DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Ortlieb, Lexi

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 37
Spring 5-1-2018
Deja Reve
Lexi Ortlieb
College of DuPage
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Recommended Citation
Ortlieb, Lexi (2018) "Deja Reve," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 37.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/37
Spring 201843
“Déjà Rêvé”
Lexi Ortlieb
Inkjet Print on Paper
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English

Deja Reve

Keller, Francis

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 55
Spring 5-1-2018
Back Cover - Dead Tree
Francis Keller
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Keller, Francis (2018) "Back Cover - Dead Tree," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 55.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/55
1Keller: Back Cover - Dead Tree
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Back Cover - Dead Tree

Hernandez, Alejandra

No Sleep and Vulnerability

Burnier, Franz

Franz Burnier Reads a Passage From  The World House , by Dr. Martin Luther King

Willis, Derrick

Derrick Willis reads  Life on Mars  by Tracy K. Smith

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 5
Spring 5-1-2018
Editorial Team
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Prefatory Note is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for
inclusion in The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2018) "Editorial Team," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 5.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/5
Prairie Light Review 4
 Our Editorial Team:
Associate Editors:
 Derek Plate is a long-time reader and writer, four-semester PLR editor. 
He had the first act of a ridiculous play he loved writing published in the first an-
nual Iowa Summer Writing Anthology. He has previous work experience writing 
for a PR firm. (The fourth time around, we are pretty sure that Derek still wants 
every piece to get in.)
 Eleanor Zilius              has returned to PLR for the 80th time...
we think. We have no idea how she has time to read all of the submissions; given 
the fact that she is also an undergrad studying literature. 
 (Re)Becca Gleason makes the fliers or something. Keeper of random 
facts. Knower of theater folk. Still blames PLR for her speeding ticket, though we 
convinced her that we had no influence on the 30 M/P/H increase in her speed. 
Will eat waffles at Ihop.
 Allison Hlavacek hopes to be a copy editor after her ventures as a 
flight attendant. She is considerably new with PLR, and worked to help with up-
dating the website. Her goal is to complete the rest of her associates degree and 
finish her major in Communications at another university. She is a fiction writer 
at heart, spending her free time watching Netflix and playing the latest version of 
pokemon.
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et al.: Editorial Team
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Spring 20185
Officers:
Editor-In-Chief:
 Hannah Fisher: All hail Chief Hannah! Or don’t...according to Justin. 
“Magazine Mom” has continued using her outrageous organization skills, ex-
traordinary emails, and comprehensive campus connections for her third semes-
ter (second as EIC and final with PLR), and has officially signed off for her vibrant 
hair to be PLR’s mascot. She will reluctantly be transferring to a new university 
to pursue an Anthropology major by next fall and will probably cry at the launch 
party because of this.  
Marketing Editor:
 Ronda L. Crawford: Partly truth, partly fiction, with the superpower 
of straddling worlds and bending phrases, but my friends call me the PLR Oprah 
(inside joke.) A Beyonce enthusiast with a $20 a week movie habit who still reads 
books on paper, drinks brown liquor on occasion and knows lots of things. My 
spirit is guided by a stuffed pig named Piggie, my best friend is a Duck named 
The Management, and my greatest love is a Potato named Rae (who also hap-
pens to be my daughter.) You can find me on any given day writing and binging 
series on Netflix. References available only by request. I thank you for your 
consideration.
Production Editor:
 Justin Isler is a first timer at PLR, and has big city dreams of one day 
becoming an editor at a major publication. His hobbies include [REDACTED] 
and [REDACTED]. His greatest fear is one day receiving a knock at the door, and 
upon opening it, finding himself standing face-to-face with himself. Believes 
in the untapped potential of the Vampire/Mystery/Fiction genre with all of his 
being.
“Advisor”:
 Trina Sotirakopulos does not write Vampire/Mystery/Fiction (to 
quote Justin, “the slashes make it edgy”), but the group still accepts her. Cue the 
cowbell.
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The Prairie Light Review, Vol. 40, No. 2 [2018], Art. 5
https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/5


Editorial Team

Miklosz, Molly

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 19
Spring 5-1-2018
Sunday Afternoons
Molly Miklosz
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Miklosz, Molly (2018) "Sunday Afternoons," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 19.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/19
Spring 201821
A Face for Radio
 I believe smart women with interesting things to say shouldn’t have 
to take pictures but they do. I learned early that what I think no matter how 
relevant or intriguing is going to be heard at a volume that is filtered through 
how light reflects or is absorbed by my skin. That these judgments are made 
sometimes in millimeter measurements of shapes and angles, which is why 
I hate taking pictures, but only of myself. It’s the long odds, that out of 50 
pictures only one will be good. 1 in 50. I set a reminder to myself to make a 
list of all the things that have such odds.
 Once, as part of an exercise, I was asked what my ideal job would 
be, and I said radio personality. No one would care if I wore makeup or if I 
had on pants. I could verbalize all the witty and intelligent thoughts that float 
through my head without judgement, and someone would actually give me 
money to do this. But the best part is no one would know what I looked like. 
And when I met people, they would always be surprised and say things like 
I didn’t expect you to have freckles or be tall or black or wear glasses. And I 
would laugh because my face would be an unexpected gift that would shat-
ter all preconceived notions, because no one would think that I look like this.
-Ronda Crawford
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Sunday Afternoons

Bressler, M.J.

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 35
Spring 5-1-2018
Second Thoughts
M.J. Bressler
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Selection is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Bressler, M.J. (2018) "Second Thoughts," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 35.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/35
Prairie Light Review 40
Previous Page:
“Seeing Through Your Eyes”
Natalie McKenty
Photography
Second Thoughts
 Today was one of the coldest of the year, something like eight or ten 
degrees. The bright sunlight made it seem warmer until I’d been out a while 
and felt my face become numb. Bundled up against the cold, I drove to the 
grocery store.
         As I finished placing my bags in the back of my car, a woman walked 
toward me from the adjacent aisle of the parking lot. This woman was 
dressed appropriately for the weather with a nice black-hooded jacket, scarf 
and gloves. She sought my attention by raising her hand as I opened the 
door on the driver’s side. I stopped, with one foot in the car, to hear her 
question.
         “Excuse me, but can you help me?” she asked, a look of distress on 
her face.
         I thought she was having car trouble, so questioned, “What is it?”
         Lifting a cord around her neck, to which a plastic rectangle was 
attached, she replied, “I’m homeless. This is my P.A.D.S. number. Could you 
spare a few dollars so I can get something to eat?”
         I paused, gathering my thoughts, my mind going through the things 
I’d heard about panhandlers and the con games that are played upon un-
suspecting fools. But, the reality of the cold day and the current joblessness 
cast their vote in favor of my giving her the few dollar bills I had in my purse. 
I knew I had some singles, which I could easily spare. I also had a couple of 
twenties, but that would be too much--especially if it was a con. It’s amazing 
how fast the mind can zip through the decision-making process.
         As I opened my purse and began searching for the dollar bills, I was 
reminded of the woman, a walking skeleton, holding a starving baby, who’d 
once approached me in Kathmandu in 1999.
 Before we reached Nepal, we’d been warned by the tour directors 
not to give the beggars anything, tempted though we may be, for it would 
only encourage more beggars to hound us as we walked the streets.
 This skeletal woman had obviously been starving. She may also have 
had AIDS, which was then epidemic in the city. Her brown skin struggled to 
cover her prominent skull. With arms so thin, each bone was outlined against 
the parchment covering it, she held a tiny child. This baby, with a large head 
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Spring 201841
and shrinking body, lay inert in the woman’s arms. The baby’s large eyes, 
with barely enough strength to blink, gazed listlessly into mine as I shook my 
head, refusing the request. “Just following orders,” I said to myself, while 
my stomach clutched in rebellion. I had only a few small coins with me at 
the time, so I talked myself into believing that they would have made little 
difference in her life. Maybe for the moment the pangs of hunger would have 
been abated, until tomorrow. I could not save their lives.
 So, anxious to get away from her pleading hands, my friend and I 
quickly walked on to the Kodak store, to buy more film, which had been our 
goal.
 We discussed our decision as we placed a dusty distance between 
ourselves and the woman with the child. “Tsk, tsk,” our tongues snapped, as 
pity and guilt wrapped around us like a cloak.
 There were so many beggars in the streets of Kathmandu; we were 
forced to stop seeing them. It was just too difficult to allow the feeling of 
impotence, in the face of such need, to overwhelm us. We must protect our-
selves, we reassured each other.
 Now, today, I am once again reminded, as I handed the woman in the 
parking lot four measly dollar bills. As I closed the door and started the car, 
she wished me God’s blessing. I briefly allowed myself to feel the cold she’d 
feel by spending most of her day in the streets. I removed the fur earmuffs 
from my head and placed them on the passenger seat. I was suddenly too 
warm in my heated car. Glancing back I saw her walking across the parking 
lot with a backpack on her arm.
 As I pulled away, the baby’s eyes suddenly peered out at me from 
my memory. They have haunted me for years, reminding me of my regret 
at withholding those few coins I held in my pocket where they might have 
provided some temporary relief. Torn between obeying the tour director’s 
instructions and my feelings for a needy human being, I’d made the wrong 
decision!
 I can still see the sari-draped woman with her child lying listlessly 
upon her arm slowly cross the street as we, relieved, entered the Kodak 
store. I never saw them again, but I have carried them in my memory where 
they will live as long as I remember.
 As I drove away in my warm car, with the bags of groceries spilling 
over in the back, I said aloud, “Why didn’t I give that homeless woman a 
twenty-dollar bill instead of only four?”
 Alas, I have no answer to assuage my guilt. I am not accustomed 
to beggars in my little corner of this world. They fill me with shame. I want 
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The Prairi  Light Review, Vol. 40, No. 2 [2018], Art. 35
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Prairie Light Review 42
to turn my back and run as I did in Nepal. Though I still empathize with the 
suffering of others, I find it most discomforting. What to do?
 Now, I’m left with another disturbing incident that has attached 
itself like Velcro to my memory. It will revolve in my mind like a record on the 
turntable of my regrets. ‘Round and ‘round the memory turns, it’s a constant 
reminder of my selfishness. 
-M.J. Bressler
 Paid in Full
 It’s not my fault that I agree 
 With donors on a spending spree.
 Their junkets, checks and gifts of note
 Are never meant to sway my vote.
 But when these friends need a favor,
 I’m their legislative savior.
  
 Defense contractors phone before
 Each crucial vote to fund more war.
 Wall Street tycoons applaud their fate
 Assured that I’ll deregulate.
 Job creators demand less tax.
 They count on me to wield the axe.
 The NRA says weapons should
 Be owned by all for their own good.
 Guns everywhere, I plead their case,
 Of course they’re banned from my workplace.
 Big Oil comes forth to fill my till,
 I join their chant: drill, baby, drill.
 
 Smart lobbyists, it’s plain to see,
 Invest in my integrity.
 
 We have the best government money can buy.
-John J. Gordon
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Second Thoughts

Cianciosi, Christine

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 42
Spring 5-1-2018
Forest Art
Christine Cianciosi
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr
This Artwork is brought to you for free and open access by the College Publications at DigitalCommons@COD. It has been accepted for inclusion in
The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Cianciosi, Christine (2018) "Forest Art," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 42.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/42
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College of DuPage

Not a member yet

Deja Reve

Back Cover - Dead Tree

No Sleep and Vulnerability

Franz Burnier Reads a Passage From The World House , by Dr. Martin Luther King

Derrick Willis reads Life on Mars by Tracy K. Smith

Editorial Team

Sunday Afternoons

Second Thoughts

Forest Art

O\u27 to Sweetness my Bitterness Becomes Me

7,467

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