Kay Bradner, Ten Birds (detail)

Volume 8

As diverse as ever in the breadth of its art and depth of prose and poetry, Volume 8 features a knock-out poem, “DANCING,” by former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Hass—read it alongside Prartho Sereno’s “Emergency Lock-Down Drill.” Look for fabulous fiction from Michael Sykes, Cynthia Fontaine Reehl, and Molly Giles, and a true tale of the American west by Dave Stamey. Many more surprises in this volume enlivened by artists of all persuasions, including Susan Hall, Bob Kubik, Julia Edith Rigby, and Mark Ropers.

Mark Ropers - art - sailing
Mark Ropers, Bound for Kilkenney Beach

On endless summer afternoons,

we set out to swim through the fields

towards the ends of the Earth,

– Judy Brackett, “Swimming Through Summer” (excerpt)
Jon Ching, Flowers in Her Hair

Masculinities

Paul Strohm

My father was edgy about my Christmas request for a doll. “Gol-darnit,” he was saying to my mother, “where does that kid get his ideas?” What was the problem? My sister had a dozen and I was only asking for one. Innocent of the role of sailors in the gay imagination, he decided the answer was to get me a sailor doll. I named him “Petey.”

Toni Littlejohn, Fire Under Ice (detail)

The radio clicks on—it’s poor swollen America,

up already and busy selling the exhausting obligation

of happiness

– Robert Hass, “DANCING” (excerpt)
Julia Edith Rigby, Bear Flood II

Waste in Paradise

Chalk Drawings on Found Objects by Julia Edith Rigby

Two summers ago, in 2015, I packed some sketchbooks and trekked through Iceland and Greenland, ultimately arriving in Kulusuk, a small village in east Greenland. I’d arrived at a time of transition—seasonal, global, and cultural. Summer’s cotton grass blooms were giving way to autumn’s northern lights, local hunters were flensing seals on the beach, the Greenland ice sheet was melting at an alarming rate.

I’m trying hard to see

what it is

I’m looking at

before I tell myself

what it is

I’m looking at.

– Gina Cloud, “Ken”
Elizabeth Gorek, Forgotten Summer

Kay Bradner, Ten Birds

Contributors

Many talented individuals are featured in the West Marin Review. Please click below for this volume’s contributors.

  • FRONT COVER
    • Kay Bradner   Ten Birds
  • BACK COVER
    • Cathy Rose   Balance
  • PROSE
    • Jackie Garcia Mann   Bolinas Bound
    • Michael Sykes   Leaving for Italy
    • Dave Stamey   To Steelhead Lake
    • Joan Thornton   Two Short Stories
    • Barbara Heenan   On Religion: Oklahoma City
    • G. David Miller   Prepare for Landing
    • Kaitlyn Gallagher   The Blows
    • Cynthia Fontaine Reehl   What It Takes
    • Molly Giles   Next Time
    • Paul Strohm   Masculinities
    • Brooke Williams   Post-Election Walkabout
  • POETRY
    • Tobi Earnheart-Gold   Untitled
    • Mary Winegarden   Between Birth and Song
    • Ariel Wish   Through Motions
    • Nancy Cherry   All My Biographies Are Lies
    • Stephen Ajay   Giving
    • Karen Benke   Spring Cleaning
    • Lisa Piazza   Here
    • Barry Roth   Henry Evans Poppies
    • Thomas Hickey   Monk’s Empty Eye
    • Satchel Trivelpiece   Oh, Animals
    • David Swain   Dead Reckoning
    • Robert Hass   DANCING
    • Deborah Buchanan   A Bowl’s Circumference
    • Prartho Sereno   Emergency Lock-Down Drill
    • Dave Seter   Douglas Iris
    • Judy Brackett   Swimming Through Summer
    • Gina Cloud   Ken
  • ART + ARTIFACT
    • Kay Bradner   Ten Birds
    • Christa Burgoyne   Small Barn and Late Afternoon “C” Street
    • Lissa Nicolaus   Country Road
    • Kimberly Carr Harmon   Wooded Gate
    • Emmeline Craig   Living on the Edge
    • Matthew Polvorosa Kline   Tule Elk at Dawn, Point Reyes National Seashore
    • Elizabeth Gorek   Forgotten Summer
    • Susan Hall   California Twilight
    • Sandy White   Roy’s Redwoods
    • Jaune Evans   Fog Heaven
    • Isis Hockenos   Side Street Chickens #1 & #2
    • Caitlin McCaffrey   Biggie’s Vision
    • Marius Salone and Sofia Borg   Young Red Onions
    • Lily Andrews   Hummingbird
    • Susan Putnam   Untitled #261
    • Amanda Tomlin   Laird’s Boathouse
    • Jani Gillette   You Wearing You
    • Christel Dillbohner   Iridescent Cloud
    • Philip Bone   Three Masks
    • May Ta   Somber Summer
    • Toni Littlejohn   Fire Under Ice
    • Xander Weaver-Scull   Arctic Peregrine Falcons
    • Grace Nichols and Belle Nichols Southworth   Letters from Bolinas
    • Julia Edith Rigby   Waste in Paradise
    • Van Waring   Coastal Cross Section
    • Rich Clarke   Kehoe Morning
    • Johanna Baruch   Enthymesis
    • Michel Venghiattis   Lili Marlene
    • Glenn Carter   Night of the Falling Flower/Lucid N13-2
    • Sherrie Lovler   Crossroads
    • Mary Siedman   Bolinas Beach
    • Jon Ching   Flowers in Her Hair
    • Mark Ropers   Bound for Kilkenney Beach
    • Mary K. Shisler   Wabi Sabi Tulips
    • Richard Kirschman   Bogside Remembered
    • Patricia Connolly   Late Afternoon at McInnis
    • Bob Kubik   Fox
    • Cathy Rose   Accept and Balance
    • Anne Faught   Coming Together