Our Winter 2011 issue features poetry by Kevin Sweeney, G. H. Smith, David Sloan, J. B. Sisson, Giovanni Raboni, Kevin Rabas, Paul Pines, Michael Palma, normal ,Manoli Kouremetis ,James Koller ,Alan Holder ,Nancy A. Henry, Gabor G. Gyukics ,Gerard Grealish, Geoffrey Gaddis, Russell Evatt, Maurizio Cucchi and Kathleen Balma. With artwork by Ed Valentine and Angela Grossmann. Reviews by Jefferson Navicky, Peter Manuel and Megan Grumbling.
In Memoriam
Janine Pommy Vega
1942 – 2010
Poems
A Heath For Lear, A Corridor For Us
by Alan Holder King Lear required a storm upon a heath to bring him down from his crazy height, acknowledge his, our, bare, fork’d animal.
Saints
by Alan Holder Sebastian, converted to a reverse porcupine, Thomas à Becket, struck dead by swords, Joan of Arc transformed to a torch, Agnes of
Island Forest
by Maurizio Cucchi I’m not in my house anymore, but in that breezy place that gives me everything. Its serene geometry provides an entryway for
The Dead Man’s Alibi
by Giovanni Raboni Judas says that his alibi was shaken, the dead man’s: that’s why the dead man went down to the courtyard. But the alibi was
Lines After Reading Du Fu
by James Koller I open my door to two dippers, a river of stars, enough moon light to watch a breeze lift the blue ribbons hung from the high
— for Duncan McNaughton
by James Koller Morning Star over the Uintas, red sun coming up behind those mountains. We missed seeing you in Bolinas. Did you come out? I’m
Told Again — The Short Life of Yu Xuanji
by James Koller A dark wind filled with rain blows branches against darker walls. The stuff of wild dreams. Thighs covered with light
Walking with Yi Kyubo
by Geoffrey Gaddis I walk through seasons to find words for poems. A stirring sprinkles dapples on the leaf floor. Soon bare limbs will toss
Sit by the River
by Geoffrey Gaddis Water shapes its banks, banks shape the river. One is constantly containing change, the other constantly changing. One stands
A Message From the Memoirist — for Bibi
by Paul Pines 4:00 AM at the Northwoods Inn the room temp set for 70 but the fan never stops blowing I can’t sleep imagine writers driving
Interview With the Old Poet: Ferlinghetti at 91 — for David
by Paul Pines A star is born again and again and again until it becomes a Black Hole and no light can escape its density this enormous
The Transcendental in January
by normal “Winter midnight My voice does not Sound like my own.” — Otsuji Snow to
The Fire Starter
by David Sloan “Scatter as from an unextinguish’d hearth Ashes and sparks, my words among mankind.”
The Spaces Between
by David Sloan What insistent whispering crowds out sleep? It coats me like pollen, buoys me against the weight of daylight, points to the spaces
Sonny Kenner has his red guitar
by Kevin Rabas in hand, and moves through the melody as if what he wants is for everyone now to give and get that long kiss in this room on this
We Read
by Kevin Rabas At the Olpe Chicken House behind glass there’s a copy of Ken Ohm’s new book, Ducks Across the Moon. An old woman and her husband
Vernal Song
by J. B. Sisson I buried him two years ago today, the first day warm enough to bask outside and watch the fluctuation of the tide and spring’s
Walter’s Canon
by J. B. Sisson This music crept upon me from old Walter, infernal noise of Pachelbel and crew. Walter enlivens his greenhouse next door with
Antlers
by Russell Evatt I found a head in the dirt, eyes open, covered in sand. But no flies and no blood. I should say it was winter, and this the
[ When I speak of death, I do not mean the one ]
by Russell Evatt When I speak of death, I do not mean the one in the ground there, to whose funeral I wore a red shirt because I chose not to
Biting Concern
by Russell Evatt I had a notion today that it feels terrific to die. Finally, that’s over. From the park bench I heard the refined static of
that is your own
by Gabor G. Gyukics during tail-wind the headwind pushes you back only the motion remains your body is searching for the gap your eyes are
whose face it is
by Gabor G. Gyukics the mirror shows a different picture every day the flame shooting out from the fireplace is counting the new arrivals the
it cares not what you’ll become
by Gabor G. Gyukics a cigarette smoulders with you together the wind comes in to fetch the smoke looks around what else there is to take but
Blue Fruit
by Manoli Kouremetis I take your hand, say “soon” — how many times have I said “soon” trapped in traffic and doctors’ waiting rooms? If only I
Abducted Friends
by Manoli Kouremetis Like a ransomer’s note — my memories of you and I squish against one another. Mismatched letters of sentences ill-fitting —
Terrarium
by Nancy A. Henry Piety, New moon, stingy-petaled single rose, full blown, you’ve gone straight from maid to crone. Let us moisten the moss for
Just As You Are, Without One Plea
by Nancy A. Henry Given my inheritance of glass clowns, I cannot flee this place with impunity. Why should you shiver? Why withdraw your
Marathon — for Beckett
by Gerard Grealish Though you have just run half of what will be before you three weeks from now and you are still, on this long distance
El Niño 1997
by Gerard Grealish “No se puede vivir sin amar, were the words on the house.” — Malcolm Lowry, Under the Volcano Out of the almost
Autumn at the Lost and Found
by G. H. Smith If you go looking for the devil, you will find him. Even on a sunny day by all accounts ablaze with piety. Even in the sanctuary
Vermont
by G. H. Smith Four in the morning, refuge of moths, moonlight’s underbelly of mist. The woods are a misery of mud and stones, discarded books,
A Darkness
by G. H. Smith A darkness lies within us, which is the driving force of the world. It is darker than the hour before dawn, yet without it, there
The Forgiveness Project — after Szymborska
by Kathleen Balma Under what conditions should one admit wrongdoing? Is confessing in a dream as good as in a booth? Who goes
From Your Hostess at the T & A Museum
by Kathleen Balma If you will not tip me for my dance, tip me for daring to ask. Or if, having stared at me directly for the duration of a song
Better
by Kevin Sweeney He thinks it’s only a phase, my niece said about me and her life as a lesbian because I go to Mass every Sunday. I hope when I
Hope
by Kevin Sweeney At first we thought it was the Hope who lived on Broadway, my niece’s high school friend but this Hope was from Ferry Village,
Reviews
Poet Biographies
Kevin Sweeney
is the author of two poetry books from Moon Pie Press, Rags of Prayer and Ordinary Time. His poems have appeared in a number of literary
G. H. Smith
has published in The Atlanta Review, Wild Goose Poetry Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Quarry West, Chicago Quarterly Review, StoryQuarterly, previously
David Sloan
a graduate of the University of Southern Maine Stonecoast MFA Creative Writing Program, he helped to found, and currently teaches English and
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
Giovanni Raboni
(1932 – 2004) was the author of many volumes of poetry and criticism. He also translated widely from French literature, including an
Kevin Rabas
co – directs the Creative Writing Program at Emporia State University, is managing editor of Flint Hills Review, and writes regularly for
Paul Pines
grew up in Brooklyn around the corner from Ebbets Field and spent the early sixties on the Lower East Side of New York. In 1970, he opened The
Michael Palma
will publish a new book of poems, Begin in Gladness (Star Cloud Press), this spring. Along with his translations of Raboni and Cucchi, he will
normal
cut his teeth wailing poesy in Greenwich Village, circa 1962 – 64, at the legendary Rafio Cafe. He has dwelled in 47, not so exotic, ports
Manoli Kouremetis
earned his MFA from Old Dominion University. His fiction and poetry has appeared or is forthcoming in The Southeast Review, Boxcar Poetry
James Koller
is a poet, novelist, photographer, painter, publisher, and editor. He obtained his BA from North Central College in Naperville, Illinois in
Alan Holder
was born in Brooklyn, New York and educated at Columbia University. He taught at a number of colleges and universities over a forty year period,
Nancy A. Henry
her poems have appeared in Rattle, Southern Humanities Review, The Hollins Critic, The Café Review, and many other publications, as well as being
Gabor G. Gyukics
is a Hungarian-American poet and literary translator presently residing in Budapest, Hungary. He has been writing poetry in English and
Gerard Grealish
his poetry has appeared in Poet Lore, Free Lunch, The Sow’s Ear, The Connecticut River Review, Parting Gifts, The Ontario Review, The Bad Henry
Geoffrey Gaddis
his poems have appeared in Hunger Mountain, Aethlon, and The Healing Muse. He lives in Putney, Vermont.
Russell Evatt
recently lived in Krakow, Poland, where he studied the Polish language. His work has appeared in Iron Horse Literary Review, Prism Review, Specs
Maurizio Cucchi
was born in 1945 in Milan, where he continues to live. In addition to his poetry, he has published a novel and a book of essays. His most
Kathleen Balma
is a Fulbright Fellow and graduate of Indiana University’s MFA program. Her poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Mid–American Review,
Artist Biographies
Reviewer Biographies
Jefferson Navicky
his work has appeared in Quickfiction, elimae, Octopus, Smokelong Quarterly, and others. His chapbook, Map of the Second Person, was published
Peter Manuel
has taught writing at Southern Maine Community College and Portland Adult Ed. He graduated from the Stonecoast MFA Program in January 2005, and
Megan Grumbling
is Reviews Editor for The Café Review, theater critic for the Portland Phoenix, and curator of LIT, a series of literary happenings at Mayo