DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Vance, Mariah

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 30
Spring 5-1-2018
I Live in Music
Mariah Vance
College of DuPage
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Recommended Citation
Vance, Mariah (2018) "I Live in Music," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 30.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/30
Prairie Light Review 34
I Live in Music
I live in music
The world sounds like a melody
My heartbeat is a metronome
Forever ticking
Happiness is tremendous crescendos progressing to a forte
But heartbreak sounds like panisimo
Resting for infinite measures
I live in music
My life is a beautiful melodic chord
There are some flats
There are some sharps
But the chord is very delicate and sweet
My love for music is like a symphony
Filled with thousands of harmonious violins
I live in music
I live for music
I am music    
-Mariah Vance
1
Vance: I Live in Music
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English

I Live in Music

Alhert, Alyssa

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 31
Spring 5-1-2018
What Did You Notice First?
Alyssa Alhert
College of DuPage
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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
Alhert, Alyssa (2018) "What Did You Notice First?," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 31.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/31
Spring 201835
What Did You Notice First?
She wears her hair up.
Sometimes in elegant swirls, threads of liquid chocolate weaving together to rest like a crown upon her head.
Sometimes in a messy bun, rebellious follicles straining toward the sky for a better view of the sun.
(Though the sun can never quite compare to you, my dear.)
 
She wears her hair up.
Strands clinging to her cranium as children cling to their favorite toy--
Whether their grip is ironclad or lazy and loose, the prize is never relinquished, even for a moment.
(If only I could have more moments here with you.)
 
She wears her hair up.
Exposing a distracting expanse of porcelain skin,
Speckled with angel kisses as far as the eye can see.
(And an angel you must be to smile at me so.)
 
She wears her hair up.
The rich earthen tones of her tresses rivalled only by the sweet honey of her eyes--
Honey on a summer’s day, deceptively deep and impossibly alluring, drawing the curious in just 
close enough to taste the sugar in her smile.
(If you are honey, then I am a bee, forever enraptured by your charm.)
 
She wears her hair up, and it’s beautiful.
 
And yet,
I dream of how it would feel to card my fingers through it,
Removing clips and pins and worries as I go,
Reveling in the peace we could share together.
 
(She still wears her hair up. But sometimes she lets it down for me, and I love her all the more.)
-Lily Jones
1
Alhert: What Did You Notice First?
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What Did You Notice First?

Forslin-Bojnansky, Karen

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 41
Spring 5-1-2018
After the Accident
Karen Forslin-Bojnansky
College of DuPage
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Recommended Citation
Forslin-Bojnansky, Karen (2018) "After the Accident," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 41.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/41
Spring 201847
After the Accident
Crumpled, bent, clutching his crutch
angling to the bathroom,
he hollers, “You Bastard,” to the enemy—
his humpty dumpty left leg
though the other a fraternal twin.
 
Lower limbs saved by doctors
to live with pain
that stabs, throbs, torments
ever present, a now permanent resident.
 
My beloved demands no assistance
yet my hands ready, heart heavy.
Tears hide behind my brave smile
cemented as I watch him struggle.
 
Idle as he falters
helpless to relieve his distress,
beside him but outside his agony,
I feel worthless and isolated.
 
He swallows medication to force his legs,
I wrestle being caregiver and wife
our life shrinks into his and her suffering.
Relinquished to the couch, optimism melts
alternatives die when pain wins.
 
Like darkness settling, resignation fills
hope’s empty space when months turn into years.
Finally a partition for misery granted, we accept this tenant
embrace our new normal.
-Karen Forslin-Bojnansky
Next Page:
“Forest Art”
Christine Cianciosi
Digital Painting
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Forslin-Bojnansky: After the Accident
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After the Accident

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 2 Article 54
Spring 5-1-2018
Colophon
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This Back Matter 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) "Colophon," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 2 , Article 54.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss2/54
Prairie Light Review 64
Gratitude
We are grateful for programming support from Dr. An Rondeau, Dr. Donna Stewart, 
Barb Groves, Dean Chuck Boone, Dean Sandra Martins, and Cathie Walker. We ap-
plaud the constant nudging from faculty, who encourage their students to submit 
work, and we offer gratitude to the teaching staff, who help students revise and 
perfect their creative submissions. Thanks to Chuck Steele, Shannon Hernandez, 
Jelymar Mejia, Nicole Plumtree, and the Office of Student Life for their constant 
publicity and support. Also, thanks to Bailey Kovac and Doug Wade for their knowl-
edge, patience, and printing service at Alpha Graphics in Lisle.
Colophon
Twice a year for publication in the December and May issues, all students, faculty, 
staff, and the College of DuPage District 502 community are invited to submit up 
to four creative works per entrant of original fiction; nonfiction; vampire/mystery/
fiction; essays; poetry; graphic essays; black and white and color photography; and 
2D and 3D artwork of any medium. A class of student editors who are enrolled in 
English 2210 reads blind entries before making final selections through a numer-
ical voting system. The class is guided by a faculty advisor, who additionally leads 
the hiring process for the officer positions of Editor-In-Chief, Production Editor, 
and Marketing Editor. Over the course of the semester the Editor-In-Chief leads 
the team and supervises all operations, including assisting Marketing Editors as 
they work to advertise upcoming deadlines and events and oversee PLR correspon-
dence, and assisting the Production Editor as they put together the magazine. Final 
edits are approved by the editorial staff before the finished product is sent to the 
printers near the end of the semester.
Cover: 80 Pound Matte Paperstock
Design: Adobe Photoshop CC 2015.5, Adobe Indesign cs6, Adobe Illustrator cs6. 
Composed on a custom Windows workstation.
Finance and Operation: The publication is funded through College of DuPage’s 
Student Life.
Publishing: AlphaGraphics, Lisle, Illinois.
Paperstock: 70 Pound Matte Paperstock.
Photography: All photography in this magazine is provided by the residents of 
district 502.
Typography: Avenir, Avenir Next Condensed, American Typewriter, Calisto MT. All 
fonts are open source and free to use, or paid for by Student Life.
1
et al.: Colophon
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Colophon

Powerpoint presentation on invasive species of the Florida Everglades given at the Honors Council of the Illinois Region, held February 25, 2017 at Lewis University

Raygoza, Adrian

Invasive Species of the Florida Everglades

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 4
Spring 5-1-2017
Editorial Team
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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 koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2017) "Editorial Team," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 4.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/4
Prairie Light Review 
Editorial Team
Editor-in-Chief
Shailesh Patel
Production Editor
Jamie McCreedy
Marketing Editor
Lindsay Flinker
Associate Editors
Thania Hernandez
Madeline Jefferies
Marisa Judd 
Michael Perry
Amy Peter
Derek Plate
Assistant Editors
Ronda L. Crawford
Hannah Fisher
Alice Ventura
Advisor 
Trina Sotirakopulos
Spring 2017    3 1
et al.: Editorial Team
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Editorial Team

Tolman Flannery, Maureen

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 11
Spring 5-1-2017
Circle Dance of the White Buffalo
Maureen Tolman Flannery
College of DuPage
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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 koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Tolman Flannery, Maureen (2017) "Circle Dance of the White Buffalo," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 11.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/11
Circle Dance of the White Buffalo 
No eagles flew on the first new day of 1889. 
Prairie grasses lay rutted in waste 
behind wagons of land claimers. 
Silver mining creeks reeked of dead trout. 
 
Brown pine needles abandoned branches 
where buffalo stampeded to rocky abyss. 
Dark storms encircled the world 
as a dishonored sun crouched behind the moon. 
 
In the red butte lands beyond the mountains 
Wakova, a Paiute shaman, knew how to 
harden the sweat in his hand to ice, 
loosen skies to drown a drought, 
 
summon gale winds from distances. 
Wakova watched for answers 
in the messiah-realm of light. 
The spirit dance came to him 
 
in troubled trance as a primal buffalo 
winter-white hide aglow like a sun, 
amber hooves pummeling a black sky. 
Dance in a circle, its message imprinted 
 
on the mind of the medicine man. 
All First Peoples were called to unite, 
give up war and in-fighting 
to pound the ground in dance 
 
beneath the sky of five straight days. 
Pale men, threatened, called it 
Ghost Dance and would not abide 
the Lakota who practiced, in honest faith, 
 
the dance that would bind the people 
to their ancestors, restore the grasses, 
bring bison and wild game back 
to the plains, return first verdancy. 
 
It would be a scant two years until 
they merged with earth at Wounded Knee. 
Maureen Tolman Flannery12    Prairie Light Review 1
Tolman Flannery: Circle Dance of the White Buffalo
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Circle Dance of the White Buffalo

Liefeld, Robin

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 31
Spring 5-1-2017
The Climb
Robin Liefeld
College of DuPage
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The Prairie Light Review by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Liefeld, Robin (2017) "The Climb," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 31.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/31
This is a language
so little of us speak.
For it is one of bodies
where music leads. 
 
A language so peculiar,
it requires two.
One to lead
and one to follow. 
 
This is one of romance,
one where love burns.
A concoction of emotions,
some sweet and some sour. 
 
You get lost in a trance,
when it’s first spoken.
You stutter in the beginning,
but flow smoothly in the end. 
 
This is ballroom,
this is a passion.
Words are rarely spoken,
we convey with expression. 
 
So come join me, 
and take my hand. 
I promise this is a language, 
you’ll soon understand.
Parlez-vous de Danse? 
The Climb
Robin Liefeld
Alexandra Kurza
Spring 2017    31 1
Liefeld: The Climb
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The Climb

McNichols, Matt

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 36
Spring 5-1-2017
The Orb
Matt McNichols
College of DuPage
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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 koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
McNichols, Matt (2017) "The Orb," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 36.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/36
The Orb 
  
In the midst of plainness, bleakness 
Absence of joyfulness, hopefulness 
The only viable option for activity 
To lie in a simple bed 
And stare up at a fluorescent light 
With nothing but my thoughts to entertain and torment 
So is the life of a psychiatric hospital stay 
Within the heightened scrutiny wing 
Of us seemingly helpless, shoeless souls 
  
Out of the barrenness of my Spartan surroundings 
A thing of mysterious beauty emerged 
From the quite ordinary light 
Stationed directly above my reclined body 
A mystical shape-shifting orb of powerful luminosity 
Complete in Technicolor and translucent quality 
Dangled and danced among the background 
Of a basic incandescent glow 
  
Slowly, effortlessly, the hypnotic radiance 
Of many shades and cosmic colors 
Descended, growing closer to me 
Me, transfixed, unblinking, mesmerized by the orb 
How long my spellbound encounter lasted 
Cannot be known 
  
The descent continued in a strangely meticulous manner 
And the ethereal phenomenon made its final transfiguration 
Into that of a crystalline apple 
A biblical apple, I intuitively reasoned 
Of knowledge, transcendence, and wisdom 
Simply reach up, touch it 
And all I would ever dream of knowing or being would be mine 
Yet at a heavy spiritual toll 
  
This monumental temptation hovered precariously above 
The enticing, alluring orb sat, within reach, for moments on end 
Unable to look away but resolved to resist 
Ultimately prevailing over the apple’s seduction 
An internal sense of triumph prevailed 
Just another night behind these locked hospital doors
Matt McNichols
Spring 2017    35 1
McNichols: The Orb
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The Orb

Flinker, Kelsey

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 46
Spring 5-1-2017
In the Grass by the River
Kelsey Flinker
College of DuPage
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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
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Recommended Citation
Flinker, Kelsey (2017) "In the Grass by the River," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 46.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/46
Death Be Nimble 
death 
is solace 
an end to a mean 
 
a vacuum 
linear 
cyclical 
 
death is sorrow 
death is foot to ass 
death is final 
 
no loose talk 
sinking of ships 
trading of secrets 
looks over shoulders 
among the dead 
 
Abrahamic 
Dharmic 
Nihilistic 
 
the results 
are the same 
eternal internment 
senescence 
 
peace 
a breeze that fans 
throbs the temple 
 
death be nimble 
death be quick 
death be the candle wick 
In the Grass by the River
Ink by Kelsey Flinker
Ryan K. Sauers
Spring 2017    45 1
Flinker: In the Grass by the River
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