Excerpts from The Chaffey Review

Joe Alex Cavalier of Victorville reads a copy of The Chaffey Review during the launch party at the Wignall Museum Monday night.






Thomas Cordova/Staff Photographer


Literary journal The Chaffey Review, which features works by current and former Chaffey students and other writers, was unveiled this week. You can get a copy at the Chaffey College bookstore for $5. Here are a few poems pulled from the 154-page review:

Visiting Dachau
by John Kay

Our old terrier plods across
the gravel roll--call field

under a hot summer sun,
when a blonde, teenage girl

approaches, offering a bottle
of spring water--for the dog.

My wife cups her hands,
my son pours the water,

and I struggle to catch what
spills before it touches the

ground--an infraction that brings
an instant beating or death.


Identity
by Brian McConnell

Running my fingers curiously over a small purple bruise just above the ankle while the television echoes: Reagan Re-elected.

Dancing to Diana Ross high on coke, on life, on lust.

Cramped into a bar on Christopher Street, crying a riotous flood of ruby red tears.

Sitting in a nervous circle in a small house in Silverlake defying the world -- doors locked -- blinds shut -- whispering an explosion: I'm gay too.

Strapped into a chair shocked with volts of discipline every time I "respond" to a passing picture of a beautiful man.

Stitching a pink triangle onto my jacket, repulsed by the clashing colors.

Entertaining the bourgeoisie New Yorkers crazy for a light footed pansy with wit.

Apple martinis and cigarettes -- this bar on the corner of Santa Monica and Robertson -- this Saturday afternoon.