Category Archives: Guest Spot

"The Christmas Anarchist" by Jessica Conoley–Guest Blogger

Nushki “What’s your favorite Christmas movie?” “Die Hard.” “That’s not a Christmas movie, it’s a crappy 80s Bruce Willis action film.” “Um, it’s an awesome 80s Bruce Willis action film -– and it’s a Christmas movie.” “No, I’m talking about Christmas movies, like: A Christmas Story, or Miracle on 34th Street, The Charlie Brown Christmas Special.” “I know what you’re talking… Read more »

"Affectionately Yours" — by Devyani Borade

http://blumberger.net/author/admin/ My dear friend, I don’t know how you are or where, but I hope you’re doing fine. We may have lost touch with each other for some time now, but I haven’t forgotten you, I never will. I don’t know what keeps you from writing to me or calling me, but for both our sakes, I hope it is a… Read more »

"Evening Slipper" by Norma Herring–Guest Blogger

  The watercolor “Evening Slipper” depicts the Showy Lady Slipper (also called Orchid of the North) growing wild by native Aspen trees near her summer lake home in NW  Ontario, Canada.  This finely detailed painting took five months to complete and was featured in the 2011 Watercolor USA exhibit at the Springfield, MO Art Museum.  It received a Purchase Award… Read more »

"ON PLAYING AN ICON" by Charles Leggett*–Guest Blogger

One of the first people I told that a poem of mine would appear in Kansas City Voices was “Big Tall” Jim Gall. A Kansas City native, Jim was then playing the role of Slim—magnificently—in the Seattle Repertory Theatre’s production of Of Mice and Men; I was playing Lennie. Jim’s a regular at Kansas City Rep, returning yearly to play… Read more »

"Burying" by Jack Kline––Guest Blogger

Three weeks ago today, we euthanized my daughter Rebecca’s old paint mare, Lady. She was over a hundred human years so she lived a full life. Lady’s coat was beige with a hint of rust and she carried haphazard white splotches as if someone had stood back and flung a bucket of house paint on her. Her mane and tail… Read more »

“The Knob” by Judith Bader Jones––Guest Blogger

“The Knob”            For Michael On left over days I go to your room, grasp the knob on your door. to feel something of you cupped in my hand, left molded in metal, chilled by the still resigned in the silence held in this knob the touch of your hand.          The Light in Ordinary Things, Fearless Poetry Series, Vol…. Read more »

"Accident" by Ann Otto––Guest Blogger

      No Comments on "Accident" by Ann Otto––Guest Blogger

I’m sitting in the swing on my grandparents’ front porch on Bannister Road in south Kansas City. My toes tap against the concrete floor to push the swing back and forth as I sip sweet iced tea, count the cars that go by — 50 — 100 – 150 – and watch for the shiny black Mercury coupe that will… Read more »

"Don’t Call Me Grandma" by Jan Duncan-O’Neal––Guest Blogger*

Don’t Call Me Grandma Mom Rose pinned up the straps  of her slinky black nightgown when I slipped it on one summer night to dance around her long living room. “I don’t look old enough to be your grandma,” she winked, poured me Coca Cola in a fluted wine glass, told me stories about her tippling days spent in a… Read more »

"Changing Seasons" by Polly Swafford––Guest Blogger

Writing Haiku  Watching for a haiku moment is a real joy. Japanese haiku, which I like to emulate, includes two images in juxtaposition often with a reference to the seasons or nature. Each poem needs to leave the reader with a “moment of ah.” The following sequence is from my chap book Early Freeze, 2010, Finishing Line Press.  Changing Seasons… Read more »