University of Northern Iowa

Fashion and Beauty ForecastAuthor(s): Allison JosephSource: The North American Review, Vol. 290, No. 1 (Jan. - Feb., 2005), p. 15Published by: University of Northern IowaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25127292 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 23:07

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

University of Northern Iowa is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to The NorthAmerican Review.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.187 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:07:56 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

N A R

ALLISON JOSEPH

Fashion and

Beauty Forecast

Electric hair girdles. Simulated pregnancy scars.

Creosote bleaching creams,

glass sliver nail polish. Gasoline douches.

Brillo pad cleansing lotion.

Strychnine shower gel.

Platelet rouge. In-home

liposuction manuals.

Rib-whittling dress belts.

Elbow scrapers. Knee

resurfacing loofas.

Iron-filing toenail whitener.

Marble push-up brassieres.

Asphalt lipstick. Windex

hair mousse, extra strength.

Migraine miniskirts. Shock

therapy acne treatments.

Starvation-diet smile implants.

One-calorie soda, lactic-acid flavor.

Calf-removal surgery. Hymen

patch kit, needle included.

KEVIN BERLAND

The Power of W

This is the way it is. We live in the wind

when we are not sheltering from it, so its voice

is in our ear from infancy, whispering transparent incantations. We know the alphabet

of air currents in our waking and our

sleeping. We take comfort from breezes rippling

across winter wheat. We hear in the weathered reaches

of memory sounds that weave patterns in existence,

warp and woof?the whickering of an otherwise

forgotten horse, the whine of truck wheels on the highway, the throaty whistle of a steam train, the weird sizzle

of hot metal being welded, the cheers of well-wishers, the wicked note of sarcasm and the bitter twist of hostility, the scratch of a pen on writing paper, the wail of ambulances, fire and smoke crackling through dry summer weeds, the pulse of metal springs wound up and then released, the chock of hammer on wedge splitting white pine into kindling, the splatter as the river overflows the weir, the splash of waterfalls, the rasp of blade on whetstone, the whipcrack of a snapping tree branch.

And there are words we use to name our sorrows?

waiting, woeful, rueful, wistful, wishful thinking, waving goodbye?and our jubilations?wonderful, well-satisfied, a thousand welcomes.

This world is weighed down with water, its waist wrapped tight with oceans, but the wide skies are alive with the rain's wet music. The W courses

through us like the currents of our blood. It furnishes the wedding song the yellow warbler in the willow tree

delivers. Wednesday is the warm heart of the week. The keeper of the W is the warden of wonder.

January-February 2005 NORTH AMERICAN REVIEW 15

This content downloaded from 91.229.248.187 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 23:07:56 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions