Birding by Cheryl Heineman

Narrated by Cheryl Heineman

Ellie Harold’s painting, “Birds Fly In (Habitat)”

                        After a Ellie Harold’s painting, “Birds Fly In”

They seem raven-like, dark-winged,
moving toward a tangled nest                 
or like crows circling,
seeking their own kind
against a fog-ivory sky, the outline

interleaved with comings
            and           goings 
birds-eye cries
                      flybys
                                of brush-wings
      odors          from mud
                                              hush-hush
                   swigs 
             of      
                                 frenzied red

but now, as I take my seat, 
light-blue sprigs nuzzle 
rough-edged gaps
amid the white silence, 
               
and I see─
               
the birds are skylarks
                                             
making merry
in the painting      
and beyond the frame     

                                                where joy wanders

BIO: Cheryl Heineman graduated in 2017 with a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from San Diego State University. She also has a master’s degree in Jungian Psychology and has published three collections of poetry: Just Getting Started, something to hold onto, and It’s Easy to Kiss a Stranger on a Moving Train.

Issue 52 is the ultimate issue of Liquid Imagination. John Arthur Miller (we called him Jam back then) had a dream, and made it a reality. He dreamed of Sophia, his muse, and how she would help him create a fusion of art and stories and poems and music. Sophia was on the cover of Issue 1, published online in the fall of 2008, and in memory of those days, she is on the cover of this last issue. For fourteen years she has kept Liquid Imagination in her heart, but now it is time for her to rest.

It’s been an unbelievable journey for me, and I have made so many friends. Of course, number one is Jam. And Karl Rademacher who helped me build my first website and made Silver Pen come alive. Kevin Wallis was Liquid Imagination’s first Senior Fiction Editor and what a great job he did! His selected stories embodied the vision of Liquid Imagination. John C. Mannone, our Senior Poetry Editor, has been a powerhouse, selecting poetry that is both beautiful to read, as well as thought provoking.

Brandon Rucker composed music for the site and was a poetry editor, and Bob Eccles was the voice of Liquid Imagination for many issues. Past poetry editors also included Sherri Ellerman and Chrissy Davis.

We had a series of highly talented fiction guest editors between 2014 to 2019, including AJ Brown, Samuel Barnhart, Perry McDaid, Maureen Bowden, Edwin Riddell, Gary Fields, and Shah Khan. Edwin Riddell moved on to be Senior Editor from 2019 until this very last issue.

And I cannot forget the hundreds of authors and poets and photographers and artists whose work we were honored to publish. I hope you will browse through the old issues and enjoy experiencing once again the wonderful variety of stories and poems published over the years.

For fourteen years we’ve read thousands of submissions, struggling to select the best ones to publish from all the great ones submitted. I sincerely thank all who made Liquid Imagination such a success, and a great joy for me. I’m very proud of the magazine and of all of the people who contributed in so many ways. I wish every one of you the best that life has to offer.

Signing off with a full heart
Sue Babcock
Publisher, Liquid Imagination