William Joel

All things are connected. That's the premise of what William J. Joel does. Each of Mr. Joel's interests informs each other. Mr. Joel has been teaching computer science since 1983 and has been a writer even longer. His works have recently appeared in Common Ground Review, DASH Literary Journal, The Blend International, Liminality, and North Dakota Quarterly.

Sonnet for a young child

Go pick a toy from in the bin, the one

that holds your treasures, stuffed with many toys

whose days of first-found rapture linger on,

discovered, each time, new and full of joys

that never seem to end. Go grab a book

and jump into my lap. We’ll each take turns

at reading, laughing at the pictures. Look!

I see an elephant behind some ferns

he thinks will hide him. Such a silly! They’re

too small for him. He’d have a better chance

behind a rock, a boulder, maybe, where

his bulk would not stick out, for elephants

are far too big. Let’s see what happens when

we turn the page. Perhaps he’ll learn by then.