DigitalCommons@C.O.D.

Laffey, Mary

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 16 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Liber 
Mary Laffey 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Laffey, Mary (2022) "Liber," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 16. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/16 
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. 
Liber
Mary Laffey
I am old made new
with the same text,
just different formations
 
made with a bumpy
spine and inkiness
spilling into minds
 
thick and thin,
worn and crisp,
immobile and flexible.
 
I can break your
ignorance and shatter
your hate
 
or pry open your heart
with a simple line
of  dialogue
 
spill me and I flutter
drop me and I slam
burn me and you admit
 
in my power to unite
peoples. my three fates are:
collect dust, become dust,
or be dusted.
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Laffey: Liber
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English

Liber

Smuksta, Kimberly

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 24 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Trees in Wonderland 
Kimberly Smuksta 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Smuksta, Kimberly (2022) "Trees in Wonderland," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 24. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/24 
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. 
Kimberly Smuksta. Trees in Wonderland. Photograph/Scanogram
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Trees in Wonderland

Herrmann, Joe

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 26 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Skankin' Puffin 
Joe Herrmann 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Herrmann, Joe (2022) "Skankin' Puffin," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 26. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/26 
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. 
Joe Herrmann. Skankin’ Puffin. Digital Illustration
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Herrmann: Skankin' Puffin
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Skankin\u27 Puffin

Snart, Jason

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 27 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Skating, 1976 
Jason Snart 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Snart, Jason (2022) "Skating, 1976," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 27. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/27 
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. 
Skating, 1976
Jason Snart
on Grandpa’s frozen pond
in her red toque pulled low, scarf  tied 
at her neck, cheeks red too and shouting 
to the boys in moist clouds from her lips - faster 
faster Crack
the Whip.
She at least heard music, spun on one blade 
that other leg stuck out behind, arms 
out, a compass too close to the real pole. 
Boys heard Hockey Night In Canada 
and the crack of  sticks at what we decided 
was center ice. I laughed into my leather gloves
(they tasted like salt) when her girl-skates made her fall 
forward, her brother laughed more. She waited 
until we finished, then sang 
to herself, I could see the white breaths, she spun 
around the ice, walking in her skates, imagining 
maybe a partner, an audience. Once, 
she came in after too long, her toe clicked 
against the linoleum 
in the kitchen   in time 
with the grandfather clock 
in the parlor.
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Snart: Skating, 1976
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Skating, 1976

Ziemer, R.G.

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 36 
Fall 12-1-2022 
Rattlesnake 
R.G. Ziemer 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Ziemer, R.G. (2022) "Rattlesnake," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 36. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/36 
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. 
Rattlesnake
R.G. Ziemer
No graceful coils
No spiraled cone
No diamond pyramid of  scales
No you bend around a boulder
at the sound of  my approach,
bunched upon your scaly self,
rope-thick doubled
all the stronger to strike.
You reach out,
blacktongue flickering.
angry at my trespass. 
That I understand,
and thank you for that warning rattle
for it’s more than I have had
from other snakes of  my acquaintance.
And if  your mouth must drip with venom
with the savor of  your speech,
as you unsheathe your needly fangs,
your beady eyes unwavering,
in expectation of  the chance 
to stab and clutch and kill and eat,
well who am I to judge?
Be the serpent as God made you.
If  the Devil wore your form
you ought to take it as a compliment.
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Ziemer: Rattlesnake
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Rattlesnake

Church, Madeleine

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 45 
Number 1 Fall 2022 Article 53 
Fall 12-1-2022 
What the Crone Enjoys 
Madeleine Church 
College of DuPage 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
Church, Madeleine (2022) "What the Crone Enjoys," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 45: No. 1, Article 53. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol45/iss1/53 
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. 
Madeleine Church. What the Crone Enjoys. Acrylic on Canvas
Peanut Butter Cookies, 12-’83
Ray Makowski
There is magic in
an unspoken “I love you”
of  yellowed notecard recipes
copied over
and newspaper-clipping cobbler
carefully preserved
“may you share this with your loved ones,
even in a time when my name is forgotten.”
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Church: What the Crone Enjoys
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What the Crone Enjoys

My Research presentation is on something that was outside of my comfort zone. A topic I never really thought much about until I decided to look into it. The interest I dove deep into is how the Hispanic and Latinx/Latino/Latina communities are affected by the issues of post-secondary education.  Along with a comparison of some of these main issues found from ethnographic research to  the College of DuPage’s representation, retention rates, and perspective on tackling this prolific educational issue.
Faculty Sponsor:  David McNamar

Fanami, Opeyemi

The Hispanic/Latino Exploration

Have you ever struggled with creating something and then it didn\u27t quite work out as planned? If so, that\u27s okay, failure is an important part of life, as it leads you to success and I\u27m here to tell you why failure is so important. In my presentation, I will explain how my English class found out that failure isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but rather a lesson to learn from. I will also mention what exactly led to us learning this important lesson and how it urged us to keep moving forward.
Faculty Sponsor: Steven Accard

Belzey, Destiny

Importance of Failure

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 
Number 2 Spring 2021 Article 4 
Spring 5-1-2021 
Submissions 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
(2021) "Submissions," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 2 , Article 4. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss2/4 
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
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: 
 Adam Fotos, Faculty Advisor 
 fotosa@cod.edu
 630-942-3167
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 Information
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
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et al.: Submissions
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Submissions

The Prairie Light Review 
Volume 43 
Number 2 Spring 2021 Article 6 
Spring 5-1-2021 
Editor's Note 
Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr 
Recommended Citation 
(2021) "Editor's Note," The Prairie Light Review: Vol. 43 : No. 2 , Article 6. 
Available at: https://dc.cod.edu/plr/vol43/iss2/6 
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. 
Editorial Team
 Editor in Chief 
 - Jolie Vega
 Production Editor 
 - Julia Di Marco 
 Marketing Editor 
 - Rachel Kennedy
 Assistant Editors 
 - Samantha L. Egbert
 - Adelina Giannini
 - Solomon Mason
 Faculty Advisor 
 - Adam Fotos
Editor’s Note
This volume would not have been possible without the hard work 
and dedication of everyone who submitted their work to Prairie Light 
Review, who believed in our magazine in these difficult times, and 
persevered through them to give us some truly outstanding work. 
We would quite literally not have an issue without you! Additionally, 
a huge thank you to COD’s Student Life for their second semester of 
mailing our previous issues out and for their continued support of 
PLR. Finally, I would like to give my most heartfelt gratitude to our 
editorial team and faculty advisor, Adam Fotos. I’m so fortunate to 
have worked with such devoted and talented people who crafted this 
volume into something special. This is PLR’s third issue created vir-
tually, and it’s thanks to everyone, both inside and outside of PLR, for 
their interest, support, and hard work that created a journal that I 
am truly proud of. Thank you! 
We did it! This is hopefully our last issue created entirely virtually, 
but I’m so grateful that we were able to consistently produce PLR 
despite the hurdles in our way. This is my second semester as editor in 
chief of Prairie Light Review, and I’m very blessed for the astounding 
team that made it undoubtedly special for me! We arranged this 
issue off of the cycle that many went through during the COVID19 
pandemic, whether that be the places they went or the concepts 
they confronted. Starting with nature, then moving to death, society, 
self-introspection/mental health, and ending on a higher note with 
connections and nostalgia. We hope that the journey this issue of 
PLR takes you on will allow you to reflect on the past while looking 
forward to the future. Once again, thank you!
   -Editor in Chief of Prairie Light Review, Jolie Vega 
Cover: Nika. Katy Cunningham
prairielightreview.com 
cod.edu/student_life/publications/prairie_light_review
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et al.: Editor's Note
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