by Anne Kazak
Hashimoto’s Revenge
You canyon gaze me, my swollen thyroid encased in my grandmother’s Venetian glass box. Smoke rises into the cold air from the back of the dilapidated tool shed. The orange cat makes her last sweep of the day before disappearing into the weeds next to the barren corn field. I prepare for early bed, as the crows: moon: acorns find their lonely places. There are always chemicals to blame: they taint my outlook, pull me down into feathered escapades. Turning in damp bed sheets, twisting, rolling from side to side. Never check the phone in dark hours. Biochemicals burn synaptic pathways, dismantle the safety switch to sanity. All is well for those who conform: choose pills with suggested dosage, stay prisoner to medical plan, obey transcriptions. Stretching limits may result in breaking glass, which leaves invisible shards that can’t be seen with the naked eye.
John Dorroh has been writing poetry ever since he could hold a pen (we used to use those, you know). His mother said that his first poem was scribbled on the bathroom wall with bright red lipstick. He may have taught high school science for several decades, and he may have baked bread with Austrian monks and consumed a significant portion of their beer. Six of his poems were nominated for Best of the Net, and several hundred others appeared in over 125 journals such as Kissing Dynamite, River Heron, Feral, and Burningword. Once he received Editor’s Choice Award for a regional journal and was awarded enough money for a sushi dinner for two.
Anne Kazak is a psychologist and photographer who cannot remember a time when she didn’t have a camera in her hand. Using cameras or drones, she loves landscapes, capturing the beauty of nature, focusing on light, patterns, and telling a story about places. Her journeys draw her to abandoned spaces and the documenting the history of institutions. As vestiges of the past, these places prompt us to rethink the present. She also frequently uses diptychs or triptychs to juxtapose discrepancies and reveal unexpected connections. www.annekazakphotography.comhttps://www.instagram.com/annekazak.