SPARK

Marilyn Ackerman and Michelle Greco

Origin Story By Michelle Greco Inspiration piece I’m from a neighborhood where kids put you in a schoolyard headlock in third grade. I’m from stained glass. Jesus looks down on everyone—melancholy. I’m from …

Aimee Fullman and Heidi Mordhorst

A l’heure Response piece by Aimee Fullman Predestine Inspiration piece by Heidi Mordhorst when does my eyes flashed before my life back when I was nothing nothing but a twinkle in the …

Tora Estep and Jone Rush MacCulloch

Tora Estep “Darkness and Light” Charcoal, oil paint, and pigment on paper Response How to Write a Poem By Jone Rush MacCulloch Inspiration piece Rise before dawn gathering words Those juicy, succulent images Aromatic …

Anne Nowselski and Cheryl Lavoie

Cheryl Lavoie Inspiration piece Apache Plums By Anne Nowselski Response That’s not their name, of course. Plumes, is the word. Fallugia paradoxa, if you want. They don’t grow here, not in the shade of …

Barbara Black and Jonathan Ottke

Jonathan Ottke Inspiration piece If I Leave a Space By Barbara Black Response He opened the sliding door to his balcony. Standing in the night air soothed him, made simple …

Kamika Cooper and Marsha Staiger

Dragon Fly Marsha Staiger Acrylic Inspiration Piece We Won’t Forget You Kamika Cooper Response There is history in these walls those who travelled through dense forest and across vast ocean, leaving their mark of the …

Kathleen Finn Jordan
and Wendy Schneider

Wendy Schneider Inspiration piece Water Wonder By Kathleen Finn Jordan Response Neck arching back and arms reaching for imagined rafters Into the miracle of shower after long day And nipples saluting the …

Cecilia Driscoll and Jane Hulstrunk

Jane Hulstrunk “Out for a walk” Inspiration Cecilia Driscoll Response “Wood Pause” in a mountain wood i learned to love the road pavement leading surely home along the golden vanishing i learned to love the …

Vicki VanArsdale and Diane Mayr

Diane Mayr “Crepuscular” Inspiration piece Twilight By Vicki VanArsdale Response In the twilight of my memory we met once more there, in the garden just before dawn you feasted on me petal by petal until you exposed my fiery …

Jone Rush MacCulloch and Tora Estep

Tora Estep Inspiration piece Jone Rush MacCulloch Response I watched as the flames stretched upwards in the brittle night Wondered who would save the books The ancient, the sacred, the magical, all …

Jay Young Gerard
and Lisa Nielsen

Jay Young Gerar “It Was Never A Dream” Response It’s That Dream By Lisa Nielsen Inspiration piece It’s that dream where you fly and the world is neither small nor large, angels …

Lisa Nielsen and
Jay Young Gerard

Jay Young Gerard “Rutherford” Inspiration piece Glass Houses By Lisa Nielsen Response Resolutions delayed and thinned by fatigue Fatigue stalled by breathing in the dust That lines the mirror Shadowed and necessary edges sharpened Everyone is …

KJ Hannah Greenberg
and Lavina Blossom

Lavina Blossom “Witnesses” Inspiration piece Wanderer By KJ Hannah Greenberg Response Sure as primal formations placed, I’m a wanderer. True as heaven’s dear clemency, it’s my lot to seek: Clarity, a right way, …

Lavina Blossom
and KJ Hannah Greenberg

Lavina Blossom “Blame the Wind” Response On Hanging Laundry By KJ Hannah Greenberg Inspiration piece On hanging laundry, it’s possible To grasp endemic societal concepts, Remember necessary detailed instructions, Stand upright during intermittent maelstroms (“Sunbeams” of transformation, …

Cheryl Lavoie and Anne Nowelski

Cheryl Lavoie Response Creating a Poet By Anne Nowelski Inspiration piece I’m taking a nap while swinging it’s very relaxing so relaxing Sure, take a nap, just don’t let go. so relaxing the swinging …

Marcia Russell and Morgan Fox

Marcia Russell Response Little Rituals By Morgan Fox Inspiration piece That night the old woman told me to hug her and then we went to bed and woke up …

Lisa Kilhefner and George Anastos

George Anastos Inspiration piece Lisa Kilhefner Response The night stands still; horizon rolls along the fog. You’re hiding, crouching low, it feels like light may not be yours to hold for …

Donna Smith and Urmilla Khanna

Donna JT Smith “Bahadur, the Servant Boy” Response Urmilla Khanna Pankha-wala Inspiration piece Whereas the world is engrossed in Hitler and Churchill and Roosevelt and the Second World War, Mother wakes …

Donna Smith and Alisa Laska

Alisa Laska “Moment of Zen or His and Hers” Inspiration piece Percolated Date By Donna JT Smith Response When we first met Routine was set Our late night splurging For pocket purging Drive into town, Was …

Morgan Fox and Marcia Russell

Marcia Russell Inspiration Piece When Pigs Fly By Morgan Fox Response Rodney Curran turned off the television at 11:47pm, even though the movie was only half over, because Rodney did …

Jane Hulstrunk and Cecilia Driscoll

Jane Hulstrunk “Wall of Windows” Response Cecilia Driscoll “My House” Inspiration My house is pastel pink and ivory like the inside of a seashell like new skin and pale blushing. My house is made of wood a …

Diane Mayr and Amy Souza

Diane Mayr I’m Not Due Yet Response We Go Out for Ice Cream on a Warm Night By Amy Souza Inspiration piece There’s mostly summer people, a few townies. It’s the …

Amy Souza and Jules Rolfe

Amy Souza “Round the Bend” Digitally manipulated photograph Response The Hidden Waterfall By Jules Rolfe Inspiration piece Over the log Before the wooden bridge You’ll find the hidden waterfall Listen closely can you hear it all …

Linda M. Rhinehart Neas and Heitzi Epstein

Linda M. Rhinehart Neas “Best Friends Forever” Photo enhanced with Faststone Response Friend By Heitzi Epstein Inspiration piece Two in the morning you and I would email “Go to bed!” Tonight three o’clock …

Elizabeth Crawford and
Isabella Nazari

Isabella Nazari Inspiration piece Franny the Flamingo By Elizabeth Crawford Response Franny the Flamingo was quite the explorer. She loved boats and the ocean. Franny lived in Cancun, a place …