Archive for November, 2009
Monday, November 30th, 2009
AN URGENT REQUEST by Sarah Luczaj
Review by Gerry Cobb
AN URGENT REQUEST
by Sarah Luczaj
Fortunate Daughter Press
Box 7887
Huntington Beach, CA 92612-7887
ISBN 978-1-893670-36-5
2009, 31 pp., $10.00
www.fortunatedaughter.wordpress.com
An Urgent Request, a chapbook by Sarah Luczaj, is the first publication from Fortunate Daughter Press, an imprint of the California-based publisher Tebot Bach. As stated in the front of the book, “The Fortunate Daughter mission is to [...]
No Comments » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Sunday, November 29th, 2009
“The Air is Cold” by Val Conder
Val Conder
THE AIR IS COLD
9:20 AM Israeli time, and
we step out of the hotel, into
a beautiful bright (they mostly are)
day. The streets of Haifa are thronged
with people coming and going, and
all seems well…for about 30 seconds.
Exquisite blue skies, soft breeze,
My wife is talking, when I notice
every third person is in uniform,
and every uniformed person is [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Saturday, November 28th, 2009
“Saving For Sleep” by Hannah Craig
Hannah Craig
SAVING FOR SLEEP
Night’s pitch-rolled on a deck of blight,
and hands, they call, all hands aboard.
Here’s the rigging of a dream—
you, and you, and a naked girl
before a throne of apples, gardens. A sway
in the sail—here we are, the boat
of my room, the belly, the bone stern
and prow. These gulls above me, heading south.
Oysters play [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Friday, November 27th, 2009
“How to Make Amends” by David James
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
David James
HOW TO MAKE AMENDS
He was hungry, so he ate the couch, the one with the pull-out bed. Of course, when the wife came home, she was disgusted.
“Now what will we sit on, asshole? Last week it was the coffee table; the week before, two kitchen chairs and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Audio, Poems, Tributes by Tim
Thursday, November 26th, 2009
“Why We Can’t Use Roundup On Our Lawn” by Maya Jewell Zeller
Maya Jewell Zeller
WHY WE CAN’T USE ROUNDUP ON OUR LAWN
1. As a girl, the black-branched plums
behind the far fence were mine because
a giant row of nettle and snowberry
blocked them from the cows. I’d lie in a crook
where many limbs came together
and move my tongue along the sticky tip
of a still-hanging fruit.
2. My palms have been [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
2009 Pushcart Prize Nominees
Rattle is proud to announce the following nominees for the 2009 Pushcart Prize:
Heather Bell – “Love” (#31)
Terrance Hayes – “Model Prison Model” (#31)
Lynne Knight – “To the Young Man…” (#32)
Howard Price – “Crow-Magnon” (#32)
Alison Townsend – “The Only Surviving Recording…” (#32)
Patricia Smith – “Motown Crown” (#32)
In addition to a chance at representing RATTLE in [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Announcements by Tim
Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
DREAMING THE END OF WAR by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Review by Cindy Williams Gutiérrez
DREAMING THE END OF WAR
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz
Copper Canyon Press
P.O. Box 271
Port Townsend, WA 98368
ISBN 1-55659-239-6
$15.00, 71 pp., 2006
www.coppercanyonpress.org
“You must read this book in one sitting: it’s an unforgettable experience.” Joseph Bednarik of Copper Canyon Press wasn’t exaggerating. Dreaming the End of War by Benjamin Alire Sáenz turned out [...]
No Comments » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Tuesday, November 24th, 2009
“Making a Living” by Brent Fisk
Brent Fisk
MAKING A LIVING
I’m dreaming of the place in the woods
where the deer sleeps, the hole in the grass where it hid.
Mother dreams of coffee cups rimmed with lipstick,
of white plates, knife-marked, stacked along a counter.
And father has gone to the factory,
leaves only a space in the snow where the car covered gravel,
leaked oil, a [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Monday, November 23rd, 2009
“We Suggest You Start Talking Immediately” by Evan Rail
Evan Rail
WE SUGGEST YOU START TALKING IMMEDIATELY
Anyone can become a police.
—Martin Amis
Even here, even tonight,
in this just-used borrowed bedroom,
either of us could be a policeman
kicking down the closed doors of alibis,
of our lies. Each of us
could investigate the case
back to its origin: the modus operandi,
motive and opportunity
for earlier love.
Do we not know the score?
Criminals [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Sunday, November 22nd, 2009
“Broke” by Bonnie Young
Bonnie Young
BROKE
An unusual joy churns
inside, unspoken.
Within a tornado, pressure
is low. Calmly I notice light
striking our old oak table,
the burnished wood. A newspaper
lies open. No need to read
the ads. No shopping to plan.
No recipes to follow. No
ingredients. A house explodes
from inside. Outside a siren.
Three children, laboring husband.
Early summer. Wild
strawberries, apricots
begin to color. Neighbors
offer their trees. We [...]
