DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Fate, Tom Montgomery

Detours of Intention

Yearman, Keith

Mahsa Amini Protest

Mendez, Damien

Both Sides

Kulys, Robert

Momentum

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 1 
Fall 12-1-2023 
Title Page - Dhaka, Bangladesh - Offloading Books 
Keith Yearman 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Yearman, Keith (2023) "Title Page - Dhaka, Bangladesh - Offloading Books," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 
46: No. 1, Article 1. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/1 
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. 
      Prairie Light Review
      Volume 46, No. 1 Fall 2023
Dhaka, Bangladesh - Offloading Books, Photograph _Keith Yearman
1
1
Yearman: Title Page - Dhaka, Bangladesh - Offloading Books
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2023


English

Title Page - Dhaka, Bangladesh - Offloading Books

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 4 
Fall 12-1-2023 
Scholarship Info 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
(2023) "Scholarship Info," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 4. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/4 
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. 
About
The Prairie Light Review is the liberal arts journal of the College of 
DuPage. This biannual journal seeks to showcase the diverse work 
produced by creative individuals surrounding us. Our publication exists 
entirely because of our loyal community, as we only accept submissions 
from District 502 and rely on our team of student editors to edit, format, 
and produce the literary journal. Each piece submitted is evaluated 
anonymously in order to ensure objectivity. 
Join
To join our Editorial team, enroll in English 2210 for the upcoming 
semester! 
Direct additional inquiries to: 
 Trina Sotirakopulos, Faculty Advisor
 sotirakopulost@cod.edu
 630-942-2177
Rolling Submissions
The Prairie Light Review accepts submissions throughout the academic 
year. We accept submissions of any in the following categories: 
original fiction, nonfiction, essays, drama, poetry, graphic essays, 
black and white and color photography, and 2D and 3D artwork of 
any medium. If you are interested, please submit all work to:
 prairielightreviewsubmissions@gmail.com
Scholarship Info
The Budilovsky Literary Scholarship provides one $500 award per 
semester in conjunction with being published in the College of DuPage’s 
Prairie Light Review. To be considered for this award, the entrant must 
remain a student at COD the following semester and have written a 
quality piece of any type (i.e., essay, poem, short story, etc.). Preference 
will be made to pieces that are autobiographical in nature.
More at: 
        
                      @cod_plr
        
prairielightreview.com 
cod.edu/student_life/publications/prairie_light_review
Editorial Team
 Editor in Chief 
 - Bee Bishop
 Production Editor 
 - Alex Albillar
 Marketing Editor 
 - Cuyler Martin
 
 Associate Editor
 - Noah McBrien
 Assistant Editors 
 - Danielle Fugate
 - Isabella Sarussi-Barys
 - Mia Maglicic
 - Joseph Conroy
 
 Faculty Advisor 
 - Trina Sotirakopulos
Editor’s Note
 Prairie Light Review is a lot more than a literary arts journal. 
For most, it is the embodiment of the creative spirit of Community 
College District 502. For some, it is a stepping stone to a further 
career in the arts. For others, it is a way to share secret depths within 
themselves with others. For me, it is a snapshot of the community at this 
specific moment in time. A snapshot of the hopes and dreams, of the 
fears and conflicts, of the triumphs and the failures. 
 The thing about snapshots is they only represent what hap-
pens in one specific moment. Meaning we still have a chance to grow, 
to change, to be better than we were before. This PLR issue stands as 
a reminder of where and who we are, and the past issues remind us 
of where and who we were. 
 This fall semester, the world has faced some terrifying 
challenges, most of which we are still working through. I hope that 
this reminder inspires you all to go forth and chase those hopes and 
dreams, to face those fears and conflicts, and to accept those triumphs 
and failures. 
 The PLR editors would like to send a special thank you to all 
our submitters who have sent work to PLR over the years. Semester 
after semester, the editors chose the pieces that stood out to us and 
spoke to something deeper within ourselves. Such an incredible jour-
nal like this stands out because of the creative, talented, and dedicat-
ed community that we have surrounding us. 
 We’d also like to say a quick thank you to our advisor Trina     
Sotirakopulos, for her help in guiding us in making this issue a reality. 
On behalf of all the editors here at PLR, I am pleased to present 
Volume 46, Issue 1 of Prairie Light Review. 
-Bee Bishop, Prairie Light Review Editor-in-Chief
32
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et al.: Scholarship Info
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Scholarship Info

Hill, Tom

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 9 
Fall 12-1-2023 
The Invitation 
Tom Hill 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Hill, Tom (2023) "The Invitation," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 9. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/9 
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. 
“Are you going my way?”
“Well, yes”—down the passage,
away & through, 
silent (as anything) &
the smell of smoke still
(through a screen) & also—
dawn’s threat to break—
little bones underfoot
(a dense crush, slivers 
set to stick) & somewhere
 
in the dark a whisper
a flick of the wrist:
“clean as a whistle, yes”
and then the dreams:
tigers in the grass—
tobacco ash & fruit—
the sweet quick slip 
of you at the eyes &
at the throat—something 
like smoke—but (now) 
even less a shadow 
even less a ghost.
Dash, Color Photograph   _Steven Anderson
The Invitation _Tom Hill
98
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Hill: The Invitation
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The Invitation

Anderson, Steven

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 10 
Fall 12-1-2023 
Dash 
Steven Anderson 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Anderson, Steven (2023) "Dash," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 10. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/10 
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. 
“Are you going my way?”
“Well, yes”—down the passage,
away & through, 
silent (as anything) &
the smell of smoke still
(through a screen) & also—
dawn’s threat to break—
little bones underfoot
(a dense crush, slivers 
set to stick) & somewhere
 
in the dark a whisper
a flick of the wrist:
“clean as a whistle, yes”
and then the dreams:
tigers in the grass—
tobacco ash & fruit—
the sweet quick slip 
of you at the eyes &
at the throat—something 
like smoke—but (now) 
even less a shadow 
even less a ghost.
Dash, Color Photograph   _Steven Anderson
The Invitation _Tom Hill
98
1
Anderson: Dash
Published by DigitalCommons@COD, 2023


Dash

Matlock, Elise

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 12 
Fall 12-1-2023 
Examination 
Elise Matlock 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Matlock, Elise (2023) "Examination," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 12. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/12 
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. 
but she leaves, gritted teeth and
a shrinking reflection of “keep in 
touch”
she leaves me with the idea that
goodbyes are impermanent
when really they are the most
solid thing i’ve ever felt
i say i’ll miss you but
my words are hollow –
how did we ever
have anything to say?
i hoped it would be us in the end
but we grew up and now
my fingers are numb
and my teeth ache
i think about it often –
do you?
do you wish we had more time?
but she has forgotten.
she doesn’t hear me –
i am speaking to
an empty room
now the lip gloss has dried out.
the teddy bear’s threads unravel 
and
the places we stand, giggling, in 
the photos
don’t exist anymore
but i remember it all
and i have nowhere to put it down
please don’t be a stranger
the august sun overwhelms,
silently
grape popsicles sting the inside
of soft cheeks
and sticky fingers reach
for a faded door inside
a familiar laundry room,
machines rattling, dull blue tiles,
a crevice under the old countertop
for two small bodies to curl into
we embrace the buzzing of
fluorescent lights like dewdrops
embrace morning
our hands press the worn patterns
on the floor and uncover
a tattered box, a capsule of time
cotton candy lip gloss,
frayed stuffed animals,
flimsy polaroids
of a forgotten, buried time
our blurry fingerprints
trace the past –
does your chest feel this heavy too?
does your popsicle taste this bitter?
my vision turns to static,
a thick, sour sensation –
i yearn to linger
a bit longer.
stranger _Mia Maglicic
Examination, Black and White Photograph  
_Elise Matlock
1110
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Matlock: Examination
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Examination

McCallum, Dakoda

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 46 
Number 1 Fall 2023 Article 21 
Fall 12-1-2023 
Suburban Wasteland 
Dakoda McCallum 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
McCallum, Dakoda (2023) "Suburban Wasteland," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 46: No. 1, Article 21. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol46/iss1/21 
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. 
Sundering suburbs’ girls
Staring out your windows
At artificial blue skies
Wondering and almost believing 
that
In your wasteland suburbs
There is something wonderful
Waiting for your
Desperate eyes
Craving beauty
In the craters left behind
By the crashing of metropolis.
Are we destined to be
Sprawling suburbs’ girls
For the rest of our lives?
Planted here, unable
To move and
Stuck in concrete.
We grow up through the cracks
As flowering weeds to Suburbia–
Because even garbage dumps
Hold gardens–
Trying to find our way
Through The Concrete Plains:
The decrepit offspring of
The Great Plains
Where whims of grand parking
Lots and brick stores were
Never dreamed.
Yes
You stumbling suburbs’ girl
Imagining the wind whispers se-
crets
Only for you
Beneath the songs of backyard 
birds
Those birds that clutch onto the 
chain links of
Your prison gates.
You will interpret the
Sounds and cries of the
Wind into songs.
They will tell you the delicious lies
You seek too.
Strange suburban girls
Know what it’s like
To trace the veins of leaves
Searching for that path
Called:
“Your Own”
Stuck in your wasteland–
Yes, wasteland.
You will listen to the bees
And one day you may find
Your way out of Suburbia
Yet you must choose
Swiftly, for the gates will
Not always remain open.
 after Karla Huston
She knows she has to watch what she eats.
She leaves the salt out of everything she cooks,
regardless of the impact on flavor. 
But every time I stop by, I find she’s bought
another box of those salty cheese crackers
she supposedly gets for grandchildren—
who have grown up and moved away—
and has refilled the candy jar with chocolate kisses.
All the time her hair was turning gray
she refused to dye it to keep herself looking young,
though I have to admit it’s not too bad
now it’s all turned white. She seldom buys
new clothes—still wears garments 
out of style years ago. And she never learned
to keep house. If things are halfway neat, 
you can count on it—she’s expecting company.
Had my bedroom been nearly as messy 
as hers is now, she would have sent me
upstairs to clean it. She’d rather be 
at the computer, writing more poems
while she still has time left, never admitting
her shortfalls to her many readers.
Suburban Wasteland _Dakoda McCallumHer Daughter Speaks _Wilda Morris
2120
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McCallum: Suburban Wasteland
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