Diagnosis by Beverly A. Jackson On the fifth floor of a medical complex I sit in an office watching a tiny spider outside the window. It clings to the frame, buffeted by wind, but nevertheless spins an ornate web across a corner of the glass. The stalwart desk is oak, as glossy as his slate-gray eyes above the crisp, white coat. His lips move slowly, pink and moist, mouthing salvation in a hushed voice, like a Baptist preacher tipping me backwards, headlong into dark water until I can’t breathe. I push through, seeking light, sucking air, emerge. The first thing I see is the window. The spider lurches, lifted by a gust, sways on a single thread. Its spindly legs unfurl, then curl, before it drops. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2010 by its authors.
	Beverly Jackson is a writer and poet based in So. California. Read the interview.
	Issue Eleven (December 15, 2005): Forks in the Road by Eve Abrams «» Retirement Home by Greg Ames «» A Drop of Dew by Edgar Omar Avilés, translated by Toshiya Kamei «» No One Left to Care About the Fat Man by Rusty Barnes «» The Mother's Guide to Flight Patterns by Theresa Boyar «» It's All True by Nadine Darling «» What She Gave to the Sea by Katrina Denza «» It by Patry Francis «» Cemetery Day by Laurie Frankel «» Cityscape by Judd Hampton «» The Black Squirrels of Ottawa by Niranjana Iyer «» Diagnosis by Beverly A. Jackson «» Green Monster by Erica Plouffe Lazure «» Sophie, Now by Mary McCluskey «» A Blind Dog Named Killer and a Colony of Bees by Mary Miller «» The Sky Is a Well by Claudia Smith «» You Only Get One Chance to Be El Latigo by Elizabeth Smith «» Flights by Jim Tomlinson «» Song of Giants by Girija Tropp «» Ice by Joseph Young «» Interviews: Eve Abrams «» Greg Ames «» Rusty Barnes «» Theresa Boyar «» Myfanwy Collins «» Nadine Darling «» Katrina Denza «» Patry Francis «» Laurie Frankel «» Judd Hampton «» Marty D. Ison «» Niranjana Iyer «» Beverly A. Jackson «» Toshiya Kamei «» Erica Plouffe Lazure «» Mary McCluskey «» Mary Miller «» Claudia Smith «» Elizabeth Smith «» Jim Tomlinson «» Girija Tropp «» Joseph Young «» Cover Art "Detail of The Death of Susan" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor