Our Summer 2013 Issue features poetry by Thomas D. Absher, Ralph Angel, Wayne Atherton, Erika Butler, Melissa Crowe, Roger Dutton, Gibson Fay-LeBlanc, Catherine Fisher, Nadell Fishman, Gerard Grealish, Megan Grumbling, John W. Hoy, Philip Levine, Steve Luttrell, Michael Macklin, Molly McGrath, Naomi Shihab Nye, Anne Britting Oleson, Marita O’Neill, Stephen Petroff, Tim Seibles, Betsy Sholl, Martin Steingesser, Kathleen Sullivan, Kevin Sweeney, and Baron Wormser. It also features artwork from Wayne Atherton, Ross Bacheldor, and Gabriel Faulkner-Macklin, and reviews by Michael Macklin, Sharon Olinka, and Kevin Sweeney
This issue of The Café Review is a very special one for us and we hope for you as well. It is truly a “labor of love.” It has brought together many of Michael Macklin’s friends in a collaboration to honor his person and his passing. Michael was a tireless supporter and promoter of poetry. He was a valued member of The Café Review staff for a decade; first as reviews editor and then as poetry editor. He would always take the time to write a few words of response to many of the submissions that we rejected. He was very sensitive to people’s feelings and people (some he never met) loved him for it. Michael particularly enjoyed working with young people and would always “jump at the chance” to read to them and hear their poetry. Although he passed away too early, his legacy is firmly in place in the hearts of many.
We hope you will enjoy reading this issue and appreciate the reverence that was taken in the making of it.
Between these covers are poems for a poet.
Steve Luttrell
Summer 2013
Poems
Man On Raft
by Wayne Atherton He sailed upon his raft of words into the mystery of himself and lived by them
Another Poem for Michael Macklin
by Roger Dutton his silver hair thrown by the wind in his whistle, an ambassador of poetry & good will &
The Sound I Am After
by Molly McGrath A great blue heron flies out between earth and sky. Slow, deep wing beats send him down river to me. He arrived before us And
Sparrow Song for Michael
by Martin Steingesser Hardly a breeze of air. The small birds fall silent in the trees. Simply wait: soon
All Night Long
by Ralph Angel All night long the moon is wandering behind the clouds and upon the water. All night the flickering in shop windows across an
Anima Mundi
by Thomas D. Absher Before paper, medieval writers wrote on animal skins: cattle, sheep, and goats for parchment; vellum from calves, prized for
The Feather
by Thomas D. Absher Do not make the mistake of studying alchemy before you have studied the one feather left in your yard by a raven, maybe left
Ode to Les
by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc Seventy –six, two new hips, skates that look pulled off a museum shelf. He plays with guys half his age, plus a few a
At Sea
by Gibson Fay-LeBlanc Keel I built under me, sunk deep so as not to tip or flip or let salt water rush through galley then
Standing Beside You, for Michael
by Marita O’Neill Rolling expanse of prairies, Midwest vowels, wide and flat, lumbered always through your voice, your gait, the round stone of
Elegy for a Craftsman
by John W. Hoy The time is right To take some stock — To measure and assess stores of Life’s dust mites: bent tacks, plies of veneer, Old corks,
A Man, for Michael Macklin
by Naomi Shihab Nye A man comes home carrying a pineapple. His family and friends gather ’round him happily. No pineapple has entered this house
Sing it in the Shower Villanelle, apologies to Sly and the Family Stone
by Tim Seibles Time is passing, I grow older, things are happening fast This thing I do — the tongue I use — does give me some relief All I have
Book Mobile for Michael Macklin
by Anne Britting Oleson Who else would drive by, holding that cigarette out the window of a pick–up which had seen better days years ago —
Quicksilver In Memory of Michael Macklin
by Kathleen Sullivan Do you find yourself watching now for stubborn crows, penny nails, limpet shells, the dimpled light on an orange? Now can
Elegy for Michael Macklin
by Nadell Fishman The loons on East Long Pond went silent this morning; it’s a gray day and the chill that rolled in from Canada last night has
Time being what it is for Michael Macklin
by Erika Butler “I won’t be able to come this weekend, but I’ll see you next time,” you wrote. “It’s for a good cause, though. We’ll miss you —
Carpenter/Poet at the Gate for Michael Macklin, Poetry Editor
by Gerard Grealish I imagine you inviting strangers into the fold, finding in the cut of their words a grain that draws you in, knots burned from
Elegy With Spiders for Michael Macklin
by Betsy Sholl Six months after you died, spiders fill the field, gleaming in early sun, having spun all night their bright God’s – eyes,
Lovely for Michael Macklin
by Betsy Sholl Bird flash too quick — to sketch it I’d have to rush the line, long dash like wind riffling the paper I am almost out of,
A Wrench
by Megan Grumbling appears between our weekly beers one afternoon. It’s small, but has some weight to it — cast iron, solid, and as plain as our
What Remains
by Kevin Sweeney “What thou lov’st well shall not be reft from thee” Ezra Pound, Pisan Cantos, LXXXI It’s
Four
by Baron Wormser On Chandler Street in Baltimore a brick house With a sectioned cement sidewalk, a maple tree, A privet hedge, a rusting swing
Prayer for Michael
by Catherine Fisher now that you’re not here anymore that we can see we can see you were both here and there all along. belonging to everyone as
Shadows in The Half-Light for Michael
by Steve Luttrell Wishes for water — ashes for the wind — memories with the passing and distance from light. Your poems now recede, becoming
Waiting for Michael and Murphy
by Steve Luttrell In the story there is a blue truck parked at the curb. Empty, except for a large yellow dog — head resting atop the
The First Four Life Sentences for Michael Macklin
by Stephen Petroff “the melody is memory itself ” I lay for the night on the yellow roadside, in a deep field of curving gourds, across from
The Wandering Poets
by Philip Levine As they return from their pilgrimage, footsore and disgusted, only a few wear jackets and ties. As usual Gerald is the most
Elegy for Michael and the Sea, after Lost Uncle by Michael Macklin
by Melissa Crowe Uncle, today there is nothing to say but yes, to my new city, cupped in its sequence of palms — purple, periwinkle, watery blue,
Lost Uncle
by Michael Macklin So maybe I was the one your mother never mentioned or your father who was still healing after I ran over his knees with my
How we become oceans and starlight
by Michael Macklin The way rain slowly erodes stone by washing and caressing its faces, my hope is that time moves over us polishing our hearts
To Embrace the Winter Moon
by Michael Macklin Ascension begins like this, walking into the falling snow each flake lifts us with its gentle kiss. Imperceptible as the
Island
by Michael Macklin We sit in conversation the world around us recedes until all that is left is the sound of our voices filled with murmurs as
Image on Ice
by Michael Macklin At the hard edge of dark water you can catch an glimpse of yourself reflected on the growing ice all frozen waves and ripples
Dream House
by Michael Macklin Early the light filters through pines and oaks reaches between raw studs to lay bars of shadow on the sub –floor. In my
What We Are Here For
by Michael Macklin For you, it is a chance to learn about the little people scurrying through the dark halls of computers, filing fingers to the
Sunday over France
by Michael Macklin In 1926 the flight from Paris to New York was seventeen hours. Passengers sat in graceful wicker trying to converse above the
Below Zero
by Michael Macklin Here in the deep of winter so frigid that the starlight crackles sleepers dream of woolen blankets wrapping around their
Sestina for Fruitsellers
by Michael Macklin 1. She comes to me with a knife in one hand and an orange in the other to ask about its sweetness how to reach the seeds, peel
Reviews
Colony Collapse Disorder
by Keith Flynn, Wings Press, 2013, $16.00, 103 pages, paper, ISBN: 978-1-60940-294-5. Buy the Book Keith Flynn is a direct heir of the Beats in
Look Back, Look Ahead: The Selected Poems of Srecko Kosovel
by Srecko Kosovel, Translated from the Slovene by Ana Jelnikar and Barbara Seigel Carlson, Ugly Duckling Presse, Brooklyn, NY, 2010, 220 pages,
The Trouble Ball
by Martin Esapda, W.W. Norton & Company, 2011, 66 pages, paper, $15.95, ISBN: 978-0-393-3456-4. Buy the Book Martin Espada is no longer a
Poet Biographies
Wayne Atherton
Baron Wormser
is the author /co–author of twelve full–length books and a poetry chapbook. His titles include The Road Washes Out in Spring: A
Kevin Sweeney
has degrees from California (PA) State College and the University of Massachusetts. He is the chair of the English Department at Southern Maine
Kathleen Sullivan
has been a practicing psychotherapist for forty years, a poet for only a quarter of that time. She believes there are many similarities between
Martin Steingesser
is author of two books of poems: Brothers of Morning and The Thinking Heart: the Life and Loves of Etty Hillesum. His poems have appeared in The
Betsy Sholl
has published seven collections of poetry, most recently Rough Cradle ( Alice James Books, 2009). Don’t Explain won the 1997 Felix Pollak Prize
Tim Seibles
was born and raised in Philadelphia. He earned a B.A. at Southern Methodist University and an M.F.A. at Vermont College of Norwich University. He
Stephen Petroff
writes and paints in Sagadahoc County, Maine. He has published with Blackberry, Dancing Bear, Dog Ear and Red Tea. He was engaged in a
Marita O’Neill
has an M.F.A. from Vermont College. Her first chap book of poetry is Love Dogs. She teaches at Scarborough High School in Scarborough, Maine.
Anne Britting Oleson
is a writer and teacher who lives in the mountains of Central Maine with her family. She has published two chapbooks, The Church of St. Materiana
Naomi Shihab Nye
was born to an American mother and a Palestinian father. At the age of 14, her family moved to Jerusalem. Upon returning to the U.S., she earned
Molly McGrath
worked with Michael Macklin on the literary magazine Bananafish and shared with him stories of their sons, hers yet unborn and his already a man.
Michael Macklin
1949 – 2012
Steve Luttrell
is the founding editor of The Café Review, host of the CTN5 television show The Poets Cafe, and the author of ten books of poetry.
Philip Levine
lives in New York City and Fresno, California. In New York City, he teaches at New York University and is the Distinguished Poet in Residence for
John W. Hoy
is a teacher at Waynflete School in Portland, Maine. His first published poem was in 1972. He is also a story delver, a genealogist and
Megan Grumbling
her work has appeared in Poetry, The Iowa Review, Crazyhorse, The Southern Review, Seneca Review, Passages North, the Indiana Review, and other
Gerard Grealish
is the founder of the Mulberry Poets & Writers Association, practices criminal defense law, and writes both poetry and prose in northeastern
Nadell Fishman
her first poetry collection is Drive. Her poems have been published in journals such as Poet Lore, The Café Review and Hunger Mountain. She has
Catherine Fisher
lives in Freeport, Maine with her dog, Happy.
Gibson Fay-LeBlanc
his first collection of poems, Death of a Ventriloquist, was chosen by Lisa Russ Spaar for the Vassar Miller Prize and published in 2102. His
Roger Dutton
is the designer /typographer of The Café Review and a student of the poetry of James Douglas Morrison.
Melissa Crowe
was born and raised in Presque Isle, Maine. She received her Bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Maine in 1996, her M.F.A. in
Erika Butler
is a writer, artist, and mediator who lives in Central Vermont. She is a member of the Writer’s Hotel Workshop, where she and Michael met for
Ralph Angel
is the author of five books of poetry, most recently Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986 – 2006 (2007 PEN USA Poetry Award), as well as a
Thomas D. Absher
is a Vermont College professor of liberal studies, has two books of poetry, Forms of Praise, published by Ohio State University Press, and The
Artist Biographies
Reviewers Biographies
Sharon Olinka
her poetry is in Borderlands: Texas Poetry Review, and has appeared recently in The Texas Observer and The San Antonio Express News. She moved
Kevin Sweeney
has degrees from California (PA) State College and the University of Massachusetts. He is the chair of the English Department at Southern Maine
Michael Macklin
1949 – 2012