We could not have been much, two junkyard kids picking blackberries down by the log pond until our thumbs and tongues stung black with love and the footfalls of hunters down by the water made my shoulders narrow, made me step against you. This piece appears in our Fall 2013 issue (Vol. 60.1).
Dead Languages
The last known speakers of American English were garbage men. In a rural county of Ohio they worked sorting trash for a nanoshuffler that emitted ozone and vitamin gas. They spoke normally elsewhere, but since most had a grandparent who dealt in that strange vernacular, they liked to maintain a fluency exclusive to themselves. One among them picked up the dialect from scratch, putting in…
Make the Mark
An excerpt from “Make the Mark” by Trevor Dodge, appearing in Fall 2013 (Vol. 60.1). We’re in the ER but there’s no blood, nothing broken. When they check my wife in they ask her the part about rating her pain on a scale of 1-10. The mousy woman with horn-rimmed glasses and skin so pale it’s nearly transparent was the one who asked. My wife…
Provocations Writ Large
Back in 2008 when I breastfed my first-born, my son (didn’t I do it right, god, empire, mom and dad, giving the firsts to the boy); when I was breastfeeding Jake, I found this natural act to be quite difficult. But of course, I would. I am not a natural woman. I worship urbanity, dirty sidewalks, steel, glass, brick, brownstone, public parks and bridges—volume—like a…
Pictures from Our Fall 2013 Issue Launch Events
Two weeks ago Portland Review had our Fall 2013 issue launch events at Rogue Hall and IPRC. Reading for us at these events were many of the fantastic authors featured in our upcoming issue. The staff had a great time and we think the events were a huge success, thanks to our readers, event locations, and those that came out to listen. One of our…