Author: Staff
Firestorms
by Wade Bentley
The fire storms came on Sewing Day, with all
The mumbling women scratching at their quilts
Or chasing children, caught between the frames.
The heavy-hatted, steel-toed men on stilts
Of stone above pubescent towns, had laughed
Their usual curses to the godless skies
And ate a wilting sandwich in the sun.
The priests had polished brass and heard the lies
Of hunching men and women all the long
And cloistered hours when God had left alone
The darkened shrines. And when the silver birds
That roared like dogs of Hell had lightly flown,
They left their bloody droppings in the clouds.
The winds were nothing to the fires, the hell-
Whipped flames had licked the bloodless bones
Among the crumpled homes, where none could tell
The smoking man which way to point his hand-
Held sight to find the shortest way to die.
And God forgive the woman for a fool
That turned her blackened back against the sky
To breast a child in hopes of coming cool.
And when the boys and girls the priests and dogs
Are circling ashes in the breeze, the Cloud
Moves off to sniff the rising green of trees
And kiss the cheeks of children in the crowd.
Wade Bentley graduated from BYU in English this August and is now a graduate student in
English.
Summer 1982
Table of Contents
Poetry
Firestorms by Wade Bentley
Attic Lights by Wade Bentley
Other Things by Wade Bentley
Chickens at the Fair by Michael Mack
Pounder’s Beach by Diane Moore
Starless Night by Ann Best
World War I: Past Poets by Michael Rutter
Fiction & Plays
Digger: Scene Seven by Robert Lauer
Playing the Game: Scene Five by Eric Samuelsen
Cathedral in the Desert by Wayne Sandholtz
Out of the Blue by Warren Icke
Nonfiction
Gadamer’s Theory of Openness: “Toward Hermaneutic Education” by Stacy Burton
Thankful Children by Cindy Hallen
The Payment by Billy Plunkett
Conditions in General by Pauline Mor
Harvest of the Pure Image by John Snyder
Illustrations
The Payment by Doug Himes Out of the Blue by Alma Lee
Fall 1985
Fall 1997
Poetry
Bonnie, the Foreman, Says What She’s Been Thinking by Gina Clark
Flying by Map by Shannon Castleton
Not Sinning as Much as People Needed Me to by Eric Freeze
Bathsheba’s Lament by Stephan Craig
Landscaping by Eric Freeze
The Lighthouse off Tillamook Head by Nathan Furr
Pt. Barrow, Alaska by Krista Halverson
Taking Grandmother to the Ladies’ Room by Gina Clark
Walking Home, Passing Strangers in Their House by Nathan Furr
Monday: Moon Poem by Gina Clark
Man Calls His Doctor to Discuss the Failing Economy by Krista Halverson
My Father, in White Hospital Sheets by Autumn Pettit
Appomatox Battleground Tour by Whitney Fox
Mishaps: A Catalog by Todd Samuelson
Fiction Valerian Sleep by Shauna Marie Barnes Defying the Spin of the Wheel by Jonathan Hart Wile's Returns by Jacob Flint Lightning Striking by Glenda Day Stanley, the Tragic Visionary by Whitney Fox Street Story by Krista Halverson Wreck by Jason Lindquist
Nonfiction
On Dance by Jennifer Blight
Omaha’s Stage by Kim Howey
Maths
by Chloë James
I pad through bars
of yellow light and dark,
softly up and up
the iron escape,
four floors to a lead-
lined window in heavy door
where I count three brass numbers
that equal your space,
a spatial equation without variables
over the finger-smudged knob.
A slide of light clicks under the frame:
you’re home.
Chloe James earned her BA in English at BYU in April 2005. She
presented her original poetry portfolio at the National Undergraduate
Literature Conference (WSU, 2005) and was one of three students
chosen to present individual creative work for the English Department
Reading Series (BYU, 2004). Chloe enjoys photography, oil painting,
and the solitary drive to Southern Utah. This is her first appearance
in Inscape.
Spam Haiku
by Megan Graves
You wink one eye at
me and Spam falls from my spoon,
splatting on my plate.
Megan Graves is an English major at BYU who enjoys long walks
on the beach and potted meat products.
Cool Drink in a Hot Tub
by Aaron Robert Allen
Jazz-man with the
Crazy hands,
Play that trumpet loud.
Jazz-man with the
Crazy hands,
Bigtwentiessmile
Grinnin’allthewhile,
Play that trumpet loud.
Jazz-man with the
Crazy hands
Play that trumpet loud!
So loud,
Aintnochoicebut
Beingglad.
Piano-man with the
Slender hands,
Stroke that baby smooth.
Piano-man with the
Slender hands,
Fingerslikefleas
Jumpin’ivorykeys,
Stroke that baby smooth.
Piano-man with the
Slender hands,
Stroke that baby smooth!
So smooth,
Tipyouadolla’whenI
Findtha’groove.
Bass-man with the
Chubby hands,
Pluck that momma deep.
Bass-man with the
Chubby hands,
Turnedupcollar
Andatipdownhat,
Pluck that momma deep.
Bass-man with the
Chubby hands
Pluck that momma deep!
So deep,
Thebeatleavesamarkon
Thesolesofmyfeet.
Aaron Robert Allen is currently wandering the country in a state of
self-indulgent bliss. He would like to thank Charleton Heston and his
parents for giving him a literary name. His future endeavors include writing the great American novel, short story, and a poetry collection – and parting the Red Sea.
Eleven Years Ago September
by Ashley Christensen
Age ten, in our front yard after the storm,
tree roots grasped the cotton sky.
Brother stood at the edge of the swollen hole,
213 trees fell in our city that day,
we touched the defeated friend
lying useless in wet grass.
Small sister watched through the screen door.
Mother was working,
father still working
straight through the storm.
As dust settled into the corners of our earth,
three kids made dinner
and swept the remnants from the porch.
Two weeks later
mother brought home a sister
in daffodil.
We went on.
The four of us.
Minus the tree.
Ashley Christensen writes poetry and likes trees. Sometimes she likes to write poetry in trees.
Tell Me about India
by Annette C. Boehm
fair and dirty as birds poured out by their monsoon & out of the stairs came a man with four legs: half a man short of two or now less than a man as he stumbled toward to make us rent a room we tiptoedly fled the street of sleep -ing bodies Annette C. Boehm studies creative writing and psychology at BYU. Her poems and short fiction have appeared in Germany, England, and the U.S. She recently adopted an adorable kitten.