{"id":27665,"date":"2015-01-18T08:41:25","date_gmt":"2015-01-18T14:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/?p=27665"},"modified":"2023-11-20T15:50:37","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T21:50:37","slug":"sunday-blog-read-natalie-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/sunday-blog-read-natalie-young\/","title":{"rendered":"READ LOCAL First: Natalie Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"natalie_young\"<\/a>READ LOCAL First<\/strong>\u00a0is your glimpse into the working minds and hearts of Utah\u2019s literary writers. Each month, 15 Bytes offers works-in-progress and \/ or recently published work by some of the state\u2019s most celebrated and promising writers of fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction and memoir.<\/p>\n

Today, 15 Bytes features Cedar City-based poet Natalie Young<\/strong>.\u00a0Here she provides three poems, part of a larger series set in Utah with both fictional and non-fictional characters, including humans, aliens, and a monster who has lived in the Great Salt Lake for centuries. The setting is dystopian and, to a point, similar to modern day with the monster ruminating on past times.<\/p>\n

Sunday Blog Read continues to accrue a distinguished group of established and emerging Utah writers for your review and enjoyment.<\/p>\n

So curl up with your favorite cup of joe and enjoy the work of Natalie!<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Capitol Reef<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Now miles from any real city roaming<\/p>\n

in a red rock bowl. She recalls a time<\/p>\n

at 13 when a stray attacked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They walk the sea floor, boots filling<\/p>\n

with red dust: rusty animal<\/p>\n

heads, pioneers’ tombstones.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Commitment not an option. No way<\/p>\n

to describe, to know how.<\/p>\n

But its giant departure is clear.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

She claims old bites<\/p>\n

are good reason to give up<\/p>\n

an adopted dog after six days.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The look in the canine eyes:<\/p>\n

endless. The stare\u2014<\/p>\n

like finding a giraffe<\/p>\n

body under a skiff of snow.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Breaking things<\/p>\n

off, keeping things up.<\/p>\n

All of this was once under water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here Is What<\/strong>\u2019<\/strong>s Left of Lake Bonneville<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

She is determined to see. Lock the creature in a still, share<\/p>\n

his looks with those who\u2019ll listen. She takes<\/p>\n

a handful of diced tuna. Dabs the juice<\/p>\n

from the tin can on her collar bone. The lake is saltier<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

than the sea, a pH between toothpaste and milk<\/p>\n

of magnesia. Salt can\u2019t be destroyed\u2014won\u2019t dissipate<\/p>\n

or burn\u2014all that can be done is grind<\/p>\n

the small crystals into dirt and watch it lose<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

worth. This lesson she learned in Sunday school, the spiritual<\/p>\n

point less poignant. Even salt will sift its way<\/p>\n

to shore, the edges of his liquid home. One toe<\/p>\n

at a time, she dribbles fish pur\u00e9e,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

until she is up to her earlobes. Empty<\/p>\n

cans bob near outstretched fists. Mosquitoes line her forehead.<\/p>\n

Torso stripped, eyes closed. A lake<\/p>\n

housing a monster with nowhere else to go,<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

without a single outlet, it\u2019s up to the earth\u2019s inventions now.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Originally appeared in Pamplemousse)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Pretending to be interviewed, the monster gets choked up,<\/strong><\/p>\n

tells the cameraman to shut the damn thing off.<\/strong><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Your environment doesn\u2019t change<\/em><\/p>\n

much from day to day, you see<\/em><\/p>\n

the same things. What inspires you?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I spend time remembering, wondering<\/p>\n

what birds see<\/p>\n

when they fly away.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Does that help generate new ideas?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I don\u2019t have much use for such things.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

You don\u2019t wear clothing. How does that feel?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I guess you\u2019re looking for \u201cliberating,\u201d<\/p>\n

But how would I know?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s so quiet out here.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The quiet came gradually,<\/p>\n

not a sudden silence.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Is it peaceful?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not<\/p>\n

peaceful\u2014it\u2019s not<\/p>\n

disturbing.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

If everything was brought back<\/p>\n

at once\u2026the noise, the movement<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I miss,<\/p>\n

but could I still handle it?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

You lived through a lot\u2014more than most books<\/em><\/p>\n

can claim. What keeps you<\/em><\/p>\n

going? What\u2019s next?<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

I\u2019d like to be surrounded by something<\/p>\n

other than salt water; to step on dry ground;<\/p>\n

someone to look and call<\/p>\n

me lovely.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

(Originally appeared in Rock & Sling)<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

#<\/p>\n

\u00a9 2015 Natalie Young<\/p>\n

Natalie Young is a founding editor of the independent poetry magazine Sugar House Review<\/em><\/a>, which just released its five-year anniversary issue. Her poetry has been published in magazines such as Rattle, Los Angeles Times, Green Mountains Review, Tampa Review, South Dakota Review, <\/em>and others. She lives in Cedar City where she works as a graphic designer for an ad agency based out of Salt Lake City.<\/p>\n

Other work from the series above can be found online at:
\nhttp:\/\/www.rattle.com\/poetry\/tag\/speculative-poetry\/, http:\/\/pamplemoussevt.org\/byline\/natalie-young\/, http:\/\/greenmountainsreview.com\/?p=3386<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

READ LOCAL First\u00a0is your glimpse into the working minds and hearts of Utah\u2019s literary writers. Each month, 15 Bytes offers works-in-progress and \/ or recently published work by some of the state\u2019s most celebrated and promising writers of fiction, poetry, literary non-fiction and memoir. Today, 15 Bytes features […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1566,"featured_media":27670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[35,2513],"tags":[2223,2224,2114],"class_list":["post-27665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-literary-arts","category-read-local-first","tag-natalie-young","tag-poems","tag-sugarhouse-review"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/natalie_young.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-25 06:57:38","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1566"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27665"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27665\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":72058,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27665\/revisions\/72058"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/artistsofutah.org\/15Bytes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}