It has been a wonderful year for Wild Goose Poetry Review. I have had the great honor of working with perhaps the 4 finest students of my 30 plus year teaching career. My Assistant Editors, Jordan Makant, Katelyn Vause, Kati Waldrop, and Erin Cox have been great joys and invaluable assets. I’m getting ready to lose (somewhat) 3 of these assistants as Jordan and Kati are graduating, and Erin is shifting her focus towards the prose work that is her first love. Fortunately, Jordan will continue to provide assistance remotely (the internet makes amazing things possible).
I have also had the great honor of featuring amazing work by many of my favorite contemporary poets and of discovering new poets that are rapidly becoming my favorites. We appreciate every submission we receive, and we thank, especially, those who allow us to publish their poem(s) here first. This issue has work by some poets familiar to Wild Goose readers, including Holly Day, Pris Cambpell, and Kelly DeMaegd, among others, as well as wonderful pieces by poets we have just now discovered but hope to read more of in the future, poets like Benjamin Cutler, Katherine Davis, and Donna Wallace. The issue also features work by Assistant Editor, Katelyn Vause, and reviews of new books by Jim Elledge and Jennifer Horne.
Before I turn you loose to enjoy the new issue, one thing remains, and that is to announce our selections for this year’s Pushcart nominations. They are as follows (in no particular order):
“Mary Magdalene Theorizes,” Maria Rouphail
“Petit Mal,” Kelly DeMaegd
“That My Body Was Lush,” M. Nasorri Pavone
“Coffin Shortage,” Larry Schug
“We Who Feel Small and Exquisite When We Look at the Sky,” Kelly Slivka
“Exploration of Nest or Learning to Ride a Speed Bike,” Terri McCord
Congratulations to each of these authors, and if you missed these outstanding poems, they are always available through our archives.
Good reading, and I’ll see you next year,
Scott Owens, Editor
Featured Editor: Katelyn Vause
To the Girl After Me
Ashes to Ashes
After Geitner
Rebirth
Contents
Terri McCord, Exploration of Nest Or Learning to Ride a Speed Bike
Terri McCord, Autumned
Bibhu Padhi, The Garden
Jonathan Elliot, Watching the Waves Come In
Jonathan Elliot, Divorce
Holly Day, I Open My Eyes to Dark
Holly Day, Sunshine
Donna Wallace, The Wedding Dress and the Tuxedo
Donna Wallace, Stirring
Donna Wallace, Mother’s Iron
Beverly Finney, Random Act
Pris Campbell, Dirty Deeds
Katherine Davis, Absolute Permission
Katherine Davis, Gargantuan
Joyce Brown, October Reckonings
Joyce Brown, Curbing Lady Liberty
Joyce Brown, The Price of Eggs
Benjamin Cutler, The Path to Bees
Benjamin Cutler, Building Fire
Benjamin Cutler, Absolution at the Trash Compactor
Mary Ricketson, Shame
Frank De Canio, Picture Perfect Patronage
Les Brown, Oh Plumber Please
Reviews
Kati Waldrop, Review of Jim Elledge’s Bonfire of the Sodomites
Erin Cox, Review of Jennifer Horne’s Little Wanderer
Wild Goose Poetry Review 