• PROFILE│When Greg Giezentanner opens a box of donated books, he sees more than pages; he sees possibilities

• PROFILE | Drew Gentle, the animator-turned-fine-artist, spent decades shaping the worlds of classic animations, and now he portrays the ‘Singular Humanity’ in every face he draws

• PROFILE | From Chicago to the Ozarks, poet Carolyn Guinzio never felt like an outsider when she first saw Fayetteville

Read the rest of my work at nwaonline.com

Step-by-step for finding yourself in Aisle 12

(2026)

a man dances to Can’t Stop by Red Hot Chili Peppers     alone     in the cereal aisle. between cartoon tigers. and family-size oatmeal squares. his cart idling      a parked thought

“Can't stop, addicted to the shindig
 Chop Top, he says I'm gonna win big”

I’ve lost my cap and gown.     high school. that collection of strings that hangs from it— can’t think of it at the moment
he spins     doesn’t care
only me     noticing
I know where my diploma is— pretty sure.     college. the paper inside the leather folder— a certificate for surviving. 
should I be keeping it?

“Choose not a life of imitation”
               oh—
  I need more bread


point is. a pencil dulls— 
can only be sharpened so many times before the wood becomes nothing
choose not     a life     of imitation
tossed are the things we no longer use. made new from the things we buried     behind closet doors

ingredients:
  1 body
  1 uncertain future
  trace amounts of courage

directions:
open to find     self.     apply three times daily. best with meals— 
a full belly of potential.
better spend a couple more     while I’m here

TASSEL! there it is     I knew it would come back

what do we keep
what do we lose
what do we need

a man dances. the song     can’t stop. his cart     still idling— 
like a parked thought

we have each other     in the truth. 
there it is

you.