Each issue, Moondance embraces a different theme. Although adhering to this theme is not a requirement for admission, we would like to highlight those pieces we feel best portrays the current issue's theme.

This issue, Summer 1999, our theme is FIRE.

Fire is a very appropriate theme for summer since fire stands for energy, purification, courage, the will to dare, creativity, success, and refinement.

The compass Point for FIre is South and the animals that are best represented by fire are of course Salamanders and Dragons.

Examples of Fire can include, but are not limited to: women and passion; hot, spicy foods; he allure of "hot"; bright colors; firewalking; the sun; or a female firefighter.

Now that we have explored this issue's theme a bit, we will unveil the "Best of Theme" pieces for Summer 1999. After reading these various works, please e-mail us with your thoughts and feelings. Which work do you thing best encompases Fire?

Arts Department

Poetry

Fiction

"Hey," said the pretty boy, tapping her on the shoulder. "I thought you could use this." He handed her a cup of coffee and smiled. "I guessed light and sweet." "Good guess," she said. They shared a moment of comfortable silence, each staring into the nothing spread about the road. No words, no trite conversation, just breathing and thinking and a whole mess of not getting to know each other. It was the best relationship she never had.

Inspirations

When I was a child, I lived in an atmosphere that was cold and dark. My family was scattered by circumstance, mental illness, and a sense of secrecy and isolation from the rest of the world. In l988, my life circumstances were so painful that I began to look for answers outside my own experience. Ten years later, I have a place at the fire of a group of women that sustains me feeds me, and brings me a laughter of the most sacred kind.