12 minute read
The Southpaw Man Jay Melzer
from Mirage 2021
Her long, reptilian tongue scarcely grazed his skin. The second her mouth made contact with his flesh, she was overwhelmed with the stench, that dark animal musk that had been lingering under the rot like a dirty secret. It hit the pits at the back of her throat like an open-palmed slap to the face, and she immediately began to heave, driven away from that primeval pheromone by instinct that lived in her blood. Not for you, that smell said. He is not for you. You are not allowed.
She staggered away from him, gagging, and in the moments before her death she looked up and saw a horror. There was a sickly, bile yellow aura hanging around the old man’s head like a miasma, slicked over his cheeks and his chin and down his neck like glowing paint, staining his tongue, his teeth. His head had caved in on one side, cruching his eye down into a permanent wink, and his lips had been cut to ribbons by his broken teeth. The empty sleeve was soaked to the elbow in gangrenous blood.
All at once she knew that putrid stench for what it had been all along. She had seen it in the desert once, lurching down the moonlit highway as she looked on from across the goat pasture. The Wretched Stag, god of offal smeared asphalt, of blowfiles and buzzards and the sudden silence in the aftermath of the accident. God of unforseen and incomprehensible loss — the infintely gentle, infinitely suffering thing.
The Southpaw Man smelled like hot copper sizzling on blacktop, bent chrome and gasoline and red garlands unspooled half a mile from end to end down the avenue. Sickly-sweet and overripe like spoiled vegetables that the rot refused to take. The Roadkill God had touched him. It had led him into the witherlands, into the place outside of time where there is no suffering.
And he had chosen not to follow.
“You shouldn’t have come back,” she moaned, and for a moment the man looked absolutely thunderstruck, bright eye wide. “Why did you do that?”
He looked gutted by what some dim, forgotten part of her recognized as raw anguish. Then his lips snarled back over his broken teeth, like surf receding before the surge, and when he swung the hammer back over his head, she screamed.
And because this is Neon Palms, even the neighbors that were home on a weekday afternoon did not look out their windows.
The homeless man stood in the alley in the aftermath of what he had done. He looked down at the open book, at Ana Sofia Cabrita, 109 Chuparosa Crossing. At the thing crumpled up behind the dumpster. At the great, black eye staring out from under a sheet of brown blood. At himself reflected in the lens of that eye.
The hammer dropped, and he reached for his face, blunt fingertips frantically crawling through thinning hair. He breathed, shook, jammed the heel of his palm into his own eye as if he expected it to no longer be there.
He started to cry. Great, guttural sobs breaking through the dam of human endurance like the flash flood that follows the monsoon.
The angle of the light had shifted, electric amber as the skyline overtook the sun, and he was whole again, for a moment or two. He sat with his back to the brick wall, sucking air through his clamped fingers, thin lips, crooked teeth. He couldn’t taste his own insides anymore.
But the smell never went away.
He stood. Picked up the book. Left the hammer where it lay.
The man left the alley the way he had come and wandered back down to the bus stop. When the 5:00 bus arrived, he boarded it,and when he saw the bar he had in mind out the window, spotted the graffiti on the bench in front of it, he decided to stay on a few more stops — and the city swallowed him, because it was hungry. The city was always hungry, and not all of those it devoured were unwilling.
700 Thousand Million David Altamirano ___________________________________________
Social Jessica Alba 2nd Place in Poetry, Student Contest ________________________________________
You play the music of last year’s party. Where the sun burned skin. The water spread into our clothes. The ice cream became sticky. You play the music. It’s shallow now. Like the pool outside that hasn’t been cleaned since March. The energy is drained. It is not the same. It’s happy. We’re smiling. But there is something wrong with the way we are sitting here. Because now the lyrics are louder than the music. It’s like we know it. But don’t. I’m going to say goodbye to you. And we are going to cry. So you play last year’s summer song. Expecting. To go back.
The Space Between the Notes Fred Chitwood _________________________________________________
Alone Time Joyce Genske ______________________________
Project Truck Ashleigh Ratkovich ____________________________________
Little Treasures Ruth O’Donogue 3rd Place in Art, Student Contest ____________________________________
Isolation Haley Bright 3rd Place in Poetry, Student Contest ________________________________________
A lonely hut in a brooding wood, paint peeling from its frame in long curls, like the fingers of a corpse, grabbing at the empty air for mercy. Far from the hum, the groan and thrum of a car and truck and mad city bus, trading tones for snaps of twig and the elegy of evening birdsong.
I stood on my toes to tap my nose at the tip of the window and whisper hello, hello, into the black cavity before me. No scornful tone, no mournful moan or word of reproach returned to my ear. Just the void of the wrecked hole, a hollow echo of the deep and lonely lake to which we all will soon belong.
Dragon and Butterfly Tea Set Virginia Worthington ___________________________________________________
Together Tino Montano ___________________________
Biographies
Melissa Adams: Melissa is a Culinary Arts student at Cochise College, but has always been interested in learning how to paint. She is a military spouse and has thoroughly enjoyed living in different areas of the world. She hopes to one day own and operate a small bakery that brings warmth to others through a shared love of foods.
Adriana Aguilar: I am a student at the Douglas Campus, and my major is in Elementary Education. I was born and raised in Agua Prieta, Sonora and I would like to dedicate myself to help English Language Learner (ELL) students that struggle with English as their second language. My goal is to make an impact on my border community and inspire my future students through my artwork as well as encourage them to follow their dreams.
Jessica Alba: I am a Fine Arts student at Cochise College. I love art and writing. I spend my time combining both. I am in the pursuit of recognition for my work because it is something I am very passionate about.
David Altamirano: David received his BFA from the University of Arizona in 2006 and his Master of Arts degree from Western New Mexico University (2014). David works as an art instructor for Cochise College and is dedicated to bringing art and cultural empowerment to the people of Douglas and the surrounding area.
Nelida Amaro: My name is Nelida, but feel free to call me Nelly. I am majoring in Fine Arts and I would love to be a muralist in the future. I enjoy drawing and listening to bands like Ateez and LUCY.
Eric Bos: Social clown. Existential worrier. Simulation participant.
Haley Bright: Haley is a first-generation, nontraditional student at Cochise College, majoring in Theatre Arts. Her interests are varied; aside from her passion for acting on stage, she also loves music, writing, hiking, studying history, and riding Pirates of the Caribbean at Disneyland. She has lived all over the United States and in Ireland.
Angela Chandler: I have returned to college this year to finally complete my Associate’s Degree. I am a wife and mother, and it is these two titles that happen to be my favorite thus far in life. I have worked in the field of Education for over twelve years and anytime that I have the opportunity to be creative I seize the moment.
Fred Chitwood: I am a full time student who is currently enrolled at Cochise College and studying for a degree in music creative studies. I was born and raised in Sierra Vista, Arizona, and have always wanted to travel around the world to see new forms of music and art. Over the years, I’ve spent most of my life drawing and creating 43 digital art for custom greeting cards, gifts, and personal artwork. With all the work I have done, I am far from finished. I am keen on taking my work to the next level and to grow as an artist.
Kimberly Fragoso: I am from Douglas, AZ, and Agua Prieta, Sonora, MX. I am studying to work in health care and hopefully one day work as a travel nurse while continuing to take photographs of memorable moments.
Kira Gee: I am a singer, composer, lyricist, and music major at Cochise College. For my entire life, I have used writing as a coping mechanism to process emotions I could not express and grief that I did not understand. Whether it be articulating my often controversial opinions through essays and articles or processing my emotions through music lyrics and poetry, writing has always existed as freedom for me.
Joyce Genske: She fell in love with photography at a very young age and has been taking pictures since. She enjoys capturing things other people miss and showing them the world through her eyes. She likes to find different ways to photograph everyday scenes as well as special ones.
Kameron Goulding: I am a freshman at Cochise College with a passion for creative writing, especially poetry. I am getting married in January of 2021, and look forward to a lifetime of poetic inspiration by the hand of my beautiful fiancé.
Nicholas Heinz: I’m pursuing my Associate’s in Business at Cochise Community College. I’ve always enjoyed photography as a hobby and was thrilled with the skills I was able to obtain from taking DMA 266 Digital Photography over the summer to fulfill my art requirement.
Yanira Lopez: I grew up between Douglas and Agua Prieta, Sonora. My passion is for photography. It’s been with me since I was a kid. I love to watch the sunsets in Cochise County.
Jay Melzer: He is a graduating student with a side passion for visual arts. He has had to put his drawing largely on hold during a rigorous journey towards his degree with career obligations. He decided to spend the last of his time at Cochise College dedicating himself to developing his neglected hobbies, and is excited to see where they take him in the future.
Tino Montano: My art style is Neo-Expressionism mixed with One Line Art. My inspiration comes from the artist Jean-Michel Basquiat. Most of my paintings have a crown in them in honor of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Ruth O’Donogue: I am 19 years old and I have been drawing for as long as I can remember.
Kennedy Otto: I am 25 years old. I am attending Cochise College to get my associates degree in Fine Arts. Since I could remember I love art and couldn’t see myself doing anything but just that.
Jennifer Ovalle-Zelaya: I’m a culinary arts and business major. I also have a baker’s apprentice certificate, and I absolutely love baking! I took Painting Foundations and was surprised by how much I grew in terms of skill. After some encouragement, I decided to enter my last project from Painting Foundations because it’s my best painting so far after building up a lot of painting experience.
Ashleigh Ratkovich: I love to do photography in my spare time. I love taking pictures of anything unique or interesting. Nature pictures are my favorite, but I have also done shoots for people including senior pictures, engagement pictures, wedding reception pictures, and family pictures. Now that I have taken classes in digital editing, I look forward to taking my photography to the next level.
Lindsay Roberts: I have been a professional artist for over 40 years; nine of those have been spent teaching high school art, ceramics, and photography in Cochise County. Teaching inspires me to more creative endeavors. Every piece I make is a new learning experience, even as I age more every year. Creating art is like breathing to me, necessary for my survival and sanity.
Andrea Savage: She enjoys experimenting with different techniques and working in a variety of genres. She didn’t set out to be a photographer, but her passion to express herself evolved into a pursuit to document her world through artistic photographs.
Lexis Shorter: She is a full-time college student attending the Cochise Sierra Vista campus for Pre-Nursing. She works a part-time job as an administrative assistant for one of the schools in town. In her free time, she enjoys reading and collecting books for her personal library.
Miguel Vasquez: I started doing art when I was around ten. I then took up graphic design in high school. When I entered college I wanted to become an animator and so decided to pursue a degree in art. I have taken many classes at Cochise and have been growing as an artist.
Virginia Worthington: I love art and I respect artists, but I love making ceramic pieces that look unique and have character. I am going to school for an elementary education degree in hopes of becoming a teacher. Since taking a ceramics class this semester I have learned and made a lot of work. I want to share my work with people who love and care about art. I have always wanted to see something I have made published in a printed piece even though I consider myself an amateur at art.
