DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Gonzalez, Tanya

ESSAI
Volume 15 Article 1
Spring 2017
Front Cover
Tanya Gonzalez
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai
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 ESSAI by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@COD. For more information, please contact orenick@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Gonzalez, Tanya (2017) "Front Cover," ESSAI: Vol. 15 , Article 1.
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/essai/vol15/iss1/1
W H A T  I S  E S S A I ? 
Created in 2002 by a cross-disciplinary faculty, ESSAI, College of DuPage’s 
Anthology of Academic Writing Across the Curriculum, is an annual academic 
journal that represents a unique but inclusive discourse community of student 
writers; it fosters student success through writing across the curriculum and in 
all levels of learning at College of DuPage. 
It rests on our belief that writing empowers and prepares out students for 
meaningful careers and advanced academic pursuits and that, to realize such 
goals, the entire college community is responsible for incorporating writing 
into their courses as a vital part of the academic experience at our college. 
That we practice the philosophy of student success through good writing will 
become even more apparent in the journal’s name. It harkens back and pay 
homage to Michel de Montaigne, whose seminal style of writing “essais” 
connoted one of trials and attempts. 
The resulting published work is their expanded cultural and epistemological 
self-endowed with talent, sophistication, and fresh scholarship, all expressed 
with clarity, eloquence, and grace. 
Join with us in honoring the exceptional talents of our student authors.
E S S A I
THE COLLEGE OF DUPAGE ANTHOLOGY OF WRITING ACROSS THE CURRICULUM
V O L U M E  X V    •    2 0 16 - 2 0 17
TRY
1
Gonzalez: Front Cover
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


English

Front Cover

Beirl, Jen

Of Foxes and Hens: The Stacked Battle for an Illinois Budget

Jackson, Tonia

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 19
Spring 5-1-2017
Self Portrait in Winer
Tonia Jackson
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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 koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
Jackson, Tonia (2017) "Self Portrait in Winer," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 19.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/19
You Asked 
  
Smiling, you asked, You know you can trust me, 
Don’t you? 
And I did.  I did in my bones. 
Bad luck for me they are foolish. 
They’ve paid for their innocence, though. 
Frozen since the day I heard 
You ask someone else.
Self Portrait in Winter
Tonia Jackson
Martha Attiyeh
20    Prairie Light Review 1
Jackson: Self Portrait in Winer
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2016


Self Portrait in Winer

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 39 | Number 2 Article 67
Spring 5-1-2017
Back Cover
Follow this and additional works at: http://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 koteles@cod.edu.
Recommended Citation
(2017) "Back Cover," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 39 : No. 2 , Article 67.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol39/iss2/67
Prairie Light Review
Art and Literary Magazine of College 
of Dupage
Vol. XXXIX No. 2
An idea that is not dangerous is not 
worthy of being called an idea at all.
Oscar Wilde 1
et al.: Back Cover
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2016


Back Cover

Kotyuk, Ida

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 16
Fall 12-1-2017
I Wait
Ida Kotyuk
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
Kotyuk, Ida (2017) "I Wait," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 16.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/16
11Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
I Wait
Ida Kotyuk
 An ironing board leans and waits for laundered clothes that wait 
to be ironed whites wait to be folded rugs wait to be vacuumed floors wait 
to be swept even as countless objects heavy with dust wait to be cleared 
two dogs wait to be fed then wait to be walked our car waits to be washed 
its oil waits to be changed its gas tank waits to be filled one husband and 
three children wait to be fed their dinner waits to be made dishes wait to be 
washed wait to be dried children’s lost items wait to be found books tum-
ble from shelves wait to be read towering piles of poetry books wait to be 
marked nearby mounds of magazines wait too stacked loose papers wait 
to be filed I am smothered among small yellow sticky notes with scribbled 
ideas that also wait—sullenly.
 
Overwhelmed, I wait to be a poet.
The Changing Colors of Skin
Carole Mertz
Though I had no ideographs
like those of a Chinese girl, 
I relished the joy of selecting 
the colors from the crayon
box. Age, seven years,
my hair was curled by Mother
into fascinating long ringlets.
Fascinating even to me.
The marks I made on the page
were likely the first chapters of
my little-girl life. Frustrated though, 
I had no just-right color for skin. That
changed, Crayola adjusted. Our
world adapted, too, into these 
many new shades of skin. Life 
became fascinating, like my curls.
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   11 11/1/2017   4:51:16 PM
1
Kotyuk: I Wait
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


I Wait

Mertz, Carole

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 17
Fall 12-1-2017
The Changing Colors of Skin
Carole Mertz
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
Mertz, Carole (2017) "The Changing Colors of Skin," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 17.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/17
11Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
I Wait
Ida Kotyuk
 An ironing board leans and waits for laundered clothes that wait 
to be ironed whites wait to be folded rugs wait to be vacuumed floors wait 
to be swept even as countless objects heavy with dust wait to be cleared 
two dogs wait to be fed then wait to be walked our car waits to be washed 
its oil waits to be changed its gas tank waits to be filled one husband and 
three children wait to be fed their dinner waits to be made dishes wait to be 
washed wait to be dried children’s lost items wait to be found books tum-
ble from shelves wait to be read towering piles of poetry books wait to be 
marked nearby mounds of magazines wait too stacked loose papers wait 
to be filed I am smothered among small yellow sticky notes with scribbled 
ideas that also wait—sullenly.
 
Overwhelmed, I wait to be a poet.
The Changing Colors of Skin
Carole Mertz
Though I had no ideographs
like those of a Chinese girl, 
I relished the joy of selecting 
the colors from the crayon
box. Age, seven years,
my hair was curled by Mother
into fascinating long ringlets.
Fascinating even to me.
The marks I made on the page
were likely the first chapters of
my little-girl life. Frustrated though, 
I had no just-right color for skin. That
changed, Crayola adjusted. Our
world adapted, too, into these 
many new shades of skin. Life 
became fascinating, like my curls.
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   11 11/1/2017   4:51:16 PM
1
Mertz: The Changing Colors of Skin
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


The Changing Colors of Skin

Peter, Amy

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 18
Fall 12-1-2017
Hit and Run
Amy Peter
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
Peter, Amy (2017) "Hit and Run," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 18.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/18
12Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
Hit And Run
Amy Peter
Someone’s uncle, 
Someone’s father, 
Someone’s husband of nearly 30 years; 
met an untimely end staring into headlights. 
He didn’t deserve to die at a speeding car’s mercy. 
Even if he’d been more visible, 
it still might not have stopped. 
The driver that blew through the crosswalk 
didn’t give the man a second thought. 
Hit and runs are a tragedy, 
but they happen every day. 
As long as people are so rushed; 
neither car nor man look both ways. 
The family doesn’t know who killed him, 
and they probably never will; 
but that doesn’t mean they’ll stop searching. 
Justice for the hit and run killer, 
and the victim gone too soon. 
For Lack of a Hero            
Jessica Shubert
Pigeons scattered as the gentleman with the tailored suit walked up 
to where the woman sat on a flattened Coke box, plucking a banjo.  A 
nickel or dime would drop into a cap crumpled on the sidewalk occa-
sionally.
            “You’re six cents out of tune, my dear,” the gentleman said.
            “And sixty cents short of a sandwich,” she replied without 
stopping.
            He glanced around, sniffed, and left.
            When he returned, he set the sleek case down and opened it, 
smiling self-consciously.  She shifted for him to join her, cross-legged 
on the cardboard stage.  The banjo led and the violin played along.
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   12 11/1/2017   4:51:16 PM
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Peter: Hit and Run
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


Hit and Run

Gordon, John J.

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 22
Fall 12-1-2017
Workshop
John J. Gordon
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
Gordon, John J. (2017) "Workshop," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 22.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/22
14Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
Workshop
John J. Gordon
At our leader’s instigation
I took on this obligation
 
Pledged to fulfill her instructions
With some cool couplet constructions
 
Exceed my poetic duty
Create a piece of sheer beauty
 
Words erupted   soon filled the page
A scintillating verse rampage
 
I imaged trees   cats   kids   a kiss
Planets   stardust   love gone amiss
 
My heartfelt words   profound   intense
When scrutinized were pure nonsense
 
Show me pity   I’ve done the task
When I’m to read   please   just don’t ask
Bridge Over the Mississippi,
Thomas Skibbie. 
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   14 11/1/2017   4:51:17 PM
1
Gordon: Workshop
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


Workshop

VanZanten, Bryan

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 26
Fall 12-1-2017
Hangin' By The Street Corner
Bryan VanZanten
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
VanZanten, Bryan (2017) "Hangin' By The Street Corner," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 26.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/26
18Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   18 11/1/2017   4:51:17 PM
1
VanZanten: Hangin' By The Street Corner
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


Hangin\u27 By The Street Corner

Center, Julie P.

The Prairie Light Review
Volume 40 | Number 1 Article 30
Fall 12-1-2017
Ivan Albright's American Beauty, Transformed
Julie P. Center
College of DuPage
Follow this and additional works at: http://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
Center, Julie P. (2017) "Ivan Albright's American Beauty, Transformed," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 40 : No. 1 , Article 30.
Available at: http://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol40/iss1/30
27Prairie Light Review  Fall 2017
 
Ivan Albright’s American Beauty, Trans-
formed
Julie P. Center
Albright can make miracles out of mirrors. 
Ida says “I need the money, so make me old,” 
and the dollar sits on the table 
while the pennies wait patiently beside. 
  
Just a pretty face 
and a child-sucked chest with 
nothing inside. 
“So make me old. Give me imperfections 
to hope for.” 
  
The mirror waits for the truth. 
The soul of Ida, revealed 
in each crease in her thighs, 
each vein in her high-heeled ankles. 
Albright tilts her head 
and forces her to look in the mirror. 
  
Behind his shadow-made eyes, 
“See, the woman you will become.” 
Ida looks, and sees, “I am beautiful now.” 
So sorrowfully beautiful, 
wrinkles can make miracles out of Ida.
PLR F2017 FINAL.indd   27 11/1/2017   4:51:17 PM
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Center: Ivan Albright's American Beauty, Transformed
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2017


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