Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Poetry. Show all posts

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Poetry: Weaving the Boundary by Karenne Wood


Weaving the Boundary by Karenne Wood is, without a doubt, one of my favorite books of the year.

The very thorough summary for this poetry volume states that the collection "explores personal and collective memories and contemporary American Indian realities through lenses of human loss, desire, violence, and love." Yes it does, and, the success of that exploration originates with how Wood expresses those realities through poetry, and weaves history with contemporary issues. Her prose is gentle, lyrical or vigorous one moment, and deeply intimate the next. And haunting, always haunting! This powerful poetry collection shines with truth. Highly recommended.

All four parts of Weaving the Boundary: Keep Faith, Heights, Past Silence, and The Naming are meaningful and intense. Tough as it was to choose, I decided to highlight an excerpt from The Naming.

The Naming (excerpt)

******
Names have determined the world.
To use them, call language out whole,
immersing yourself in its sounds.
We are made from words, stories,
infinite chances through which
we imagine ourselves. Estranging
ourselves from the sensual world
in which language was born, we will die.

What if, as through history, a language
dies out, if its names cannot be uttered
or if they exist mapped
as place markers no one interprets:
Passapatanzy, Chattanooga, Saratoga?
They are part of the ground,
a language of vanishing symbols.

******

Is this what we are now?
fragmented,
a language of shattered dispersal?

Grief keeps watch
across a field darker than water.
We live in a wounded space,
voiceless cries breaking with all
utterance, even the idea of utterance.

Without a vocabulary, how
does the story continue? in words
that have murdered the people
before us, their voices airborne
like corn pollen, out into the desert?

----------
About the Author: Karenne Wood holds an MFA in poetry from George Mason University and a PhD in linguistic anthropology from the University of Virginia. She is an enrolled member of the Monacan Indian Nation and has served on the Monacan Tribal Council for many years. She directs the Virginia Indian Programs at the Virginia Foundation for Humanities.

Highlighting: Weaving the Boundary by Karenne Wood


Evocative, haunting, and ultimately hopeful, Karenne Wood’s Weaving the Boundary explores personal and collective memories and contemporary American Indian realities through lenses of human loss, desire, violence, and love.

This focused, accessible collection carries readers into a deep and intimate understanding of the natural world, the power of language, and the interconnectedness of life. Untold stories are revealed through documented events in various tribal histories, and indictments of destructive encounters between Western colonialism and Native peoples are juxtaposed with a lyric voice that gently insists on reweaving the past, honoring women and all life, creating a sovereign space for indigenous experience. Wood writes, “Nothing was discovered. Everything was already loved.”

Political yet universal, Weaving the Boundary tells of love and betrayal, loss and forgiveness. Wood intertwines important and otherwise untold stories and histories with a heightened sense of awareness of Native peoples’ issues and present realities.

Moving from elegy to evocations of hope and desire, the poems call for respect toward Mother Earth and feminine sensibility. One hears in this collection a longing to be carried deeper into the world, to return to tradition, to nature, to truth, to an innate belonging in the “weaving” of all life.

Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
Publication Date: March 24, 2016
$16.95 Paper; Electronic edition available
96 Pages, 6 x 9

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

@my brother's poetry reading

Long day at work with a headache to boot! I have a couple of reviews on the works, but unfortunately not for tonight. So, a personal note with a bookish theme.

I'm always mentioning my two older brothers, either in posts or comments, mainly because they have always influenced my reading and, hopefully, I have influenced theirs. We read, read, read. We debate, discuss, agree, disagree, and agree to disagree. It's great fun!

So here is some news. Back in March, my eldest brother Noel was invited to read his poetry at the King Juan Carlos I of Spain Center at NYU. The first picture was taken during the reading, and the one with the three of us was taken during the reception that took place afterward-- that's my brother Alex on the right.

Noel's next poetry volume, in Spanish, will release this summer. Although I have never mentioned it here before, we are all very proud of his work -- past and present.






Thursday, May 19, 2016

Poetry: Angel Park by Roberto F. Santiago




Angel Park, the debut poetry collection by Roberto F. Santiago, explores the intersections of identity (familial, gender, sexual, racial, ethnic, spiritual, class, and linguistic) vis-à-vis the vehicles of travel, or motion from the familiar to the new, the loss of innocence that occurs within the process of maturation.
Let's get this out of the way first. I love this powerful poetry collection, Roberto F. Santiago's strong voice, and recommend Angel Park to anyone who will listen.

Now, let's get down to the book. Those few lines above are an excellent summation of what I found in Angel Park. The collection flows smoothly as it progresses throughout its three sections: Home, Away, and Far Away. That exploration of identity mentioned in the summary -- familial, gender, sexual, ethnic, spiritual, class, and linguistic -- grows stronger with each poem, in each section, and it is fabulously integrated throughout the whole collection.

Although Home holds strong ethnic and familial poems -- "Café con Abuela," "¡Canta Conquí Canta!, "A Blessing," -- they are not exclusive to this section.  Home is where it all begins, however, with family and early personal experiences as the core. The section ends on a powerful note with a few poems such as "Some Birds are Exotic", "Self-portrait of a Boy Kicked Out of His House" and "The Lexington Avenue Line: III. Castle Hill Ave." "There is a boy with teardrops for eyelashes[…]" The end to Home, organically leads to Away.

In Away, the shortest section of the collection, Santiago's poems move away from early youth, gaining strength and momentum. There is a shift which, although personal in nature, sets out to discuss the very nature of racial, class and gender issues, as well as sexual identity. This momentum continues, leading to the last section, Far Away, where Santiago ends the collection by exploring queer life through bold, vibrant poems such as: "The Day He Became Queen," and "The Ways of Men."

Angel Park has been in my possession for a long time; since last year. I have read it many times since then and keep it at my bedside. I could not review it at the time. There is a good reason for that. A poem. The last poem. Was it written for me?

For Those Left Behind

When loss is all you have
left let me remind you
at cinnamon dusk
the dead can dance.

They percuss          the thrash of hearts
                            against their chests
                            with dribble bounce
                            and ball of foot

They timpani          pulse & rattle bone of ankle to knee
                             shimmy-crescendo their hips & neck

They raise              hands like flags
                            waive them like freedoms.

In the realm of the spirit
there is life, and then there is
consciousness. A stillness
of breath condensed

on top of another
like fermented prayer
I can hold in my hands
as the snow crashes down

take comfort in knowing
endings are never
as final as they sound.
This, too, shall pass.

--------------------------
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Roberto F. Santiago has an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University and is a Coordinator of Post-Secondary Education in San Francisco. He is a Lambda Literary Scholar and past recipient of the Alfred C. Carey Prize for Poetry. He lives in Oakland.

Wednesday, May 4, 2016

Poetry of Resistance: Voices for Social Justice ed. Francisco X. Alarcón, Odilia Galván Rodríguez

On April 20, 2010, nine Latino students chained themselves to the main doors of the Arizona State Capitol in an act of civil disobedience to protest Arizona’s SB 1070. Moved by the students’ actions, that same day Francisco X. Alarcón responded by writing a poem in Spanish and English titled “Para Los Nueve del Capitolio/ For the Capitol Nine,” which he dedicated to the students. The students replied to the poem with a collective online message. To share with the world what was taking place, Alarcón then created a Facebook page called “Poets Responding to SB 1070” and posted the poem, launching a powerful and dynamic forum for social justice.

Since then, more than three thousand original contributions by poets and artists from around the globe have been posted to the page. Poetry of Resistance offers a selection of these works, addressing a wide variety of themes, including racial profiling, xenophobia, cultural misunderstanding, violence against refugees, shared identity, and much more. Bringing together more than eighty writers, the anthology powerfully articulates the need for change and the primacy of basic human rights. Each poem shows the heartfelt dedication these writers and artists have to justice in a world that has become larger than borders.

Poetry of Resistance is a poetic call for tolerance, reflection, reconciliation, and healing.
The events that occurred in Arizona in 2010, and Arizona's SB 1070, were the subject of extensive discussions and debates at my home and among friends and family. As immigrants, none of us took these events lightly, particularly since at the time it seemed to be setting a dangerous precedent that would affect the civil rights of a large percentage of the population. As a result, I found myself identifying with many of the poems included in Poetry of Resistance.

In today's toxic and divisive political atmosphere, this powerful poetry volume is both relevant and sorely needed. Perhaps more so than ever.

As an example, I've chosen to highlight one of my many favorite poems.
OLMECAN EYES

Lorna Dee Cervantes

Olmecan eyes gaze into the future,
a path of light piercing the forest,
heavy lidded with the past, ancient
sorrows carved into stone. With rain,
the present leaks into now, into the DNA
of fallen stars, the mystery of oceans
the settled silt of settling into culture

Olmecan eyes reborn. The infant
stone unfurling in our navels.
Another civilization reconquers
the wilderness of today. Sun devouring
Earth, we are shadows of the way
we were, beneath the shifting planets,
the comets, the desolate inconsolable moon.

Into the history of obsidian blades,
a human heart beats on the plate,
the slate of our division thinning
into someone's blood. The blood of
The People surging still beneath
the pursed lips, the pierced tongue,
the sudden pulse. We are The People

still. Our constitution stolen
from us in the fear. We rise, not
vengeful, but full of the peace
of knowing, our present tense.

------------

Juan Felipe Herrera, U.S. Poet Laureate: "Borders can be overcome with the revolutionary tenderness of poems. This anthology is an incredible assemblage of voices and letters that proves that collective poetry is the answer to the violence-filled policies that increasingly face us in these times."

Tuesday, May 5, 2015

Reading Note: Tapping My Arm For A Vein by Jim Elledge

I am finding:

Such tension, dark beauty, and emotion in this poetry volume! Fine control in the writing, and gorgeous language. I'm hyperventilating, panting almost, as I read Elledge's poems because they leave me breathless. . . the impact is quick and powerful. My heart is beating double time!




Wednesday, May 28, 2014

Maya Angelou (April 14, 1928 to May 28, 2014)

It has been announced that Maya Angelou: poet, civil rights activist, dancer, film producer, television producer, playwright, film director, author, actress, professor, and renowned author of "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings" (1969) died today. A three-time Grammy winner, nominated for a Pulitzer, a Tony, and an Emmy for her role in the television mini-series "Roots," Angelou was a woman whose works are admired, not only in America, but world-wide. On a personal note, Angelou is one of few authors/poets whose written works my daughter and I have shared, loved, and admired throughout the years.


From Maya Angelou's poetry collection I Shall Not Be Moved (Random House, 1990)

Still I Rise

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.

Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
'Cause I walk like I've got oil wells
Pumping in my living room.

Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainty of tides,
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I'll rise.

Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like teardrops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.

Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don't you take it awful hard
'Cause I laugh like I've got gold mines
Diggin' in my own back yard.

You may shoot me with your words,
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I'll rise.

Does my sexiness upset you?
Does it come as a surprise
That I dance like I've got diamonds
At the meeting of my thighs?

Out of the huts of history's shame
I rise
Up from a past that's rooted in pain
I rise
I'm a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear in the tide.

Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a daybreak that's wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise

I rise
I rise.


Sunday, August 4, 2013

Poetry: "Septipus" by Chip Livingston


For my brother N.

You are celebrating your birthday today in Montevideo, Uruguay with friends and family. I miss you. This poem from Chip Livington's poetry volume Crow-Blue, Crow-Black reminded me of you.

"Septipus"*
(for the seven-armed Uruguayan)
  1. One to hold the mate; to stop a taxi; to extend an index finger to push up loose-eared eyeglasses;
  2. One to crook the thermos, pour the water, and redirect cooked yerba with a silver bombilla; to light a cigarette;
  3. One to puff the Rojo; to gesture "WWWHat a pity!!";
  4. One to fine tune antennae and radiate little summer shocks; to tune the radio to María Rita, tango electronica, or The Cranberries;
  5. One to good-guard new amigos from uneven stones and otras cosas peligrosas, bothers and malaria; to offer the growing moon, fireworks;
  6. One to scribble a waitress a phone number; to correct a stress from an Italian accent;
  7. One of rare perspective to photograph, spell out poetry, convert incantations, cast ordinary objects artesanal
Together these brown arms shoulder the mochila,
sign shipping orders, protect candles, smudge a room
with incense; they envelop children in abrazos.
Embrace me also in these seven alchemical arms.
Make the tambores jealous. Take my hand as we
walk along the rambla becoming a new metal. 

Besos!


*Copyright © 2012 Chip Livingston

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Poetry Highlight: Waxwings by Daniel Nathan Terry

Cover by Benjamin Billingsley
"Icarus 1"
(acrylic on canvas, 16x20, 1996)
"Waxwings is a book that takes observation, meditation, and memory as seriously as men and women take life and death. These elegiac lyrics show that Daniel Nathan Terry is unafraid of putting his experiences to use in the making of poems that ache after transcendence and long for revelation." -- Jericho Brown, author of Please
"Observation, meditation, and memory, as seriously as men and women take life and death." What a magnificent way of saying what I found in this book. In WaxwingsDaniel Nathan Terry lets it all hang out through his poetry. He connects with the reader as his experiences are revealed with deep emotions, truth, and underlying passion that come through each individual poem.

Terry is a former horticulturist. His passion for nature lights up the pages as he explores heartbreaking and at times heartwarming childhood memories, sexual discovery, loss, and love through poetry. I read Waxwings twice in one sitting, and then once again for good measure.
Scarecrow*

Scarecrow crafter, burlap-tailor,
black-eye smudger, when I'm done,
crows mistake you for a man:
silent shooer, stock-still farmer,
to them alone a tartan terror.
I fisted through your flannel,
spiced your straw with artemisia,
puffed your chest with wilted-rue,
perfumed your thighs with summer sweet---
another half-attempt at love---to keep
the flies from you, who do not care
if you are flesh or straw; stand still in June,
they will devour you. If they don't and you see
the summer through, the sun, the wind, the rain
make fast work of you until your pie-pan hands
cease to flutter and the crows
begin to mutter that you can't be much.
Winter comes. Now the squash begins
to earn its name; cold snaps beans.
Like tomatoes that turn from green to glass
my red for you is missing.
How long before the snow and I
take you down?
❧❧❧❧❧❧

About the author: Daniel Nathan Terry, a former landscaper and horticulturist, is the author of Capturing the Dead, (NFSPS 2008) which won the Stevens Prize, and a chapbook, Days of Dark Miracles (Seven Kitchens Press 2011). He teaches English at the University of North Carolina Wilmington and serves on the advisory board of One Pause Poetry.

Category: Poetry
Length: 68 Pages
Publisher/Release Date: Lethe Press/July 1, 2012

*Copyright © 2012 Daniel Nathan Terry

Saturday, May 4, 2013

Poetry: Looking for The Gulf Motel by Richard Blanco

I finally read Richard Blanco's collection of poems, Looking for The Gulf Motel. Simply said, I connected with Blanco's poetry, his search for cultural identity and love of family. These are the notes I wrote right after reading the book: Blanco uses a narrative style in this emotional biographical piece that touched and in some ways soothed me. I recognized and connected with many of his personal conflicts as the child of a loving, if tough and judgmental, immigrant Cuban family. I laughed in some places, but strongly felt his emotional anguish and nostalgia in others. This is a book I will definitely re-read.

However, although in the first section of the book Blanco explores his childhood, family relationships, and Cuban cultural ties, the second section is dedicated to struggles with family, sexual identity, and the gay lifestyle, while the last section turns introspective and is dedicated to loss, particularly the loss of those family members who are irreplaceable not only because they are deeply loved, but also because they maintain necessary cultural ties alive and kicking.

As the introductory poem to the first section of the book where Blanco features poems about his childhood, "Looking for The Gulf Motel" is particularly memorable. In this poem, Blanco searches for a place where with his parents and brother, he once spent a happy, almost idyllic vacation by the sea. He finds that although happy memories remain, everything changes with time and loss. "[. . .] I want to find The Gulf Motel exactly as it was / and pretend for a moment, nothing lost is lost."

In that first section where Blanco explores and searches for cultural identity, his poem "The Name I Wanted:" is a classic example of cultural ambivalence, and "Betting on America" brought back personal childhood memories, the last line of the poem in particular "¿Donde está Ohio?" is just classic! However, it is in "Cousin Consuelo, On Piano" that Blanco truly captures the sense of displacement felt by a first generation of children born to immigrants.
Cousin Consuelo, On Piano

[. . .]¡Guantanamera! . . .
I had to listen to my grandmother
caterwaul, dabbing the corners of her eyes,
her voice cracking over a country I didn't
know yet that had to love like Tía Miri did,
singing about el campo I never saw yet had
to feel Consuelo's notes rising into
mountains, resting in valleys, the click of her
nail-tips on the keys like rain falling in the
room, on my father. [. . .] I had to sing with
him like a real Cuban, had to feel displaced,
broken, beautiful -- and clap for more, had to
make Consuelo play Guantanamera twice,
three times, [. . .]
In the second section with such poems as "Playing House with Pepín," "Afternoons with Endora," and "Queer Theory: According to My Grandmother," displacement is intensified by a sense of not belonging as Blanco explores struggles with sexual identity and family views. In "Love as if Love," Blanco goes further with his poem about Elizabeth. ". . . / loving as if I could lover her." But of all these, I love "Thicker Than Country" best, a poem depicting Blanco's life with and love for partner Mark after they move to Maine. The last section of the book dealing with painful loss and remembrance is specially touching and contains some of my favorite poems, ending with the gorgeous"Since Unfinished." Following is an excerpt from one of those poems:
Some Days the Sea

[. . .]
I'm still a boy on this beach, wanting
to catch a seagull, cup a tiny silver fish,
build a perfect sand castle. Some days I am
a teenager blind to death even as I watch
waves seep into nothingness. Most days
I'm a man tired of being a man, sleeping
in the care of dusk's slanted light, or a man
scared of being a man, seeing some god
in the moonlight streaming over the sea.
Some days I imagine myself walking
this shore with feet as worn as driftwood,
old and afraid of my body. Someday,
I suppose I'll return someplace like waves
trickling through the sand, back to sea
without any memory of being, but if
I could choose eternity, it would be here:
aging with the moon, enduring in the space
between every grain of sand, in the cusp
of every wave and every seashell's hollow.
☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼ ☼

About the Author: Richard Blanco was selected as the 2013 inaugural poet for President Barack Obama. He is the author of two other poetry collections: Directions to The Beach of the Dead, winner of the PEN/Beyond Margins Award; and City of a Hundred Fires, winner of the Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize. Exploring themes of Latino identity and place, Blanco's poems have appeared in Best American Poetry 2000 and Best American Prose Poems and have been featured on NPR. He is a fellow of the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, recipient of two Florida Artist Fellowships, and has taught at Georgetown and American universities. A builder of cities and poems, Blanco is also a professional civil engineer.

Category: Poetry
Series: Pitt Poetry Series
Publisher/Release Date: University of Pittsburgh Press; February 28, 2012

Read interview with Richard Blanco at La Bloga. Visit Richard Blanco here.

All poems © 2012, Richard Blanco 

Sunday, April 28, 2013

Hilcia's Weekly Reads + News

It's Sunday and a beautiful day! Hope you are having a good day too! My schedule is a bit more relaxed and not only did I read this past week, but I had the chance to visit a few of my favorite sites  and found a few interesting bits to share.

Weekly Reading:

My week began with A Family Affair by Mary Campisi. I thought this book might be a romance, but it turned out to be more contemporary fiction with a romance that develops in the middle of the whole angst-ridden storyline about a dysfunctional family. When Chrissy's father dies, she finds out that for fourteen years he had a second, secret family. Devastated, she keeps the information from her mother and goes to confront his father's long-time mistress only to find more than she expected. Campisi uses the dual narrative style, alternating between Chrissie and her Uncle Harry. There's a problem with finding sympathetic or unselfish characters in this story, and the romance felt as if it was tagged on quickly after much hostility between the couple. I would say there's much promise in the premise and some good elements to the story, but the execution doesn't live up that promise. Grade C-

Next I decided to check out Megan Hart's upcoming release, The Favor.

This book is due to release on June 25th, but once I had it in my hot little hands I read it immediately! Why? Well, it's Megan Hart and once begun, I couldn't put the book down but will post my review closer to the release date. I can give this much information to fans of this author as clarification -- so the book can be read with the correct expectations and won't end up disappointing. The Favor falls under the contemporary fiction or literary fiction category, this book is NOT an erotic or a traditional romance. Reading a book with the right mind-set always helps me.

I followed up by picking up the digital edition of When Love Comes to Town by Tom Lennon.This is a "vintage" young adult LGBT book set in Ireland in the 1990's. This coming-out story was initially released 20 years ago.  In many respects it is dated, but sadly, I found that it is also still very relevant. I read this story with both time and place in mind, which was not easy to do. Additionally, despite the title of the book which makes it seem as if it is a romance, I would say that this story falls more under the gay fiction with romantic elements category. I enjoyed it and will review it soon.

I also read Changing Lanes by Kathleen Long. Which did not signify that I really changed lanes in my choice of reading material at all since this book is also contemporary or women's fiction. There is a romantic thread that runs through the storyline but it is not the focus of the story. I love that Changing Lanes is set in a very recognizable New Jersey, but I'll tell you all about that in my review. This book releases May 14th.

But of course I didn't just read fiction the whole week! I also read poetry.

Throughout the week I picked up and slowly read Senegal Taxi by Juan Felipe Herrera, a small volume of poetry that is both political and raw in content. Herrera uses the voices of three children to focus his poetry on the suffering and horrors of war in Darfur. Reading Senegal Taxi was a heart-wrenching experience that has not loosened its grip on me yet. Juan Felipe Herrera was appointed California's 2012 Poet Laureate. Upcoming highlights.


Looking for The Gulf Motel by Richard Blanco
is the other poetry volume I chose to read last week. Blanco's uses a narrative style in this emotional biographical piece that touched and in some ways soothed me. I recognized and connected with many of his personal conflicts as the child of a loving, if tough and judgmental, immigrant Cuban family. I laughed in some places, but strongly felt his emotional anguish and nostalgia in others. This is a book I will definitely re-read. Richard Blanco just won The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Poetry. Upcoming highlights.

And, I concluded my week by reading the novelette “The Fountain” by G. David Nordley from Asimov's SF Magazine. My first encounter with Nordley's work turned out to be solid. I enjoyed the science fiction details in this piece, but most of all I really like the way Nordley portrays an alien race that is so different from humans, yet end up teaching humans a lesson or two about compassion. I was absorbed by this piece all the way to the end. Read Carl's detailed review at SF Signal here. Grade: B
----------
News:
Replacing Google Reader: I am experimenting with Feedly vs. The Old Reader to see which one works for me. So far, I'm loving Feedly's format. It was a snap to transfer information across devices, and I found that it updates RSS signals quicker than The Old Reader.

Editorial Post: If you haven't check it out yet, don't miss Wendy's post "Libraries, What Are They Good For?" at The Misadventures of Super Librarian. In her excellent post, Wendy tackles controversial reactions to digital lending by authors who see libraries as "The Problem."

SFF: The 2013 Aurora Award nominees have been announced by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association. The awards will be presented at Can-Con (www.can-con.org) in Ottawa, Oct 4 – 6, 2013. Check out the list here.  From the novels nominated on that list the only book I have in my TBR is The Silvered by Tanya Huff!

LGBT: Congratulations to Trebor Healey for winning the 2013 James Duggins Outstanding Mid-Career Novelist Prize and The Ferro-Grumley Award for LGBT Fiction

 for A Horse Named Sorrow (University of Wisconsin Press)

. I've dubbed this "Trebor Healey Week."

Looking forward to another great reading week!

Friday, March 15, 2013

For D.

"Ojo" ink on paper ©H. Suarez

Remember your name, the miracle
of laughter. Bring pleasure to the sad gods,
though you leave this world to grieve,
to replace your intricate streams of blood
with methanol and formaldehyde.
          November 8 by Douglas Ray


For D, our beautiful, talented boy.


 Excerpt, November 8 poem taken from He Will Laugh © Douglas Ray

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Poetry: Natural Takeover of Small Things by Tim Z. Hernandez

Natural Takeover of Small Things
by Tim Z. Hernandez
Natural Takeover of Small Things by Tim Z. Hernandez is an intimate portrayal of life in California's San Joaquin Valley with all its beauty and exposed flaws. Mr. Hernandez's poetry is personal and while some poems are rendered with deeply moving, lyrical and rhythmic prose, others are rather straight forward, raw and cutting in nature. There is no real place for nostalgia in Hernandez's memories of "home;" instead there is realism filled with love and care in the shaping of moments, places and people who live and die in the valley -- from campesinos who work the land to those who become collateral damage.

The culture of the West and Western Latino culture permeate Hernandez's poetry. Readers experience the pride embodied by hardworking men and women, as well as substandard living conditions, wasted lives, and personal loses. But there is also taste and smell to savor in Hernandez's poetry: menudo, lengua, the fruits of the valley, the earthy smell of the campo -- the beauty and the tragedy.

This 80 page book is divided into three sections: The Arms in Dead Heat, San Joaquin Sutra, and Natural Takeover of Small Things.

I. Arms in Dead Heat includes memories of life in the San Joaquin Valley beginning with the poem that hooked me, Home:
Fresno is the inexhaustible nerve
in the twitching leg of a dog [...]
II. San Joaquin Sutra describes the beauty and the tragedy;
[...]
San Joaquin Valley,
where tired faces water quaint gardens with cut hoses,
bending to bury
the corn next to the sugarcane, reaching
for the avocado on the highest branch,
the melon's elusive fragrance
in all directions toward all the windows in all the houses on all the streets,
sweet invisible nectars drifting
in vastness of big sky
where taunts a kite
broken free
of its
strings.

☀ ☀ ☀
San Joaquin -
where sickly bodies of old Texan mothers draped in aprons of sunflower
and waning seasons sit idly by, waiting for some slick cancer to escort
their last days to proms of disintegration, while the souls of
amputated limbs
twitch anxious habits for workloads of the waiting day, [...]
III. Natural Takeover of Small Things is full of reflections on those little details that make up life and bring eventual death, the letting go of one life to begin another. Adios, Fresno says is all . . .
Adios, Fresno
You could use more letters of love.
Here, take these. You owe me nothing, except back pay.
But I won't mention it again.
Trust me when I say I'll have no regrets leaving you. [...]
----------

About the Author: Tim Z. Hernandez is a poet, novelist, and performance artist whose awards include the 2006 American Book Award, the 2010 Premio Aztlan Prize in Fiction, and the James Duval Phelan Award from the San Francisco Foundation. He is the author of a previous book of poetry, Skin Tax, and the novel Breathing in Dust. In 2011 the Poetry Society of America named him one of sixteen New American Poets. His novel of historical fiction, Mañana Means Heaven, based on the life of Bea Franco, will release in Fall of 2013. He holds a BA from Naropa University and an MFA from Bennington College.

Category: Poetry
Series: Camino del Sol: A Latina and Latino Literary Series
ARC provided by Publisher: The University of Arizona Press
Publication Date: February 21, 2013

All poetry quotes taken from Natural Takeover of Small Things by Tim Z. Hernandez. © Tim Z. Hernandez, 2013.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

June 2012: Reads + Summary

In June, summer finally arrived in full force and my reading slowed down dramatically. By the end of the month, I found myself needing a break from reading and blogging in order to enjoy outdoorsy events. However, as we all know, quality has nothing to do with quantity, and as you will see below quality-wise June was a great reading month for me.

Total books read: 9
 Contemporary Romance: 1
 Historical Romance: 3
 Science Fiction (Police Procedural): 1
 LGBT: 3 (Gay Spec Fic: 1, Gay Fic/Rom: 1, Gay Hist Mystery/Rom: 1)
 Poetry: 1



  1. Slow Lightning by Eduardo C. Corral: Slow Lightning is one of my top reads of the month. I did not write a full review, instead I highlighted it and wrote a recommendation, but this is a magnificent little book of poetry that I will enjoy for a long time since I re-read poetry over and over again. I recommend it highly. Grade: A
  2. Starlight (The Christies #2) by Carrie Lofty: I loved this historical romance for its atmosphere and characters that ended up winning me over. The romance was sexy and ultimately satisfying. Grade: A-
  3. The Touch of the Sea edited by Steve Berman: Overall this anthology was such a wonderful flight of fancy. The stories took me away and made me dream of the sea. This is definitely one of those books that you can read by the beach while people watching. I guarantee that the stories will make you wonder. . . Grade: B
  4. A Night Like This (Smythe-Smith #2) by Julia Quinn: Julia Quinn is known for her fun and light historical romances, and this book has those qualities. I needed some fun and some lightness, so the Smythe-Smith series was perfect for me. Enjoyable! Grade: B
  5. No Tan Lines by Kate Angell: Now here's a book that spells summer. I wanted to be at the Boardwalk while reading it, and after. I had a few problems with the inclusion of two other romances and lack of focus on the main couple, but otherwise this was an enjoyable, if average, read for me. Grade: C
  6. Logan's Outlaw (Men of Defiance #4) by Elaine Levine: This western romance took me by surprise with its combination of harsh, violent situations and sweet romance. Although I believe that there are readers out there who won't enjoy this combination, it worked for me. Grade: B-
  7. Taxi Rojo by Erik Orrantia: This was my first book by Erik Orrantia. I absolutely loved his depiction of Tijuana, Mexico, as well as his rendering of everyday people who struggle to find hope and happiness. Mr. Orrantia's characters stayed with me. Grade: B+
  8. It Takes Two by Elliott Mackle: It Takes Two was my very favorite read of the month. I love the way the author transported me to a racially divided little town in a post-WWII America. There was no waste to this story beginning with the depiction of racial bigotry and ending with the realistic romance that develops between the two main characters. Loved it! Grade: A
  9. The Last Policeman: A Novel by Ben H. Winters: Now... let's talk about this pre-apocalyptic police procedural (that's not easy to say). In this science fiction story the rendering of the main character and the pseudo-contemporary setting really grabbed my attention. I will be reading the rest of the trilogy because I need to know where Winters will take his character and the overall story arc in the end! Grade: B+
What am I reading at the moment? Well, I just finished another book by Elliott Mackle, Captain Harding and His Men, the second book in his Captain Harding series. However overall, I am finding that the heat of summer has given me an appetite for romance suspense, contemporary romance and science fiction! Interesting, right? I'm not sure what I'll pick up next!

That's it for June, I hope yours was as enjoyable as mine. Did you find any great reads in June that you would love to recommend? Any gems out there? Let us know!


Friday, June 8, 2012

Author Spotlight: Lee Thomas, Jan Steckel, Eduardo C. Corral

On June 4th, the 24th Annual Lambda Literary Award winners were announced. Congratulations to all the winners! I was particularly happy to see winners from LGBT dedicated small print presses like Lethe Press, Bold Strokes Books and MLR Press.

Today, however, I'm highlighting two winners whose works I read and highly recommended because they were both such excellent reads: Lee Thomas whose book The German was on my 2011 top ten favorite books list, and Jan Steckel whose poetry book The Horizontal Poet I particularly enjoyed reading earlier this year.

Lee Thomas - The German (Lethe Press, 2011)
A finalist for the 2011 Bram Stoker Award for Best Novel and the Lambda Literary Award for Best LGBT Science-fiction/Fantasy/Horror title.

Set during the height of World War II, The German examines the effect a series of ritualistic murders has on a small, Texas community. A killer preys on the young men of Barnard, Texas, leaving cryptic notes written in German. As the panic builds all eyes turn toward a quiet man with secrets of his own, who is trying to escape a violent past.

Ernst Lang fled Germany in 1934. Once a brute, a soldier, a leader of the Nazi party, he has renounced aggression and embraces a peaceful obscurity. But Lang is haunted by an impossible past. He remembers his own execution and the extremes of sex and violence that led to it. He remembers the men he led into battle, the men he seduced, and the men who betrayed him. But are these the memories of a man given a second life, or the delusions of a lunatic?
Lee Thomas is the Bram Stoker Award and the Lambda Literary Award-winning author of Stained, Parish Damned, Damage, The Dust of Wonderland, and In The Closet, Under The Bed. His latest novel The German was released to critical acclaim in March, 2011.

Lee currently lives in Austin, TX, where he's working on a number of projects.

✥✥✥✥

Jan Steckel - The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011)
Winner of the Lambda Literary Award for Bisexual Nonfiction title.


Jan Steckel is an Oakland, California writer, a Harvard- and Yale-trained former pediatrician (now retired due to an acquired physical disability), and an activist for bisexual and disability rights. Her first poetry chapbook, The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgeist Press, 2006), garnered critical acclaim and won the Rainbow Award for lesbian and bisexual poetry. She won the 2008 Gertrude Press Fiction Chapbook Award, and Gertrude published her fiction chapbook Mixing Tracks.

Her fiction, poetry and nonfiction have appeared in Yale Medicine, Scholastic Magazine, Bellevue Literary Review, Harrington Lesbian Literary Quarterly, Red Rock Review and elsewhere. She has won numerous awards, and her work has been nominated twice for a Pushcart Prize. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, Hew Wolff.

The Horizontal Poet is her first full-length poetry book. (Zeitgeist Press, 2011).

Congrats to both!

✥✥✥✥

And since I'm highlighting winners, LGBTQ authors, and it seems as if poetry is in the air, here is a bit of information about a poetry book I read this past week by Eduardo C. Corral, Slow Lightning. (actually my husband and I read this book together and to each other) Although I'm highlighting a tiny excerpt from his amazing poem "Self-Portrait with Tumbling and Lasso," I'll quickly say that "Variation On A Theme by José Montoya" is by far my (and my husband's) favorite section of the book. Carl Phillips words from the Foreword describe Corral's style quite eloquently. This is an "A grade/5 star" read for me -- one I'll be enjoying for a while -- and a book that I highly recommend.

Slow Lightning by Eduardo C. Corral (Yale University Press, 2012)
Yale Series of Younger Poets Volume 106
The Yale Younger Poets Prize

"We can make of what would blind us a conduit for changed vision, suggest Corral. In these poems, a cage implies all the rest that lies outside it; any frame frames a window through which to see other possibilities unfolding. . . . Like Robert Hayden, Corral resists reductivism. Gay, Chicano, 'Illegal-American,' that's all just language, and part of Corral's point is that language, like sex, is fluid and dangerous and thrilling, now a cage, now a window out. In Corral's refusal to think in reductive terms lies his great authority. His refusal to entirely trust authority wins my trust as a reader." Carl Phillips, from the Foreword 
Self-Portrait with Tumbling and Lasso
My soul is whirling
above my head like a lasso.
My right hand
a pistol. My left
automatic. I'm knocking

on every door.
I'm coming on strong,
like a missionary.
I'm kicking back
my legs, like a mule. I'm kicking up
my legs, like
a showgirl.
         [excerpt - Page 21]
Eduardo C. Corral's poems have appeared in New England Review, Ploughshares, and Poetry, as well as other journals and anthologies. He received a Discovery/The Nation award and was selected for residencies at the MacDowell Colony and Yaddo. He is a recipient of a 2011 Whiting Writers' Award.

The Yale Younger Poets Prize is the oldest annual literary award in the United States. The competition is open to any American under forty years of age who has not previously published a volume of poetry.


Friday, March 2, 2012

February 2012: Reads + Updates

February has been an eventful month. This month usually spells love for me... all types of love, and I think that was reflected in most of my posts, reads, and reviews in February. Whether the books were good old contemporary romance with a happily ever after, a poetry collection about love found and loss, or a story about a dysfunctional family whose love was nevertheless fierce and all encompassing, love was at the center. I read few books though, and that was basically due to my obsessive poetry reading.

Highlighted this month were two poems by the poet Konstantinos P. Kavafis or C. P. Cavafy (the English translation of his name). I was introduced to this poet by one of my brothers who happens to love Kavifis' poetry and I must thank him for the introduction. We now share the love.

I was inspired to read Kavafis' poetry while reading He Will Laugh by the gay poet Douglas Ray. There's a bit of buzz going on about poetry within the LGBT community. I reviewed two LGBT poetry books this month which is unusual, and have seen the increase in published collections. An interesting development. Yes? You'll ask, how does that tie in with Kavafis? Well, we all know about Oscar Wilde, and (as I found out in another site) not everyone knows about Walt Whitman, but did you know that Kostantinos P. Kavafis is considered one of the early modern authors to write openly about homosexuality?

Konstantinos P. Kavafis (April 29, 1863 to April 29, 1933) was born in Alexandria, Egypt of Greek parents. Although Kavafis was Greek, he lived in Alexandria most of his life and didn't write most of his most acclaimed poetry until he was in his 40's. His poetry is considered Hellenistic, and although history can be found sprinkled throughout the core of his poetry, for many the allure of Kavafis' poetry really lies in the direct and open way in which he portrays sensual pleasures, his prosaic use of metaphors and the repeated use of themes such as the uncertainty of life and/or the future, and that fatalistic nostalgia that just seems to pour out of some of his works.
 
Two of his most important poems are "Waiting for the Barbarians" (1904) and "Ithaca" (1911). However, for purposes of this post I will be highlighting two additional poems that, like the ones I've already posted -- "Days of 1903" and "I've Looked So Much" -- exemplify the poet's sensual style, usually leaden with nostalgia for youthful encounters or loves found and lost, all of them unmistakably homosexual.

One Night by Konstantinos P. Kavafis

In the Dull Village by David Hockney
(1966) etching and aquatint print
Illustrated a selection of poems by
C. P. Cavafy
The room above the bar
was the cheapest we could find.
We could see the filthy alley
from the window, hear the shouts
of the workmen at their card-games.

Yet there on that narrow bed
I had love’s body, knew its red lips;
those lips so full, so bloody with desire
that now as I write, after so many years,
in this lonely house... I’m drunk with them again.

The Boat by Konstantinos P. Kavafis

This little pencil sketch –
it’s certainly him.
It was made quickly, one long
charmed afternoon
on the Ionian. Yes, I’d say
it caught his looks –
though I have him more handsome;
so must the sensualist, you’d say
he was lit up with it... Yes, he looks
so much more handsome,
now my heart calls him
from so long ago. So long.
All these things are very old – the sketch,
and the boat, and the afternoon.

❃❃❃

February Reads: 11 
  Contemporary Romance: 2
  Historical Romance: 2
  Fiction: 2
  Science Fiction:2
  LGBT:  3 (Poetry: 1 Mystery: 1 Historical/Mystery/Romance: 1)

1.  He Will Laugh by Douglas Ray: A-
2.  Anyone But You by Jennifer Crusie: B+
3.  Shards of Honor (Vorkosigan Saga #1) by Lois McMaster Bujold: B
4.  Crimes on Latimer: From the Early Cases of Marco Fontana by Joseph R.G. DeMarco
5.  The Red Garden by Alice Hoffman: B
6.  Matthew (The Circle Eight #1) by Emma Lang: B
7.  My Wicked Little Lies by Victoria Alexander: B
8.  The Master of Seacliff by Max Pierce: B
9.  The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan: B
10. Hell Yeah by Carolyn Brown
11. How I Proposed to My Wife: An Alien Sex Story by John Scalzi: C
12. Snowbound by Larissa Ione: DNF - Not for me

Upcoming Reviews:


Reading at the Moment:

Walking the Clouds:
An Anthology of Indigenous
Science Fiction
In this first-ever anthology of Indigenous science fiction Grace Dillon collects some of the finest examples of the craft with contributions by Native American, First Nations, Aboriginal Australian, and New Zealand Maori authors. The collection includes seminal authors such as Gerald Vizenor, historically important contributions often categorized as "magical realism" by authors like Leslie Marmon Silko and Sherman Alexie, and authors more recognizable to science fiction fans like William Sanders and Stephen Graham Jones.
From the University of Arizona Press, this is a fascinating read so far! It released in March, but I wish I had received this book in February so that I could have read it as part of my participation in the 2012 Science Fiction Experience. I will let you all know how these stories turn out, but I can tell you that so far the introduction alone has me excited. :)

-----------------

That's it for February, it was a month of poetry and love. Next I will be summarizing my reads and posts for the 2012 Science Fiction Experience. However, please know that my computer at home crashed again! So unless I can somehow repair it this weekend, this will be my last post for a couple of days.

How was your February? Any great reads?


Saturday, February 18, 2012

Review: He Will Laugh by Douglas Ray

He Will Laugh traces the intense love between two young men. From the excitement of their first meeting to the aftermath of a tragic suicide, the speaker searches for grace and understanding amid his grief and the wealth of memory that remains.
He Will Laugh by Douglas Ray begins with the end. After reading that first gripping poem I dare anyone not to keep reading, as it is almost immediately apparent that this little book is more than a poetry collection, it is a contemporary story of love found and lost written in prose.

In the aftermath of his lover Issac's suicide the narrator takes the reader through a journey. From that first meeting to its tragic conclusion, through prose, Ray is relentless in wringing out emotion from the reader. He does so magnificently by conveying grief, the devastation of loss, sensuality, joy, frustration, and finally bittersweet understanding and closure.

This 82 page collection is divided into three sections, Now, Then and Time Unredeemable. Each section is introduced by a poem that sets the tone for that particular section. A hunting, sorrowful poem that in the end also brings closure, "November 8" serves as the perfect introduction to the first section, Now.

Now recounts the present events and the grief and loss that the narrator experiences after his young lover dies. "Salo" is one of the most gripping poems in this section, as the narrator recalls Isaac's appreciation for Pasolini's film Salò and begins by describing the scene at the end of the film and ends the poem by describing Isaac's suicide and the narrator's regrets. However, from "Get that in Writing," to "How We Grieve," and from "Still" to "You say, There's nothing special about 20" [...Call me Hadrian. Antinous, his lover, died at 20, and Hadrian deified him a daemon of arts, like Pan and Bacchus...], the poetry in this first section makes a deep, strong impact on the reader.

Then begins with a poem that says it all with its title, "Find the Precedent in Childhood." This section addresses the past, the joy of that first meeting, the sensuality, passion and yearning of a lover, as well as the frustrations that came with the long term relationship between the narrator and young, troubled Isaac. Some of my favorite poems are found in this section, as our narrator goes from sublime happiness to depths of despair as the relationship's reaches its inevitable conclusion.

In Time Unredeemable the poet ends with one single poem that captures the present, the past and the "what ifs," or all those possibilities that will never be realized, "Chaconne for Neuroses." And yet, at this time, at the end, I returned to the beginning and ended my reading experience with the first poem, November 8. I kept coming back to that one poem, possibly because I find it to be such a complete piece.

One of the most interesting aspects of Ray's prose in He Will Laugh is that it is both distinctly contemporary and yet it manages to convey the rather timeless flavor found in works by poets throughout the ages. He uses musical and religious allegations, Greek and Roman historical figures, and often cites the Spanish poet Garcia Lorca, while mixing popular figures like John Waters and other cinematographic figures and classic films in his poetry. His prose is lyrical and prosaic, contemporary and classic, quite an arresting combination. Certainly the timeless yearning, joy and grief that comes of love found and lost are well rendered.

The outcome is that I cried and grieved with this lover who lost, felt his immense joy at finding love, as well as his anger and frustration, and yes... fell a little in love with Isaac too. He Will Laugh is a magnificent debut by Douglas Ray and this poetry collection with it's particularly poignant and relevant view of the contemporary gay man's experience is a must read. Highly recommended.

Here are excerpts from two of my favorite poems.

❁❁❁❁❁❁
This is the day the gates to the underworld
open [...]

Remember your name, the miracle
of laughter. Bring pleasure to the sad gods,
though you leave this world to grieve,
to replace your intricate streams of blood
with methanol and formaldehyde.
                  November 8 (excerpt - page 11)

❁❁❁ 
You are a symphony, love, stretched
from clef to double-line, which summons
silence. Your feet, placed apart neatly,
consonant as thirds, each toe nimble,
articulate enough to play a tocatta complex
as Widor's.
                Sight Reading (excerpt - page 38)
❁❁❁❁❁❁


About the Author: Douglas Ray teaches at Indian Springs School, a boarding and day school in Birmingham, Alabama. He received his B.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Mississippi.

-----------

Category: LGBT Poetry
Series: None
Publisher/Release Date: Lethe Press/February 2012
Source: Lethe Press
Grade: A-

Friday, February 17, 2012

Poetry: Konstantinos P. Kavafis... Days of 1903

Days of 1903

I never found them again—all lost so quickly...
the poetic eyes, the pale face...
in the darkening street...

I never found them again—mine entirely by chance,
and so easily given up,
then longed for so painfully.
The poetic eyes, the pale face,
those lips—I never found them again.

by Konstantinos P. Kavafis


Translated from the Greek by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

Friday, February 10, 2012

Poetry: Konstantinos P. Kavafis


I’ve Looked So Much....

I’ve looked on beauty so much
that my vision overflows with it.

The body’s lines. Red lips. Sensual limbs.
Hair as though stolen from Greek statues,
always lovely, even uncombed,
and falling slightly over pale foreheads.
Figures of love, as my poetry desired them
.... in the nights when I was young,
encountered secretly in those nights.

by Konstantinos P. Kavafis (1917)


Translated from the original Greek by Edmund Keeley/Philip Sherrard

Saturday, February 4, 2012

Review: The Horizontal Poet by Jan Steckel


Nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, The Horizontal Poet (Zeitgeist Press, 2011) is Jan Steckel's first full-length poetry collection. I found Steckel's poetry to be personal and quite intimate, and the collection as a whole ambitious in its undertaking.

While reading The Horizontal Poet I found that Jan Steckel is passionate about her poetry, but through her poetry it's obvious that there is more. Steckel is a retired doctor suffering from a disability, an activist for bisexual and disability rights, and a writer. Steckel's personal experiences and interests are reflected in her poetry, and she weaves in medicine, social issues and concerns, as well as personal and relationship experiences, all in a rich, sensual, down to earth style.

I loved that this collection is not divided into sections and that her poems are interwoven. Both the intimacy of Steckel's poetry and the format serve to make that all-important connection between the reader and poet. It's almost as if the reader were looking through a window into the poet's life and thoughts as events take place, life evolves, and her memories come to life. For example, you will find a love poem "The History of Our Love" next to one filled with her social concerns, "The Wind and the Boy," or another where she bears her soul about losing a patient, "Swallowing Flies," alongside a poem where she indulges her love of hanging out in strip joints, "The Naked and the Dread."
The California Founding Fathers, in their wisdom,
reckoned a red-blooded working man
could control himself under the influence
of hooch and boobies, or coffee and coochie,
but not hooch and coochie both.
   "The Naked and the Dread"(Excerpt - Page 7)
Steckel's prose throughout this 57 poetry collection is both lyrical and direct as she uses a mixture of both the narrative form of verse and rich poetic metaphors. While you will find that in some of her poems Steckel uses medical terminology in a rather unique way, it is her compassionate and haunting poems depicting experiences during her medical career -- "Swallowing Flies,""Charity and the Hurricane," and "The Underwater Hospital,"
Too much water on the inside,
nothing but water on the outside,
and not even a Diet Coke to drink.
I'm just going to sit down here.
I'm just going to put my head in my hands.
I'm just going to let my shoulders shake.
I'm not crying.
I'm too dry.
  "Charity and the Hurricane"(Excerpt - Page 14)
and others depicting her own personal, physical pain --""Halloween Wedding,""Nightkeeper"-- that impacted me the most.
No St. George of the scalpel's
been favored by God to hack it out.
No poppies can put it to sleep for long.
No song of self-care, no meditative mantra,
no hypnotic chant or New Age cant
can touch the invisible beast hunkered
over its leg of woman, chewing,
chewing.
   "Nightkeeper" (Excerpt - Page 46)
There are whole poems in this collection that left an impression, and then there are others where only certain lines stayed with me. I read and re-read this book a few times before reviewing it. The bottom line is that Steckel's poetry is distinctive in that it can be read from her perspective as the bisexual poet, the disabled poet, the medical poet, or for its social content. In The Horizontal Poet you get it all, and in the end I found that reading Jan Steckel's poetry from the woman's perspective as a whole, this collection makes an even stronger statement.

I will leave you with excerpts from two of my favorite poems.
❀❀❀❀❀❀

Haditha

Who will tell
what sank into the sand here?
We have become
liberators of souls from bodies.
We will be welcomed
to the land of the dead
with garlands of fingers and toes.

In the land between two rivers
where lists were first written,
who will list the names of the dead?
Who can explain the reasons we came?

Who will sing sorrow? Sing sorrow.
The flood has passed over us
and our mouths are stopped
with sand.

❀❀❀

Tiresias

So light her touch
so soft her tongue
blue-veined ankles
vellum skin
cover her mouth with yours
pin her to the sheets
unleash in her the riot in you
make her feel what you feel
make her twist under your hand
till she bursts like a muscat
with a sweeter taste than summer

On the day I step from the balcony,
on the day I yield to the sea,
I will remember (beast that I am)
I was more of a man than he.

❀❀❀❀❀❀
About the Author: Jan Steckel is a retired Harvard- and Yale-trained pediatrician, an activist for disability and bisexual rights, a poet, and a writer. Her poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction have appeared widely. Her Mixing Tracks (Gertrude Press, 2009) won the Gertrude Fiction Chapbook Award. The Underwater Hospital (Zeitgest Press, 2006) won a Rainbow Award for lesbian and bisexual poetry. She lives in Oakland, California with her husband, Hew Wolff.
------------
Category: LGBT Poetry
Series: None
Publisher/Release Date: Zeitgeist Press, December 2011
Source: Received from author for review
Grade: B+

Visit Jan Steckel here