Concho River Review Fall 2016
CONTENTS
FICTION
ROMEO ON MARLBOROUGH STREET ..................................... 4
Catherine Bell
THE COOL SHALLOWS .................................................................. 17
R. Sebastian Bennett
TO WIN IT ALL................................................................................... 27
Melvin Sterne
TURKEYS .............................................................................................. 39
Jerry Whitus
NONFICTION
FOLLOWING RAVEN ...................................................................... 46
Dan Branch
ELECTRIC WORD LIFE................................................................... 53
Christy Hallberg
DAMNED TOBACCO ....................................................................... 60
Michael L. Johnson
HOW TO BUILD A PLAYGROUND ............................................ 68
Mike Smith of Albuquerque
INTERVIEW
A CONVERSATION WITH CRAIG JOHNSON........................ 83
An Interview by R. Mark Jackson
POETRY
COQUETTE........................................................................................ 111
Barbara Astor
VOCATION ........................................................................................ 112
Carol Barrett
A SUBTRACTION OF COCKATOOS ........................................ 113
Anna Bernstein
INSTINCT ........................................................................................... 114
Randy Blythe
DRIVING OVER WATER .............................................................. 115
Mary Ellen Branan
ROOFS .................................................................................................. 116
William Virgil Davis
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Concho River Review Fall 2016
ANOTHER VACATION ................................................................. 117
William Virgil Davis
CHRISTMAS DINNER .................................................................... 118
Mike Faran
FELIX CULPA .................................................................................... 119
Bob Gaskin
HOT AND SOUR .............................................................................. 120
Lyman Grant
EVE’S DIET ADVICE...................................................................... 121
Katherine Hoerth
EL CAMINO ....................................................................................... 122
Robert Lee Kendrick
DEAR NYMPH, ................................................................................. 123
Ron McFarland
SOMETHING REMEMBERED ON MONDAY NIGHT ...... 124
Steve Meador
THAT PERFUME FRAGRANCE YOU SMELLED
IN GRASSE ......................................................................................... 125
Ken Meisel
THE BOY WITH MY NAME ......................................................... 129
Jory Mickelson
NEIGHBORHOOD .......................................................................... 131
Tim Miller
WWII BOMB DETONATED AFTER WASHING
ASHORE ON A FLORIDA BEACH ............................................ 132
Sarah Archer Moulton
TORNADO WARNING, 1980 ....................................................... 134
Benjamin Myers
SHORTCOMING............................................................................... 135
James B. Nicola
DEC. 21ST ............................................................................................. 136
M. Rather, Jr
SCAT ..................................................................................................... 137
Russell Rowland
PICKING MULBERRIES ................................................................ 138
Judi Rypma
COMING HOME .............................................................................. 139
Tori Sharpe
PRAIRIE PANORAMA, PHOTO BY DAVID LEVINE ......... 140
H.F. Stein
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Concho River Review Fall 2016
MOTHER OCEAN............................................................................ 141
Mark Taksa
PINKIE ................................................................................................. 142
Maryfrances Wagner
CROWS WITH BAD WRITING .................................................... 143
Buff Whitman-Bradley
THE OAK THAT STAYED ............................................................ 144
Donald Mace Williams
WATCHING THE FISH SWIM ..................................................... 145
Neal Zirn
BOOK REVIEWS
FAILING HEAVEN.......................................................................... 146
by Charles Behlen
Reviewed by Michael G. Rather, Jr.
THE FLATLANDERS: NOW IT’S NOW AGAIN.................... 149
by John T. Davis
Reviewed by John N. Davis
SEX AS A POLITICAL CONDITION:
A BORDER NOVEL......................................................................... 151
by Carlos Nicolás Flores
Reviewed by Jamie Dittlinger
MAYHEM: THREE LIVES OF A WOMAN .............................. 154
by Elizabeth Harris
Reviewed by Bridget Martinez
THE WALMART REPUBLIC ......................................................... 156
by Quraysh Ali Lansana and Christopher Stewart
Reviewed by Andrea Syzdek
CONTRIBUTORS ....................................................................... 160
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