Inscape 04 FINAL - Pasadena City College

P. J. EMERY
Early Thaw
In February
A chinook can surprise this river
Tapping the water awake
With its warm fingers
Inviting it to carry away
Shards of its pristine mirror prison wall;
Just as quickly
The trickster wind will disappear
Abandoning dancing blocks and chunks
To collide and set
And the jagged plain that forms
Is matched only by
A searing pain in the river’s elbow
That cries for spring.
S TEPHANIE B REWER
Trying to Find Love in NYC
In the cold crush of day and night
Presun training has begun
Somersaults and jumping jacks before the
starter pistol
A novice to the game, but intest on winning
Perhaps a gold star on my lapel
It sounds so masculine—lapel
On a tall handsome suit jacket
Or maybe a short stock army uniform . . .
2003
C ARA C ORNGOLD
I want to live in a ‘40s era Western.
Buttery, spread-eagle skies hugging my
Broke-down, gingham-curtained cabin; my
Rocking chair yawning on the front porch;
Mangy, yellow dogs rolling in the muck
Of our sloughed-off excesses. Chickens pecking
Dirt. Elbow grease. And true grit.
Actions are intent; consequences swift.
We all pack equally weighted guns,
Validating Justice.
INSCAPE • 6 INSCAPE • 7