submissions. He is a retired advertising executive and lives with his wife Monique, who is also a writer. I like to write poems about nature because I believe it is all we have and it must be respected. My commitment to write, in and of itself, is a contribution to the spirit of the natural world. My poems come to me in the time between sleeping and waking. And poetry is always in my head, so I have no choice but to love it.

John L. Stanizzi – POND 12.19.2019. John is author of the full-length collections – Ecstasy Among Ghosts, Sleepwalking, Dance Against the Wall, After the Bell, Hallelujah Time!, High Tide – Ebb Tide, Four Bits – Fifty 50-Word Pieces, and Chants. His poems have appeared in Prairie Schooner, American Life in Poetry, The New York Quarterly, Paterson Literary Review, The Cortland Review, Rattle, Tar River Poetry, Rust & Moth, Connecticut River Review, Hawk & Handsaw, and many others. Stanizzi has been translated into Italian and appeared in El Ghibli, in the Journal of Italian Translations Bonafinni, and Poetarium Silva. His translator is Angela D’Ambra. He has read at venues all over New England, including the Mystic Arts Café, the Sunken Garden Poetry Festival, Hartford Stage, and many others. He Stanizzi is the coordinator of the Fresh Voices Poetry Competition for Young Poets at Hill-Stead Museum, Farmington, CT, and a teaching artist for the national recitation contest, Poetry Out Loud. A former New England Poet of the Year, named by the New England Association of Teachers of English, Stanizzi teaches literature at Manchester Community College in Manchester, CT and he lives with his wife, Carol, in Coventry.

Travis Stephens – Climax Forest, Glacier Bay. Travis Stephens earned a degree at University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. A sea captain, he now resides with his family in California. Recent credits include: STONEBOAT REVIEW, CROSSWINDS POETRY JOURNAL, SOUTHWORD, HAVIK, APEIRON REVIEW, THE FINGER, NIGHT PICNIC JOURNAL, PENNSYLVANIA ENGLISH and GRAVITAS POETRY. Online his was a Poem of the Week for Silver Needle Press and poems have appeared in INK & VOICES, RUE SCRIBE, SHEILA-NA-GIG, OPEN: JOURNAL OF ARTS & LETTERS, THE SCRIBLERUS ARTS JOURNAL, HCE REVIEW and DEAD MULE SCHOOL OF SOUTHERN LITERATURE.

Alex Stolis – Looking Forward, Winter in the Woods, Winter Silo (photo series). Bio coming soon.

Stuart Terman – July Lights; 2007. I’m a physician, previously Assistant Clinical Professor/Ophthalmology/Case Western Reserve/also attending ocular surgeon at the Cleveland V.A. Hospital in my home city of Cleveland. I’ve had publications in Medical/Literary/Poetry/Surgical/Ocular Journals, including the ‘Annals of Plastic Surgery’, ‘Cathexis’, the ‘Northwest Indiana Literary Review’, the ‘Annals of Ophthalmology’, and the ‘Consultant for Pediatricians’, among a number of others over the years. (a photo journal) www.highshelfpress.com/decembernewspaper also recently online.

Patricia Thrushart – What Man Does Not Know. Patricia lives with her poet husband in Northwestern Pennsylvania just outside of award-winning Cook Forest State Park. The beauty of these old-growth forests is a major influence on her work. She has published two books, both available on Amazon: Little Girl Against The Wall, and Yin and Yang. Her latest book, titled Of Time and Seasons, is expected to be published in the fall of 2019. Her work appears regularly in The Watershed Journal, a regional literary magazine and on the website Dark Horse Appalachia. Her poems have been published in The Brookville Mirror and The Pittsburgh Post Gazette and was just accepted by The Pennsylvania Poetry Society for the March Edition of the Magazine PENNESSENCE. She is a member of two local writers’ groups and participates frequently in live poetry readings and collaborations.

Ahrend Torrey – I Walk to City Park this Morning. Ahrend Torrey is a poet and painter. He is a creative writing graduate from Wilkes University in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. When he is not writing, or working in New Orleans, he enjoys the simpler things in life, like walking around City Park with his partner, Jonathan, and their two rat terriers Dichter and Dova. Forthcoming this year, his debut collection of poems ‘Small Blue Harbor’ will be available from The Poetry Box Select imprint.

Helena Van Brande – No bedtime Story. Helena Van Brande is an undergraduate student at Princeton University, completing a degree in comparative literature with certificates in creative writing and environmental studies. In addition to writing poetry, she writes nonfiction essays and does translation from French, German, and Dutch. She was born in Belgium, and moved to the United States with her family when she was a child. In her spare time, she enjoys running, climbing, cooking, and gardening.

Erich von Hungen – Gourd Sounds. Erich is a poet from San Francisco, California. From there, he has established a YouTube channel, PoetryForce, to explore issues of social consciousness as well as matters of the human heart — its uses and misuses. For a collection of short stories, he was the runner-up for The Joseph Henry Jackson Award. Six of these pieces were published by The Colorado Quarterly. His poems have appeared in Cathexis Northwest Press, The Esthetic Apostle, and The Write Launch. Find him at his YouTube channel “PoetryForce” PoetryForce

Craig Weimer – Robed In Vines. My biographical statement could best be described as short. I grew up in the Suburbs of Morgantown, West Virginia, where one could be surrounded by civilization one moment and completely, totally alone the next, those two moments being separated by only a short walk.

Lati Will – It Teaches. is a mystic poet, writer, and visionary deeply inspired by the poet-seers of both past and present. Infinitely passionate about her craft, she is on a lifelong mission to awaken people to the countless beauties this life has to offer. From writing in the first page of her diary as a teenager to channeling deeper meaning through the power of words as an adult, she feels called to create positive change that will continue impacting others for generations to come. Currently, Lati serves as the Creatress — harnessing the wisdom she has cultivated throughout her spiritual journey, she answers spirituality-related questions and curates philosophical poetry and quotes that uplift, empower, and inspire.

Russell E. Willis – Cardinal Impulse. My professional career began in engineering and moved to higher education (teaching ethics and humanities, eventually serving as an administrator, ultimately as a Provost) and later online education (focusing on business education). Most recently I have been concentrating on my writing. Much of my poetry uses the experiences and insights of the places (and times) I have lived after moving thirty times across the U.S. and having traveled to Europe, Mexico, Canada, and India. In 2019 I have had poetry published (or accepted for publication) by Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing (March 2019), The Esthetic Apostle (February 2019 online issue), and The Write Launch (January 2019 online issue). I have also published non-fiction in the areas of ethics (focusing on ethics and technology); science, technology, and religion; and American political history. I also have two active blog series: Being Responsible in the Age of Social Media, Cryptocurrency, and Smart Weapons/ Cars/ Phones and Your Strategic Planning Coach. https://willisdrr63.wixsite.com/rewillis

Michelle Wittensoldner – Owl (photo). I am an amateur photographer from Ohio. I enjoy taking photos of the simple everyday beauties that the world offers us. My focus is mainly on Landscapes and animals. Here I present to you a close up, heavily cropped picture of a Great Horned Owl. I find him quite beautiful from his striking eyes to his cute little tongue! I also present to you a picture of a Foggy morning. Driving down a country road the fog was so peaceful sitting on the hill behind that old barn. And lastly, I show you a picture I shot of a praying mantis eating a fly. He hung there and let me take his picture just eating his lunch! I very much enjoy these everyday beauties that we can find in nature.

Libby Young – Fern (Nature blues photo). I am a photographer based in Cape Town, South Africa. I am working on a series of botanical and nature-related cyanotypes using contact negatives created from my original digital photographs. Some of the images I print on sheet music – the one attached in Amazing Grace.

Kevin Wayne Zerbe – I Ain’t No Bald Cypress. Kevin is a writer and ecologist. His work is the welcomed burden of flowing water, cold hands, conservator of natal streams. A life in the field is what he writes. The bodies of he and his wife are lost now in a megalopolis, but their hearts and souls roam the hidden valleys of the Northern Rockies.

Jack Zimmer – A Tree isn’t Built. Jack currently lives in Omaha, Nebraska and attends Metropolitan Community College. He is working towards an Associates degree in Creative Writing and hopes to attend a four year school upon graduation from Metro.

Russell Zintel – What’s That in the Sky?  Russell lives in Rockland, Maine, and works as a line cook at a Mediterranean restaurant. He has had poems appear in Banango Street and Ash Tree Journal. He is at work on a full-length collection.