Myth central

Author: Paul A Trout

If David Letterman  is to be believed, Deer fly prey on human flesh. Then who needs a mythical Hawaiian shark.
I didnt realise the importance of creation myth, all the time we were taught about Manu  and Kalpavriksha. 

Blue Lyra Review

From a common thing as Spring Training, Peter Serchuk ages the poem by a life, dispelling the players.
Lyra is an interesting myth. 

Once in Moonlight, part of Walking in stone.
The 'rocking' in the poem comes back to you long after you read the poem and relaxes you.

Untaco Tuesdays

I came across Philomela in Has poetry changed?. Itylus, a character in that myth is an inspiration for another poem. Myths charm so many poets.

Isles of Scilly

Miscellany

Author: Joe Brainard

'I remember' section is funny. A movie on it.

The Umbrellas of Cherbourg - Makes one wonder how you would react in the end in the place of 'Guy'.
Jane Froman

Place

Author: James Longenbach

A review

Venice has keys in it. It is the title poem.
Greek Myths and art are in many of the poems.
With some say, the poet captures the mutability of myth

Derain painter
Honore Desmond Sharrer painter
Diodorus Siculus historian
cerements
twice told tale of how fig trees are saved from the frost
Meleager poet
Madonna dell'Orto church
Tintoretto painter
Zattere
Santa Maria dei Miracoli, Venice
Rio di San Barnaba
Tibullus
Ceres (mythology) - cereal
Carl Andre Stone field
square paper clips with heart at the centre
Aeolus - blue painting
Orpheus - Sati Savitri
Daedalus - Ariadne - Labyrinth
Naxos
Ampelos
Leto
Anacreon
Hephaestus
Gadara in Three Epitaphs. With grave codes only one is possible.

An interview

What roars in the morning

Author: Michael Ryan

The first poem is 60th birday dinner . Age and morning have been in his mind before in Poem at Thirty.
Airplane food is  a poem where an insipid act brings about a paper pop up of furious characters.You can imagine what a tapestry he can weave with sewing needle in sandwich.
Petting Zoo - His 'darling torturer' and the fate of the animals. The playful mood changes to grim in 'This morning' poem.
Mug. I am reminded of my favourite yellow mug that I remember from a diet time.
Garbage truck. An unusual subject to voice its feelings but being the sole consolidator of what we throw, it sure has a say.
'Miss Joy' - But she couldnt give her son the chance to flourish
                  unless she gave herself the chance in spirit


A poem and postmortem
More poems

a review

Real and Abstract

Author: Laura Kasischke
Some prose poems.

Before the poems begins there's a riddle.

In the poems too, there are three poems that are titled riddle. the poet finds the complexity of life of a single person puzzling.

'A wolf rolling in ashes' in The photograph album in the junk shop seems to be a line from the Bible but I dont understand it. There's another reference to Bible being saved in a fire that took the family.

How many hearts does an earthworm have, a question that you are likely to ask after reading apoem that inspired an artist to do this painting.

In 'Look', the commitment of  'a girl at the bookstore determined to read every f***ing magazine on this shelf for free' reminded me of Joe Brainard's determination to tear page 48 of every book in the Boston Public Library.

'Near Misses' is something everyone can relate to. 'I remembered to blow out the candle burning on the table beside me'. Good for her. Have you ever seen Ikea candle warnings? The first one had me hooked. Something that new parents need to remember, replacing the candle with the baby.

In 'Atoms on Loan', 'Who are we? without one another,'

Abigor

The poet makes abstractness palatable by sneaking it in like mom hiding the veggies in your food.

David - Dawood

Author: Elana bell

Abu - father of
The key

Puerto Rican folktales

The Three Wishes: A Collection of Puerto Rican Folktales

Puerto Rican folktales

More tales

'The Three Wishes' book has returning characters Juan Bobo, Lazy Peter. Young men vying for the princess in marriage, fighting devil, dragon and witches.

'The Animal Musicians' similar to Town Musicians of Bremen reminded me of The Sky Is Falling. 

'The Ant in search of her leg' has a sequence of actions that are told in the whole sequence  - Cumulative tale, in the manner of This Is the House That Jack Built.

An Indian Folktale - King and seven sons

In Defense of Sainty: The Best Essays of G.K. Chesterton

In A Piece of Chalk
Chesterton calls
pocket-knife
an infant of the sword

In the hands of teachers and painters

I pushed into the colour sketch. Chalk. I was reminded of the npr article Thinking too much about chalk, that I didnt have time for at the time I read the title but now I had to make time for it. The npr article also refers to    
Chesterton's essay on chalk.
The first sketch article referred to Pocahontas. I learnt of her yesterday in America: The Story of Us. I heard of her before but didnt know anything about the person.
Willem De Kooning - Door to the River

Occupied by daisies

Connie Wanek 's poem  Butter starts in a modern day kitchen but takes us to a time of Butter Molds. When the subject is common, the time dimension adds texture to the poem.
The first line 'Butter like love' now wants me to go back in time to love of that time too.
She has written on peaches and garlic. On a note similar to the peaches poem, I read of an apples poem.

Iowa review Vol 38 No 2

The Iowa Review (Vol. 38, No. 2, Fall 2008)


Ra hee duk -The custom of Aerial Burial and other poems - xerosis

short short stories of Alex Epstein leave the effect of a Grapeshot on a reader subjecting them to different transformations in each little work.

The back cover has the names of contributors in a poem format with rhyme and all.

In "Note from the Estrscans', brandon Krieg uses a powerful metaphor.

'.. the stream will run through
the comb of your bones without straightening'.