The Chronicle | Spring 1999

chronicle

chronicle spring 1999

Clemson University

of Contents

lible litings

Spring Storm

it

lvvord "'DIEt" is

Matt Fallon

4

Chronicle Staff

carved on m) desk: i

excerpts from an eating disordered

undergrade diary

hlr

6

John Joyner

8

lead Quarters

Chrissy Davenport

9

Karan

Kelly

Dunphy

11

v

Aboard

Twain

Pigott

13

n

ove with Shakespeare

1

Pieta

James R. Andreas, Sr. Tonia Lyne Swinney

16

Amanda

17

I Chess? v

'(

)oit 1

Should

the Hell

,

I

1

Major

lish

4 th ii

Jiveen Harvest

\it the fl

Times

Poetry

C ing

Fiction Editor Said

Artist

;

i/-five

h persuading

Same Old Haunts

nie

18

Vaughan Todd Hunnicutt

20

bryan

22

Peter

Ishake

r.s.

Bloomsday

19

30

Amanda Litchfield Woody Muire

31

32

Matt Fallon

Brian Williams

33

promotions director

Kristin

Woods

hi

I

Hate You

Joming Old led

Woody Muire Twain

Pigott

46

Shannon Pierce

48

J.

Amy Holms

ned

Jennifer

J tied ?l

submissions editor

Aaron Craven webmaster

Ashlea Hall copy editor

II SI

Woody Muire

39

40 42 44

John Joyner

art editor

35 38

Key of C

Jessica Sosebee

Rolf Parker

36

in the

layout editor

29

Shannon Pierce Jessica Vaughan Holden Warren

Blues

Bobby Congdon

24

J.

v1

Brian Hansen

Parker Smith

ingin"

\ ayers

editor

Chrissy Davenport

Tina Price

Cemetery

Maw

•

managing

23

u:

K le

Alisha

business editor Rolf Parker Jessica

Great Loss

McCue West

editor-in-chief

14

Know

What Her Eyes Look Like? •i

Litchfield

Heather

iglass coffee table

Diking of I

lion

U

tied

You

Stemen

3 5

Fred Taylor

10

Eric Grijalva

10

Tom Dimond

12

J. P.

Tousignant

15

Heather Buxton Chrissy Davenport Kelly

Dunphy

Jessica Sosebee

16

Dnected

Gwendolyn Magee

21

Mollie Ferrigan

U

Alice Finklestein

22

Summer Muzika

Brant Duncan

27

tied

Bse

Hooks

28

Sydney A. Cross

34

M.J.

Miorial

Wings

Broken Wings

F(

ed

S(

ching for the Provider

Margaret Denk

37

To submit

N

lan L.

J. P.

Tousignant

41

PO Box

/

p:ho-Kev

Kevin McCall

43

&:n Foot lulls

Amy Holms

47

Clemson,

to us:

2187

SC 29632

chron@hubcap.clemson.edu

Cover Art "Vat

Happens

at

Home"

tf^aretDenk- 1998 -JDgraph

Wk

18.5"

&

Silk Screen

Our only cr: .teria for chc Dosing art or literature is the que ality of its expression.

Amy Holms 1999 Sepia Toned Silver Gelatin r r mi

16" x20"

chronicle

First Spring

Storm

Matt Fallon

From I

afar,

observe her Deliberately graceful movements.

She draws close,

And

I

am

witness

To her perfume, So powerfully subtle, So rare and inviting.

my

She clasps

And

bare neck

her cool fingers draw

me

in

To hear her sensual comments.

While her warm breath Delicately caresses

Her

sliding black

Of a

my ear.

gown,

my

material alien to

knowledge,

Softly glides across her

body

Revealing the curves

Unique

to perfection.

I

look directly into her eyes;

I

stare

And

through her flashing truth

is

iris

no longer mysterious,

Secrets are told.

Her moist lips, They brush mine

And

at first,

eventually embrace them tightly.

Slowly do they recede.

Before she departs, I

look

at

And One more

her longingly

she

knows

that

I

cannot be content.

kiss,

please,

Before lightning strikes elsewhere.

Jennifer

I

1998 Silver

Ge

chronicle

word "DIEt"

the

my

carved on

is

desk: ex

cerpts from an eating disordered

undergrade diary ki-

Today

i

have eaten a half cup of lowfat cottage cheese, three

and a Carnation instant breakfast

six peanuts

— sugar

free,

raisins,

with skim

milk.

It's

My

10:30pm.

stomach

and convince myself hours

away from

to stay

and forget

will fall asleep

i

and continue to read. Trouble registering and i

saw

row,

it

boys and bulimic sorority

this i

on

my

bed

gnawing hunger,

can't really read.

tell

i

myself

The words

aren't

enemy

hunk of goo. Instead

Tomorrow,

my jeans

school and

how

resist.

food that caused

tight

i

unassuming would pace back and

felt this

i

myself out of devouring

talk

just think about

i

looked,

it

was. Tomor-

it

to sell this ugly indulgence to

girls.

same case and

forth in front of this

It's

is,

would've gone

i

lay

i

David commented on how good

would have

i

ago,

the kitchen. In a couple of

in its protective glass case like the

work,

at

week

keep thinking about the chocolate covered cheesecake

i

at the deli today.

stared at

A

growling.

is

and gotten myself a snack. Tonight

into the kitchen

how changed 36 i

morning and

it's

this

times before

not hard to

this.

Sometimes think about how much love to go out to dinner and how good vanilla ice cream feels on my tongue, i'm not sure how much i'm willing to sacrifice. No more after dinner Bailey's. No more Reeses Pieces sundaes at Friendly 's. It makes me tired to decide which like more eating or being thin. i

i

—

i

i

summer long everyone

told

hidden accomplishment.

1

love being thin. All

smiled, proud of five!

was

i

double

a

shifts

my

wonder! The compliments never ceased!

dropped on the i

i

scale,

i

went

went rollerblading

to the in

i

loved the

gym and

90 degree

way

ran until

heat,

thin

i

was.

worked

on a large hazelnut coffee and half a muffin,

birthday cake and chicken Florentine,

to spin,

me how

12 pounds at five foot

i

i

the

my

refused

numbers

head began

did squats until

my

knees ached.

And

it

Then

i

was

all

worth

lost control.

it.

i

conquered

reckless abandon. Social outings

alone

at three

fervor that

And

it

i

my own

There were times when i

i

fat self.

had

to eat

and

i

ate with

couldn't escape. Ben&Jerry's

am. Oreo cookies shoved into

my mouth

with such

almost choked.

never tasted good.

Food stuffed in napkins. Laxatives hidden in all of my pockets.

Twenty minutes spent sick in the Main Street Bar and Grill restroom and a chicken sandwich that DID taste good. Mary my father noted my weight loss just before excused myself to reject my meal. Mary hadn't eaten one fry. She eyed me suspiciously after curly fries

and

i

i

as

i

happily dunked them in pools of ketchup,

ordered a second

i

mudslide. She slumped in her chair. Part of the control was gone but

didn't care. This way,

i

wanted and

still

be

i

could eat

of the

all

yummy

foods

i

Euphoria!

thin.

Then, after six weeks of swallowing the

little

stopped working,

nothing happened. Four

i

took three

at a time,

orange saviors, they at

The fat creeped back and hated myself again, became somewhat sensible for a while. Eating until was full. did have a couple of lapses Occasional treats, one in which stole laxatives off a grocery store shelf and swallowed them right a time,

no

luck.

i

i

i

—

i

there in the aisle without water,

pain that

i

wanted

mingham, when

i

my

feared

Another food expulsion

i

spent the next 16 hours in such

The second was

to die.

I

me that. the gym and weighed myself

joined

i

And

almost cried.

i

i

is

spinning.

just

consume

When

will

came home and

in i

had gained sixteen

retained control.

has been four days. In those four days

Karen

too tight.

prayed that she would never

—

calories one should

head

bit

room. Eight year old

tell

pounds! From that minute on, It

were a

in a restaurant ladies

Elizabeth was just outside the door.

i

at a restaurant in Bir-

size four jeans

be like me. "You're beautiful," she said.

Don't

i

i

have consumed the

one day. The cycle

is starting.

My

be free of this?

told

me

she was starving,

heat up a bowl of something in the microwave,

i

i

PHI

heard her

can hear her fork

clanking against the bowl as she feeds herself in the next room.

My

stomach's noises are audible.

It's

almost midnight.

I'll

eat

Maybe two tablespoons of sugar free pinch of granola. Maybe four raisins tomorrow,

breakfast in the morning.

yogurt with a feel

No

lightheaded and weak,

i

think

i'll

go back

to

my

i

reading.

-,:' ./

sleep tonight.

'

.V'W.', v

'"v

"'^«

m chronicle

Play Chess?

John Joyner

no

do

I

not

know how

to play chess,

know

nothing of

bishops, queens or pawns,

know

nothing of

something because everything's gone, I

want

just

to

watch the people

walk

to the

bars

and clear

my

conscience

with simple regards, like regards

to the girl

who

drinks her coffee

with a spoon

and regards to the little

ran

boy who

away

to the

and perhaps is

nothing

my

moon, sincerity

much more

than a letter of apology signed:

Sincerely Yours,

poet

At Head Quarters Chrissy Davenport

Lonely

is

the

man who

stands and says "No, I

When

will not."

there

are a thousand others

who

are willing to offer

their life to the cause.

So they

tell

him "We have

heard that before."

And

he walks out feeling

more embarrassed than proud.

These nights he a Late

Show

sits

watching

while others

drive tediously toward

something

that

makes them

blind.

'Life will

always

prizes sometimes for

Jerome K. Jeromt

chronicle

"Plexiglass Coffee Table"

Fred Taylor

"%k

1997

'see everything

-Eric Griialva

"Thinking of You" Eric Grijalva

1999 Silver Gelatin Prin

1

For Karan Kelly

Strung

Dunphy

in the pines'

lowest branches

Hand-height to shoulder dripped color

Rags or cloths that lay once In a mother's smooth hands Lying

in a triangle

of light that broke

Through the upper branches lay two beaten bags Propped against each other like old friends Faded, worn, torn, and soggy from

last night's drizzle

'The story: While my

roomate was taking

More

rags peeked out the bags, printed rags

With strings and backs

photos for an assign-

that let in drafts

wandered h nearby woods and stumbled on the scene described in this poem.

My imagination ran \ent, I

And never

closed correctly for

all that

wore them

i

"Hospice" printed neatly on a tag carried the smell of bandaids

Of moans,

Who

straps,

The Evian Brought

to solve a puzzle

A

taste

of fear licked

its

molded

plastic

form

desperate escape. Slinking

Exxon

gown

I or,t

down between would have mind moving mountain water rippled

But here the

into an

wild and when

bottle nestled

to

Survival.

of a

and intense faces trying

had no intention of being solved

amid dumpster

station, slipping the bottle

taken off behind the rear

ine bottles to track

own Karan. She had the folds

"k

last October, had found wandering around the woods, and was re-admitted to the Anderson Psychiatric-

.w.

And

a trail of

Leading

With

a

It's all

brownish bottles with child safety caps

to the base of the first

name, and part of the I

know of the

decorated pine

story,

faded into the labels

mystery, and the only contact

I

have

Hospital She .

With Karan

there today

still lives

and

-Kelly

is

in

Dunph

chronicle

"Reunion"

Tom Dimont 1999 Acrylic on car

82" x82"

x2

Eastern Textile Train & Audit Service For all your warping

textile

needs.

George 110

P.

McCue Easley,

McCue Street

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All

Aboard Twain

Pigott

Bananas Shoes Diapers

News Radio Sheets

Bread Beets

Gravy

Cream Toilet Paper

Mr. Clean

Kitty Litter

Smelly Socks Dirty Napkins

Broken Clocks Oily Pans

Broken Plates

Green Gunk Raisins, Dates

Pantyhose

With a run

Murder weapon Ifs a

gun

A Pissed off

squash blossor

ies, I feel

Pissed on

withered as

~a stained zucchini."

Old Photos Telephone

So you

think

You're Miserable

With your job

at

hand

Take some time and thank

chronicle The

bitter

garbage

man

In

Love with ohakespeape James R. Andreas,

Film lovers have been lining up

Sr.

at the

Astro Theater

in

Clemson for weeks to see "Shakespeare in Love", a film that swept a number of awards at the Golden Globe awards, including best actress for Gwyneth Paltrow and best screenplay for Tom Stoppard, and is sure to be so honored at the Oscars. The eighth annual Clemson Shakespeare Festival which drew twenty thousand people to various

How

events here and around the state opened with the film.

does one

explain the popularity of "Shakespeare in Love", the unlikely appear-

ance of Harold Bloom's scholarly book, "Shakespeare and the Invention of the

Human", on

the bestseller

list,

and the many new

Shakespeare films in the works to add to the

of the last few Baz Luhrmann's

stellar list

years including Al Pacino's "Looking for Richard",

"Romeo and

Juliet" with

Leonardo DiCaprio, and Trevor Nunn's

Bonham

"Twelfth Night" with Helena

Carter? Helen Hunt also ap-

peared as Viola in a fine "Twelfth Night" year,

at the

Lincoln Center

and Calista Flockhart from "Ally McBeal"

summer

Night's

Dream"

this

will star in

May. Kenneth Branagh

1930s musical version of "Love's Labor's Lost" and

Hawke

in

"Hamlet"

set in

New York. Modern-day

last

"A Mid-

is

about to

start a

we

will see

Ethan

adaptations of

"Othello" and "Taming of the Shrew" are also in the works.

Is

it

made Americans so Shakespeare-friendly in the last decade? And when will all this "Bardolatry" - as Bernard Shaw enviously called the worship of Shakespeare - go away? Judgmillennial fever that has

ing from American, not to mention British entertainment choices, not

soon.

A better question to ask might be,

where does

come from? Shakespeare was

all this

pop phenomenon in his own age - it was estimated that more than a million folks came to see his plays in his own Globe Theatre during his career - and has re"Bardolatry"

mained so

virtually for the last four

subject for film as the

new medium

a

hundred years. The most popular at the turn

of the twentieth century

was Shakespeare. His plays, particularly the tragedies, were automatic box office draws and all the big Hollywood stars like Emil Jannings, Asta Nielson, and Lionel Barrymore wanted to do Shakespeare.

Nothing's changed really, although there are obviously cycles of popular interest

in

Shakespeare, and we're

the thirties, for instance, there

ing

Max

Reinhardt's

at a real

peak right now.

was a spate of Shakespeare films

"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (1935)

In

includ-

starring

Dick Powell, Olivia De Havilland, Mickey Rooney, and Joe E. Brown,

among

others

-

a real star studded cast like Kenneth Branagh,

Emma

Thompson, Denzel Washington, Michael Keaton, and Keanu Reeves who appeared in Branagh 's "Much Ado About Nothing", released a

:

few years ago. In 1936 George Cukor produced a splendid

"Romeo and Juliet" with the two great screen lovers of the time, Leslie Howard of "Gone With the Wind" fame and Norma Shearer.

So, what do we make of the fever for displacing the fear of Shakespeare that

is

sweeping the movie

bookstores of the land?

It

may be

don't want to miss the Bardwagon.

Shakespeare Festival, val

in

theaters, playhouses,

and

nothing new, but for sure you

So support your

local

our case the Clemson Shakespeare Festi-

which ran from February 12-27, 1999

in the

Brooks Center on

Clemson University campus. Information about Clemson Shakespeare Festival IX can be obtained by calling the box office

the

at

864-656-7877. Email the

check out the fabulous

festival at

festival

website

cholt@clemson.edu or at

www.clemson.edu/

shakespeare.

w

r/*

£Wi '-^—

"Art

is

a metaphor

for life that allows us

\

access to experience;

new and -J. P.

P.

old."

Tousignant

Tousignant

The

Pieta Tonia Lyne Swinney

I

slept until

I

saw

the statue bleed.

His blood, an ocean wave, washed the sand from

my

eyes.

His cries of agony said to me,

"awake,

My I

my

child,

AWAKE!!"

heart and soul obeyed.

sleep

no more.

1

Detroit Amanda

Two

Litchfield

bullet holes in a green sign

A curve, a factory,

and

I

am

on the road.

in the city.

I

watch billowing smoke, and a snowplow leads

I

have been told

that

it

will

never be the

way

it

my

way.

was

But I know that reconstruction occurs.

Somehow when I see her I am changed back

Or forward,

or into something that once

Every year they burn

How am

I

Changes

all

It is

supposed

in

to

of

it,

it

crude

And

is

it

and flapping.

makes her even more

I

know

beautiful, vulnerable.

mascara-streaked, crying and

the

is.

stands.

most beautiful bird

oil

In a blanket laying quietly she becomes The epitome of wonder.

Days later she changes back though, and

She

still

remember her face when

That happens too though, and That

was or

and yet she

of the time?

like seeing the

Covered

all

the black taints her face.

pitiful.

snowplow keeps going through her

Leading me, changing everything.

chronicle

HOW THE HELL SHOULD I KNOW WHAT HER EYES LOOK LIKE? Rolf Parker

Her name

some such

Betty or Simelia or

is

and her breasts are no smaller than grapefruit or perhaps a lot smaller, smaller than the

and

though

set perfectly high, as

palm of her hand

at attention, at all

or perhaps they are just the breasts that nourish

times,

my

baby,

our child, finally a child.

And

Betty's lips form this perfect

puffy

Perhaps they are just the

mouth

small

lips that say,

was looking for you." so doing draw me to her bed for the

"There you

and

little circle,

lips, just right for....

in

are,

I

next forty years.

And

she wears the most revealing clothes,

each footstep causing some portion of her

body

bounce or swish

to

She delights

She

is

in herself

my

cup of

life.

practically a

nun

sexual Java in

Or maybe she was

into startling view.

and the effect she has. until recently,

and her clothes smell of cleaned cotton and nothing, and nothing of her and her

is

seen save her hands, her upper neck

face.

It is

her safety suit for dealing with a probing world,

her,

"no thank you please" uniform,

that she pulls

on

to protect her

from daylight.

Each night she asks me to pull it off of her, and she throws it on the floor like a boa constrictor

we

repeatedly vanquish,

and we laugh at the snake that almost got her again.

With me she delights in revealing all.

She

will

know many ways

that there are

to

be lovable,

but Betty or (Simelia or whatever the hell her turns out to be after will definitely

love

is

How

is

it

is

the hell

not.

clear.

lucky to be old enough

to find to love

it

easy

many

but to only need one.

meet her)

know what

and what

That much

I

name

that

——

—

The English Major Jessica

Vaughan

"Cotton," you say like

your mouth

is

stuffed full of

it.

"Cot Ton" there are

On my

two

t's

in there,

you know.

island for a day,

and you think you're fluent then

why do you want

with

my

to

in the language;

wash your face

shirt?

Look, I

ride for the

I've seen

Queen,

Bonanza;

I'm a cultured man.

Just reading our

books back

in Illinois

Ohio?

Wherever, back

in

doesn't

Ohio

make you an

officer in our regiment, lady.

from

A Room ol

One's

Own

chronicle

The Great Loss Todd Hunnicutt

Complex Hallway

upon a cause. dim warning of

feeling lights

an approaching storm.

Looking down

the old dirt road,

traces of Grandpa's

upon I

sawdust

a

wagon weathering once was barn

pile of

used to know.

Looking up, "Life

is

but a fraction

of time we have

to

no rope and pulley

Remembering as

we

hoisted

leaving

him

rising.

little

him

tied

John's screams

to the loft

midway

though

later

found us

on the receiving end of a hickory.

Ole Fireball barking chasing his " 'A Gift for

You

about losing

my

is

someone Off

cried

to the pasture

checking for escaping cow.

childhood memorie

Running back only

and on a whim,

Now I

sit

on the porch,

remembering

no dinner

bell ringing,

thern.

old -

Todd Hunnicuti

(one small thing I

would

like to share. I

men

to

be sent on the chase again.

voices no longer echoing,

Grandma's churn

still

in

place after

Winds through the pines as Wetness upon my cheeks.

One

last

Takes

tail until

"wolf.

all

stand before the progress of

this

the years.

the rain begins to

fall.

man

beauty away.

(and daddy won't you take

me back

to

Mulenburg county

thanks JR)

"In

my

work,

strive

I

to give a sense of

preciousness and fragility to I

my

forms

choose the potters

wheel as the vehicle to

produce both

functional and sculptural vessels."

-

Gwendolyn R. Magee

"Connected"

Gwendolyn Mage* Porcelain

6" x 10"

chronicle 21

North bryan

r.s.

Polaris definable,

dead

star

of a cosmic hollywood

aged, withered actor of

come

light.

into the rebirth,

a photon renaissance,

while

we weep

tears of joy.

the birth of our

new

star,

our grandiose corporeal prop, for a stage long past.

w "Untitled"

Alice

F inkle stein

handshake Peter

When

Bloomsday

Ric came to talk there wasn't a dry eye that watched

If you'll stretch the

analogy we've

all

found liquid cocaine desirous

All of us have fallen for sin

Everyone has struggles with temptation All of us were

wounded and some of us are dead immune deficiency syndrome

Ric acquired the Here's

When

my

hand

he reaches thirty-two he'll be gone

Laughed when

i

said safe sex

is

an oxymoron

Sure he's gay, but swears he didn't get If sin is sin

whose next page So

here's

When So If a

my

is

stamped

at

that

Should life

Here's

my

Will

spread through

it

my

be scared?

my

sincerest sympathies

handshake handshake

Watch our hands shake

I

was spared

mine be

needle prick brought this disease take

Here's

way

the end

handshake

Paul grabbed the serpent Paul's

shall

it

you're just another gay book judged by the cover

my

skin

when my hand touches him?

Between Harvest Times Chrissy Davenport

"That old tree

is

going to

house

hit the

"But Pa's great great grandpa planted

it," I

we

if

don't," said Chase.

"I will

said.

send for them

today," he said, "His great great grandpa built this house, too."

Inside she

was lying

as her hair had been all

all year.

Her face was the same white color Her hands were raised up in the air. We had

in bed.

been watching out the window

cut that old tree.

raised in the

The

air.

at the city

She was screaming

looked

tree outside

workers

at the

like a

A

neighbor

to the door.

woman had

He took

down

already sent a pie.

the pie

from

her.

to

shadow of them, bare and

twisted from old age, and they were both going

went

who had come

bed nurse with her hands

"She

together.

It

ain't

was Chase who

dead

yet,

though.

They's coming for her tomorrow. You come a day too early."

They stopped all the cutting and sawing around dusk when the was just a tall stalk with little nubs left where the limbs used to reach out. They gave Doc a ride back to town. "We will be back tomorrow," they both said. It was only us left at her bed. The tree was shining out the window from the glow in the bedroom. Now she was a shadow, it tree

standing up skinny outside and her lying

down

flat

and long.

was not like this with Pa. He had fallen in the field. We tied an plow handles and the old horse drug him back to the house.

Us three boys had put him in the bed until they come to pick him up. We didn't go with him. Ma went, but she had told us he would have been glad to have finished that one last row behind the plow and that we were to plant the corn in it. Every day that year she would sit on the front porch and watch that row of corn running cock-ways from the others, It

old sac to the

starting at

mid

field

we

harvest time

cut

and heading out it

like the rest.

not gotten to pull her last row, but she

coming

in a straight line to the porch.

At

Ma

had

This time was not like Pa.

was already

in bed,

and they were

for her tomorrow.

In the

morning Chase woke me up saying, "That tree is a damn Today they are coming to take it away in pieces.

sight looking like that.

They say one

Doc

this

be took

that big can't

morning?"

I

said.

in just

one time." "Are they bringing

"No. He said she weren't going

to last the

would just send a wagon to get her." "I'm not going said, "I have work to do in the yard."

in

were three men they brought

to

night and that he there yet,"

I

The wagon came on

time. There

take her: the preacher, the undertaker, and the undertaker's son.

undertaker eyed

me when

The

he drove into the yard. The preacher started

for the door; they always

when

out

go

in first.

"Go

asked me.

"Yes,"

I

We've got work." I pointed to my way. "You can take her if you want to."

The undertaker's son came out on

with him and carry her

room

said, "she's in that

going.

going today," he

ain't

in

he's done," the undertaker told his son.

in there to

sister

We

won't be

standing in the door-

"She

in front of preacher.

"What's that?" said

said.

"You her boy?" he

there.

wrap her up and bring her

me and said i ain't dead yet. You come them all back in the morning. That'll be

his father.

looked right

out, but she

a

day too

went

"I

early.

at

You bring

Chase smiled.

the time.'"

Larry came back that day. Pa had died thirteen months ago

and

weeks

five

back.

He

letter.

him

to get

sick, told

went off to the army and hasn't been him one last month when Ma came up

after that Larry

got a

We

sent

on home before we buried

already been back a week, but only

came

in a

her.

He

should've

few hours ago. He said

he met the undertaker and his son a couple miles up the road and

Ma

they had told him

weren't dead yet.

After Pa died and Larry went off, the rest of us was just like

we

didn't have

much

to say to

Me

each other.

and Chase was always

out to the fields plowing and planting. Sister's doing things for Ma,

cooking and tending

That night

cow.

to the

family no more and that

Ma

it

Ma

ached her

said

we

weren't even hardly a

in the heart to think

about

it.

asked the bed nurse to cook a good dinner for

She said a bed nurse usually don't do a thing like that, but that these were times when you did what you was asked. "Go round back Larry.

and get

that old jar of corn

the last of

We come

been saving

all

year,"

Ma

told her. "It's

to the dinner table early that night like sister

us.

Some

said

sometimes you got

that's

I

it."

of the plowing didn't get done because of

Ma tonight.

to pick

what needs tending

"Where's the food?"

I

said. "It'll

it,

asked

but Chase

to the most,

be here

and

in time,"

sister said.

I

looked over to the corner and saw the bed nurse scooting

out backwards through the doorway.

She was holding Ma's hands

while Larry helped carry her to the table.

"Move

that chair,"

Larry

Chase jumped up and pulled out Ma's chair. "She ain't supposed to be out of bed this way," he said, "you can't just come after all this time and be taking said, "she's eating at the table with us tonight."

her up like that, Larry." "She's gone die no matter the bed or

my

night,"

if

if

she's in there in

she's right here at this dinner table," Larry said. "This

Ma

said, "let

me have

it

is

one more time." Chase smiled.

is

to

spend

it

for

something that

The dinner was Sister

chair.

"We're going

in

her seat.

-

Ma my

said,

We

all sat

-

is

again."

Peter Allen

TIME

WARP

Vintage Clothier Jewelry

*

Tapestries

Tie *

Dyes

Fine Art

Open Tuesday Thursday Noonish-7ish

517 Auqusta Street

is

Ma's

last night."

to eat as

family."

I

they should finish the job in a couple

new

"Tonight

around the table trying

The next morning they came back

"Everything old

upright in her

it

people from the city were there, too.

as that

Ma was

was her last supper with us. "This is your father's "and this is my family, the whole of it. All round this

slow as possible since

table

around by the time

to use this tonight," said sister,

She was beaming corn,"

all set

and the bed nurse had come out with the guest dinnerware.

one there, you can't take'

em

to take her like she said.

heard one of them trips.

all in

tell

Chase

The that

"Yeah," he said, "one's big

one time."

Brant Duncan Gesso, Watercolor,

Charco

chronicle

me lAV

35

n "Memorial"

MJ Hooks 1999 Acrylic on canvas

5'x41/2'

killing poetry Parker Smith

On

the Astro

transformers press square form onto a tangle of black wire running everywhere.

Across the

street

-19 on the

Dow

The

it

was

today.

bright yellow Shell sign

stuck in the sky below the lights the

moon

dim road and

then the blue lights of the police car parked at Papa's killing poetry.

What

the Fiction Editor Said

Rolf Parker

Or The Somewhat Snide Anti

-

Poetry Sonnet

with apologies to Shakespeare, Allan Ginsburg,

and with malice towards none.

"Poetry

is

have no

gift for plot

who to

for those

who

never could be taught

do anything but howl and coo

websites for the

and mash together images with glue

poetry minded:

boiled from the bones of lectures they caught

minds they bought

www.poets.org/LIT/

with the

findfst.htm has a large

from whatever snooty college they went

number of poems by a large number of poets,

Poets hate clear expression;

organized

A to Z, all

it

leaves

tin trap

them no place

to hide

from a reader's clear question.

available online,

Far better to remain very voguely vague,

and www.compassion

to

wrap oneself wolf-like

coughing out morbid

in a

to.

cloak of wooly words

lines for the herd

spreading one's confusion like a lockjaw plague"

passion by famous

Caitlin

Bou

gave birth Febuc

1999 to a beauti-

\1,

ful

baby

To

all,

girl, Lily.

have a great

life.

Goodbye Clemson."

-rolf

parker

The

Artist Amanda

The

shows me

artist

And

I

Litchfield

smile

his

magic

at the fact that

it is

on

his thigh.

She has bright red hair and orange

Her nipples hang out over I

giggle at the fact she carries a duster

And bends I

he says

it's

outfit.

a tattoo thing.

have never seen anything

And

I

blush

She has a

Who

it

when

sister

seems

Dressed I

over in her French maid's

ask about the bubbles in the background

And I

skin.

the top of her corset.

is

I

have

up on the

his left shoulder

bad one

in all black, face

swear when he hugs me,

Sometimes That these

But

it

There But

I

like her

to look at her face.

in the

made I

.and all

group.

my

instincts.

up.

can see her wink.

makes me jealous to know two are always with him, against it

is art in

his skin.

my pride

the rarest form.

more I am told, even stranger pictures, have had enough art for right now. tell him is

I

I

reach out from the

Fifty-five Woody Muire

Truck headlights on the midnight highway are comets from

my bedroom first,

to

confess tell

her

new

you

window. Half-asleep,

my new

secrets

how I have

a

physical feeling.

sometimes see the

heart.

I

I

compose tomorrow's

which are our

new I

feeling in

don't

future, or

Realization: headlight.

I

a haiku about winter rain. Second, to

tell

how

momentary

secrets

my

which

I

Loving you makes

my

e-mail;

best friend

are trivial.

I

I

an emotion, a

heart; not

her (or you) about

how

I

can

often flash omnipotent.

total

connection.

rinse in winter rain. First love at 23;

will be ash.

my

I

I

am

a truck

have a bad

heart beat harder. In thirty-two years

In thirty-two years

I

will

end

like

comets.

the persuading Brian Williams

grows

the persuading breeze

march

to a

my wings give lift and throw me to the and my heart sees nothing but the clouds as the touching of the blue helps me to fly. while

yet the currents for they twist i

surrender

all

seem

now,

I

my way

the

the faces gaze

amusement

here

I

up

that

light that

as to flight,

my

i'd

gleams

my

who

this

forgotten what

...and

and take the

strain

it

angel pulls

knew beneath my

all

is

who

to

weep

see.

are passing by

'On a scale of on en... four is about

not the sun

taught

me how

come

joy that is

feet.

form!

moves me

who

course has

cannot keep up

i

my

bask, untouched by

but the eyes of she

i

at

stirs

it

just a vision for those

and the

aim

have not looked upon

what was once the ground

how

a certain

conscious will

as the heavens guide

until

have no end

to

and turn without

my

sky

i

to fly

to close.

have found.

to live

me back down

to the ground.

chronicle

Broken Wines' Sydney A. Cross

1996 Lithograph and 22" x20"

Stt

In the

same old haunts

Kristin

"Do

I

Woods

know you?" we met?"

"Haven't

As

I

walk

in the

door the smell of cigarettes

and the energy of caffeine slap

"Welcome; join

me

in the face as if to say,

us."

The spirits in the room socialize.

They share mindless glances over coffee mugs and beer "Yes!

Now

same

time,

As I

I

I'll

remember.

We

talked yesterday,

table."

push open the glass door and step out into the

forget his

The

I

same

him

Tomorrow

street,

name.

nicotine lingers in

see

bottles.

my

hair and in

my

mouth.

again.

night perhaps.

chronicle

ludic Tina Price

the jack of hearts

never blinked an eye

when we so

met.

never suspected

i

that the internet

were

i

and

on hoping.

just kept

my

puppies

really rabid beasts.

friends never

warned me

about those preppy private school bastards.

so

i

never suspected

that the sour apple

was

i

on your tongue

really poison.

just kept

on craving.

and freud never said that

were

so

i

that the

were

Siamese dreams

really fucked

up nightmares.

never suspected

popping beer cans

really gunshots to

i

just kept

my

on dying.

head.

"My

art centers

on

violence that takes place in our society.

There are situations

we

occur that

that

may stop,

not be able to

however,

we

have a responsibility to help in the healing

process.

or

how

How much

little

depends

on the individual, but shutting others out

only perpetuates the

Margaret Denk

'Searching for the

Margaret Denk

1998 Lithograph

&

Screen

Silk

-

Swingin' J.

Shannon Pierce

Green Green-

Green

is

the grass that

grows.

TallTall-

Tall is the green tree

above the grass.

Free-

Free

Free

is

the soul

of the

man

in

the tall

green tree.

ShortShortShort,

is

of the in the

the

new rope man tall tree

above

the

green

grass

TightTight, in the

is

rope

with the

Tightthe knot

of the free soul.

man

At the Cemetery Jessica

Vaughan

Mom says she doesn't think of your grave as

where you

are,

doesn't need to visit or decorate

it

to feel close to you.

But

I

need

to

do both

because that marker is all

that's left

that can't be

I

am

of you

handed down.

comforted by the metaphor

of that pine blanket

warming

the steel casket

and your cold bones through the layers of frozen

Snow

Belt soil

during the season

when we were always warmest.

chronicle

A Players blues in the key of C Holden Warren

Guilt hangs

over the balance

"What I care the Way. which

sleep to escape tearing at

my

wounds pain follows like the

me

sun

seeking solace in the night to Todd, thanks for the

Holes... and

Bav

far

from the

unbearable light of being the

moon

no friend

is

budda on

my

shoulders crashing

Karma

four alarm fire in

my

soul

transcendental trainwreck

crash and burn

Freud and Nietchze mid-air collision sifting

through

the rubble

picking up pieces Catholic school

brainwashed reactions Taoist stories

macho scenes from torn cruise

movies

late night parental

screaming

trying to put together

a puzzle that has

never

been assembled

r*i

i "I try to create situa-

*

tions of chance

and experimental methods, so that

I

don't end up with

expected

way

results.

the subject

This

is

constantly being reinvented, never

being the same as

I

had originally viewed it."

- J.

P.

Tousignant

"Nathan L." J. P.

Tousignant

Silver Gelatin Print

16" x20"

Man John Joyner

I

morning and

get up in the

brush

back, and push

it

hard day

it

topic feels like hell.

with misconceptions about what

filled

about what

my

should be.

I

clean

forward unwillingly into the

it

I

my body

pull

it is

it,

shave

it,

light of another

and expectations

into a routine that bores

it,

makes its butt ache, makes its head pound. I smoke a cigarette to keep my body from crying, but my child tells me that they are unhealthy and flushes the whole pack down the toilet. More money down the drain.

The basic male body comes with grip, saddle bag, secret

decoder

"mow

card. Master Card,

the following accessories: kung-fu

ring, basic white, credit card, debit

the front yard,"

school ring, digital watch, neck

"why

tie,

problems, #2 pencil, sneakers, lunch stirrups.

Batteries not included.

Pleasure in the male body

The male body contains verse, at least in that

Gilstrap's

Grocery

and

that

is

why

is

brain contemplates

are,

a brain.

issue.

and they

The

required.

But they say we're not

just aren't hearing

its

it.

brain contains the whole uni-

man's opinion. The brain dreams every

male body

the

Some assembly

always the

Maybe we

talking about love.

pail,

wide-brimmed hat, high do it?", money banjo, machine gun, and

can't the girl

feels like hell in the

night,

morning. The male

problems, formulates solutions, formulates more

solutions, loses control, regains control,

jumps

to conclusions, ob-

sesses over illusions like nuclear fusion, wishes on stars, wonders

The best meats the upstate,

in

and hot

dogs, too! ***

we

are

who we

to hit a target,

need

is

it

are. is

.

.

the

male brain

is

complex.

also designed to love. John

It

isn't just

Lennon

said "all

love" and John Lennon was assassinated so he must

something.

508 South B Street (864) 859-4506

No man

truly

knows who he

is

until

he leaves this world.

why

designed

you

know

"Expert texpert

choking smokers don't you think the

joker laughs at you? ..

.1

am the

walrus

GOO GOO GOO JOOB." - from The Beatles Magic Mystery Tour

psrcw-

kcv

PERCUSSION ACCESSORIES

'Psvcho-Kev

Kevin McCai

1999

chronic!

Why

Hate You

I

Woody Muire

I

guess part of

one years first

week of high

like writing a

school.

We

have realized.

Don't

straight.

We

It is

don't talk about

talking about

our society. The

other.

lie,

if it

is

the set

first is

me

took

It

twenty-

it

because

obvious;

is

it

it

would be

cheat or

steal.

the rules. There are

two

sets

of rules

we teach our children: Sit up Be nice. Be patient. Respect each

same on the inside. Peace and love.

The second set makes up the real rules. These are are all the

are never overtly taught, but

Lie

am jealous.

I

most of you figured out within your something we don't talk about, but all

novel about breathing.

What I'm in

because

it is

to learn a lesson that

we

away with

helps and you can get

the ones

we

figure out through life's subtle clues:

Cheat on your taxes; cheat

it.

on your wife. Steal cable. Stab your co-worker

in the back.

Don't get

caught.

Judge people by that are like you;

Strength

their appearance.

shun those is

who

all-important.

Group together with those

are different.

The strong

rule the

weak. Become

stronger than others in your group, and you rule them.

You

are

more important than

the group.

They

Kill the different.

are

Your own needs

Take what you need.

(sexual, monetary, emotional) are paramount.

wrong and you are right. If you them with money. Kill

can't kill their bodies, kill their minds. Kill

them with

sex. Kill

We

them with

petty rewards.

we have

have laws, but

classified

them

into

two categories.

There are serious laws which everybody agrees should not be broken (i.e.

murder), and then there are laws which

on the back so we can

we have

call ourselves civilized (i.e.

to pat ourselves

speed

limits, sub-

stance abuse laws, morality laws, separation of church and state).

We

form

We name

tribes.

fraternities

We

are aborigines with TV. I

hate you because

foolish things because

we

we

are ruled

We

by

fear.

are afraid of looking

friends, our family, our group. inferiority.

them fancy words

like associations

and societies and countries, but they are merely

and

We

We

tribes.

do so many

weak

in front

of our

bully each other because of fears of

hurt our lovers for fear of rejection.

Even now, I'm

still

jealous.

It

took

me

so

damn

long to figure

out those childhood rules were a test for the naive, an illusion to

ourselves feel better. twisted; following

Do

I

it's

them

twists

me.

I

why do we do

haven't told you anything you didn't this?

Why do we

wrong. People innately know

when you wake up

make

don't like the real rules very much. They are

have a point here?

already know. But

We know

I

in the

right

middle of the night and

act like jackasses?

from wrong. it's

It's like

utterly black, but

you

still

know where your hand

your nose easily

We

are is

at

You can touch your

it.

fingers to

because you just know.

act like jackasses because

And everybody does today

is.

in the darkness,

it's

easy. It's convenient.

We've been doing

it

forever.

People look

our current scandals and embarrassments and think, "What

we coming

that the

to?

same

We're getting worse every day!" But the

shit

went down two hundred years ago,

truth

fifteen

hundred years ago, three thousand years ago.

I'm not here to preach.

downward

spirals into chaos.

I

have no apocalyptic warnings of

I'm certainly no paragon; I'm not

about to lead you by example into some golden age.

I

a

new

merely have a message, one

rule,

one

I'd like

you

Take your gods and your

to

add

tribes

I

expect you to forget.

to the

list:

I

have

Don't fuck with me.

and shove them.

I

want nothing

to

The next time one of you stands tall and puffs his chest out and tries to bully me like I'm some pup, I will wait exactly two years. Then I will dress up in my black ninja costume and I will kill you. And I'll damn make sure I get away with it, because when I was a boy, you taught me to be patient. Have a do with any of

nice day!!

it.

Becoming Old Twain Pigott

How

is

the

moon?

butter beans.

back but to

I

if

am

was

guess

I

it

life from shelling would have been so hard on my

too learned about

don't guess that

it

the savory finished product wasn't so close to the ground,

who am

my

I

I

to argue with the

way

things are... which brings

me

point:

tired of the circle!

a toy.

Now

it's

the

Remember

the Mr. Potato Head,

same old toys over and

over.

now

Kick

that

this

guy, shot that one, this girl pees and this one vomits after lunch.

All these types of marketing will just lead to a Disney cup that

dishwasher safe and sends your mother off crying about your

isn't

dad's drinking habit. Hold on people... let's

about

I

tried to tie

one of those cherry stems

in

my

Really. .go ahead take a stab. .give up? the point of that... the point

is

back and think

can't ride in those

would. Not so

much

little

that

toy

we

mouth, guess what?

couldn't do

What

it!

21-28 year old people are

we

looking for some good toys and

We

I

.

.

was

sit

it!

two

are bored to death.

8- volt cars, but if

we

could

we

don't like our cars, but they are for

quote-unquote transportation.

Give

some

me

something

that

I

use everyday

at

work and make

it

kick

ass.

Forget

it!

We

are not the market

ago Tonka would

edges. This ''what have to piss

me

me

anymore even though

ten years

dump truck with sharp aluminum you done for me lately" attitude is starting

try to sell

a

off.

Remember me?

I

for you! Well eat

used to buy your products, but

me my

friend.

I

now

I

am

too old

AM TAKING UP GOLF!

"Seven Foot Falls"

Amy Holms 1998

1l

Silver Gelatin Print

16" x20"

I

Lived J.

Shannon Pierce

The music blared.

My hair grew long.

By

the river

Gathered with friends,

As

the fire passed round.

Drinking the river

Brewed I

water,

lived.

Worries forgotten Nights grew long.

Days became numbered.

Daring the dangers.

Testing the waters, again.

I fell

into darkness.

Friends gathered.

Tears were shed,

As

the fire passed round.