Adelaide Literary Magazine No.15, August 2018

Revista Literária Adelaide

we could choose so it came down to the third
girl a notarized signature I finally asked
for and she did offer more out of the shock
of the death itself coming within a day
in what as children we thought was meant
by the quick and the dead in the creed
that told us what to believe in
but leaving only my idenƟficaƟon
of her body to the morƟcian he said
he had prepared her in a cardboard
box for cremaƟon and as if she had shrunk
that last day ever she was small in the box

About the Author:

Linda Casebeer lives in Birmingham, Alabama.
She has published one collecƟon of poems, The
Last Eclipsed Moon, from Cherry Grove Collec-
Ɵons, and poems in Slant, Earth’s Daughters,
Chest, and Hospital Drive, Knowing Stones
and The Light of Ordinary Things among others.

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THE CLIMATE
OF TODAY

by Rafiki Chemari

THE CLIMATE OF TODAY But why is this all
Happening now?
Is God raging or crying? Because…
With these… The (Devil) is in “The White House”
Massive storms, And you know
And violent quakes. What that means!

The ones that make, break, It was revealed in “RevelaƟons-20”.
And unequivocally shake… It was described in “Ephesians 6:11”.
CiƟes, counƟes, families, As it began in “The Garden of Eden”...
And cultures! Where evil had tempted Eve and Adam
(As a dark and fallen angel).
So when (Uncle) Harvey
Came to visit us Then he corrupted King David
In the And later
Lone Star state of Texas… He tortured
He managed to Moses and Jesus.
Put Port Arthur
Very deep underwater Can you now begin
For two to three weeks. To understand…
Just how long
‘Right before (Aunt) Irma This has been with us?
Came in
And flooded It’s been much, much, longer...
The Florida streets! Than the date of
And then the border states of… January 20th!
Georgia and South Carolina.

But it didn’t stop there...
As she rolled-over
The U.S. Virgin Islands (who really weren’t
virgins at all).
While she went on
To plunder
Puerto Rico.
Who got stuck in the muck
Of a ruthless financial brawl!

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INDIGESTION

Not just a colon Especially at night…
For eaƟng and defecaƟng. When you go out in public.
Nor a semicolon Then certain organizaƟons cheer,
For punctuaƟon and grammaƟzaƟon. “God Bless America”
But simply a socio-poliƟcal indicaƟon… For the right to carry a gun.
Of the depth But how many people
Of a person’s bowels Yell, “Oh my god...they have murdered my
While not standing son!”
For “The NaƟonal Anthem”
On concussion-ball Sundays. And how many others
Have now been frequently pulled-over?
Some say, When they are not
“It’s wrong and downright disrespecƞul!” Wearing...
While others say, Their familiar team jerseys,
“It’s just too damn poliƟcal And that parƟcular number.
And so very controversial”.
So when does this
As the cheerleaders... (Social) indigesƟon stop?
(clap, pop, bop, and nod). Probably Not!
While whispering, UnƟl an enema…
“Oh my God... “Flushes-out”
They are all The very last drop.
Kneeling on one knee Of such a violent era:
At the edge of the sidelines” That mostly uses
Racial profiling
But what are And stereotyped cases.
These players .
Who are athletes
Really supposed to do?
While it is customary to stand
With your hand (over your heart)
And pay tribute to ‘The NaƟonal Anthem’.
There is no official mandate,
Or a punishment at all...
If someone wants to kneel,
Instead of being upright
And tall?

Or takes another
Type of posture
For a civil appeal.
That is part of their right!
As stated in “The U.S. ConsƟtuƟon”.

Ironically, (though)
It’s when a lot of cops...
Keep shooƟng
Unarmed blacks!
That you definitely have no choice.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

THE OTHER SEX

When I grew up in the 1970’s: At all!”
It was only So the transgender sex:
Male or Female. Needs much of our support
Even though there had been… So that they don’t resort
“The BaƩle of the Sexes”. To suicide!
Because aŌer all…
Except for that one This is a medical fact.
Trans-woman
Who was allowed Then they need total equality:
To play women’s tennis. In serving our country (within the military).
Then in aƩending certain elementary...
Then my mother Middle and academic high schools.
Had told me Which should also provide
About one more? Any necessary
A young man in the 1950’s... Public bathroom faciliƟes.
Who had gone to France
As such an obvious
Looking male sailor.

And then he came back
To America
As a very beauƟful,
And a very feminine
Female transsexual.
Who had turned
All at once
Into
An overnight celebrity!

Then fast-forward 65 years!
In 2017:
There are now nearly
300,000 people
Who have been diagnosed with..
“Gender dysphoria”.

And who are trying to
TransiƟon...
(Without) any sort of discriminaƟon.
Or any sexual violence
(Despite 10%)
Of the above
Being children
(Who are quesƟoning their gender)
In absolute silence?
UnƟl one day they say,
“Daddy...I don’t like my penis!”
And “Mommie…I hate wearing dresses
Cuz I (really don’t want) any breasts

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TENT CITY U.S.A

Homeless today and homeless tomorrow. Unfortunately,
The city streets are jam-packed: This is a brand, new, cluster:
With widespread sorrow! Of working-class folks!
So much… That did not survive
Dirt, The “mortgage-crisis” yoke,
Debris, Or that fateful date of (2008).
Urine and feces. These are the ones that lost their homes!
Not from dogs, And everything else...
But from people, Despite the aƩempted bailouts,
Who are poor, sick and feeble. And the reduced interest rates.
They are desperate for help! These are the families...
As they cry out daily That have been living out here (on the city
Without any hope of… streets).
Improving their miserable lives. In filth, poverty, and garbage
As they suffer through the improbability: For more than 10 years...
Of not obtaining a job? Which is an abominable feat!
Or not panhandling enough money... Along with the many, many, other
To pay for a comfy room? Military veterans.
Or enough to buy something... Who just can’t get a job
That is healthy and nourishing to eat? Due to their PTSD disorder?
And they are wandering aimlessly...
Or to get some medical care… Just like “shopping-cart” hoarders.
For those gangrenous sores
On their hands, legs, and feet?
Or to have a hot, clean, soapy, shower!
In conjuncƟon with:
Some brand, new, clean, clothes?
And some brand, new, well-fiƫng shoes?

But instead we have got:
“Tent-ciƟes”.
Which are like pop-up,
(Campsites)
For the homeless communiƟes.
That are now located…

In every major urban city!
They are...
Under the freeways,
Near the sewer systems,
In the public parks,
And on the coastal beaches.
But they are primarily along the forgoƩen
streets!
And these are not like…
Those established “trailer parks”
That usually have a designated area.
For those specific types of vehicles...
That are someƟmes less affordable.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

GUNS! GUNS! GUNS!

Well, it’s the 19th anniversary of: Mental illness= Gun violence= Gun Ownership.
The ‘trench-coat mafia’. Who will be the next sacrificial lamb?
And I had dearly hoped… Well, apparently not these students.
That we would never, ever, As thousands of them…
Have to celebrate Marched!
This tragic event (once again) And posted their thoughts
And go bowling! On social media today.
When I say bowling... Which is exactly
I mean a mass-shooƟng!!! (Just one month later).
And a mass killing of: And it was all across the country…
The innocent people… As they were all united
And the countless lives In complete solidarity.
That are taken down daily With their poster-signs held high:
By semi-automaƟc weapons! That said, “I DON’T WANT TO DIE!”
Then others chanted,“GUN CONTROL NOW!”
There have been nine... And this was how…
Since Columbine in the year of (1999). They all took to the streets,
Then in (2007) (‘Right) before their 18th birthdays!
We had Virginia-Tech;
And in (2009) About the Author:
There was…
Fort Hood and BingHamton; Ms. Rafiki Chemari is a naƟve San Francisco
Then in (2012) resident. She is a local member of THE SCREEN
It was... ACTORS GUILD and ASCAP Music Publishing
Sandy Hook Elementary School! and she currently has a music track on hold for
And aŌer that in (2015) placement in a feature film with ONE NITE
It was… STAND MUSIC. In February 2018 she was an
San Berna_dino; Adelaide Voices Best Essay Award Finalist for
Followed by… "Women in Prison" and it was included in the
‘The Orlando’ special issue of the: ADELAIDE VOICES AN-
(Nightclub) shooƟng in 2016! THOLOGY 2018 VOLUME TWO.
But it sƟll conƟnued…
Into the year of (2017):
With ‘The Texas First BapƟst Church’ (killings).

And then the Las Vegas…
‘Mass-shooƟng’ of 59 people
On the Mandalay Bay Strip!
But now it is 2018:
And we have already
Started the year…
With another horrible
High school massacre
In Parkland, Florida!
Has Americas’ passion for guns...
Overshadowed
These shocking staƟsƟcs?
Or the startling correlaƟon between…

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OLD SCHOOL

by Tony Tracy

Physiography

The phenomenon is irrefutable; a true scienƟfic
and earthly wonder, mathemaƟcal improbability
that leaves scholars of astrology scratching
their heads to explain, and pundits of scripture and
ChrisƟanity gawking through their $10 cardboard
sunglasses as midday light turns shadowless and
the sky takes on an eerie, blue metallic sheen
cosmological evidence, they say, God is at the center
of all things. It’s like EvoluƟonism vs. CreaƟonism,
both lacking that single key ingredient, smoking gun
of empirical evidence that solves the single most
human mystery: origin. But someƟmes it’s the lack
of answers that makes us who we are, buoys us like
a giant life-preserver, spawns intangible words such
as hope and faith; a belief in something, somewhere
in the cosmos that is waiƟng to fill us with radiance
like a private, invisible sun. But it’s no secret
what’s going on here, the whole world is aƩuned
to the miracle of being shaded by a single shadow,
that the moon, which is exactly 400 x’s smaller,
will pass in front of the sun, which is exactly 400 x’s
further, so perfectly, so precisely, the rarity of its
necessary mathemaƟcs so staggering, even the theorem
is viewed as fliƫng on the edge of insanity.
The physiography of a total eclipse akin to finding
God’s face in a solar flare, or the hard data between
ape and man just beyond the shadow’s penumbra.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

Seized Assets

Eye-balled like we are potenƟal terrorists, or Western tourists moving through
customs in the old Soviet-Bloc, i.d.’s are checked and rechecked. Guards
don’t acknowledge one another. Appear Ɵght-lipped, chisel-faced statues,
roboƟc figures incapable of allowing even a sprig of levity to lighten

the moment. AŌer all, this isn’t some swap-meet, some coffeehouse gallery, some fussy
anƟque shop we’ve come to stuffed with an endless display of Queen Anne relics and French doi-
lies, a neighborhood garage sale replete with dusty
heirlooms and racks of greasy automoƟve parts ( the rust-piƩed jem of

Duesenberg or Packard grill found only in an episode of American Pickers ),
but a real ƟmeaucƟon of wealth seized from raids on dirty millionaires’ estates highly sought col-
lecƟbles of museum quality placed under bullet-proof
plexi. So on a whim, on a rainy, lackluster Saturday, we’ve come to

the Ramada Tropics Resort to gawk at how the other half lives. The spoils of money’s
excess doesn’t disappoint. Housed below hawking eyes— the crazy mix of silk rugs and bronze
busts, serigraphs and lithographs graced with authenƟcated
signatures of Pissaro and Chagall, Dali and Miró, the impenetrable blue

of some trophy wife’s 9 ct. Tanzanite, its cool mint counterpart of a Paraiba Tourmaline,
I kid my wife, that once laid on the slope of Coppertone Valley,
sparkling under a mariƟme sun between the Silicone Peaks. Naturally, she finds
no humor there while the raƩa tat tat of a aucƟoneer praƩles numbers

that climb higher and higher with seemingly no ceiling in sight: 23, 23 do I hear twenty
-three thousand? We walk past locked FDIC tables towards the fray percolaƟng around an easel.
The painƟng up for bid: an Itzchak Tarkay with women and flowers and teapots and tables and the
deepest hues I’ve ever

seen in acrylic, one of ten originals come to bear. SomeƟmes it’s the simplest things
that exact ridiculous prices. The grandeur of smaller moments signed
with a hand’s flourish. The beauty of private life purchased over and over again.
An acquisiƟon of the muse’s intelligence cosƟng us big Ɵme.

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Land of Bizarro

Inside the skirted fender, gravel ricocheted off the wheel
well, whizzed and pinged. Oh how it rang out, the spray
sounding like bullets missing the flesh of their intended targets.
I remember listening as I flinched from the trunk— endorphin’s
rush of being smuggled into the Drive-In, a kid’s fantasy
hatched in the dark. Tonight, on A&E, movie-making that glorified
the horror of living “The Sicilian Way” that gruesome scene
from Casino where Pesci’s Santoro is released from tail-fins,
the Nevada stars burning overhead as some low-level mafioso
hands him a shovel, orders him to dig a double grave at gunpoint
one for him and his blindfolded brother. It’s moments like these
where I flee by osmosis, disappear into the land of bizarro—
those Friday nights sneaking into the Mason City Drive-In.
How it felt so criminal, so epiphanic escaping that cavernous
shell I shared with a spare and a Ɵre-jack, to be helped
from the trunk and handed a Coors— my aunt’s reward
for the ten-year-old who endured the journey— salty beverage
that primed the pump for an evening’s double-feature
of guts & gore, troubling addicƟon that would last a lifeƟme.
But how unlike drinking to be released from that oblivion,
from above the signature badging, gangster whitewalls of her
’73 Coup de Ville, believing this must be what the dead felt like,
what it feels like to be dead— the key unhinging the latch,
the giant carapace swinging open like a coffin’s lid to reveal
Orion tracking through the night sky, reminding I knew nothing
about death or dying, nothing about the monumental jolt
of heartache that follows, nothing of loss outside the movies,
any world beyond the scaffolding of the giant wooden screen—
not even the fact that the light that reached us arrived from
a place vanished long ago.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

Of Thousands: An Eternal Lament About the Author:

The Bibbs’ eastern windows are slate-grey, Tony Tracy is the author of two collecƟons of
except the gable’s triad which has caught poetry, The Christening and Without NoƟce.
the sunrise in panorama, display His work is forthcoming or has recently ap-
of molten light three dizzying spots peared in Flint Hills Review, North American
where color between volcanic red Review, Poetry East, Hotel Amerika, Potomac
and canary yellow a bomb gone off Review and various other magazines and jour-
fiery fusillade, end-Ɵme spread nals.
across glass where I imagine heavy loss

and hell’s ruin; then heroic dream
climbing through toppled layers of steel,
pulverized concrete and smoking I-beams
to rise into a shaƩered cathedral
once a lobby’s façade. None ever did.
Besides the rapture, eyes forever hid.

Old School

Sailing over the Black Hills,
a Lakota warrior chiseled in hewn.
The staƟc voice of the captain fills
the cabin, overdubs Dire Straits on iTunes

with info on landmarks and flight-Ɵme,
current temp and weather in Sin City.
SƟll hours from touchdown, from crazy nights
of slots and booze drama of Billy

Idol at our hold ‘em table in a drunken
sneer of himself as I try to catch
a royal flush on the flop. The outspoken
is the Vegas rule, only place to hatch

life as a grotesque. Demand for MTV
old school: Money for nothin’, Chicks for free.

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TEARBLANKET

by Reuben Ellis

Urine for the Spring

We have no need for a pot of urine. Ours
has sat unused in the corner for a
month as it is.
The weather has been clear and cold at
night. The horizons have been
far away and have spoken to us
in the darkness of what we fear
in what we know of the next town.
There the people all wear coyote masks
and eat raw meat from chickens.
Urine sits sƟll and thick. This grows
demeaning for us, in the warmth
of the wood stove.
We would walk to the next town if the
roads were open, but they are dark
and sƟll and empty as snow lies
three feet deep on the grade.
There are stories about the way they
copulate in the next town.
And the moon is new and like a branch
bowed under the snow. We have
urine stored up from all of us for
spring.
Metropolis.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

Tearblanket

To alter flesh, use the deciduous catclaw,
the spiculumed acacia, tearblankeƟts
common name, unpronounceable in
ambiguity. I could describe it to you,
three-thorned, polygamous flowers, pinnate
pods, but you will know it because you will
be bleeding and the alkaloids in the cuts
will be a kind of pleasure, perhaps not
mainstream, but not either unusual.
As for the name itself, because there is no
outside to language, perhaps the thorns once
ripped apart someone’s bedding, tangled with
their bodies. Perhaps it lodged, a premise, in
the coarse-woven, sweat-soaked space between
the saddle and the mount. The poulƟce does
nothing to stop this mad post to modernity.
Or the long a could become the long e and the
the difference between tare and Ɵer Ricky
Ricardo struggles to understand. The dusted
yellow flowers bloom most heavily in April,
which is the cruelest month, and Jesus wept.
But as much as we hate the fucking plant,
small animals at Ɵmes seek refuge inside
its lower places from predators. Good for
them, but not everyone escapes.
Think about it as you nail the deer hide to the
splintered baƩens of the barn. The flaƩened
black skin, cringing around its sƟll bloody
edges, pulling back from bristling hair, looks
petal-like, fine lobed, and lace. Too dense
for fabric, it curls and cracks. You joke that it
died in a tragic gun cleaning accident. In the
morning you will treat it with borax, salt,
vinegar, with brains. Say the word--tearblanket.
And you have already commiƩed. A living
animal has no edges, you know.

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You Can Eliminate Orange Traffic Cones About the Author:

You have done the rest. Good job, Reuben Ellis is professor and chair of the
and only this remains. WriƟng Department at Woodbury University in
Los Angeles. His publicaƟons include VerƟcal
Remember the woman at the coffee Margins: Mountaineering and the Landscapes
house, back by the sofa with the of Neo-Imperialism; Stories and Stone: WriƟng
chess board, the one who told you the Ancestral Pueblo Homeland; and Beyond
when to travel and when to stay, Borders: The Selected Essays of Mary AusƟn, as
and how small seeds should be well as many published essays, short stories,
swallowed with which liquids, and poems. He is currently working on a book
especially the black sesame, and -length project describing literary representa-
how to carve away soŌ material that Ɵons of ancestral Puebloan peoples and sites.
does not belong around the image.

She was an actuary, in her early forƟes,
and she smelled of grapefruit, and she
told you which non-naƟve plants must
not be used, and of course why the
white rook was missing from the set

She brought it up, but in the end taught
you nothing useful about the cones,
the brightly colored thermoplasƟc thugs.

You must handle it yourself now.
Create an aqueous infusion of polyps,
extract alkaloids, maintain the regime
of kombucha, sulphuric ether that
will protect against unwanted oriental-
isms and deposiƟons. You know the
rule of cones.

Soon strangers will begin staring at you
with looks of great concern and for some,
anger, but you know how to handle that.
Now you can move at liberty. You are
free.

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

A POET’S QUILL

by Antoine Airoldi

A poet’s quill grows so slow; About the Author:
From a bird in mid air, too low;
Loses its flight aƩendant, oh; Antoine Airoldi is a storyteller, author, and
Watch its mill flow even more; Elite Speaker. He uses creaƟve wriƟng to gen-
erate more leads and sales for his clients. Fur-
When the seasons change; thermore, he is the author of Insights From
The days shrink to an inch; Professionals and Revival, and is soon releasing
All captains set their ships; his first novel: Kingdom Come. The art of story-
Out of water, out of gold; telling has propelled his career to a whole new
level as he is published by The Sherbrooke Rec-
Afraid to rise to the occasion; ord, The Campus, The Townships Sun, Gen Z
In becoming the man with the; Publishing, etc. Antoine is proud to announce
Last words, never came so close; that this is just the start to his everlasƟng lega-
Because a poet’s quill stains; cy.

And every mint of fabric;
Stretched with a thin needle;
Pin it, cross the waves of;
A paƩern so firm and just;

Never builds character;
Without a poet’s quill;
And it stains the very fabric;
And as it stains, the world;
Goes blind for just one second

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AS ALONE AS I “’Life,’ George Bernard Shaw wrote, ‘is not
WANT TO BE about finding yourself. Life is about creaƟng
yourself.’ That experience—creaƟng myself
A memoir by Pam Munter while living an adventurous life on a learning
Paperback: 240 pages curve—is at the core of AS ALONE AS I WANT
TO BE. The memoir is a feminist journey
Publisher: Adelaide Books through a life lived deliberately—many lives,
(August 2018) actually—as seen via an occasionally sardonic
point of view, an eye for irony and humor and
Language: English a consistent sense of awe. It will encourage
readers to go for their dreams at any age but
ISBN-10: 1-949180-17-4 women over 50 might find much with which to
idenƟfy. Achieving mastery in several fields is
ISBN-13: 978-1-949180-17-6 sƟll unusual for a woman in contemporary soci-
ety, much less one from an earlier generaƟon.”
Product Dimensions:
6 x 0,7 x 9 inches Pam Munter is the author of When Teens Were
Keen: Freddie Stewart and The Teen Agers of
Monogram (Nicholas Lawrence Press, 2005)
and Almost Famous: In and Out of Show Biz
(Westgate Press, 1986) and has been a contrib-
utor to many others. She’s a former clinical
psychologist, performer and film historian. Her
first “publicaƟon” was a monthly four-page,
carbon-copied newspaper she published about
a local baseball team when she was nine. Since
then, wriƟng has infused every era of her life.

She taught poliƟcal science at California State
University at Northridge during the volaƟle and
oŌen violent 1960s. During her tenure, the top
floor of her office building was burned out, just
a few days before she watched Robert F. Ken-
nedy deliver one of his final speeches just yards
from her office. AŌer earning a Ph.D. in clinical
psychology, she served as an Associate Profes-
sor at Portland State University (see “Walt”). It
was a Ɵme for academic, research-based
wriƟng. Concurrently, in private pracƟce, she
published a groundbreaking quarterly news-
leƩer for her clients.

When she reƟred from clinical psychology, it
allowed the Ɵme and opportunity to resume
her lifelong passion for show biz. She jumped
at the chance to perform in major ciƟes, sing-
ing with a jazz trio (see “Romancing New
York”). She also worked as an actor, appeared
in independent films and numerous commer-
cials, and hosted and produced an arts-based
TV program. She recorded two CDs, the last a

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

tribute to her childhood hero, Doris Day, at WHERE THERE IS
Capitol Records (see “Sinatra’s Mic”). She BREATH, THERE IS LIFE
wrote all the shows and both album liner
notes. Her many lengthy retrospecƟves on the A memoir by Susan M. Davis
lives of oŌen-forgoƩen Hollywood performers Paperback: 300 pages
and others have appeared in both Classic Imag-
es and in Films of the Golden Age. Publisher: Adelaide Books
(August 2018)
More recently, her essays and short stories
have been published in Adelaide, The Rumpus, Language: English
Matador Review, The Manifest-StaƟon, Angels
Flight—Literary West, The Coachella Review, ISBN-10: 1-949180-16-6
The CreaƟve Truth, Quiet LeƩer, The Legend-
ary, and dozens of others. She is the nonficƟon ISBN-13: 978-1-949180-16-9
book reviewer for Fourth and Sycamore, a liter-
ary journal in Ohio, and is a Pushcart Prize Product Dimensions:
nominee. 6 x 0,7 x 9 inches

But Hollywood has never been far away. She
has published a series of short stories with a
historical Hollywood theme. Her play Life With-
out was nominated by the Desert Theatre
League for the Bill Groves Award for Outstand-
ing Original WriƟng, along with a nominaƟon
for Outstanding Play. That Screwy, Ballyhooey
Hollywood, another dark comedy, is slated for
producƟon soon. She has an MFA in CreaƟve
WriƟng and WriƟng for the Performing Arts
from the University of California at Riverside in
Palm Desert, her sixth academic degree.

Pam’s personal life has been similarly eclecƟc,
married to a man for nine years and later part-
nered with a woman for nearly 32 years. Her
son, Aaron, and his spouse, Dana, live in Lake
Oswego, Oregon. Since 2002, Pam has made
her home in Palm Desert, California aŌer living
in Oregon for many years, a return to her na-
Ɵve soil.

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Karen and Susan’s story are a testament to the most Ɵme with paƟents and their loved ones at
strength, commitment and love that defines the bedside and when paƟents remain in the
their relaƟonship. The “sudden event” of a hospital for a long period of Ɵme, relaƟonships
ruptured brain aneurysm took them on a har- conƟnue to develop and mature. It is not un-
rowing journey into hospitals, rehabilitaƟon common for families of ICU paƟents to become
units, and care faciliƟes. The Ɵtle, “Where “part of the unit family” when the caring rela-
there is Breath, there is a Life”, defines the Ɵonships mature over Ɵme. The goal for all
journey from the perspecƟve of simply the act involved is to opƟmize the outcome of the pa-
of breathing and the hope that life is sƟll pre- Ɵent. SomeƟmes the eventual outcome is not
sent. The word, ‘BREATH’, represents key con- what all hoped for and staff feel the loss as
cepts for the reader. greatly as the families. The transiƟon to anoth-
er level of care oŌen results in a frighƞul Ɵme
B defines “BIG Crisis”: Aneurysmal Subarach- for the paƟent and loved ones. As Susan de-
noid Hemorrhage (SAH) is a type of hemor- scribes it is like leaving the “womb”. The rela-
rhagic stroke that is usually caused by a rup- Ɵonships help ease that transiƟon.
tured brain aneurysm. Twenty percent of indi-
viduals who sustain SAH from this cause perish E defines EMOTIONS: Loved ones of the paƟent
within hours of the event. The survivors are may experience highs and lows in an hour or in
faced with countless potenƟal complicaƟons a day. The criƟcal care unit cares for individuals
and crisis that are known to commonly occur who are criƟcally ill and oŌen unstable. When
aŌer SAH and threaten their lives. In Susan’s talking with the paƟent’s loved ones, the team
book, the natural course of the disease was will describe a roller coaster to define the vari-
evident as Karen’s body was affected in every ous emoƟons that are experienced. Staff are
organ system. Her brain suffered from in- present to support the paƟent and family. It is
creased pressure and the risk of rebleeding of ok to be scared. Staff keep in the backs of their
the aneurysm while her heart and lungs experi- minds how frightened families can be of the
enced a shock similar to a heart aƩack. Once known and the unknown. Listening and provid-
the aneurysm was sealed, the leŌ-over blood in ing reassurance and communicaƟng infor-
her brain produced irritaƟon causing the 2-3- maƟon honestly and as oŌen as necessary are
week period of vasospasm which can cause essenƟal to help ease the ups/downs.
more strokes in the brain. TreaƟng the vaso-
spasm to avoid those strokes involve high risk A defines ADVOCATE: Susan’s perseverance
procedures and require a highly advanced and dedicaƟon to Karen are evident through-
team of doctors, nurses, and technicians. This out the journey. Susan is Karen’s advocate and
“BIG Crisis” had Karen fighƟng for her life, the will move “heaven and earth” to ensure Karen
hospital team using every treatment opƟon receives the best care. Advocacy is essenƟal
and skill to keep her from dying, and Susan and every paƟent must have an advocate! The
watching from the bedside as all of this unfold- ADVOCATE quesƟons and reviews what is best
ed. Susan’s reflecƟons of the days in the ICU for their loved one. In today’s health care sys-
describe the perilous and stressful minutes, tem, an advocate is important to maximize the
days and weeks that paƟents loved one’s expe- outcome for their loved one.
rience while paƟents are fighƟng for their lives!
How do all involved funcƟon and provide the T defines TEAMWORK: OŌen most individuals
best environment to survive? refer to the health care team as the ones that
possess teamwork. While that is true, true
R defines RELATIONSHIPS: When an individual teamwork is when healthcare teams, paƟents,
(paƟent) enters the hospital, a relaƟonship is and their support team (families/loved ones/
established with the health care team. The friends) come together to implement the treat-
paƟent’s loved ones become part of the team. ments needed for the paƟent to survive. A sim-
Personal connecƟons between staff, paƟents ple example is when a physical therapist (PT)
and families/loved ones are key to establishing provides range of moƟon (ROM) for the uncon-
trust between all involved. Nurses spend the scious paƟent in the bed to promote mobility.
The PT can teach the family and loved ones to

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

do the same ROM as they are siƫng at the
bedside for hours. Susan, her mother/brother,
and close friends/family comprised TEAM KA-
REN as their presence on a daily basis created
the larger team of pracƟƟoners caring for Ka-
ren.

H defines HOPE: There are two moƩos on the
wall in the SICU. The first is, “Where there is
life-There is Hope”! The second is, “NEVER
GIVE UP…NEVER SURRENDER”. The TEAM
works Ɵrelessly 24/7 to provide the best care
possible and are driven by hope that the pa-
Ɵent will survive and have an opƟmal outcome.
Families and loved ones pray and believe in
hope. Without hope, a hospital would be a very
dim place. It keeps us going in the direst of
circumstances. Physicians use their incredible
skills and talents to save lives. SomeƟmes, they
deliver grave news when complicaƟons occur,
such as Karen’s cardiac arrest. The physicians
also provide an outline or path of treatment
that hopefully will result in an improved out-
come. The team of nurses and therapists be-
lieve and maintain hope that the outcome will
be successful. Karen’s support team maintains
hope throughout the enƟre journey. Hope she
would survive! Hope she would return home!
Hope that Karen would be Karen once again!
Hopes do come true especially when someone
has BREATH and Life!

Forward by Mary Kay Bader RN MSN CCNS
FNCS
FAHA Neuro/CriƟcal Care CNS, Mission Hospital

Susan M. Davis graduated from California State
University Fullerton with a degree in English.
She has been an 8th grade English teacher for
27 years. She is a former Teacher of the Year.
Susan also has a Masters of Science in Educa-
Ɵonal Counseling. She just completed her MFA
in CreaƟve WriƟng Non-ficƟon from Fairfield
University in ConnecƟcut. Susan resides in
Southern California with her wife, Karen Koza-
wa and their 3 Cocker Spaniels. Her favorite
color is purple. If you know her, you will know
this.

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Revista Literária Adelaide

A collecƟon of rhyming poems, and haikus
Samuel S. Kaufman is a poet from Asheville
North Carolina. Samuel has been described as a
"Punk Rock Poet" due to his wriƟng oŌen
showing the rebellious spirit that lives in punk
rock music. Samuel’s influences in wriƟng are
writers from the "Beat GeneraƟon". Writers
such as Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac, and Wil-
liam S. Burroughs. He also gained much of his
love for poetry from poets such as Charles Bu-
kowski, Billy Collins, and Sylvia Plath. As well as
being a published poet Samuel is also an ac-
complished songwriter. He plays six instru-
ments and is constantly puƫng new music out
online, as well as playing live shows all around
his local town. The connecƟon of music and
poetry is important to Samuel as he oŌen rec-
ords spoken word poetry with a backdrop of
music he plays himself. You can acquire Samu-
el's music at bandcamp.com/samuelkaufman.
Samuel believes that poetry has the power to
change lives, and so he spends every day trying
to write something worthy of that power.

STRANGE NIGHTS

Poems by Samuel S. Kaufman

Paperback: 120 pages

Publisher: Adelaide Books
(August 2018)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 1-949180-19-0

ISBN-13: 978-1-949180-19-0

Product Dimensions:
6 x 0,5 x 9 inches

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Adelaide Literary Magazine

FALL TENDERLY Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi (B.A. English, Span-
ish; M.A. Spanish - Saint Louis University Ma-
Poems by Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi drid/St. Louis) lives in St. Louis, Missouri, writes
Paperback: 120 pages arƟcles, literary criƟques, poetry and
prose. She is a consultant for not-for-profit,
Publisher: Adelaide Books business, community development, educaƟon,
(August 2018) leadership development, disability, and elderly
advocacy, and she teaches Spanish Language
Language: English and Culture in a local university, and creaƟve
wriƟng to men in a maximum-security jail and
ISBN-10: 1-949180-18-2 to special needs students. She wrote a novel in
verse, Poem to Follow, two books of poetry,
ISBN-13: 978-1-949180-18-3 Fall Tenderly and Surviving Gracefully, and is
featured in several poetry anthologies, includ-
Product Dimensions: ing the Missouri VSA 2013 Anthology, Turning
6 x 0,5 x 9 inches the Clocks Forward Again; PoeƟca Victorian;
Red Dashboard Disorder Anthology: Mental
Illness and Its Effects; Think Pink; The Muse
India/Createspace Anthology Of Present Day
Best Poems (Vols. I, II, III & IV); Bordertown
Press Poetry of People on the Move; The Socie-
ty of Classical Poets (Vol. I, VI); The Mas Tequila
Review; Snapping Twig; The Lonely Crowd;
Form Quarterly; DevoluƟon Z; The Quarterday
Review; Adelaide Literary Magazine; Adelaide
Literary Awards Poetry Finalist Best of 2017
Anthology; Adelaide Voices Literary Award for
Poetry Shortlist Winner for 2018; MacroMicro-
Cosm Literary and Arts Review: SolsƟce; The
Road Not Taken; The Faircloth Review; Bind-
weed; Halcyon Days; Lunaris Review; Icono-
clast; The Poeming Pigeon; Unrequited: An
Anthology of Love Poems about Inanimate Ob-
jects; and Literature Today InternaƟonal Jour-
nal of Contemporary Literature (Vols. I, II, &
VI). Shari's poetry has been published in sev-
eral literary magazines in the U.S., Canada,
England, India, Ireland, Nigeria, Portugal, Scot-
land, Spain and Wales, and she has been fea-
tured in spoken word on the award-winning
CD, 'How Live?' with LOOPRAT. Shari considers
herself a modern formalist, addressing contem-
porary issues in poeƟc verse with a stylized
language.

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