STIRRING
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
Founded in 1999, Stirring is one of the oldest continuously publishing journals on the internet.
Stirring is an electronic quarterly journal.
SHAWNTE ORION & JIA OAK BAKER
Jia Oak Baker
Dome
We were the last generation to need a voice
once desperate ways to be heard
were cradled in every palm
no one listens like us anymore
Pining for moments entwined with songs only you could sing
cough-syrup psychedelia
duct tape down to your boots
a fistful of pennies thrown at the wind
Burning the last candle in a haunted stairwell
smile full of Novocaine
the responsibility of the moment
soaked with gasoline
A kiss to lock the cage
this empty prayer heavy in your arms
heathens plucked a feather that shattered the moon
now the angels won't stop barking
Jia Oak Baker
Glass
The truth is out there / classified / hiding from infinite candlepower flashlights /
conspiring with rental cars and nicotine / the truth is a theory of fantastic plausibility /
exhumed for a second opinion / supernatural / the sexual tension is out there / recruited
out of med school / in slimming pinstripe pantsuits / empowered by shoulder pads / the
sexual tension is psychokinetic / Vancouvered / Windsor knotted asphyxiation / mutating
behind opaque sunglasses / monotone close encounters / debunked by critics / but
renewed for a second season / I want to believe in skepticism / that abduction is
temporary / syndication is forever and intelligent / life can be discovered / on the planet
beneath our shoes / I want to believe in magic bullets / jet-plane chemtrails / zero gravity
small steps for mankind on a Hollywood sound-stage moon / I want to believe the
impermanence of season finales / but any lie is best hidden / between two truths / so
extraterrestrial conspiracies / discredit anyone who repeats / paranormal deep throat
secrets / dreams investigate the questions / we haven't learned how to ask / gunmen is
plural but lone / and truth is only understood / until it has been explained
POET
Shawnte Orion attended Paradise Valley Community College for one day. He is the author of two recent collections of poetry, The Existentialist Cookbook (NYQBooks) and Faithful as the Ground (Five Oaks Press). His poems have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Barrelhouse, New York Quarterly, Sugar House Review, and elsewhere. He serves on the editorial board for Rinky Dink Press and has performed in bookstores, bars, universities, hair salons, museums, and laundromats.
Blog: http://batteredhive.blogspot.com
PHOTOGRAPHER
Jia Oak Baker is a poet and photographer in Phoenix, AZ. She is the author of the chapbooks Crash Landing in the Plaza of an Unknown City (Dancing Girl Press) and Well Enough to Travel (Five Oaks Press). Her poetry has appeared in The Good Men Project, Poet Lore, Likewise Folio, and elsewhere. Her photography has appeared or is forthcoming in Star 82 Review, Limehawk, The Notebook, Write On Downtown, and Arizona Hikers Guide. Jia is the recipient of the 2013 Tucson Festival of Books Literary Award as well as scholarships to the New York State Summer Writers’ Institute and the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. She received a 2015 grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts and has been awarded residencies from the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation and Hedgebrook. Jia earned a Master in Fine Arts in Writing and Literature from Bennington College.
