Dramatic Weather & How High Con Occurs

It’s the last day of October, and the day of the dead is approaching. I can feel my own skeleton inside my skin. I can feel other people’s as well when they are close enough to touch. Maybe some time I’ll get back to that thought. For now, the wind and sun are competing for space like voices in a crowded room, and on a more astrological note, the designs of the past, however beautiful they may be in memory, are no longer in effect. Take that however you... Read More

Crepuscular Navigation and Old Hardware

poetry by Craig Muderlak, Boulder images by Bernie Fanelli, Arvada Echolocation My voice ricochets in a cavernous mind Like echolocation in a bat cave. Its resonance absorbed by solitary ears In a desert of darkness. A loquacious, muddled reverie Less perceptible than a bat’s ultrasonic cry. Infinite, silent postulations As unavailing as dandruff without a microscope. Painting trails of a hyper-voice. Jackson Pollack sonic-brushes and lasers Splashing and blazing on canvas... Read More

An Inverview with Daniel Emmerson

by Sam Kulla I met documentary filmmaker and novelist Daniel Emmerson in a hotel bar in Shanghai while he was working with Joel Nelson on a series about how people learn English throughout the world. After spending a few days in and out of his presence at the same bar, as well as a night on the town with a unique party of other travelers, he struck me as an insanely charismatic, talented and focused. He granted a telephone interview with me for High Contrast Review from his... Read More

Barking, Shadow, Animosity

3 poems by Jesse Cameron Alick, East Coast Editor In the Park San Souci, Potsdam -SK 1.  Alpha Male You miss your dog So we bark at each other Back and forth All night long Under the tropical moon Until people wonder How we could ever be friends In the first place. We’re just both used to getting what we want. Some things in life really are genetic. Hard as you can You smack the back of my head When I stand, you punch me in the leg. For three weeks we continue this game, Wandering... Read More

Overgrown, Gnarled Head

by Anthony Brunello, Sacramento photo by Haley Brunello I have heard that in the movie Sideways the hero likens himself to the characteristics of the tempermental and fragile Pinot Noir grape while eschewing the straight-forward pleasures of the noble Merlot grape.  I have never seen the movie, I do not want it to persuade my tastes.  Like when a friend announces with sheer bravado that this Malbec has hints of leather and tobacco and you suddenly taste cowhide and rollies as... Read More

Passing Ideas Forward

by CC Elder, Bellingham, Washington Artichokes “Okey dokey artichokey.” That’s what my 2 and a quarter year old thinks. She says this as we’re getting in the truck to harvest some potatoes just outside of town.  Once we’re digging, I’m almost having a hard time unearthing them at the pace she is throwing them in the tulip flat.  Occasionally she stops and replants one. After digging 50 lbs of reds and yellow fingerlings, Aila has climbed in one of the... Read More