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Morton Marcus: Stay tuned for the Poetry Show on KUSP, 91.7, 89.7, 90.3, and 88.9 in Santa Cruz, Monterey, and Salinas. Tonight, as the music behind you shows, we're going to have a party as we have a special program of the new people who

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work in the Porter Gulch Review. Unknown: [Music] Morton Marcus: Good evening, everybody, this is Mort Marcus and this is the Poetry Show. Tonight KUSP, first of all,

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thanks Plaza Books for providing a grant in support of this program. Plaza Books is located at 1111 Pacific Avenue and in Pavilion F on Cedar Street in Santa Cruz. Actually, they are not in Pavilion F on Cedar Street in Santa Cruz, they are

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only located at 1111 Pacific Avenue. And tonight Plaza Books is happy to bring a show to you that has become a regular on the Poetry Show and that is a show composed of the contributors to the Porter Gulch Review, the literary magazine put out by

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Cabrillo College students, but really not a Cabrillo College publication as such, but the best of the writing in the area which comes out twice a week. And in order to tell us something about that, it's twice a year- did I say twice a week?

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See I'm giving you more credit than I can possibly do. Jackie Cunha: It's okay, we almost deserve it. Morton Marcus: To tell us a little about that will be Jackie Cunha. And what is your position on the magazine, Jackie?

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Jackie Cunha: Well, I'm a staff member like all of the classmates that are in the Porter Gulch Review with me, and I've become the poetry editor through a lot of hard work and default. It's been a lot of fun though.

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Morton Marcus: Now you say you're a student, what actually happens in making up the Porter Gulch Review? What do you go through? Jackie Cunha: Well, we start out by soliciting manuscripts from

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the community. And this year, we got a record amount of submissions, we had almost twelve hundred pages of manuscripts to read through and make selections in three weeks. Morton Marcus: That's amazing. Most of you have never edited a

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magazine before, have you? Jackie Cunha: The majority of people haven't, but we have senior editors coming back from the beginning, and it's been coming out for five years.

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Morton Marcus: Right. Jackie Cunha: So there's some experience there. Morton Marcus: Now is it on the stands right now? Jackie Cunha: No, it'll be coming into bookstores,

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libraries, and cafes all over the county tomorrow. Morton Marcus: Tomorrow, huh? And how much money does it cost? Jackie Cunha: It's free. Morton Marcus: Free?

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Jackie Cunha: It doesn't cost anything. Morton Marcus: What a deal. Jackie Cunha: Copies for your friends even. Morton Marcus: Uh huh and how many pages is it?

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Jackie Cunha: It's going to be eighty-eight pages. And we have lots of prose, lots of poetry, we have writers from another language, and it represents this community and the fun works that are going on here.

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Morton Marcus: You say that you have prose or poetry, but what is this writers from another language? Jackie Cunha: It's a special section that we have been doing. And because we are essentially a bilingual community and we have

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a lot of students who take both English and other languages and are learning to write, it's- Morton Marcus: They're foreign language students, many of them who are first learning English.

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Jackie Cunha: Yes. Morton Marcus: Yeah. Jackie Cunha: And they write from a different flavor and a different style, its-

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Morton Marcus: Flavors that are right near chocolate and pistachios. Jackie Cunha: Well, yeah. Morton Marcus: Who have you brought for us tonight?

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Jackie Cunha: Okay, tonight we have Pat Moran, she's going to read some poetry for us, and also Mark Clausen(?). And how do you say your last name, Brian? Brian Zeglen(?). I've always been wondering about that. And we also have Maureen Pacino(?)

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who's going to read us a really sweet story that I like a lot, and David Pang(?) who is representing the writers from another language. Morton Marcus: Okay, wonderful. You will introduce these people

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one at a time and I will say some foolish words to them, they will answer me with great brilliance and wisdom, and then we will hear some of their work. So since the program is already ten minutes into itself, let's introduce the first reader.

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Jackie Cunha: Okay, we have Pat Moran, and she's gonna read us some poetry and she's very excited. Morton Marcus: All right, Pat. Yes, I can see that. And in fact, we're going have to hold her in the seat here. Pat, have

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you published before? Pat Moran: Yes, I have. Morton Marcus: Where? Pat Moran: I published in some small magazines in New York, but

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it was so long ago, I can't even remember the names of the magazines I was in. Morton Marcus: And did you stop writing for a time? Pat Moran: Yeah, I stopped writing for about ten years and

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made a new year's resolution to start writing again, so that's exactly what I did. Morton Marcus: Is that this new year's? Pat Moran: This new year.

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Morton Marcus: It was immediate success. That's- all writers hope for something like that. That's wonderful. Let's hear what you're going to read for us and tell us something about it. Pat Moran: Okay. This is called:

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AMELIA'S LAST FLIGHT, and it was written in honor of Amelia Earhart's disappearance on July 2nd, 1937. I believe there were angels, creatures of light who came from the stars, lived in the wet grass, crawled through the night

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dirt, seeing with feral eyes, who were proud in God's eyes and maybe gods themselves. I believe there were patterns in the stars, and that's how God talked: each star, a note in a song. I sang that song with ocean, heartbeat, and the drone

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of airplane engines. I remember your touch and how it was familiar, I recognized you from some star, some nights I wouldn't sleep at all, just watch your body take shape then disappear like Houdini. I believed in sirens, beings

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wonderfully dangerous who drew everything into their emptiness. I believed in gremlins who sat on airplane wings watching us lose our way. Here I am trying to find a sunline, a point of reference, can't hear the radio, can't read the compass, there

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are gremlins turning the plane upside down, the angels have fallen away. I believe if you vibrate your name at the right frequency, you disappear. I hum to the drone of airplane engines, surrender to the sirens, fall into the arms of

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some dark and dangerous thing, become the song and light among the stars. Morton Marcus: Okay, how much have you written since you made this vow to yourself to start, or have you been writing and

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then just made your vow to send the poems out? Pat Moran: Oh, I've been writing a lot. I think I throw away more than- you know, I tear the paper out of the typewriter and just write on anything I can. But I try to write every day.

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Morton Marcus: Great, do you have one poem in the magazine or more? Thank you very much. That was Pat Moran, and if you've just tuned in, you're listening to contributors to the Porter Gulch Review, the wonderful literary magazine from Santa

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Cruz County, which is about to make its- Jackie, what number is this? Jackie Cunha: This is issue number ten. And it comes out twice a year: once in the fall and once in the springtime. We

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solicit submissions for that every semester and the guidelines are in the issue previous. Morton Marcus: Let's just ask one question which might interest people out there as they hear the quality of this

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work: when is the next issue coming out -- well, it's coming out probably next December -- but when is the deadline for subscribe material? Jackie Cunha: I don't actually have a firm date on that because

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I am in the midst of finals myself and I'm unprepared. Morton Marcus: Okay. Jackie Cunha: But- Morton Marcus: It's in the magazine, right?

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Jackie Cunha: It's in the magazine, there's a whole page on how to submit, where to submit, and how to send your submissions in. Morton Marcus: Wonderful. Okay, well, let's get to our next

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reader. Jackie Cunha: Okay, this is Mark Clausen(?). And Mark's going to tell us a little bit about some of the words in his poem first because they're quite unusual and he's gonna read for us.

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Mark: Okay, this is kind of a quick glossary of words. They're all words originating from Hopi, the Hopi language, and I got them- kind of the guide to them was out of a Frank Waters book. But the first word, "katori," which appears in the title, is-

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is basically the screech owl kachina, is the direct translation. And the next word which appears, "Kokopelli," is the name of a god, of the God of the Blue Flute Clan, which is basically the fertility god. Next word is, "tusupi(?)," which

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means sunset. And the last word is, [unidentified], which means coyote. And the poem is called, "Katorian Roots." Morton Marcus: Let me ask you first, you said you got this from a Frank Waters' book?

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Mark: Yes. Morton Marcus: Obviously, you're interested in the American Indians? Mark: Yes.

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Morton Marcus: And what gave you the idea to write the poem? Mark: I really have no idea. It's just kind of a lot of influence from travel in the Southwest and visiting friends and being in that area. And the words have always- the language

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has always been kind of beautiful to me, and that inspired me to include it in poetry. Morton Marcus: So how long have you been a writer? Mark: For about three years?

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Morton Marcus: Around three years? Great. Let's hear it. Mark: Okay. It is here among these summer clouds, Kokopelli's tears, that I've learned this is a song to be sung at tusupi(?) when the

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last bits of the day hang about cedar and pinion pine, wide as the purple white mist like something off the top of your head. And if I could, I would sit here with all the grace my hands have ever known, the cool evening warming my freckled back

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and standing red your face that stands under [unidentified] somewhere and tell you about every sunset that I've ever seen, teach you that if you tuck yourself up against stones and watch, with the care of a condor's eye, the sun will never

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set and I would wrap you in sage under Patagonian night, tell you stories of tundra, wolves in Aurora Borealis, speak with patients about desert winds that breeze past here like a coyotes voice and begin in the stars above, [unidentified]. But

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there's a lot more going on here, my beautiful friend, more than I can ever bring to you. And for now, in the season, moshika(?), I will listen to your silence between juniper and redwood. These words are mountains, these pages canyons,

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and if you sit blue like the trailings of dawn on this room, you will begin to sing. Morton Marcus: Very nice. "These canyons are pages?" Mark: Pages are canyons, yes.

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Morton Marcus: "These pages are canyons," very nice. Very, very nice indeed. Jackie? Jackie Cunha: Yes, Mort? Morton Marcus: Who is next on our list?

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Jackie Cunha: Brian Bachlin(?) is going to read some poems for us next. And I have to say this, but I really, really like Brian's poems. Morton Marcus: Okay, if you have to say it.

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Jackie Cunha: I do. Morton Marcus: Okay. Brian: And I require it of her. Morton Marcus: What?

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Brian: I required it of her. Morton Marcus: Okay, do you- what's the reason? What do you like about Brian's poem so that people out there in radio land can see if they agree with you?

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Jackie Cunha: Because they have a certain narrative quality about them. They tell these wonderful stories, and just the right amount of words. And they're not too abstract, you can really find an entry point into these poems.

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Morton Marcus: Brian, are you from Santa Cruz? Brian: Well, is anybody from Santa Cruz? Morton Marcus: I do know some people, actually there were three people from Santa Cruz.

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Brian: There were originally three people here, well, I've been here for about eleven or twelve years. Morton Marcus: Where are you coming from? Brian: New York, New Jersey, and Los Angeles.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, and when did you start writing poetry? Brian: Long time ago, but very off and on and off. Morton Marcus: Have you had poems published before? Brian: Only in a couple of literary journals up at UCSC.

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Morton Marcus: Are you a UCSC student? Brian: No, I graduated from there. Morton Marcus: And now you're living in Santa Cruz. So let me ask you what made you submit work to the Porter Gulch Review?

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Brian: I really liked the Porter Gulch Review a lot and I've submitted before and really wanted to have something in there. Morton Marcus: Well, that's great advertisement and that is

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one of the reasons that there is such strong writing in the Review, I think, Jackie, because people just read it and they say, wow, I cannot believe that this is the literature coming out of this county. And then everyone just rushes to get

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things in there and then you have to read twelve hundred pages. Anyway, yeah, Mr. Bechlin(?), let's hear your poetry. Brian: This one's called:

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HOLDING "She's a rare bird," my mother would say. For ten years, she told me, "Hold on to this one." I said I wanted my hands free. I thought everything should fly in celebration. I imagined if you

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wished too hard, you could see a person change before your eyes. But in ten years, people change, they give up so much. My mother listened, she understood differently, turned to the window, to a lifetime of houses. To a figure in the distance she

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said, "How could you?" I've learned it is the one left who's to blame, since my father packed his things thirty years ago and still plans to leave any minute. And my mother can't stop instructing me how to hold the thing so it won't disappear.

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"Now, this one is a real gem," she says, and takes my hands as if she's pressing secrets there. Morton Marcus: Very good. Do you have one poem in the magazine or-?

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Brian: Yeah, that's the one right there. Morton Marcus: Very nice. And you're absolutely right, Jackie. Very, very, very exquisite use of narrative and concentration. Very good.

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Jackie Cunha: Well, coming from you, that's a compliment. Morton Marcus: Oh, okay. I usually give compliments to people. Actually, [unintelligible] that is a really nice pump, seriously, very nice. We're still winging

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our way through here and actually, we're moving very, very quickly. Jackie Cunha: I would like it if, if our three representative poets could read more poems, how does that sound to you, Morton?

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Morton Marcus: That sounds great to me. Could we do it so that when we get through with everyone, they come back? Jackie Cunha: Sure, okay we can do that too. Morton Marcus: Just to make sure that we've gotten everyone in,

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and then we will have them right back after that. So we've got three prose writers and three poets? Jackie Cunha: Yeah, we have three poets and two prose writers.

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Morton Marcus: Okay. Right because there are five people there. No, there are six people here. Jackie Cunha: That's because we have some support. Morton Marcus: Oh, okay.

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Jackie Cunha: Our cheerleader, so to speak. Morton Marcus: Okay, I'm going to try to wonder who the true cheerleader is. I guess I'll find out when the fifth person has read.

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Jackie Cunha: You will. I guess we should have Maureen come up now. This is Maureen Pacino(?) and she writes a series of stories called the Nolan Series, and we're publishing one of them in the Porter Gulch Review and she's going to read us another

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one tonight. Morton Marcus: Maureen, where are you from? Maureen Pacino: Los Angeles. Morton Marcus: Are you a UCSC student or former UCSC student?

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Maureen Pacino: No, I'm not, I'm at Cabrillo. Morton Marcus: Okay, and your family has moved up here or you just moved up here? Maureen Pacino: No, my family has just recently.

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Morton Marcus: How long have you been writing? Maureen Pacino: All my life. Morton Marcus: Wow, okay, you're one of those people who had the infection early and could not shake it, right?

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Maureen Pacino: Exactly. Morton Marcus: Why don't you tell us something about this series of stories? Maureen Pacino: Gosh, the Nolan Series was kind of conceived of

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just in a rare moment and it's about, it circulated around a small boy and his age is whatever you pick his age to be. But it's kind of funny because it just seems to be the age I'm perpetually stuck in.

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Morton Marcus: But what age is that? Maureen Pacino: Oh, I don't know, anywhere from eight to fourteen, somewhere like that. Morton Marcus: How old are you now by the way?

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Maureen Pacino: Nineteen. Morton Marcus: Okay, so you stopped growing at around the age of fourteen. Maureen Pacino: Right.

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Morton Marcus: Okay, Maureen Pacino: Mentally, not physically. Morton Marcus: Okay. Maureen Pacino: Okay, this one's called:

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NOLAN THE SCHOLAR I'm sitting in class the other day, right? And I'm trying to pay attention to Sister Agatha and all the math junk she's talking about, and I look up and Simone's across the room with

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two pencils crammed up her nose and her eyelids flipped up, sticking out her tongue at me. I hold my nose and try not to make any noise while I laugh but I sit in the front row and Sister Agatha saw me anyway. I guess that was the last straw because

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she sent me and Simone to the principal's office and got us into big trouble. I could have killed Simone, I got in so much trouble. Ever since the beginning of the year, Sister Agatha and me have been fighting and I know she hates me. She

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likes to get me into trouble, but my mom says that's not true. She says Nolan likes to get Nolan into trouble. Yeah, right, I didn't do anything. Simone's one who made me laugh. I mean, who wouldn't have, jeez, it was funny. Sorry. The stupid idiots

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who made up the classes this year stick me and Simone and Toby and Aaron in the same class. God, the first few weeks are great. We have more fun sitting together in the corner of the room than we'd ever had. Stupid Sister Agatha, I don't

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know why they're letting her teach still, she's flat out dumb. She's almost completely deaf, you know, she wears a hearing aid that looks like a frickin stereo and I could swear she can't see your hand in front of her face. We terrorized her

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so much this year, I don't feel bad about it either. Anyway, anybody that dumb deserves to be made fun of, that's what Toby says. Anyway, after about three weeks, the four of us got moved all around the room away from each other because of our

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"disruptions," as Sister Agatha said. Like, for instance, the second day of school Sister Agatha left the room to get some coffee in the teachers place, and I dared Aaron to walk on her piano. He thought it was a great idea. Now, you got to understand

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that this piano was Sister's life. I mean, every morning, she played all these lame church songs and made us sing the words. I don't really know how she can play, it's like one of those weird Stevie Wonder things she can't hear but she can play

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kind of okay. I mean, she misses notes all the time, but you get the idea. Anyway, she walks in after getting her coffee and Aaron's stomping around on her piano keys, laughing and making fun of her. I couldn't believe he did it. I thought Sister

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Agatha was going to have a heart attack right on the spot. Those were the kinds of things we all got detentions for in the beginning. Me and Aaron used to play marbles during class all the time, we'd move our desks a little bit apart and make this

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huge marble place and just go at it, it was great. I won a lot of marbles that way. But once we were playing, some tard came running back to the coat racks behind our desk to get his pencil out of his backpack or something and he slipped on a

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couple of our marbles and broke his stupid wrist. Aaron was smart, he grabbed the marble super quick and hid them under my desk so no one would know. Everyone thought he just tripped, he was such a klutz. I mean, come on, t he guy's name

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was Howie or Huey or Herbie or something, I forget. So what finally broke up our little party in the back was when Toby raised his hand for some help during a dumb history test -- this was so great, only Toby Reiner would think of something

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that's great like this -- Sister Agatha walked over to his desk and leaned over to help him, stuck her butt in my face too, God, I hated that. Toby points to a question on his paper and starts mouthing some words at her. Stupid Sister Agatha

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figured the reason why she couldn't hear him was because her hearing aid was on too low. So she turns it up real loud, like full blast, Aaron said he can hear the static from it. And she says to Toby, "Now what was that, son?" and Toby all out

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screams as loud as he can, "Are there two answers for number five?" Sister Agatha flew back onto the girl's desk in front of Toby holding on to her ears like they were going to fall off, that's what started it. Then we got caught cheating on a science

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test the next day, that was really stupid of us. You've got to try real hard to get caught cheating in Sister Agatha's class. So she said she'd had it and she was splitting us up. And when my grades were almost all D's and F's, my mom asked the

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most brilliant question a parent can ask, "Why, Nolan? Why can't you-" and that's just it. Moms just don't know what it's like to have to sit through a class like Sister Agatha's, it's so frickin retarded. I haven't learned one thing I needed to

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know in that dumb class, school is so stupid, it's not even real. They don't teach us any of the stuff that we need to know, they just babble on about stupid saints that gave up all their worldly junk to preach about God, now that's stupid. I don't

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know what it was like in the dark ages, but you just don't see jerks nowadays selling their cars and all so they can roam the streets with a Bible. I mean, this St. Francis dude really pisses me off. What, are they trying to teach us, how to

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be like idiots or something? So mom grounded me for two weeks because my grades were so bad, especially my conduct grade, but they figured that once I got moved away from Toby, Aaron, and Simone, my grades would go back up and I'd be some kind of fairy

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ass angel or something. Fat frickin chance, I got lucky. When I got moved, I got moved next to a kid named Eric who was new and was a pretty cool guy. Aaron got stuck in the middle of four giggling girls who talked about [unidentified] things all

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year. Simone got moved right next to Jason Erickson who had a bad full blown case of the cooties and Toby got moved right next to Sister Agatha's desk, I mean right on top of her practically. But this kid Eric, he turned out to be alright. He

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was quiet but like I said, real cool. He hated having to go to school at St. Elizabeth, said it was for fairies. I agreed, always have. Eric was going to be a rock star. He said school was getting in the way of his natural artistic talent and that

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once he got out, Bruce Springsteen was waiting for him to play lead guitar on his next album. Nick said it was a big lie when I told them but I know it was the truth. Eric brought in signed records and stuff, one that even said, "See you in the

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recording studio." He really knew Bruce Springsteen, who I never liked very much until I met Eric. Eric said that all life was about was survival and if you could play a few good chords, you could get everything that you wanted. He said that

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these teachers were all wrong, even Mike Twain, some guy that wrote a bunch of stories about a dumb nerd kid a long time ago, had said not to let school get in the way of your education and everyone thought Mike Twain was super smart, so he must be

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right. I don't know, I've got to admit I didn't understand a lot of the things Eric said. He was weird in a way but it was okay. He would have been weird if he wasn't weird, you know? Anyway, Eric did a few wacky things that got a couple of laughs. Sister

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Agatha hated him so much, she hated Eric more than she hated Toby Reiner, I know it. Nick said she probably hated him because she didn't know how to teach him anything, like Eric was smarter than his Sister Agatha or something, he probably

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was. But I bet she wished he just died, so once we were on this hokey religion class talking about the crucifixion and Sister Agatha passes out a bunch of crayons and tells everybody to draw it. Draw it, draw Jesus Christ dying on the

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cross. Gross, I thought, but not hard. Anyway, everyone drew the sad pictures of Jesus on the cross with blood coming out of his hands and feet and stuff. Well, Eric drew a picture of Jesus nailed to a guitar. I busted up. It looked so funny,

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it was great. But that was the kind of thing that just pissed Sister Agatha off. She got so mad at him once, she crammed him into a garbage can because that's where she said he belonged. Anyway, Eric left in the middle of the year, he just

00:26:01.080 - 00:26:12.810

took off, didn't even say goodbye. I kind of missed him- actually, I really missed him. There was no one to talk to once he left. I wonder what's going to happen to him. Nick says he'll be okay, he won't play lead guitar on Springsteen's

00:26:12.810 - 00:26:26.370

next album, but he'll be okay. So school just goes on and on, I guess, I mean, it never ends. Mom says we learn all our lives, she says she's still learning even. That's pretty dumb if you ask me. School's dumb. Nick says they make you go to school just

00:26:26.370 - 00:26:38.550

so you can be good at Jeopardy, that's even dumber. Anyway, there's years and years of terrorizing teachers still to go -- pen fights, notes, spit wads. It makes me think real hard about life and everything that's going to happen to me and

00:26:38.550 - 00:26:47.040

everything I want. That's when Nick says, "I just want to survive, that's all I really need." Nick doesn't really understand though. I don't know how to play any chords on the guitar.

00:26:48.720 - 00:26:54.150

Morton Marcus: Well, that's got the magic. I think you've got a winner there with- with Nolan. How many Nolan stories are there? Maureen Pacino: Four.

00:26:54.480 - 00:27:04.440

Morton Marcus: Four. That was Maureen Pacino, no relation to Al? Maureen Pacino: No, I don't think so. I don't know. Jackie Cunha: Reading from her story, which will be in the next

00:27:04.440 - 00:27:16.560

-- that is, on the stands tomorrow -- edition of the Porter Gulch Review. That really does have the magic in it. I mean it's- you probably don't have to write about anything. And just with that character just rattling off, you've got a

00:27:16.560 - 00:27:23.850

winner there. It's really great stuff. Maureen Pacino: The one that's going to be in the Porter Gulch Review is a different one. Morton Marcus: Uh huh, so we can look forward to that, that's

00:27:23.850 - 00:27:34.100

great. Most of them have to do with Nolan in school? Maureen Pacino: Yeah, it's mostly a kind of a stream of consciousness thing because I just have so much trouble with organization. This was like the only kind of character that I

00:27:34.100 - 00:27:42.220

could really do- Morton Marcus: You shouldn't have said that, Maureen. Whatvyou got to make people think is, you see, that you got it totally under control. {Laughter] But no, let me tell

00:27:42.220 - 00:27:52.000

you it sounds that way, it really does. Because all of the details that you give lead to a sense of atmosphere and character, and it doesn't seem that anything's extraneous, they're really delightful.

00:27:52.030 - 00:28:04.450

Maureen Pacino: Well, thank you. Morton Marcus: Okay. We are going to take a break now and if you wonder what you've tuned into here, this is The Poetry Show and we are talking to the people who are contributors to

00:28:04.450 - 00:28:38.480

the Porter Gulch Review, which will be on the newsstands tomorrow. So stay tuned, we will have more poets and prose writers. This is Mort Marcus, and now for a musical break. Jackie Cunha: [cut off] is and we're very proud of ourselves

00:28:38.480 - 00:28:49.700

because we're really pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps. Morton Marcus: Well, it's a proud day at the Board of Trustees meeting. Kirby Wilkins, your advisor- Jackie Cunha: Right.

00:28:49.760 - 00:29:01.280

Morton Marcus: And really an important- Jackie Cunha: Guiding force Morton Marcus: -guiding force. received the award and everyone on the board of trustees and the faculty members and students who

00:29:01.280 - 00:29:13.640

are in the meeting were extremely impressed. And well, they should be. I really think that all of the students this term, last term and in years past have just done an incredible job. I know that sometimes I come in and talk to

00:29:13.640 - 00:29:25.730

the students when they don't have the slightest idea of what to read for or how to edit and everything like that, and within thirteen weeks, they have got this absolutely professional magazine out, which really, I think can stand with any

00:29:25.730 - 00:29:36.890

magazine in the country. Jackie Cunha: Oh, absolutely, I definitely think so. And also I have to say, thank you and goodbye to Kirby Wilkins because he's going to be going on sabbatical and he's turning the

00:29:36.890 - 00:29:48.610

project over to Joseph McNeilly, another fine Cabrillo instructor. Morton Marcus: [unintelligible] Cabrillo instructor, in fact, let's give Kirby another little boost. Kirby's new novel, it

00:29:48.610 - 00:29:57.670

will be out in a few weeks, yeah, and it's called, "Quantum Web" and it is an incredible novel. It's his second novel, he also has a collection of short stories out. Jackie Cunha: "King Season."

00:29:58.260 - 00:30:12.120

Morton Marcus: And "King Season," is the other novel. And we will be hearing from him, I hope on this show in some way, and certainly you'll be hearing about book signings that he will be doing in early June. And Joseph McNeilly also is a

00:30:12.120 - 00:30:25.950

wonderful writer, poet, and prose writer, who is now teaching full time at Cabrillo and teaching creative writing as well. Kirby does too. So all of these people are just products of some of the really great teaching that comes out of

00:30:25.950 - 00:30:41.010

Cabrillo, and you will always hear that the minute you just open the pages of this magazine. However, we will get back to the writing, which I'm sure people out there are interested in. We're going to have David Pang(?), right? Who is a native

00:30:41.040 - 00:30:46.210

of where? David: Hong Kong. Morton Marcus: Is a native of Hong Kong. And how long have you been speaking English, David?

00:30:46.870 - 00:30:54.310

David: About twelve years. Morton Marcus: About twelve years, but we would still consider you an English as a second language user? David: Yes.

00:30:54.700 - 00:31:05.290

Morton Marcus: And so David occupies what I consider the most unique part of this magazine, which is called- Jackie Cunha: Writers From Another Language. Morton Marcus: Exactly, why don't you tell us a little about

00:31:05.290 - 00:31:11.800

David and about his piece? Jackie Cunha: Um, well, this is not the piece that David's having published in the magazine- Morton Marcus: Okay.

00:31:11.780 - 00:31:20.540

Jackie Cunha: But we thought we'd broaden your horizons and bring you more of his work. This is the first time you've been published, right? David: Yes.

00:31:21.200 - 00:31:36.320

Jackie Cunha: And especially recommended by Hoi Tong(?), who runs the Writers From Another Language section and I'm all for getting into it. Morton Marcus: Okay, terrific. David, is this something you've

00:31:36.320 - 00:31:44.300

just written or do you want to be a writer? David: I would like to be a writer, yes. And this is a piece that I just finished. Morton Marcus: Okay, wonderful. This is David Pang, then.

00:31:45.110 - 00:31:53.620

David: This piece is called: WORLD WAR II "World War I was started in 1914, when Archduke Ferdinand of the Austro-Hungarian Empire was killed by snipers," Mr. Ono

00:31:53.620 - 00:32:05.470

says, "this created distrust among European countries that resulted in a realignment of countries into power [unidentified], and was the primary cause for the World War." Mr. Ono looked around the room, I could see he was looking

00:32:05.470 - 00:32:17.350

at Peter, Peter Gunnison was a badass, tough guy moron type. I'm sure it's fish s and garbage collection busi ess, not only was he dumb, but e was ugly too. One time he said New York was the capital of the nited States. God, can you beli

00:32:17.350 - 00:32:30.340

ve that? And Peter was alwa s sleeping at his desk. I coul see the frown on his face as h walked towards the back of the oom to where Peter was sitt ng. Peter had his mouth spre d open, and still didn't wake up even though everybody was

00:32:30.340 - 00:32:42.640

iggling. "Peter!" Mr. Ono said loudly, "can you tell me the eason for the beginning of the econd World War?" Peter look d up quickly, "What?" he said And everybody started gigg ing again. "I'll repeat the ques ion for you, Peter," Mr. Ono

00:32:42.640 - 00:32:54.580

aid in an understanding way, "can you please tell me the reas n for the Second World War? Peter took a deep breath, "Wel ," he said, "the reason for the econd World War is beca se," he paused, "because Hitl r, because Hitler attacked Pear

00:32:54.580 - 00:33:07.300

Harbor." Everybody laug ed. He was looking around the oom and stared at people unti they stopped. I smiled at him hen he looked at me. His face was like shell of baked lobs ers, so read with a few st eaks from a book he slept on ha

00:33:07.570 - 00:33:19.660

made an impression. "That's on y partly right, Peter," Mr. On said as he walked out to ards the front of the room. "H tler was definitely a cause of the war, but he didn't attack Pe rl Harbor. Can anybody tell me who did?" "Japan," I said, an

00:33:20.230 - 00:33:32.800

then glanced over at Peter. He looked like he was ready to j mp out of his seat. "Right," M . Ono said, "that's very good, P ilip. Now, can you please tell m the cause of Second World War a d how long it lasted?" "The c use of Second World War was t

00:33:33.310 - 00:33:45.790

e Treaty of Versailles that w s signed after World War I," I aid. "Can you tell me why?" Mr. no said. "The reason is because he treaties demanded nreasonable economic hardship n Germany," I said, "and Hitler sed the strain to gain power

00:33:45.880 - 00:34:02.350

ecause he promised people return to the state Germany was before World War I. And th s German nationalism was born." e said, "Excellent, Philip. No , can you tell Peter how long t e World War lasted?" Mr. O o looked at Peter, and I turned

00:34:02.350 - 00:34:17.860

o face him too. Peter glared at e and I smiled again. I turn d towards Mr. Ono, "The Seco d World War lasted eight years n total," I said loudly. Pet r laughed and some of the othe s in class giggled. "Even I kn w World War II lasted four year

00:34:18.280 - 00:34:30.490

," Peter said in his low dra l, "have you done your read ng lately, Philip?" "That's enou h, Peter," Mr. Ono said, t en turned to look at me. "Peter is right though, Philip. The Sec nd World War lasted only f ur years." "No," I said, "no

00:34:30.490 - 00:34:45.850

I know it lasted eight years. Mr. Ono smiled softly, "Hav you read the book, Phillip?" H said, "the Second World War lasted only four years, it say so in the book." "Well, it's l nger," I said, "I know it laste eight years. My father told

00:34:46.690 - 00:34:59.020

e so." "Well, you father's stupid then," Peter said from t e back of the room and e eryone laughed. "I want to ee you after class, Peter," r. Ono sayed to him, then turned to face me again. "I know i lasted eight years," I said, "m

00:34:59.020 - 00:35:11.380

father wouldn't lie to me. Worl War II lasted eight years." Mr. Ono looked at the clock, it as nine after three. There was lot of rustling and everybody egan to put the books away. H smiled when he faced me aga n, "I'm sorry, Philip," he said

00:35:11.770 - 00:35:24.850

softly, "but the war really las ed only four years. Maybe yo should read the section again. Anybody can misread, you know." he bell rang then and everybod got up but me. Mr. Ono told u loudly that we were to read the section about Harry Tru

00:35:24.850 - 00:35:38.800

an in the next chapter, everyo e made their way out. I slowly p t my books away. As Mr. Ono wal ed towards Peter then I realized I better make my breakaway bef re Peter catched up to me. I w lked the long way home fr m Lockwood Street because Peter

00:35:38.800 - 00:35:49.480

would always take Willow. Boy, hat guy was dumb. Sometimes I c uldn't figure out why he didn't just follow me if you wante to beat me up so much But hey, I'm not complain ng. I think he'll probably jus wait in front of my house lik

00:35:49.690 - 00:36:03.040

he usually does. Can he realize that I could just hop the fence rom the humongous backyard o get in? He must think I'm dumb like him, I laughed, then wal ed on. I still can't get the qu stion out of my head though, orld War II did last eight years

00:36:03.040 - 00:36:19.210

Why would my father lie to me? stopped and pulled out my his ory book from my backpack. Wor d War II lasted four years fro 1941 to 1945, is that so? It s id on page 145. I couldn't beli ve it. How could my father be so wrong? He went to college, he's

00:36:19.210 - 00:36:33.100

a chemist. When I got home f om the back way, I went to kitch n, grabbed a coat. I could see from the window that Peter was s ill out there with a bunch of h s stupid friends, looking down t e street waiting for me to get h me. I hoped father would get a

00:36:33.100 - 00:36:45.640

German Shepherd or something, that'll scare the hell out of hem. I went to living room and turned on the TV. When my father gets home, I'll ask him to expla n. I know he's right, I'm sure o it. Mr. Ono is just some junior high school teacher anyway, w

00:36:45.640 - 00:36:59.470

at does he know? My father s smarter than he is, my father as a master's degree. I remem er what father told me, "World W r II lasted eight years," fath r had said to me in Chinese. The Japanese invaded China in 1937 and killed a lot of

00:36:59.470 - 00:37:12.130

nnocent Chinese people. They t y to rewrite history in Japan ight now and there's been a ot of protests in Asia, C ina [unidentified] They say tha they try to help develop the n tions of Southeast Asia, it's w ong, don't ever believe t

00:37:12.130 - 00:37:29.040

at. Your great uncle number one was killed by the Japanese i Morton Marcus: Yeah, well, that's the reason why that magazine is as it is, and why writers from a second language are so important to give us a different perspective. And that

00:37:29.040 - 00:37:44.160

whole story was about, as I'm sure many of you realized out there, the different perspective from living in the West and living in the East, and just how long that war did last. And it of course, did last eight years. For the Koreans, it lasted

00:37:44.160 - 00:38:00.720

longer than that since the Japanese were in there in the early 30s, but beautiful story and beautifully done, very economical and dramatically just perfect, excellent stuff. All of the stuff I've heard tonight really is- it has that variety

00:38:00.720 - 00:38:11.770

and that excellence which really marks the magazines of the past. Very, very nice story, David. David: Thank you very much. Morton Marcus: This really marks the end of the first round of

00:38:11.770 - 00:38:22.150

readers. And what we're going to try to do since we have so much time, is get the poets back to read other pieces and I think Pat is first right? Jackie Cunha: Right. Pat's going to come back and read some more

00:38:22.150 - 00:38:29.710

poetry for us. Morton Marcus: Okay, and Pat's last name again is? Jackie Cunha: Moran. Morton Marcus: Moran. Pat, welcome back.

00:38:29.740 - 00:38:39.770

Pat Moran: Thank you. Morton Marcus: Okay, if you want to say anything about the poem or not, just read on and- Pat Moran: Okay, this poem was inspired when I planted my

00:38:39.770 - 00:38:50.510

garden a couple of weeks ago, and the snails already ate everything. So all my flowers are gone, but I wrote this poem out of planting my garden. THE GARDENER

00:38:51.770 - 00:39:10.160

She charmed tenacious weeds from the ground, coaxed the stones to move, grew vegetables no one had names for, gave strange fruit to the children. Clear night she crawled through the grass among snails, invoking spirits with a song shrill as wind. It always

00:39:10.160 - 00:39:28.820

rained the next day. After the county took her land away, she died in a seedy downtown hotel. Moss began to grow on everything, vicious as a virus, it slithered into houses, choked power lines, turned the water supply to scum. The town

00:39:28.820 - 00:39:44.210

smothered in fetid green air was abandoned. Now at night, the wind shrieks in and out of empty buildings, streets shift and crack, an underground voice coaxes weeds up through the concrete.

00:39:47.180 - 00:39:58.130

Morton Marcus: Nice stuff, very good. The next poet is returning. Jackie Cunha: I think Mark Clausen should go back on. Morton Marcus: Okay Mark Clauson who read a poem partly in Hopi

00:39:58.130 - 00:40:11.390

last time. Marc? Mark: Okay, this is another poem entitled: NEW SONG FOR THE MORNING, and it kind of follows this same format of the previous poem, "Katorian Roots," and to say something

00:40:11.390 - 00:40:25.250

about it, I guess it was inspired after a trip to Mexico and then my first time to Mexico, so- So there's this wind that comes up out of the canyons, and this swallow over sage with the heart of ponderosa pine is yours.

00:40:25.700 - 00:40:39.440

Purple sandstone. In May, the blue sky in Saguaro mountains, rocky brothers and sisters guide. There's something I'm trying to understand up in this world and its other side, fold and rolled blue, endorphins, the space between cactus and quiet

00:40:39.440 - 00:40:55.400

of stone, twilight. And there's love, which I understand. I want to spend the night on the top of a butte, known for the dreams of granite at sunset. That night, I remember fires and spirits, dancers and hawks. When I woke, the cool wings of dawn spread

00:40:55.400 - 00:41:08.690

[unidentified]. There were footprints scattered and pounded around my blanket, and the wind blew thick and sweet around my arms. This is that time of sad prayer between our peace and harmony and I have left it many times on hillsides and feathers

00:41:08.720 - 00:41:20.650

and smoke to Venus. And I feel it's time with this rainbow wrapped around my waist that I thank you, grandfather hawk, for the sky. Morton Marcus: Very nice and I can see that that's a prose

00:41:20.650 - 00:41:26.380

poem, actually. Mark: Yes. Morton Marcus: Yeah. Very nice. Very, very good. Jackie, who's next?

00:41:26.800 - 00:41:35.950

Jackie Cunha: Oh, Brian's going to read some more for us. Morton Marcus: Brian Bachlin(?), and he's going to read now the poem that is in the Porter Gulch Review. Jackie Cunha: No, he's already read-

00:41:36.310 - 00:41:41.680

Morton Marcus: Okay, let's hear another one. Brian: It's what I just did before. Morton Marcus: Okay. Brian: This one didn't make it.

00:41:42.100 - 00:41:51.340

Morton Marcus: Okay. Brian: I wonder why. Jackie Cunha: I can explain this to you later. Brian: It's called:

00:41:51.340 - 00:42:07.360

FULL SKY The woman walks with roses, with a heart full of long stemmed roses in each step. Smooth stems, blood red buds, babies' tears, the light floods down her arms. She is marching with her

00:42:07.360 - 00:42:26.170

torch. She walks straight up the steps, left hand on the doorbell, right full of roses. They pause, the hand with its finger on the button, the hand of roses. In the distance between them, she can imagine the sound, the call of bells,

00:42:26.710 - 00:42:42.950

the toll of bells, her hands flying up, the blue sky full of Morton Marcus: Very nice again, Brian. This is the end of the roses. three poets who are in the Porter Gulch and we're going to

00:42:42.950 - 00:42:54.650

hear from the people who wrote prose again because we've got a lot of time left but I'm going to ask you Jackie, Jackie Cunha, who is the poetry editor and has organized this whole thing tonight and is introducing everybody, if you would read us

00:42:54.680 - 00:43:06.940

one or two of your poems. Jackie Cunha: I think I could do that. Morton Marcus: Okay. Jackie Cunha: Well, I guess seeing how this is, according to

00:43:06.940 - 00:43:19.510

some of my teachers, one of my stronger pieces, perhaps I should do this. It's called: DANCE OF THE KNIFE Up all night, caffeine-blurring bridge, and the sun was up with

00:43:19.510 - 00:43:38.860

us at the end, concentration shot and crumbling. After much abuse from you, asleep, I suggested breakfast at The Cup. The way was cold and sunny, 8:20 already and we've been here before, sat by the door looked at the exchange but nothing.

00:43:39.940 - 00:43:59.170

Seated, studied the menu haphazardly, one breakfast, one stack, one juice that never came. The man at the next table with kids, three in as many years I supposed and suggested, not intending harm. Three of our own, the knife twists and stabs

00:43:59.200 - 00:44:23.860

breakfast ham. You glare so [unidentified] troubled and the comeback was like, "Oh, yeah, and the first time you're late." A vacuum, a home pregnancy test, and a wire coat hanger, bet you'd like that, huh? I know this has been funny, none in the

00:44:23.860 - 00:44:38.920

washroom scrub the sting, my face, returned damp and hollowed. Morton Marcus: Very good, how about another one? Jackie Cunha: Okay, something a little easier, I think.

00:44:39.010 - 00:44:45.280

Morton Marcus: Lighter. Jackie Cunha: Lighter. Morton Marcus: You know, it doesn't have to be, this is poetry, it can be as heavy as we want. This is the lead show.

00:44:48.130 - 00:44:58.240

Jackie Cunha: Okay, I do this thing where I put poems on my answering machine so that I can circulate myself sort of. Morton Marcus: Now, that's not a bad idea, folks. Jackie Cunha: Yeah, and I-

00:44:59.380 - 00:45:11.980

Morton Marcus: [Cross talk] publications these days, that is a winner you would've patent it. Jackie Cunha: It would be a nice idea. So I leave little fragments on my answering machines and I'll just do a

00:45:11.980 - 00:45:27.040

couple of those. This dream precognition traps me on my toes, I'm shifting, spinning, drifting down dropping, those mirrors melt within me, naked, immutable, moving darkly, pushing through

00:45:27.040 - 00:45:47.140

my skin, so thinly transparent. Or something like: And you're flying, only floating on the back as in water, way down with scales awarely drifting, dragging cold within

00:45:47.140 - 00:45:58.420

the clouds. So you grow feathers rise, find warmth, spreading your wings to enfold the earth everywhere at once. Morton Marcus: That's nice. Jackie Cunha: Thank you, I'm working on it.

00:45:58.720 - 00:46:09.640

Morton Marcus: Great. That was Jackie Cunha, who is the poetry editor of Porter Gulch Review. As we come up to around seven on the hour, what I'm going to ask is, David, you do have some more stuff you can read?

00:46:09.670 - 00:46:25.120

Yeah. Instead of probably a whole story, Maureen Pacino, why don't you just read up until -- and I'm going leave this to you -- five of the hour, so you got around three minutes and maybe

00:46:25.120 - 00:46:35.770

your stuff may not even be that long. And if it's two pages, three pages, well- Maureen Pacino: Well, I can just cut to one of the good parts. Morton Marcus: Okay. And this is Maureen Pacino who writes prose

00:46:35.770 - 00:46:49.090

and who had written a story about a little boy by the name of Nolan who went to Catholic school, and I guess had reactions that many people [unintelligible]. Maureen Pacino: This is a selection from:

00:46:49.660 - 00:47:04.870

NOLAN THE RELIGIOUS EDUCATOR, and it's basically about Nolan's reaction to having to go to church all the time. Well, anyway, what I'm about to talk about is what he describes, in one of the masses that he had to serve as an altar boy, and,

00:47:05.410 - 00:47:15.890

okay. Well, I only ended up serving four masses ever in my whole life. The first one was okay, the second one was when my skateboard got ripped off, and the third time I was serving

00:47:15.890 - 00:47:27.980

with Toby Reiner, who's a great guy for laughs in church, but I always seem to get in trouble when I'm with him. I usually get blamed for all the dumb things he does. Well, that mass was no different. We were sitting off to the side of the altar, and

00:47:27.980 - 00:47:39.290

the priests was giving his homily, you know, when he stands up there and talks forever and ever about some stupid apostle or something, and no one ever listens. So Toby and I are pretty bored, and Toby comes up with this great idea, "Let's

00:47:39.320 - 00:47:51.680

have a farting contest," he whispers to me. I laughed and said, "Okay." So we took turns seeing who could who could fart the loudest during father's sermon. We were having a blast, it was so fun, we didn't hear the priest when he told everyone

00:47:51.680 - 00:48:03.950

to bow their heads in silent prayer. The church was suddenly all quiet and we didn't notice it and that's when Toby Reiner ripped the loudest fart I've ever heard in my life, it was long and smelly too. I know everyone heard it because they

00:48:03.950 - 00:48:14.900

all looked up at us and a lot of them were laughing. And me and Toby tried to stop laughing but we couldn't. Anyway, I got blamed for it. Mom grounded me from everything and gave me a big old, "You're in God's house," lecture, which was

00:48:14.900 - 00:48:24.890

enough punishment in itself. Toby, let them blame me too, the jerk. So I was pretty surprised when they asked me to be an altar boy after that. And then the next selection is about how he gets knocked off

00:48:24.890 - 00:48:38.150

the altar while he's holding the communion and he falls down. Morton Marcus: We're going to have to wait and read that, maybe not only in the Porter Gulch Review, but between two covers of a book. They're absolutely delightful and you're

00:48:38.150 - 00:48:50.500

just telling them perfectly. Tell me, is this a totally made up character or have you gone through many of them yourself? Maureen Pacino: Oh, these are all true stories. I grew up in a family of eight people, six children, and I had two older

00:48:50.500 - 00:48:59.800

brothers that were just terrors. And all these things either they did or I did or my little brothers did or something, they're all true stories. Morton Marcus: What's also great is to see you laughing as you

00:48:59.800 - 00:49:07.580

read. And if the author can't appreciate his or her work. then what's the use? Maureen Pacino: Right. Morton Marcus: Very, very nice, Maureen.

00:49:07.580 - 00:49:18.500

Maureen Pacino: Thank you. Morton Marcus: David Pang, who's still looking feverishly for something to read. David, though, just around two or three minutes of whatever you have there.

00:49:18.620 - 00:49:40.710

David: Okay, this is a story that I translated with my uncle and I assumed it was my own story, but I just want to read his because I think it's very nice. Uncle smiled and his eyes shon as he looked away. "How could

00:49:40.710 - 00:49:52.500

forget that you were married? he said, then he turned bac towards me. "Well, to continue, he said, "there was a lot o rats running around back in th flat at the time and your aun was really complaining abou them. I tried everything

00:49:52.500 - 00:50:06.300

rats poison, mending cracks i the walls, but nothing seemed t help. "Your aunt, exasperate , finally said, 'why don't we g t a cat? at least it might help ' 'I don't like cats,' I said to her, 'they climb around everywh re. I don't want to have one j

00:50:06.300 - 00:50:19.740

mping on my bookshelf, playing at my desk, or getting fur iture dirty." He smiled and [uni entified] for a while but when s mmer came around, the rat p oblem got worse. Yeah, it as really getting on my case at the time. It just so happ

00:50:19.740 - 00:50:34.500

ned that our neighbor's cat ha kittens and were trying to gi e them away. The Honeychurches live in for- I'm sorry. The oneychurches lived in the fron flats- I can't pronoun e the word. The Honeychurch s lived in the front flats, and

00:50:34.650 - 00:50:47.730

e lived in the back. It was the eneral arrangement for most b ildings at the time, the Englis had to have their view. Anyw y, I finally gave in and rel ctantly asked for one of them The family was thrilled. The af ernoon after work, I went over

00:50:47.730 - 00:51:01.650

to Mr. Honeychurch's flat and asked for one of the kittens. picked out a little gray femal with big gray eyes. She meowe at me when I picked her u , I had to admit the littl thing had a certain charm. I th nked Mr. Honeychurch and walked

00:51:01.650 - 00:51:13.470

ut. I had decided to call er Karen after Isak Dines n, she's one of my favorite riters, you see, a really pecial and amazing writer. Any ay, when I carried little Kare home, I found the whole family as standing in the living room w

00:51:13.470 - 00:51:28.020

iting for me. They stood in ine like a special regiment w lcome the head of state and all seemed to approve very much of K ren. Lai Ching(?) and Lai Hi ?) was especially excited, both f whom had put on the best dres es and had neatly braided the

00:51:28.020 - 00:51:46.440

r hair. They both smiled when I held Karen out and walked towar s them. And even our grouchy m id [unidentified]. Little Kare was only six weeks old at that time, so she was still very shy and would often hide behind he curtains, under the sofa.

00:51:46.440 - 00:52:01.680

My daughters would often try t lure Karen out with strings o yarn or small rubber balls but aren usually just stumbled o t, grabbed whatever object with small paws, rode around with it for a moment, then retreat bac to wherever she was hiding. We

00:52:01.680 - 00:52:17.730

even had to slide a plate of lef overs under the sofa to feed he because she wouldn't come out o eat. I guess it wasn't u til we had Karen for a week or so before she finally came o t of her shell. Karen became uch more animated when she be

00:52:18.000 - 00:52:30.750

ame acquainted with her new ome, often climbing onto the so a when I was reading the pape or rubbing against my leg when I sat at my desk. It surprised m that I didn't find it bot ersome and more often than not, it was actually a sort

00:52:30.900 - 00:52:45.840

of relief, stopping what you're oing, picking her up, holding he , and listening to her purr a you pet her. Karen quickly affi iated herself to us and our hab ts and became a part of the r utine that the family went thro gh every day. I guess it

00:52:45.840 - 00:52:59.760

as a few weeks later that it ha pened, I remember it was a riday and we had just found out hat Lai Chian had passed the h gh school entrance exams and h d decided to celebrate. It was special meal and dishes were e pecially good with roast duck,

00:52:59.760 - 00:53:11.520

soy sauce marinated chicken BBQ pork, a small ste m [unidentified], along with a dish of vegetables. We had al already sat down at the tab e when we heard a loud screech rom the bathroom. We all fear d for the worse. You see

00:53:11.520 - 00:53:26.370

[unidentified] had put Karen in o the extra bathroom that w had at the back of the flat. T e toilet was broken and we us d the room for storage. When we went to open the door, we foun out what had happened. Karen tuck her head into small hole

00:53:26.370 - 00:53:40.380

that opened to the drain pipe. he must have tried hard to ge out, maybe she smelled food, ma be it was our laughter, maybe it was something else. I don't kn w what it could have been but here Karen was trapped. We t ied rubbing soap and water a

00:53:40.380 - 00:53:53.940

ound her neck so she'd ease out but it didn't work. We tried t rning her body but that jus made her screech. I thought aybe I could break the [unident fied] around the hole but e were afraid that it would bre k something and fall on her. Fin

00:53:53.940 - 00:54:07.500

lly, desperate, we twisted a coa hanger between her head and th hole and pulled her out. By t at time, Karen's body was limp a d felt flaccid, like there w sn't any internal support at ll. The skin around her head wa all bloody and one of her ears

00:54:07.500 - 00:54:20.640

was almost completely torn o f. She only produced a faint meow when she looked at us throu h her half-open left eye. We cou d only wait and watch and then s e died. I wrapped Karen in a hick bundle of newspapers an carried her body downstairs

00:54:20.640 - 00:54:39.420

nd threw her in the trash can. hen I walked back upstairs i to our flat, the family was al seated around the dinner tabl with their heads downcast. Both Lai Ching and Lai Hi's heeks were flushed and their e es were slightly wet, trying to

00:54:39.420 - 00:54:54.000

hold back the tears. [unidentif ed] looked especially bad, he body almost trembling in shame Your aunt looked at me sadly a d I looked back at her and shrug ed my shoulders. After I went into the kitchen and washed y hands, I sat down again at

00:54:54.000 - 00:55:06.120

he table and picked up chop ticks and motioned everyone to b gin what was supposed to be a joyous meal. I picked up a pi ce of the roast duck and put it nto my mouth. It was already co d. I guess none of us really h d much of an appetite anyw

00:55:06.120 - 00:55:18.930

y. The next few days when I came home from work I would still exp ct little Karen to jump on he sofa when I read the paper, or rub against my leg when I be an typing, sometimes I woul even bend over to pick her p before realizing she wasn't

00:55:18.930 - 00:55:30.930

here. Sometimes I would ask mys lf why, why didn't unidentified] realize that aren would try to get out? Why d dn't [unidentified] think of th gutter before she put Karen in o the bathroom? I guess it was 't really [unidentified] f

00:55:31.170 - 00:55:42.720

ult and even if it was, ther 'll be no point blaming her. B aming couldn't bring Karen back o life. I mean, why exactly th t time? Those events, chan es, bad luck, happenstance, wha could have p

00:55:42.000 - 00:55:59.160

Morton Marcus: And what a perfect way to end the show, with that reminder that life is fragile and precious. That was David Pang reading from a piece of prose he had written which is not in the Porter Gulch Review. But all of the readers you heard

00:55:59.160 - 00:56:12.390

tonight were from the Porter Gulch Review. The next issue of the Porter Gulch Review which will be out tomorrow, free at all the bookstores in the area. Jackie, where else? Jackie Cunha: It'll also be available in the Coffee Roasting

00:56:12.390 - 00:56:25.710

Company in Aptos and Santa Cruz. It'll be available at Cafe Pergolesi and in public libraries at Cabrillo College, at UCSC, and at the Cabrillo Centers in San Lorenzo Valley in Watsonville.

00:56:26.430 - 00:56:34.460

Morton Marcus: Okay, now you have a reading coming up tomorrow night, don't you? Jackie Cunha: Yes, there's a reading at Bookworks in Aptos tomorrow night and unfortunately, we were competing

00:56:34.460 - 00:56:49.440

with ourselves tonight, there was a reading at the La Manzana Plaza in Watsonville. And there will also be a reading at Louden Nelson Center, a big summer bash, on June 29th. Morton Marcus: June 29th. Well, if you are interested in seeing

00:56:49.440 - 00:57:03.090

what some of these people look like after you've heard their beautiful words, come on out to the reading. I'm sure they'll enjoy your support. I must say and I don't want to belittle other issues but if you people are any example of what's in the

00:57:03.090 - 00:57:13.150

magazine this time, this is the best ever, all terrific stuff. Thank you so much for being on the show. Jackie Cunha: We worked really hard to get the cream of the crop of Santa Cruz County's fine writers. And let me just remind

00:57:13.150 - 00:57:23.530

everybody that there is no charge for this, Poetry Show, so if you've got the time, please come on down. Morton Marcus: Yep. Okay, great, so those are free readings and just hear some of these wonderful young writers. Jackie,

00:57:23.530 - 00:57:33.310

thanks a lot for organizing this. Jackie Cunha: Thank you, Morton. Morton Marcus: Okay, night all. And please, everyone out there, stay tuned for Larry Blood, "Out Front Outback," who will be with

00:57:33.310 - 00:57:46.330

you in a moment. This is Mort Marcus, Joe Stroud will be with you next week. I just want to say, KUSP thanks Nicholas Van Angle for providing a grant to help make this program possible. Nicholas Van Angle is a realtor in Carmel. Thank you all

00:57:46.330 - 00:57:48.730

everybody, we will see you in two weeks.