Archive for April, 2009
Thursday, April 30th, 2009
BUNDLE O’ TINDER by Rose Kelleher
Review by Mary Meriam
BUNDLE O’ TINDER
by Rose Kelleher
The Waywiser Press
P.O. Box 6025
Baltimore, MD 21206
ISBN: 978-1904130-33-8
2008, 88 pp., £7.99
www.waywiser-press.com
Why do we read poems? Poems can be songs, prayers, chronicles, confessions, memories, meditations, complaints, portraits. Poems give us contact with the world and help us feel less alone. Reading a poem can be a moment of pleasure [...]
No Comments » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Wednesday, April 29th, 2009
“Building Nicole’s Mama” by Patricia Smith
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Patricia Smith
Building Nicole’s Mama
for the 6th grade class of Lillie C. Evans School, Liberty City, Miami
I am astonished at their mouthful names—
Lakinishia, Chevellanie, Delayo, Fumilayo—
their ragged rebellions and lip-glossed pouts,
and all those pants drooped as drapery.
I rejoice when they kiss my face, whisper wet
and urgent in my ear, make [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Audio, Poems, Tributes by Megan
Tuesday, April 28th, 2009
“Present” by Brent Fisk
Brent Fisk
PRESENT
Unlearning the language,
her tongue becomes pure muscle, its strength
lies in secrets and silence.
Her eyes have the look of surprise,
the gaze of someone answering a door.
Long past confusing daughter with mother,
or sister with childhood friend,
she waits in a bright blue dress
on her 83rd birthday,
legs crossed at the ankle,
a smile stuck to her lips.
She knows to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Monday, April 27th, 2009
“My Father’s Coat” by Marc Kelly Smith
Marc Kelly Smith
MY FATHER’S COAT
I’m wearing my father’s coat.
He has died. I didn’t like him,
But I wear the coat.
I’m wearing the coat of my father,
Who is dead. I didn’t like him,
But I wear the coat just the same.
A younger man, stopping me on the street,
Has asked,
“Where did you get a coat like that?”
I answer that [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Sunday, April 26th, 2009
“I Wanted to Be” by Marc Kelly Smith
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Marc Kelly Smith
I WANTED TO BE
I wanted to be so many things.
Bigger than I was.
A tall tower of building blocks.
A shoelace tied so fast.
Jelly spread smoothly
to the corners of the bread.
I wanted to be so good.
A smile on everyone’s face.
Folded hands. A clean desk.
All the numbers added up
digit under [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Audio, Poems, Tributes by Megan
Saturday, April 25th, 2009
LAWRENCE BOOTH’S BOOK OF VISIONS by Maurice Manning
Review by Casey Thayer
LAWRENCE BOOTH’S BOOK OF VISIONS
by Maurice Manning
Yale University Press
P.O. Box 209040
New Haven, CT 06520-9040
ISBN 9-780300-089981
2001, 80 pp., $16.00
http://yalepress.yale.edu
The Yale Series of Younger Poets has a long history of highlighting the most promising new talents in American poetry, among them John Ashbery, Jack Gilbert, James Tate, and Robert Hass. However, perhaps due [...]
No Comments » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Friday, April 24th, 2009
“After the Bowling Stopped” by Thadra Sheridan
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Thadra Sheridan
AFTER THE BOWLING STOPPED
Last night,
this guy played guitar on stage,
and it made me think of you, because
you play guitar on stage.
So I spent the next fifteen minutes
running a mental slide show.
LOS ANGLES:
You gave me half of your egg salad sandwich.
INDIANAPOLIS:
You grab me, because
the smell of gasoline on my [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in Audio, Poems, Tributes by Megan
Thursday, April 23rd, 2009
“Aurora Borealis” by György Faludy
György Faludy
AURORA BOREALIS
Between clouds I looked up at the sky and down on the ground:
snow clouds, snow cover, the same above as below.
The freeze was sitting everywhere, busy at work:
its huge green needle had the whole Bering Sea to sew.
After landing we hunted Japanese soldiers for seven days.
I shared my army ration with seals at [...]
2 Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Wednesday, April 22nd, 2009
“T.S. Eliot’s Lost Hip Hop Poem” by Jeremy Richards
Jeremy Richards
T.S. ELIOT’S LOST HIP HOP POEM
Let us roll then, you and I,
the evening stretched out against the sky
like a punk ass I laid out with my phat rhymes.
The eternal footman is no one to fuck with.
Alas, he shall bring the ruckus.
You think that you can step
to this, and Lo, I hear your steps like [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Tuesday, April 21st, 2009
“Accidental Potatoes” by Derek Economy
Derek Economy
ACCIDENTAL POTATOES
The history of intentions is overgrown
with rogue vines and unwanted blossoms.
Our potatoes, you might call them weeds,
sprouted from compost amid the peppers,
unplanned if not unplanted.
We simply lacked purpose, our vision
clouded by our own designs.
Yet here was a plan, not ours,
that we performed like true disciples.
And they in turn did as potatoes
have come to [...]
