Masthead 2026
Charles Troob, Publisher
Prose Editor: Andy Shapiro
Prose Readers:
Tom Ashley
Michael Kessler
Judith Meyerowitz
Susan Smahl
Poetry Editor:
Carolyn Grey
Poetry Judges:
Kathrine Jason
Irene Sax
Letter from the Publisher 2026
Welcome to the 2026 edition of Voices Online, the literary magazine of the Lifelong Peer Learning Program. Earlier editions—going back to 2013—can be found on this web site.
We are happy to present the work of eight poets and twenty prose writers. Some of this writing has been generated in LP2 study groups and activities. Some is creative work that our members have done on our own.
Five writers are appearing in Voices for the first time. We hope that in future issues even more of our talented members will be represented.
Much thanks to the editors and readers who have helped to make this possible—and, of course, to our contributors!
Charles Troob
Publisher
Prose
Tom Ashley, Gloria Swanson Made Me a Sandwich
Robert N. Chan, MACHINES JUST WANNA HAVE FUN
Pat Fortunato, Medical Whack-a-Mole
Sonya Friedman, My High School Prom
Jill Eldredge Gabriele, The Veil
Maury Harris, Crooked Cowboy Candidates
Denise Heebink, Jack and the Beanstalk
Susie Herman, Reading Navalny’s Prison Diaries on the Shores of Lake Issyk-Kul
Michael Kessler, The School of Hard Knocks
Meera Kumar, Acts of Defiance – on hair and bare arms and barer legs
B. Robert Meyer, The Hero
Judith Meyerowitz, Christmas Eve, 2025
Judith Meyerowitz, Curio Cabinet
Mary Padilla, Through the Looking Glass
Mireya Perez-Bustillo, Home Leave
Jennifer Roberts, English Lessons
Jennifer Roberts, The Decision
Joan Rosenbaum, The Watchmaker
Jenny Ross, Conversation with Aubrey
Jenny Ross, I Hear America Singing
Susan Smahl, A Blinking Light
Susan Smahl, Coffee in Bed
Charles Troob, Recipe for a Lazy Afternoon: Grandma’s Winter Borscht
Ken Witty, The Wednesday Game
Poetry
Stewart Alter, GPS
Stewart Alter, The Fox
Stewart Alter, The Kite
Mark Fischweicher, Sestina for the Highest Point in Connecticut
Lisa Martin, Waiting
Judith Meyerowitz, She Is In My Head
Judith Meyerowitz, Shelter Helter-Skelter
Mary Padilla, Four Haiku
Mary Padilla, Revisiting
Mary Padilla, wabi sabi
Mireya Perez-Bustillo, Encircling Tritons
Mireya Perez-Bustillo, I was at Calvary
Jennifer Roberts, Loss
Stephen Reichstein, Four Haiku