april, the snow farm
still boasts mountains ten feet high
will they ever melt?
April Rain Haiku
the earth shows me how
to open up to magic
with the new-sprung grass
Review of Lesbian Romance Always Her, by Alexandra Delancy
In the new romance Always Her, Alexandra Delancey does an excellent job of evoking the angst and drama of the college lesbian scene. While I don’t necessarily agree with the identity politics of the characters, they do ring true for their milieu. Jack is that elusive object of lesbian desire: the cool butch who tends bar and had led a charmed life free of homophobia. Elise is the perfect wish fulfillment for every dyke who’s ever loved a straight girl: blonde-haired, shy, sweet, and only newly come to terms with her sexuality. The novella does a great job of building tension between the two to the final sex scene, which is most definitely a one-handed read.
Continue reading “Review of Lesbian Romance Always Her, by Alexandra Delancy”
March Haiku – Dirty Snow
as the snow recedes
who will clean up all the dirt?
will the rains do it?
March Haiku – Thawing Pond
just one patch of ice
where the whole pond was frozen
and even that’s thin
March Haiku – In Need of Snowshoes
the snow in the woods
keeps me on the sidewalk
but the birds are back
Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015
April is National Poetry Month. Combined with the advent of spring (and hopefully the disappearance of the last of the snowbanks), that means a massive number of readings in the Boston area. It all culminates with the Mass Poetry Festival, which runs from Thursday April 30 through the first weekend in May.
The April listings are more than ample, but I couldn’t resist giving a shout-out to Janaka Stucky, one of my favorite Boston poets, who will be reading tomorrow evening (Wednesday, March 25, 2015) along with Nicole Terez Dutton, Danniel Schoonebeek, and Jackie Eugene Wang at The Harvard Advocate, 21 South St., Cambridge, MA.
Wednesday, April 1, 7 – 9 pm
Emily Ferrera, James B. Nicola, and Zvi A. Sesling
with Open Mic
Raytheon Room, Wayland Public Library
5 Concord Road
Wayland, MA
Free and open to the public
Wednesday, April 1, 7:30 pm
Veronica Golos
Gloucester Writers Center
126 East Main Street
Gloucester, MA
Continue reading “Boston Area Poetry Readings for April 2015”
March Jagged Snow Haiku
mountain of snow starts
to melt in jagged edges
and the sun’s too bright
Persephone, to Demeter, by Shawn Fawson
This poem comes from a collection put out by Dancing Girl Press in 2008 called “Billet-doux” (Love letters), which comes like a box of letters and postcards, each poem printed differently on a different missive. It must have taken the press a great deal of effort to produce these by hand. The format wouldn’t mean much, however, if the poetry itself weren’t high quality. I have many collections of poetry, and this is by far one of my favorite.
The myth of Persephone and Demeter has a great deal of personal significance for me. I appreciate the bare quality of this poem, and the hope offered at its end.
Persephone, to Demeter
I gather
handfuls of asphodels,
but their white edges
waste into air. I should be
thankful roots taste buttery
sweet and a feeling triggers–
your hair shaking out blue
sky, fingers pulling down knotted
threads of white birds
You seem
tiny then: stalks thicken with
shade distorting the light,
a shatter of wings where breast
and earth meet. But you are
careful, the rolling cart stands
upright on the precipice. Farmers
steady the harrow; smoke toils
on the horizon.
Each spring
I walk into daylight and offer
you this bouquet, this earth stripped
from my side making you radiant.
– Shawn Fawson
Billet Doux, Dancing Girl Press, 2008. Reprinted with permission of the publisher.
Was Terry Pratchett a Feminist?
Terry Pratchett is one of the most prolific authors of our age. When he died yesterday (March 12, 2015) he left behind a massive oeuvre: more than 70 books, most of them about the Discworld, a flat planet carried on the back of four elephants who themselves stand back of the great turtle A’Tuin as it swims through space.
About a month ago I began re-reading Pratchett’s Discworld books. As I did so, this question kept roiling around in the back of my mind: Is Terry Pratchett a feminist? Continue reading “Was Terry Pratchett a Feminist?”
Garden of Words 