| Featured Book |
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| Just West of Famous |
| Charles Baxter doesn't pull any punches when he answers Lisa Coutant's questions in this month's author interview.
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| In this issue: |
An encore poem from Gol McAdam
Claire Litton's amazing Authenticity Leads
A collection of poetry from Craig Kirchner
New fiction from Maria Pollack and Josh Stewart
Plus great poetry from Corie Feiner, Gary Wilkins, and Sherry Pasquerello |
| Coming Next Month |
Anne Frasier has some fresh ideas about how to boost her book sales,
Ron Hogan is the ultimate literary insider - and next month he's going to take the Picolata Review into his world for an exclusive look around.
Plus:More great poetry, short fiction, and features. Enough great writing to satisfy any literary palate.
Want to submit to The Picolata Review? Send your submissions and queries to submissions@picolatareview.org
Complete guidelines can be found here. |
| The Picolata Review |
Managing Editor Mark Pettus is a full time journalist in St. Augustine, Florida, and author of the novel, Transit Gloria
Features Editor Lisa Coutant is a consultant, former writer for the Philadelphia Theatre Review, and a fiction writer. She is also Vice President of the professional writing group, Pennwriters.
Poetry Editor Andy H-H., is a poet who lives in the beautiful countryside of West Yorkshire
with his partner and a menagerie of pets (a sheep occasionally stares in through the kitchen window), in a home surrounded by literary history. Ted Hughes was born there, Sylvia Plath is buried nearby, and first Emily Bronte, then Kate
Bush, made a certain stretch of desolate land five minutes' walk away very famous indeed.
Fiction Editor Serenity Banks's day job is as an industry magazine editor. She also writes an online sex-advice column, and is trying to find an agent for her latest horror novel.
The Picolata Review is a monthly online publication, and a place to find emerging writers and poets. We welcome you, and hope we'll see you again. If you forget our address, look for us just a little west of famous. |
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| Volume 1, Number 2 August, 2006 |
| Between Bets, by Corie Feiner |
Between Bets
Behind the turf track, horse stables and betting shacks,
behind the graveled paths and monitors mounted on metal stakes,
behind the row of willows bending their necks to the ground,
was the pond where ducks dipped their mottled bills through
the slimy film of ticket stubs and scum. Over the loudspeakers,
"It is now post time." Cigars stubbed into dirt.
Plastic beer cups balanced on white benches.
Win, place, show, exacta, quinella, trifecta, daily double,
Pick 3. The higher the risk, the greater the payoff.
In a sag of wet roots, I found a nest of brown feathers
and five thumb-sized eggs.
The older kids packed in, "How strong
you think they are?"
"Crack 'em with a stone!"
"They alive?"
"Naw! They like breakfast eggs."
"Yeah! Beat 'em into pancakes."
When you bet, you are betting against everyone
who has made the same wager as you.
Country Be Gold, four-year-old colt, bucked shins. 7-1.
Sketch of Rose, grade 3 stymie, undefeated on main track. 4-1.
Devil His Due, 122-pound light weight, no rally, tired stretcher. 22-1.
Rube the Great, showed ambition, failed to stay the route. 34-1.
Three eggs didn't budge.
Two cracked. Seeped yellow, red, and clear.
The soft shard of beak and wing.
Odds change every 30 seconds
as money is wagered in the pool.
Two children were brought to the guard station until
their parents were found.
One hid in the bushes behind
the parking lot fence.
One does not know what is right or wrong until
there is blood and the fear of getting caught.
It is easy get confused in the confines of a game.
It is easy to pretend. To follow rules.
To kill without knowing what is alive.
A younger sibling cried, "Poor duck babies,
poor duck mommies."
I waited for someone to find me,
pull my collar, take me home.
My father last seen with his girlfriend.
Cashing in tickets. My mother away.
Odds change every 30 seconds.
Corie Feiner (nee Herman) is the author of the poetry collection, Radishes into Roses and has been published in numerous literary magazines including Calyx, Kalliope, The Cortland Review, Natural Bridge, Phoebe, 5 AM, and Runes. She was also a 2004 Pushcart Prize nominee. She is the Contributing Editor of Tiferet and the Assistant Editor of Bellevue Literary Review. Recently featured on WNBC, she performs her poetry internationally, and is a cast member of the theatre troupe, Storahtelling. You can find her work on-line at www.poetz.com, www.cortlandreview.com, and www.mipoesias.com .You can reach her though her web site: www.coriefeiner.com. |
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