The Spring 2010 Issue features poetry by James K. Zimmerman, J. B. Sisson, Christopher Seid, Marija Sanderling, Henry Rappaport, Renée Olander, David Moreau, Lynn Levin, Susanna Lang, Preston Hood, Leonore Hildebrandt, Jeff Hardin, Megan Grumbling, Erica Goss, David Filer, Bill Edmondson, Larry Dyhrberg and Alice Bolstridge. Artwork by Huck Notari and Fred Field. Reviews by Sharon Olinka, Nancy A. Henry, Megan Grumbling and Ted Bookey.
Poems
Elegy for a Crow
by James K. Zimmerman you’ve got a sick crow in your yard the neighbor said but I know this: crows don’t get sick and
Tonight
by James K. Zimmerman I lie between two pillows the whole bed is mine tonight you are not here I dream of
Opening in the Sky
by Preston Hood Before the dead crawl out, I stitch it up with the white line of my thinking & watch the sunrise. I enter the mist though a
Victory, Wisconsin near the scene of the Bad Axe massacre
by Bill Edmondson Is not a town But commemoration Of blankety –blank A few two – story houses Some trailers a road Angling up
Laysan Island
by Bill Edmondson Abandoned by a careless sailor Cast out on this verge of a dash Little larger than a sand bar They’re driven to shelter by
What Loneliness Can Do
by Bill Edmondson It can find you in a men’s room Uphill from the phallic shrine on Molokai Enter you enter a life or what it’s come to A
Nigh
by Megan Grumbling Chance glistened in the blue spruce bower so near my doze: fresh champagne, suddenly, and one glass flute in wait. Fizzing
Ultrasound
by Megan Grumbling Have I heard of the allegory of the cave? he wonders, blue to me in pooled monitor lume, a dim room of insides, guess –
While I Stride
by Megan Grumbling O me, while I stride ahead, material, visible, imperious as ever! . . . O to disengage myself from these
Keeping the Pearls
by Renée Olander Those two creamy strands, their vague yellow tint increasing the value of the oyster’s irritation, cost an outrageous thousand
Memory
by Renée Olander Whose bones ache in long – healed broken places? Whose bones remember, come damp or cold weather, The hardball hit into
Conquest: Turtle Island
by Renée Olander I. On the Bay this morning, not far from beach bathers who mostly gave it wide berth, a dead turtle washed up, like a whole
Signs of the Season
by Henry Rappaport 1 Rosie says the bush is December thinks three weeks freeze got it is flip and sad at the half masts. Meanwhile, the sun
The Casualties of Where
by Henry Rappaport 1. The man with no legs looks at a map of the night, looks and wonders where he can go. He closes his eyes and looks at a map
Recognition
by Larry Dyhrberg There comes a moment In the life of Cherries, After the bright red, After the darkening And swelling into succulence, The mouth
Lotus Root
by Lynn Levin Loving the hard – to – love, I sought your human feet. At the Chinese grocery you lay in a bin pond – mucked like
Mouth
by Erica Goss What desires us most enters through the mouth: consider breath, with its vital repetitions; and if the esophagus is the top of a
This is a Wild Place
by Erica Goss On the last day of winter, my car, filled with chaff and spare parts, fits neatly in its painted slot, a motion box, stopped. The
Game
by J. B. Sisson In life’s peculiar game of hit or miss, whatever happens, you’re supposed to say, “It doesn’t get any better than this.” Who
When Enos Slaughter
by David Moreau scored from first on a single to win the Cardinals the seventh game of the 1946 World Series the Boston shortstop got the blame —
Skiing the Old Farm at Night
by Christopher Seid The ruts of my two skis fill with shadow, blue ash from the full moon’s burn. The dogs run ahead to wrestle ghost dogs
Letter to Pavlov’s Dog
by Marija Sanderling How does it feel To live with this mad Russian On whom we pay homage For because of him And because of you We now know A
Jazz Night at the Museum
by Leonore Hildebrandt For the modernist, an egg shattered in the street. A heart? Straggling notes court the monkey tree. “It
Hunched Over Shallows
by Jeff Hardin (Columbia, Tennessee) I must have looked ridiculous, hunched over the shallows, steering a red Solo cup behind the minnows
August is Why
by David Filer There’s a certain Slant of light, Winter Afternoons — — Emily Dickinson, Poem #258 Don’t take too much
Charting
by David Filer The sad, lucent, malevolence of the heavens . . . — David St. John, Lucifer by Starlight The stars emerge at
Knowing
by Alice Bolstridge All living, dying things I touch or see deceive my knowing — the world’s not me, it’s other: bear, rock, beech tree. Touching
Self Similarity
by Alice Bolstridge Veins map surfaces. In mayflower petals and leaves, they form boundaries of smaller and smaller patterns. Things branch —
Black Night—part of the collection, Shapes of Man
by Jeff Hardin (Phoenix, Arizona) You and I at the crossroads, One leading down the path of submission, The other pointing to still another
Explore, Regardless—part of the collection, Shapes of Man
by Jeff Hardin (Phoenix, Arizona) Carrot of immortality, stick of perdition. Candles in cups, sprinkly waters in gaudy bowls. Smoke in bags,
Lightning Bugs—part of the collection, Shapes of Man
Jeff Hardin (Phoenix, Arizona) Arrived late from a wedding, I walked outside to the porch Of her parents’ place, still dizzy, And lit a
Winged
by Susanna Lang And if I do call the right name, if woodpecker is the name I’m searching for, then is the rapid drumbeat I hear down by the river
Lessons
by Susanna Lang — who would believe them winged — in memoriam Lucille Clifton Today your crows are nearly speechless. Only
Reviews
Black Boat Black Water Black Sand
by Dave Morrison, Moon Pie Press, 2009, 74 pages, paperback, $10.00, ISBN: 978 -1 – 61539 – 452 – 4 Buy the Book Dave Morrison
We Don’t Know We Don’t Know
by Nick Lantz, Graywolf Press, 2010, 96 pages, paperback, $15.00, ISBN: 978 -1 – 55597 – 552 – 4 Buy the Book During the years
Poppin’ Johnny: New American Poems
by George Wallace, Three Rooms Press, 2009, 116 pages, paperback, $15.00, ISBN: 978-0-9840700-2-2 Buy the Book I’ve often thought of George
Radha Says
by Reetika Vazirani, edited by Leslie McGrath and Ravi Shankar, Drunken Boat Books, 2010, 86 pages, paperback, $14.95, ISBN -13: 978 – 0
Poet Biographies
James K. Zimmerman
is a clinical psychologist, and was a songwriter and performer in a previous life. He is the winner of both the 2009 and 2010 Hart Crane
J. B. Sisson
has published poems, stories, plays, essays, and translations in magazines such as Poetry and The Paris Review and in anthologies such as The
Christopher Seid
lives with his family in Yarmouth, Maine. He is poetry editor for Maine: The Magazine.
Marija Sanderling
is a professional librarian and genealogist who has practiced creative writing since making her home in Maine 15 years ago. She devotes a great
Henry Rappaport
received his bachelor’s degree from Syracuse University and his master’s degree from the University of Washington. He co – founded
Renée Olander
has published poems in Artword Quarterly, Verse and Universe — Poems About Science & Mathematics, Margie, 5am, Hawai‘i Pacific Review,
David Moreau
is the author of a chapbook, Sex, Death, and Baseball (Moon Pie Press, 2004), subjects he considers “the three greatest subjects of poetry.”
Lynn Levin
is the author of three collections of poems, Fair Creatures of an Hour (2009), Imaginarium (2005), and A Few Questions about Paradise (2000).
Susanna Lang
a collection of her poems was published in 2008 by The Backwaters Press. More recently, her poem “Condemned” won the Inkwell competition. Her
Preston Hood
has published in Michigan Quarterly Review, Rattle, Hayden’s Ferry Review, and other literary journals. His book, A Chill I Understand (2006),
Leonore Hildebrandt
grew up in Germany and lives “off the grid” in Harrington, Maine. At home in two languages, she teaches writing at the University of Maine.
Jeff Hardin
teaches at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, Tennessee. His poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Gettysburg Review, The
Jeff Hardin
is a data analyst for a health management company in Phoenix, Arizona. He graduated from San Jose State University (B.A. 1994, M.A. 1996) with
Megan Grumbling
has had poems published in many journals and was awarded a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. She teaches at Southern Maine
Erica Goss
is a writer from Los Gatos, California. Her poems, reviews, and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in Caveat Lector, Zoland Poetry, Main
David Filer
lives and works in the other Portland, in Oregon. Other poems have been published recently in Free Lunch, The Tule Review, Off the Coast, Third
Bill Edmondson
is a poet living in Santa Rose, California, who teaches at City College of San Francisco. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in Fugue,
Larry Dyhrberg
had a long career as a high – school history teacher. He now divides his time between part – time teaching at Southern Maine
Alice Bolstridge
has published stories, poems, and essays in many magazines and anthologies including Cimarron Review (Oklahoma State University Short Fiction
Artist Biographies
Reviewer Biographies
Sharon Olinka
won a Barbara Deming Memorial Award for poems from The Good City, (Marsh Hawk Press, 2006.) Her work appears on a Library of Congress website,
Nancy A. Henry
is the author of several poetry chapbooks and two collections from Sheltering Pines Press. Her poetry and reviews have been widely published.
Megan Grumbling
has had poems published in many journals and was awarded a Ruth Lilly Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation. She teaches at Southern Maine
Ted Bookey
originally hails from New York, where he taught English in public schools and at Long Island University. For the past nine years, he has