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Poetic License [by Jim Cummins]
I booked a four-way once. I was sitting in a bar when War & Peace sidled up and sat down on the stool next to me. "Gotta light?" she asked in a heavy Moscow accent.…
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The Haiku Masters of Japan drop in for a visit [by David Lehman]
Thanks to Bob Hass, I'mreading the haiku mastersof Japan — Basho, Buson and Issa —in one essential book: TheEssential Haiku, published by Ecco,with smart intro and usefulnotes by Mr. Hass. Examples follow.(Translators do not observestrict…
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The Many Faces of “Oy!” [by Mitch Sisskind]
"Oy" is one of the greatest words in any language and I've noticed that people of all backgrounds quickly pick it up and start using it. Let's take a look at some situations in…
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Cornelius Eady: Pick of the Week [ed. Terence Winch]
photo by Yoon Kim _____________________________________________________________ Handymen The furnace wheezes like a drenched lung. You can’t fix it. The toilet babbles like a speed freak. You can’t fix it. The fuse box is a…
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“One Thousand Words about Harry Mathews” [by Mary Maxwell]
In some sense he brought it on himself. Given his predilection for complex games of identity, why would anyone take Harry Mathews seriously as a poet? Yes, he was there at the…
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Harry Mathews, “Cool gales shall fan the glades,” a sestina [by Harry Mathews, Feb 14, 1930 – January 25, 2017]
Cool gales shall fan the glades But how choose the appropriate sticking point to start at?|Who wants to write a poem without the letter e,Especially for Thee, where the flourished vowel lends such panache to…
