Archive for December, 2009
Thursday, December 31st, 2009
“Ode to the Bedpan” by Janice N. Harrington
Janice N. Harrington
ODE TO THE BEDPAN
Consider the arching hips, the buttocks
squeezed, thrust upward and then pressed
to that metal lip, almost sexually. Consider
the bedpan—shit bucket, hat—its adaptable
demeanor: triangular, oval, saddled, slippershaped,
sloped, enameled, plastic, antique
porcelain, disposable, yellow to match the pitcher
and the plastic glass, spoon-colored or blue,
the faithful servant who bears away
the human ordure, its stench and [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Wednesday, December 30th, 2009
THE BROTHER SWIMMING BENEATH ME by Brent Goodman
Review by Sean Patrick Conlon
THE BROTHER SWIMMING BENEATH ME
by Brent Goodman
Black Lawrence Press
P.O. Box 327
Theresa, NY 13691
ISBN 1934703397
2009, 63 pp., $14.00
http://www.blacklawrencepress.com/
the brother swimming beneath me is an exciting collection of poems from Brent Goodman. Largely autobiographical, it contains familiar stories of loss and lust, self-discovery and self-loathing, coming of age and coming out. [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Tuesday, December 29th, 2009
“Mucambo” by Myronn Hardy
Myronn Hardy
MUCAMBO
There is one street-light in
the twenty mile stretch violet kryptonite.
We are walking three
in a row wax idols as earth melts to garnets.
I am beat-boxing (no one would
believe this) the Bronx ubiquitous.
The others are rapping something
by an emcee from São Paulo dead
the year before the claim suicide.
The newspapers lie dark
victims abbreviated. Hemispheric
history slithers through capillaries.
We stop at Rodrigo’s house.
The gate squeaks a gaunt black
chicken runs [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Monday, December 28th, 2009
From “Beirut (1982-84): A Cycle of Poems” by Michael Campagnoli
Michael Campagnoli
from BEIRUT (1982 –84): A CYCLE OF POEMS
In the Bar of the Commodore
The shelling had gone on for 24 hours, but
Fouad was smiling. Coco, the parrot, was skilled
at imitating the incoming. She’d whistle and everyone
would duck.
“At least they’re not aiming at us,” I said
(I was still young then).
“That’s precisely what does worry me,” Kittredge,
the [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Sunday, December 27th, 2009
“Say It, Say It Anyway You Can” by Vievee Francis
Vievee Francis
SAY IT, SAY IT ANYWAY YOU CAN
He hit her in the back of the head. Truth—finds its own coarse measure. Not long out of diapers I wore purple hot pants and danced a funky chicken. There was the boogaloo, and my aunt’s red wig that went over her hair. I knew men, even then. [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Saturday, December 26th, 2009
“Load” by Christine Butterworth-McDermott
Christine Butterworth-McDermott
LOAD
The girl on the bench in the Laundromat is barely eleven, the kind of girl with no hint of a figure—no future cup waiting to overflow, all soft baby curves. She’ll stay that way until she’s fifty-five, except then she’ll no longer be cute, she’ll be a statistic which typifies her State. But now, [...]
1 Comment » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Friday, December 25th, 2009
THE VOICES: THE POETRY OF PSYCHIATRY by Nancy Kerrigan
Review by Jackie Fox
THE VOICES: THE POETRY OF PSYCHIATRY
by Nancy Kerrigan
Finishing Line Press
Post Office Box 1626
Georgetown, KY 40324
ISBN 1-59924-420-9
30 pp., $12.00
www.finishinglinepress.com
Since I was a mental health worker in a previous life, I was instantly intrigued by Nancy Kerrigan’s chapbook The Voices: The Poetry of Psychiatry. Kerrigan is a psychiatric nurse and knows this confusing [...]
3 Comments » - Posted in E-Reviews by Megan
Thursday, December 24th, 2009
“A Few Excuses” by Thomas Sayers Ellis
Thomas Sayers Ellis
A FEW EXCUSES
It’s not my fault
I don’t know any.
I can’t tell them apart either.
I come from a very traditional family.
Diversity darkens.
It’s not my fault.
A Jones drives dad
and a Williams wheels mom.
I can’t tell them apart either.
The copyrights of culture.
Blacks acting white. Whites acting black.
It’s not my fault.
Class my ass.
He’s an elitist. She’s too [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems, Tributes by Megan
Wednesday, December 23rd, 2009
“Far” by Bruce Bond
Bruce Bond
FAR
Whatever I am near, she reads,
you are nearer. Then she looks up,
a small boy and page in her lap,
each there at a reader’s distance,
the sweet spot of the not too far.
This closet heart, the one that keeps
such dark, unreliable time—
is that where I am closest, locked,
in this thing I never see or hope to.
Or [...]
No Comments » - Posted in Poems by Megan
Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009
“They Win the Upper Hand” by Camille T. Dungy
Camille T. Dungy
THEY WIN THE UPPER HAND
There exists, between the woman and the pads of her busy thumbs,
a long running feud
caused by her thumbs’ need to turn over her engine.
The woman wants to settle. Get out of the car
she tells herself, her thumbs included.
Her thumbs are incredulous. They are rearing to go.
Still, the pads of [...]
