Redheaded Stepchild e-zine

(When Redheads Take the Dance Floor, by Duane Kirby Jensen)

The new issue of Redheaded Stepchild is out---or I should say up. And it's well worth a click on the link.(http://www.redheadedmag.com)
One reason this zine is so good may be because it has our own Malaika King Albrecht as one of its founders and editors. Having Eric Helms as Associate Editor doesn't hurt either! Founding a zine for rejected poems was a brilliant idea, and I was honored to have two of my rejects published in the inaugural issue.

The Spring '09 issue provides an array of intriguing poetry. The NC poets included are Pat Riviere-Seel, Alex Grant, and Richard Krawiec. I was immediately caught up in Krawiec's poem. Let it be a teaser, despite subject, to go visit this zine's website.

Cancer

My mother was first,
a golf ball lump
blocking her throat.
The doctors claimed
it was allergy, the flu
until my brother screamed
"She can't breathe,"
and then they found it,
ambulanced her
at midnight
to Mass General
where a surgeon slit
a grotesque smile
from ear to ear
to open her throat,
remove the tumor
lymph nodes
her voice.

Ten years later
I drive my father
on his daily journey
for six weeks
to the clinic
where they dose
his prostate
with radiation.

The distant son,
I change my schedule
book flights
rush myself, my
prayers, beg God
to let them live
so I can hate
them some more,
hate myself,
the person I've become
running so hard
from them
that I run
smack into
their own skins.



Richard Krawiec has published 2 novels, a story collection, 4 plays and a poetry chapbook Breakdown (Main Street Rag). His poems and stories have appeared in magazines such as Shenandoah, Sou'wester, Witness, Many
Mountains Moving, and elsewhere. He has won fellowships from the NEA and the NC Arts Council.His website is http://home.mindspring.com/~rkwriter.