Poem
November Again
Peter Bushyeager
It’s November and there’s
a steady stream without
stagnation or scum as glitter
resurfaces in the trash mound
political races raise fear
and candidates come clean about
dark money cast into shady corners.
Po...
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Review
Broadway for Paul by Vincent Katz – Review
Greg Masters
Broadway for Paul
by Vincent Katz
Knopf
$27
Often matter-of-fact in tone, stripped of rococo embellishment or flowery pretense, these poem-objects by poet, art writer and translator Vincent Katz stand as testimony to keen observance and thoughtful assessment. The voice is conversational, as if the poet and reader were seated at an outdoor café sharing a pot of good coffee sheltered for the moment from the rush of activity and liberated from destination.
I felt charged tuning into the, at times, seemingly spontaneous improvisation, the poet boldly applying pen to paper as his thought stream issues forth, one observance noted down which then spawns a reflection, the thought allowed to move where it may as quick as a sax solo; for instance, catching the delight in a woman smiling at a baby on the subway. The observations are coralled into form, the passion of the personal journalism contained in the poems' elegant structure.
T...
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Writing
Mac Davis & Christmas Crime in Beverly Hills
Suzi Kaplan Olmsted
Mac Davis died today
He wrote music for Elvis, or something
I was a terrible flute player
I'm not sure if I remember it correctly
I'm not sure why my memories are so fuzzy about it, either
I was having some bouts of ...
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Poem
Excerpt from PANDEMIC DIARY
Wanda Phipps
Thursday, September 17, 2020
slo-mo melting images
in my brain
dali does a cartwheel
california’s burning
orange skies
smoke wired through clouds
do I hear fireworks
In the middle of the night
in new york
or ...
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Poem
A Translator’s Fare thee well!In Memoriam Steve Dalachinsky (1946-2019)
Jürgen Schneider
You didn't want to be called a poet
that's what you once said:
I am a tree without roots fixed in its wanderings
a misplaced garden of endless possibilities.
What I’ve done for the better part of my life
besides comp...
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Writing
Hard candy
Carrie Magness Radna
He always wanted love
more delicious than
hard candy
couldn’t ever get enough—
never could quench down the fire
in his loins, in his mouth
and she was red-hot
once upon a time,
before their kid, before the fa...
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Poem
TIFFANY AND ERIC AND DON JR AND KIMBERLY COMPLAIN: THE LEFT IS TRYING TO CANCEL US (WELL BOO HOO TO THAT)
George Wallace
So, Tiffany and Eric and Don Jr and Kim Guilfoyle say those opposed to daddy's form of government are trying to silence them. That it is radical and unfair to speak out against his style of political discourse -- by which I ...
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Poem
BURROW
Olena Jennings
We were trapped inside.
We used to throw our cigarette butts
out the window.
We were leaving pieces of ourselves
everywhere then.
The soles of my shoes crumbled
and the threads of my shirts unraveled.
He came to se...
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Writing
Three Poems by Vladimir Gandelsman
Anna Halberstadt
***
И от любви остаётся горстка
пепла, не больше напёрстка.
Нет, не страшно стало душе
быть нелюбимой уже.
Вот тебе рукави�...
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Poem
Across the Wounded City
Kevin R. Pennington
I.
Riding the bus,
going to the doctor.
Today, it’s the psychiatrist.
Tomorrow the therapist.
I ride in silence,
staring at my phone.
The trip is long,
as measured in poetic
meter. Too many stops
for an en...
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Poem
Steve Cannon’s Parting Words
Jim Feast
were usually, “Here take $20” or “Take this $40”
which was to pay for stuff at the bodega
I read to him late Saturday afternoons, and, as no one was usually due to drop by till Sunday, I got the supplies before I...
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Poem
Ordinary Death in the Time of Plague
Peter Marti
RIP Vincent Zangrillo
One by one the pillars we lean on crumble into
an equally impossible horizon—
you are gone and the City you loved is far away
the dead command the living now, are afforded
freezer-trucks bu...
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Readings
Sensitive Skin Beer Virus Reading #11 – William Considine, Maggie Dubris and Andrei Codrescu
William Considine
Another in our virtual(ly) endless series of online Beer Virus readings during quarantine! The smart reading series with the stupid name! This week, June 4, 2020, features:
- William Considine (3:22)
- Maggie Dubris (18:...
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Poem
What Will Come of It All
Ron Kolm
I’m sitting
In the Parkside Lounge
With a good friend, drinking
Too many White Russians
And bemoaning
The state of the world.
“What’s going to happen?”
I ask her.
“Well,” she says,
“There wi...
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Readings
Sensitive Skin Beer Virus Reading #10 – Peter Bushyeager, Patricia Carragon and George Wallace
Peter Bushyeager
Sensitive Skin magazine presents yet another in our seemingly endless series of online readings during quarantine! This week's show, recorded live via Zoom on May 28, 2020, features:
- Peter Bushyeager (0:00)
- Patricia...
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