Fred Alsberg
Paperweight, by Fred Alsberg
Eight floors down
in a snow-covered parking lot,
a car is sawing itself free.
It leaves a black space its own shape,
then fishtails into the street
where traffic creeps as though underwater.
The whole city is submerged,
and snowflakes filter down
like fish food in an aquarium,
to where people walk free of their footprints.
Oklahoma Windscape, by Fred Alsberg
Your currents
rush in gusts
through the invisible ocean
we live in.
In every tree,
crowds of leaves
rise in unison,
their seeds
setting out on journeys.
We, however,
hurry home,
hear murmurous friction,
you sharpening
yourself on stone.
In the eaves
you’re a child
trying to breathe life
back into a broken whistle.
You set a-quiver
window panes,
you cause the stagger
of a loose shutter.
We huddle in basements,
in hallways,
pray our card house
of long-laid plans
won’t get swept away.
Westview Publication
Westview is published semiannually by the Language Arts Department of Southwestern Oklahoma State University. Publications include previously unpublished fiction, poetry, prose poems, nonfiction and artwork. Westview holds only first rights for all works published. We now only accept electronic submissions via our digital commons interface at http://dc.swosu.edu/.
Here are some instructions to navigate the new system:
- Follow this link to the SWOSU Digital Commons: http://dc.swosu.edu.
- Under the SWOSU Digital Commons banner at the top of the page you'll see four links that say Home, About, FAQ and My DC Account. Click on the link to My DC Account.
- On this page, click on the Create New Account button and follow the instructions there to do so.
- Once you've created your new account, locate the Browse tab on the left hand side of the window, and follow the Collections link.
- On the Collections page, you should see a list of several links. Click on the first link that says Journals, Newsletters and SWOSU Publications.
- Click on Journals.
- You should now see two journals listed; click on Westview.
- You should now be at the Westview page. On the left-hand side, you should see a list of links below the Home link starting with Journal Home.
- Click on the Submit Article link, and follow the instructions on the resulting pages to complete your submission.
To help facilitate the journal’s blind review process, authors should exclude identification information from manuscripts. Subscriptions for two years (four issues): $15 in the United States; $25 out of country. Single issues: $6 including postage; $5 if not mailed. Checks are to be made payable to Westview.
Dr. Amanda Smith, Editor
Dr. Joel Kendall, Publication Manager
Parker Long, Publication Assistant
Taylor Verkler, Assistant Editor
John Bradshaw, Assistant Editor