Newspaper Triptych

Von Wise

*All text comes from articles published in the Clinton Democrat between 1851-1852.

July 29, 1851

More Copy

The memory of the “oldest
inhabitant” runneth not back
to the time when our town was

busier than now. Every branch
of business is paying
better than it has done

before. Our gentlemen of leisure
have caught the infection
of industry and the impulses

of enterprise move
the once stagnant blood
of the body corporate.

February 17, 1852

Receipts and Expenditures

For 2 town lots to erect jail upon $350.00.

For making a plan for jail $15.00.

April 27, 1852

Gone Down

Two of those majestic
walnut trees which skirt
the river bank below
the canal and constitute
one of the chief summer

beauties of our town,
have fallen into the river.

The late flood sapped
their foundations
and their tops now droop
sadly enough
into the water.


Von Wise received his BA for Creative Writing and Linguistics from Carnegie Mellon University and his MFA for Creative Writing from Florida International University. He teaches English composition and creative writing in Philadelphia, where he lives. His most recent work has appeared or is forthcoming in From Whispers to Roars, Lucky Jefferson, Inverted Syntax, Fatal Flaw, Islandia Journal, Red Ogre Review, and Lost Pilots.


-6-