One joy in American poetry at the moment is the variety of outlets — Poetry Market claimed 1,800 markets, a year or so ago; that’s a lot of poems with homes. There’s a sense of maybe a spot for everyone. Cowboy poems, spoken word, high lit, plainspoken, you can find stuff in pretty much any direction. I got a rejection from a tony mag today, asking for more dynamic language and surprising imagery. A reasonable request for a certain style of magazine to make — they are aiming for the twist, the utter surprise, the rapturously new. (I haven’t reviewed my poems yet to hunt the source of their concern). But magazines that emphasize the new so heavily often underemphasize the emotive aspect; the deep resonances; cuz archetypes are not, by their nature, new. Which isn’t to say they can’t be turned on their heads! So it’s nice there’s a variedad.
Some very good poems found homes in the current Avocet, which is more on the plain language, emotive end of the scale, I would say. “Earthen Hands,” by Steve Ausherman has some startling language. “The morning…feels barefoot and sun burnt…It is a place to cut off your hair with a rusting knife // And start all over again.” With that powerful ending we love to see.
“Econ Epiphany,” by Jerome L. McElroy is enjoyabubble – “I pry my way inside her eyes // and trace her halting footprints.”
“Flea On A Towel,” by Lenny Emmanuel has a fun slant view of life as a flea. “No doubt he would welcome // another flea, even for a moment // to communicate his predicament, // privately, a sort of flea to flea.” Love those internal rhymes. And this poem keeps getting deeper and throwing off extra meanings, until it ends as quite a powerful poem indeed.
But I think I will rank it as a tie for my favorite of the issue, with “The Nurse,” by Bill Freedman. “the sky is jittery with swabs of cotton…the kind field medics use // to soak up blood.” Which poem has such a unique narrative voice and point of view (kind of a crabby one) that draws me in to the poem, then quietly releases me at the end.
Such a joy is poetry.
P M F Johnson
My eBook of poems, Against The Night, a sweet, rueful look at love in a long marriage, is available on Amazon, and at other fine e-retailers.
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