109
June, 2006
view_column Guest Column
perm_identity From the Editor
Introductory Ramblings
by Derek Alger
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
"I wasn't going to write anything but a friend of mine – a real writer, at least in terms of publication, with five novels to his credit – told me that I should, that I should take advantage of the opportunity to let people know more about me as I continue with my efforts to keep PIF going and making it even better."
map Macro-Fiction
You Know
by R. A. Rycraft
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
"The drinks are up for my other tables, so I serve them first -- a couple of giggly soccer moms, yakking over strawberry daiquiris, and this guy that looks like Jack Nicholson -- those evil eyebrows – he's on his fifth vodka martini, straight up, very dry with a twist. Sasha has brought Pudgy and gay guy a basket of oyster crackers, and I take my tray of dirty dishes to the bar before going over."
portrait One on One
Richard Beban
interviewed by Derek Alger
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
"I believe that poets have always been shamans, griots, storytellers, seers, sorceresses, since long before writing, and that it's our duty to continue that tradition, no matter what culture we find ourselves born into. If we have been born with the gift, it is our responsibility to use it for the benefit of the tribe speaking truth to power, turning our visions into art to the best of our abilities."
local_library Poetry
Save the Last Dance For Me
by Richard Beban
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
Cleaning House
by Nikki Moustaki
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
Miao Village, Hainan Island
by Stephen Haven
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
person_pin Essay
The Runner’s Anxiety
by Arthur Saltzman
Issue No. 109 ~ June, 2006
Like the fellow who makes a living selling women's lingerie, an English professor must make a conscious effort to ensure that the pleasures that inspired him to choose his career do not decline into mere duties. Woe to the teacher who discovers that the novels and poems that once aroused his passions now wait for him like so much laundry to be folded. For the chief feature of recreation is that it is not required -- a mandatory vacation from work is a lay-off by that or any other name.