Linda Stern
How to Wear High Heels
…backwards and in high heels.
—Bob Thaves, Frank and Ernest cartoon, 1982
First, they must be beautiful—silky Napa
leather, sequined bows, silver buckles, rhinestones,
satin dyed to match a blush pink wedding gown—
high enough to challenge any innate fear,
truly Grand Canyon.
Sit down. Slip the darlings on. Practice alone.
With repetition, you may one day achieve
the Marilyn—hopping on one clad foot while
pulling on the other by its slender strap.
But life's cruelly short…
So, yes, not many get there. Stand up, holding
on to a chair if you must, and gently edge
your toes into their little space. Now savor
the dense, dull pressure on the balls of your feet—
heady vertigo.
Assay the sheen of stockings catching the light,
the tensed calf muscles of your extended leg.
Find your center. Shift your weight around the spike,
which is your friend. Through it, you meet your home ground.
It is your North Star.
Now take a step, and you must be quite brave—not
the step you take nakedly on a grassy
lawn or sandy riverbank, but such a step
as gods take, unfolding their fierce wings, stalking
heaven's bare chambers.
Put your faith in that spikey post, adjusting
the sway of your hips, the tilt of your back. Walk
as though driving that stake into Earth's mantle,
shattering its thick crust, driving down from the
sun, owning it all.
Joseph's Devotions
They sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver to the Ishmaelites, who brought Joseph to Egypt.
—Genesis 37.28
Orcas drown a dolphin
before tearing its flesh.
A tiger bleeds a deer.
Killing before gorging.
Was it just so, that you
saw to my reprieve—thus
heaved down the pit alive.
Cast aside like a dog.
How clever of you. How you
begin anew, scrapping
one tale for another.
Each with its perfect end.
You forced greatness on me
in my enslavement, I,
with no choice but to live.
You who love without pain.
Who dream without regret.
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| AUTHOR BIO |
| Linda Stern’s poems have appeared in American Arts Quarterly, Big City Lit, The Classical Outlook, Kin Poetry Journal, Mezzo Cammin, Minyan magazine, The New Criterion, The Raintown Review, and other publications. Her book, Why We Go by Twos, is available from Barefoot Muse Press. She co-published the poetry magazine Endymion and was associate editor of the online poetry journal Umbrella. She is a co-host of the Morningside Poetry Series in Manhattan and serves on the Board of Directors of Poetry by the Sea, an annual literary conference. |
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| POETRY CONTRIBUTORS |
 Grace Bauer
Hilary Biehl
Carol Lynn Stevenson Grellas
Julia Griffin
A. A. Gunther
Katie Hartsock
Ruth Hoberman
Babo Kamel
Jean L. Kreiling
Lavinia Kumar
Jenna Le
Marjorie Maddox
Mary Grace Mangano
Kathleen McClung
Angela Alaimo O'Donnell
T. R. Poulson
Richelle Slota
Linda Stern
Myrna Stone
Gail White
Amanda Williamsen
Joyce Wilson
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| Anna Lee Hafer is a studio artist based in the Philadelphia area whose work is heavily influenced by such famous surrealist painters as René Magritte, Salvador Dali, and Pablo Picasso, all of whom strove to build their own realities through small glimpses into a particularly confusing, but utterly unique worldview that dictates its own specific set of instructions. With references to the laws and physics of Alice's Wonderland, the artist challenges the audience's inherent understanding of perspective, reality, and universal order.
In her work, Hafer pours and layers paint to create dimension and texture, mixing different styles and colors onto each other until they produce a 3D effect. Through marker and pencil that create shadow, she further enhances these forms and separates them from the background. Heavier layers and thicker brushstrokes in the foreground of her work push the painting toward the viewer, whereas the thinner layers and small brushstrokes in the background, elongate the space and push away from the viewer. By juxtaposing interior and exterior elements, Hafer makes the audience question whether they are looking at something inside or outside.
For additional information, please visit www.hafer.work.
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