Boudin Issues – Page 18 – The McNeese Review

Songs of the Past

Songs of the Past Amanda Meyer __________ She used to scratch lyrics into her flesh, afraid she’d forget them, the way her brain wears rose-colored glasses when she tries to remember the past. Before that she’d write songs on the thigh of her jeans instead of keeping her eyes on…

The Show

The Show John Grey __________ The amps are tall as trucks and just as powerful. One brush of a G string and silence signs its death warrant. Powerful output. Low distortion. A frequency range to upset dogs. A detail as big as sky. This wall of sound is not designed…

Eminem Must Imagine I’m His Biggest Fan

Eminem Must Imagine I’m His Biggest Fan Alex M. Frankel __________ Hey Alex, Eminem made you something special! “At the crib playing Fortnite with your grandma” Numbered gold vinyl exclusively for Spotify stans. Limited quantity available, act fast while supplies last! So I’m not just a fan, I’m a stan…

Enter the Bassoon

Enter the Bassoon John Davis __________ You naughty boy, you bedpost with bad indigestion. Someone is tonguing you, buzzing you, running a Hungarian rhapsody through you. You puff-a-puff noise, call it notes of a wind ensemble. They are grunts of a pig. Someone has let a pig control the woodwind…

Hot Jazz

Hot Jazz Michael Czyzniejewski __________ Carlisle texted to tell me he quit, that he was going to work the club scene, that he was going to blow some hot jazz. I didn’t understand what he was babbling about, our presentation due in two days. Our boss, Davenport, was not the…

Recital in Black

Recital in Black for Dotty Belkap Roger Camp __________ The view from the front row seat is of the performers’ feet a trio of classical musicians violinist, cellist, pianist. Their instruments’ unsightly skins accompanied by finger smudges their dress black shoes playing back pedestrian scuffs. The stage is a set…

In the Style Of…

In the Style Of… James Brubaker __________ Here is Ohio. And here is Dayton, and here is a suburb, a strip mall, a bar—a karaoke bar. I am neither a patron, nor an employee. I am something else entirely, sick with anticipation, throbbing from the bar’s early evening quiet. I…

Ticket to Ride

Ticket to Ride Angela Ball __________ Why did I not ask my father to stop at the drive-in to get my sister the foot-long hot dog she had asked for? Because when we neared it, “Ticket to Ride” was playing on the radio, and I couldn’t speak. Why not? The…

Letter from the Guest Editor

Letter from the Guest Editor Karris Rae __________ I started on my first instrument when I was seven—my mom’s old snare drum, already dimpled from years of use. I didn’t stick with it long (how long could I spend on a single note?), but I’d have more luck with the…

Letter from the Editor

Letter from the Editor Vallie Lynn Watson __________ Last summer, I saw the best concert of my life, at the Beacon Theatre in Manhattan. The band was Sparks, who originated in 1971; it remains painful to me that I did not discover Sparks until 2015. And there is a part…