WILD APPLES. A JOURNAL OF NATURE, ART, AND INQUIRY.

WILD APPLES. A JOURNAL OF NATURE, ART, AND INQUIRY. (PO BOX 171 Harvard, Mass.) www.wildapples.org


I was looking at the list of the Board of Advisors of this very attractive, local literary magazine “Wild Apples…” and saw many familiar names from the literary scene. Gary Metras of the famed small press “Adastra”, who I had the pleasure to interview, as well as John Hanson Mitchell, a well-regarded nature writer, who we had as a guest at the now defunct Wilderness House Literary Retreat in Littleton, Mass, Doreen Manning, who I wrote for when she headed the “Middlesex Beat” an arts magazine for the region, as well as Sophie Wadsworth, a well-known poet in these parts, were included.

Susan Edwards Richmond, a poet and an editor of the said magazine, sent me the Spring/Summer edition, with the theme of “In Praise for Animals.” The art itself, found in between these handsome pages speaks well to the beloved beasts among us. My fedora is off to the artists who contributed to this issue, which includes Eli Crocker, Rami Efal, and Rachael Berwick.

The founding editor Linda Hoffman writes in the introduction:

“In this issue, we explore our relationship with the animal world. Are we distinct or different from animals? Why do they fascinate us? Is it important to preserve the diversity of the species on this planet?”

Big questions to be sure. And there are poems, essays, and photos that explore these queries.

Now being a poet, I thought that I would take a taste of the verse offered here.

Leonore Wilson, in her poem “Toad” raises this ungainly amphibian to the high holy:

“…in his bloated
poverty seeps a particular divinity
for he is not hostile to the water-shout
from the garden hose, he does not
scatter easily like the calico
or the susurrant bees, but assents
to the cold christening as if in duty—“

There is a good selection of essays included in this anthology, like “Animal Encounters” from the Concord Academy Students, “Magical Animals in Papua New Guinea Art by Pamela C. Rosi, to name a few.

I think this literary journal will appeal to humans as well as animals. The reason I say this is because my cat MENOW sniffed “Wild Apples” studiously, pawed at its front cover, and rested his feline carcass on the front cover. He looked vey content. Thumbs, or in this case paws up. Highly Recommended.