The Sunday Poet: Abigail Wotton

 Abigail Wotton teaches English at Red Cloud Indian School, Pine Ridge, SD. Her creative work has appeared or is forthcoming in 805 Lit+Art, Kaaterskill Basin Literary Journal and Free Inquiry.







When the Heart Forgets

On Delancey Street,

hands like knotted tree bark,

flip and slap hot roti.

Hold the grocery bags on the train.

Hold the door,

look for the keys,

pick up the phone.

Slip peppermint candy into a child’s coat pocket. 

At home, a mother’s hands

linger by the microwave.

Clean the bottles,

pick up the baby,

put her down.

Leave pizza on the counter.

Make sure the door is locked.

And then check it again.

At the bar, a girl’s hands hold up the hands

of the girl next to her.

Whose are smaller?

Hands look at lines,

check for veins,

feel callouses.                                                                

The hand waves over another drink

for both of them.

When I drive

I stretch my hands out the window.

Hands know resilience

when the heart forgets.                                     

They can point out Cassiopeia

in an October sky.

If you can find the Big Dipper,

they say, you can see her.

Among the Neighbors 4, The Poetry Collection of the University Libraries, University at Buffalo

Essay Author: Dale Smith

Publication: Among the Neighbors 4, The Poetry Collection of the University Libraries, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York Buffalo, New York 2018. 

 Review Author: Ari Appel

“Skanky Possum Press: A (Personal) Genealogy” is a short essay by Dale Smith recapitulating his personal history as a founder and editor of the now-defunct Skanky Possum Press (1998-2004). It is part of a pamphlet series called Among the Neighbors, a series for the study of Little Magazines run out of the University at Buffalo. Smith's essay offers a glimpse into the small press scene of the 1990s and early 2000s in San Francisco. His experience calls to attention the place of fertile writers' impulses among the hegemonic forces of neoliberal capitalism and its adjacent apparatus of mainstream publication. Smith turns to the word "ethos" to help describe his creative efforts from that place, stating, "It's a term I'm using to describe the complex interaction of individuals seeking ways to establish authority in an antithetical social, technological, and geographic reality. I am not talking about dogmatic authority, but the kind of authority developed by trust, enthusiasm, and commitment to an establishment of literary and social relationships." "Ethos" describes the "structures of feeling that converged in the years of the publication of Skanky Possum.” Perhaps, by following in the footsteps of Skanky Possum, young writers of the now might be able to forge a collective ethos comparable to the one Smith is describing. 

Smith was a student of the Poetics program of the now-defunct New College of California, where he met his co-editor of the Skanky Possum Press, Hoa Nguyen, following his tenure as a founder of Mike and Dale's Younger Poets with Michael Price. Smith's essay is encouraging for anyone looking to find his or her ground in the publishing scene by painting a portrait of artists struggling to make it at a certain place in time. It affords belief in a way of life and an artistic process that may not lead to blockbuster sales but nonetheless enriches the mind and the spirit.

Endicott College graduate Emily Pineau becomes a new managing editor of the noted literary magazine Ibbetson Street

Emily Pineau

I am pleased to announce that Emily Pineau--the director of the Endicott College/Ibbetson Street Press Young Poet Series has joined Lawrence Kessenich as a new managing editor of Ibbetson Street.  Ibbetson Street, founded by Doug Holder, Dianne Robitaille, and Richard Wilhelm in 1998, is a respected literary magazine-- based in Somerville, MA. since 1998. Ibbetson Street is affiliated with Endicott College.

Emily Pineau holds an M.F.A. from Pine Manor College, Chestnut Hill, MA, in Creative Writing, with a concentration in Writing for Young People. Pineau is an Editorial Assistant at a medical publisher, a Co-managing Editor of Ibbetson Street Press, and the Director of Ibbetson Street Press’s Young Poet Series at Endicott College. Pineau’s chapbook No Need to Speak (Ibbetson Street Press, 2013) was chosen for The Aurorean’s Chap Book Choice in 2013. She has been featured on New Mexico’s National Public Radio, and has won Salamander Magazine’s Poetry-On-the-Spot contest. Pineau’s poems have appeared or are forthcoming in Medical Literary Messenger, Freshwater, Muddy River Poetry Review (which nominated her poem “I Would For You” for a Pushcart Prize), and elsewhere. Pineau lives in the suburbs of Boston with her finacé, Tabby, and Pomerania

Jessica Eshleman: New Director of Union Square Main Streets

Jessica Eshleman

Jessica Eshleman: New Director of Union Square Main Streets

By Doug Holder

I saw Jessica Eshleman in the crowded Bloc11 Cafe. She gave me a sort of a half bow—got her coffee, and joined me in my inner sanctum at the back of the Bloc.

Eshleman seems to be a person of abundant energy, and is well-oiled in the mechanics of how to handle an interview.

She has been appointed director of Union Square Main Street here in Somerville, MA. It is an organization that (according to its website) oversees the, “...continued advocacy of the Union Square business district and neighborhood.”

Eshleman is from a small town outside of Boston. Now she conveniently lives in Union Square, and is in the midst of a love affair with the environs. She said, ' I love its variety, diversity, my neighbors, everything about it.”

She is certainly no neophyte to the Main Street concept. She was the past Executive Director of Main Street Concord Inc. In her role there-- one of the many things she did was to help make the Concord Business District more pedestrian friendly. She said, "I am all about being multi-mobile. I wanted to make sure that people could traverse the vibrant center easily by foot, bike and car.” She continued, “From what I heard after I left Concord –the district had significantly enhanced economic development.”

As far as Somerville goes—Eshleman is certainly enthusiastic. She will do her best to support the iconic Fluff Festival that celebrates the invention of marshmallow fluff in our city, as well as the Saturday farmer's market, continue to support the arts and provide brass tacks assistance to small businesses in the district.

Behind the many good things that gentrification and “revitalization” can bring, there is always the lingering specter of displacement. So I asked Eshleman about the less than sunnier side of the street. I inquired how would these funky stores, all the unique stuff the Square offers, be affected by the the rapid rise of rents. How will Union Square not end up like, say Newton—or worse-- the antiseptic desert of Kendall Square in Cambridge? Eshleman's tone changed a bit. She reflected, “ There are no easy answers to this. But I will promise to start conversations among landlords, tenants and businessman to see how we can mitigate the problem.”

But in spite of the treacherous shoals the new Executive Director faces—she has not lost any of her zeal and remains stolidly optimistic.

Eshleman told me that a while ago she completed the Appalachian Trail, a 2,189 mile trek through the wilderness. It took he 8 months. She suffered a broken wrist—but still persisted. This is evidently a woman who does not give up without a fight. Exactly what we need—here-- in the Paris of New England.

The Sunday Poet: Jessica Harman

 

Jessica Harman

 Jessica Harman earned her B.A. in Creative Writing from Concordia University in 1999. She earned her M.A. in Health Communication from Emerson College in 2003. Her collection of stories, "Wild Stabs at Love, or Something Like It," was published as a free ebook by Philistine Press. "Dream Catcher," a full-length poetry collection, was published by Aldrich Press in 2013. "The Landscape Revolving around Us," a full-length poetry collection, will be published by Aldrich Press in 2019. She has numerous chapbooks of poetry available from Alternating Current. Her poems and translations (from the Latin) have appeared in "Arion," "Bellevue Literary Review," "Orbis," "Tears in Fence," and "White Whale Review." Her first chapbook, "My Journey as an Unharmonious Being," was published by Flarestack Publishing, and is now a collector's item. She lives in Maryland.







A Cold Morning

I’ve faded, now. I’ve become round, heavy, sad, even.

Here I am, a photograph in your wallet,

Still looking like a cheerleader. Years ago,

I posed with a violin, letting silence fill the light,

And my expression for your camera

Gave the illusion of a sonata played wonderfully.

Now, I’m miles and stories away from then.

I’ve dreamed, and nearly died awakening.

Poets sprouting at the Somerville Community Growing Center

Monica Hileman

Poets sprouting at the Somerville Community Growing Center

By Doug Holder

Monica Hileman joined me at my table at Remnant Brewing in the new Bow St. Market in Union Square, Somerville.  The large wooden table, the view of the courtyard, the tasty brews—made a perfect spot for conversation. Like many artists that I have spoken to Hileman had to move from our city because of the rapid gentrification we experience here. She now lives in Medford— in  a section that borders on Somerville.  Hileman reflected, “ Somerville is a lot like Williamsburg, Brooklyn now—many people are being forced out because of the high rents. Still it has a lot of things going for it, and I still want to be part of it.”

Hileman has a long history in Somerville. She had worked years ago as an aide to the now State Senator Pat Jehlen, as well as working for the  Community Action Agency of Somerville in the 80s.

Hiileman, who has an MFA in Creative Writing, is primarily a fiction writer. And her stories have been in a host of topnotch literary magazines. She told me she completed a new novel that takes place in 1921 in Spain and Paris, after World War I.  She said, “It basically deals with the aftermath of war, and how people try to make sense of a world gone crazy.”

For a number of years Hileman has been a member of the Somerville Community Growing Center. According to the website of the organization they are "…much more than a green space, it is where community grows. Situated on a quarter of an acre of gently sloped hillside near Union Square…it hosts rich programming including environmental education, cultural performances, and offers unique volunteer opportunities.” Hileman’s brainchild was to host a “Poetry in the Garden”  reading series on these verdant grounds. I was interested why she chose poetry if she is  a dyed-in- the- wool fiction writer. She replied, “I find people have a taste for shorter pieces; and I love poetry-so…why not.”

I inquired about Hileman’s own taste in poetry. Her eyes lit up and she told me she is a big fan of Elizabeth Bishop. She reflected “She was a very visual poet, and I am a very visual writer. I loved her poem, 'Crusoe in England,'—it is heart- wrenching and beautiful.”

Hileman filled me in about the poetry series. She told me so far such accomplished poets like Jennifer Barber( founder of Salamander magazine), Scott Ruescher, Jacob Strautmann and others have read in the previous months.   During the summer of 2018 she will have such poets as Wyn Cooper, Ed Meek, Anna Warrock, Ralph Pennel, and others read from their work.

I encourage you all to attend the series. Experience the flora and fauna, not to mention the bards. For more information about the reading series go to:  

http://www.thegrowingcenter.org/poetryinthegarden

I Wish Francisco Franco Would Love Me by Gloria Mindock

I Wish Francisco Franco Would Love Me

by Gloria Mindock

Copyright © 2018 Gloria Mindock

Nixes Mate Books

Allston, MA

ISBN 978-0-9993971-9-0

Softbound, 48 pages, $9.95

Review by Zvi A. Sesling

In her latest book of poetry Gloria Mindock resurrects Francisco Franco, the one-time brutal dictator of Spain. In previous works Mindock has provided descriptions of how dictatorships swim in the blood of victims. In I Wish Francisco Franco Would Love Me, Mindock uses Franco’s obsessiveness with a voice that shouts for an end to the cruelty of dictatorships everywhere.

Here is “Dictator” in which she tells readers about Franco and his ongoing need to destroy people:

A dictator is not a spectator.

A spectator is not a dictator.

Why do you make everyone in Spain listen?

Some will betray you, rise-up.

You do not love!

You do not love!

Brutal Franco!

Brutal Franco!

You slob!

Messy in the heart. Kicking it out of your chest.

Even your heart knows you have secrets

cascading down into your pants.

Throats are slit today, bullets are fired, bombs dropped.

Plaza’s preserved as killing fields.

Big man Franco leaves terror.

Too many Fathers are dead.

Never to hold their children again.

Killing in Bejar today …

Fascist!

Randomly killing what suits you.

Mindock is a particularly fine poet whose many dark works awaken people to the evil conduct of dictators-- which is often minimized in history and in the media, until the brave come forth to reveal the excesses of violence:

*In Les Milles a young girl raped at the age of ten somehow survives and is rescued so

“One less surrounded by dark colored roses,/a chill in the air and scars left on the face”

*”Big Killer Franco – Men want to shoot you in the back.? Turn your head towards them Franco./ Look them in the eye as they fire./But they don’t fire./You say, execute them and walk away./A grin on your face…/Customary.”

*”Franco murdered memories./The dead converse with their screams”

*”A hat falls on the ground boldly/hugging the blood”

And in the poem Orbit Mindock describes the aftermath of a bomb perfectly placed:

One bomb lunges

Chars the sunrise

Whispering graves now a museum

Scars left

Bones face the other planets

A planet showing what exile is

Mindock’s poetry is never to be taken lightly. It thrives on blood, torture and evil individuals while always letting the reader know that she is on the side of the oppressed wherever they live. In Blood Soaked Dresses and The Whiteness Of Bone she addressed the horrors of Central American dictatorships. And in this latest endeavor she reminds anyone who may want to remember Francisco Franco in some favorable fashion--that he was nothing more than a brutal dictator.

 

____________________________________________

Zvi A. Sesling, author of The Lynching of Leo Frank

and the forthcoming War Zones (Nixes Mate Books)

Publisher & Editor of Muddy River Poetry Review

and Editor of Bagel Bard Anthologies 7,8 & 12

Poet Laureate, Brookline, MA.