Flying Pens by Pam Bolton art by Robinson Accola Flying pens cross over the caution line, go right through stop signs without a moment's hesitation, jump through intersections and pull a horde of other moments with them. Moments of fungadillis made by Margaret, and still hot from the deep fryer in her and Henry's apartment over the 2 bay garage. Moments of discovering box turtles escaped from the swamp all the way on top of the hill. They sit there under the swing set. Flying pens pick up moments of practicing at Margaret's piano. Of studying Henry's bulbous nose on the half hour ride home from school. Moments of standing still in the living room as a cigarette is silently slipped from the step-mother's box of Malboros, palmed until safe in the woods. Moments of walking home the last 1/2 mile, lagging behind sister Daria, let her scare the snakes. Of forgetting the three sisters still have a mother, she just isn't here with them in this big colonial home, bought by their father for his second wife. Moments of listening to how the house speaks, in creaks and groans, calling pens out of the living room table drawer to fly across paper and walls. Pens out of sticks, out of the shit in a baby's diaper she smeared on the wall. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2012 by its authors.
	Pam Bolton started out a tree climbing kid in the sticks of Massachusetts. She's still got a thing for trees, and for animals. After over thirty years on the west coast, where she picked up a BA in Art and an MA in Transformative Arts, Pam has started to submit some of her writing and is actually beginning to have work published. A Process Coach, she spends a lot of her time with clients, learning more and more about how to change the stories we've told ourselves and have more of the life we've always wanted. Read the interview. Robinson Accola creates artwork for SmokeLong Quarterly as needed.
	Issue Twenty-Five (June 25, 2009): Bush Chanting by Cynthia Helen Beecher «» Flying Pens by Pam Bolton «» Rats by Z.Z. Boone «» The Hobblers by Dan Chaon «» Slanguistic Lipstick by Frank Dahai «» Rain by Natalie DeClerck «» Good Friday by Steven Gullion «» Me and Theodore Are Trapped in the Trunk of the Car with Rags in Our Mouths and Tape Around Our Wrists and Ankles, Please Let Us Out. by Mary Hamilton «» Underfoot by Joan Harvey «» A Minor Setback by Tara Laskowski «» Woman in a Bar by Dorianne Laux «» Matt: How It Will Happen by Amanda Nazario «» Trace by Darlin' Neal «» Exile on Payne Street by Ryan Ridge «» Home Economics by Gail Louise Siegel «» A Funny Smell by Ray Vukcevich «» Andersonville by Lindsay Marianna Walker «» Northern Migration by Brandon Wicks «» Interviews: Cynthia Helen Beecher «» Pam Bolton «» Z.Z. Boone «» Dan Chaon «» Frank Dahai «» Natalie DeClerck «» Steven Gullion «» Mary Hamilton «» Joan Harvey «» Tara Laskowski «» Dorianne Laux «» Amanda Nazario «» Darlin' Neal «» Ryan Ridge «» Gail Louise Siegel «» Ray Vukcevich «» Lindsay Marianna Walker «» Brandon Wicks «» Cover Art "The Vanishing Lotus" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor