jubilat's sensibility is often curious, quizzical, interested in guessing, as poets frequently do— and I’ve been thinking, recently, about what guessing does to one's imagination — not only the acceptance of ‘not-knowing’ for certain, but also, and here I think, more importantly, the surprise-canvas of thin air.

In thinking about all the questions I am having to ask & answer recently, most of which have arrived in numerical form so as to accompany the end of the fiscal year, I’ve been glad to find a great wealth of wild guesses in the archives of jubilat.

First is a terrific poem by Jono Tosch, called "Thomas Merton", published in jubilat 21 and accompanied by a video I love very much, here … in which we are dealing with questions like

Can a sandwich make another sandwich?

and lines like

I want to die in a nice delicatessen 
with all the lights off except for one,
the light on the bread.

…

Read the poem & watch the video.

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Next is one of my favorite interviews in jubilat history— in December 2011, Matthea Harvey conducted a JOKE Q&A interview with then five-year-old Max Timchak in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. The full interview is available in jubilat 22 and online here … and is providing us with all the answers…. to questions like…

Matthea: Why do shirts look so plain? 
Max: Because the people, they're hopeless. 

Matthea: Why is hair always grey?
Max: Because they're pumas.

Matthea: Why do alligators never wear sweatshirts?
Max: Because they have rectangle bodies. 

…

Read the interview.

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Finally, I leave you with a few lines from "Should I learn a new language?", a poem by Rachel B. Glaser, for when one might feel like rejecting the requests of reality. 

SHOULD I LEARN A NEW LANGUAGE

by Rachel B. Glaser

 

 

 

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Jono Tosch is a woodworker, artist, and poet who lives in Northampton, Massachusetts. He is the author of the chapbooks Under Sea (Chuckwagon Press) and Probably (Kendra Steiner Editions). You can find some of his non-poetry works on Etsy, shop name "orchardspoonworks."

Rachel B. Glaser is the author of MOODS, Pee On Water, and Paulina & Fran (forthcoming 9/1/15).

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Compiled by Halie Theoharides, managing editor of jubilat.