Runestone Journal Has Questions

Magazine Review by Katy Haas

The writers in Volume 6 of Runestone Journal have questions. In poetry, Lex Chilson asks, “Why Am I Always Sadder During the Summer?” and in fiction, Gabraella Wescott narrator wants to know “Would God Have a Beach House?” while Holley Ziemba’s character wonders “Do I Miss Myself?”

Chilson’s speaker finds herself in August. The images conjure the sadness; swamp water, worms, alligators, and fungi are murky images conveying darkness despite the sun on her back. She explores these feelings of sadness and, though not finding an answer for her them, leaves off with hope for the future seasons.

Gabraella Wescott’s narrator is carried through time again and again. There’s an eerie, antiseptic feeling to the piece as the reader begins to find understanding and answers in tandem with the narrator. Again in Holley Ziemba’s story, we’re only privy to what the narrator decides to fill us in on. Standing back as an observer, she sees herself in the humans she observes around her, from the little boy being ignored by his parents to the girl who laughs too much to be likeable to the tired woman employee who heads home, exhausted and defeated. Does she miss herself? Or does she miss feeling understood in a space where she belongs?

Through writing, we’re able to work through our thoughts and problems and begin to find answers and meaning as we do so. These three writers from Runestone Journal show us the different ways we can begin to do the same.