Christianna Fritz

There are volumes of books dedicated to the art of interpreting poetry. And often, poetry is a way for writers to re-interpret the world around them and search for understanding. Writer Christianna Fritz' poems "After the Proposal," and "Meeting Her," do exactly that. 

The first poem explores the motives and complicated lives of characters in another, longer piece by Fritz. The second is a re-imagination of her grandmother, whom she never met, and what her life was like on the family farm.

After the proposal

Have you ever been in a public space – after it’s closed to the public?  Poet and Lake Effect contributor Christianna Fritz has:

The Quiet Work

The mall is dark now,
rides folded with tentacle tucked in
brakes quiet
beast sleeping,
while something small, mouse or cockroach
scurries under a bench.
 

After closing time,
only the janitors make noise
swishing broom and humming vacuum,
comfortable silence of placing can in receptacle
mopping gelato from tile.
 

If you’ve ever taken a child to the library or the bookstore, you know that sometimes there’s a little friction between what they want to read, and what you’d like them to read.  “Captain Underpants” versus “Stuart Little.”  “Calvin and Hobbes” versus “A Wrinkle In Time.”  Lake Effect essayist Christianna Fritz urges you not to fall into that false dichotomy:

As Lake Effect essayist Christianna Fritz learned at a young age, sometimes adults have a strange reaction to an otherwise perfectly innocent word:

Some might look wistfully at a picture of urban decay in their hometown like the images photographer Eric Holubow has captured in Milwaukee.  However Lake Effect essayist Christianna Frtiz has given quite a lot of thought to her personal idea of home: