If it’s true that pride comes before the fall, then I guess I’m about due for a tumble because I’m very proud of this issue of Wild Goose Poetry Review. I’m proud of the poems. As I entered them into the template in preparation for release, I was impressed again and again with how interesting, unique, and vital the poems are. From first to last, this may be the strongest batch of poems WGPR has put together. This is definitely an issue that should read all the way through. I’m also proud of the fact that 4 of the selected poems came from workshops (usually “The Greatest Writing Prompt Ever”) I’ve taught this spring. And I’m proud of the fact that 4 of the poets whose work is included here are participants in the writing group I facilitate. While any poem in WGPR has to be strong enough to stand on its own, it does sometimes enrich the experience of a poem for me when I have some familiarity with the poet. Perhaps that is why I’ve always like bios and author’s comments.
Several of the poets published hereafter are familiar not only to me but to habitual readers of Wild Goose Poetry Review, but many more are new to me and to these pages. A couple, in fact, are entirely new to publication. The themes they write about are also both familiar and new. Several poems deal with love, even more with loss; several could be called humorous; many qualify as aesthetic, even more as narrative. Some of the stranger topics include a chicken truck, literal emasculation, celebrity branding, a khukri and a Ghurka (you’ll figure those out), and the maximization of gas mileage in a Prius. And, as always, there are a half dozen reviews of new books of poetry that I’m very fond of at the end.
For those keeping track of more technical matters, you may have noticed that I have yet to archive either the fall 2010 or the winter 2011 issues. I had (temporarily) decided that I would just leave previous issues in the posts to preserve the unique links to them. Upon further reflection, however, I realize that visitors may want to find poems by specific authors without having to scroll back through years worth of poems. So, in the near future, I will archive and index those two issues, but I will also leave up the posts to retain the aforementioned unique links. Of course those old links won’t work with anything prior to the fall 2010 issue since when I archived earlier issues I took them off the main page. All of those poems are only accessible through the links in the index or by clicking directly on the archived issue. I hope this keeps as many people happy as possible.
Now, please, enjoy the poems and leave your comments. Poets love them. Many readers do too. If you enjoy the poems and reviews, please subscribe to WGPR so that you’ll receive automatic notices of future issues, and while you’re in the mood to read, check out my latest publishing project: 234, an online journal dedicated to nonfiction, at http://www.234journal.com
Contents
Michael Diebert, “Coupling”
Doug McHargue, “The Woman in Dollar General”
Morgan DePue, “Tonight”
Morgan DePue, “Fairytale Friendships”
Helen Losse (with painting by Kathryn Hoover), “Of Summer Lovers, Winter Storm-Clouds”
Rosalyn Marhatta, “Epicurean Love”
Rosalyn Marhatta, “Crossword”
Joan Cannon, “Afterwords”
Joan Cannon, “Bedside Manner”
Nickie Albert, “Ascension”
Beth Paulson, “Fragility”
Barbara Conrad, “On Buying a Writing Desk after the Death of My Daughter’s Best Friend”
Nancy Posey, “Vernice’s Tatting Shuttle”
Karen Taylor, “Mahmah”
David Poston, “Asked to Contribute to the Button Chair in Memory of My Mother, I Send My Regrets”
David Poston, “Lamentations 2.1”
Glenn Cassidy, “The Red Hole”
Glenn Cassidy, “Hypermile”
Bud Caywood, “Moonlight”
Aaron Poller, “Stuck Behind a Tractor Trailer Carrying Chickens to Dobson, NC, I Contemplate Civil Disobedience”
Aaron Poller, “The Flying Circus of the Mind”
Justin Ganser, “Hang a Warhol”
Yvette Doss, “Spell for the Creation of Mental Space”
Barbara Groce, “The Deer Heard”
Barbara Groce, “So Close”
Barbara Groce, “Present Past”
Reviews
Nancy Posey, Review of Nancy Posey’s Let the Lady Speak
Nancy Posey, Review of Helen Losse’s Seriously Dangerous
Ron Moran, Review of Ron Moran’s The Jane Poems
Robert S. King, “A Poetic Response to Robert S. King’s The Gravedigger’s Roots
David Rigsbee, Review of David Rigsbee’s The Pilot House
Larry Johnson, Review of Larry Johnson’s Veins
Lenard Moore (Editor), Review of Solo Cafe
Wild Goose Poetry Review 