Monthly Archives: March 2011

The Country House: Heaven or Hell?

Cornelius Eady isn’t a WASP. He’s an African American poet best known for Brutal Imagination, his book written in the voice of the imaginary black man whom Susan Smith blamed for drowning her two little boys in her car in … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Country House: Heaven or Hell?

In Praise of Father-in-Laws

If you study the fine print on the acknowledgments page of Joshua Coben’s first book, Maker of Shadows, you will read, “I am deeply grateful to Michael Perkins, the first reader of many of these poems, for his invaluable help … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on In Praise of Father-in-Laws

A Scratch & Laugh Poem

You may know what a bug coil is, an incense stick spiraled like an electric stove coil that releases smoke to ward off those tiny flying rigs of evil. I learned about them in a hurry one Memorial Day weekend … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on A Scratch & Laugh Poem

WDST Roundtable Poems

(Poems from “The Woodstock Roundtable” on WDST on March 20th, 2011.) * * * * Field Trip By Dennis Doherty Heim, your blood is on this belt. We carried you through the jungle… In a plastic bag at the base … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on WDST Roundtable Poems

Michelangelo on the Hudson

George Drew pours himself into his enthusiasms. Retired a decade ago from teaching college English, he now devotes himself to writing, running, traveling, family life, and appreciating poetry. At readings, where we first met, I don’t think I’ve seen anyone … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , | Comments Off on Michelangelo on the Hudson

WAMC Zombie Commentary

(“The Roundtable” on WAMC broadcast this “Listener Essay” on Friday, March 18th, 2011.) I’m old enough to remember a time before vampires ruled as king of our fears, or at least of the young adult section of Border’s and Barnes … Continue reading

Posted in Commentary | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on WAMC Zombie Commentary

Signs of Spring: The Moth

Last night, the first moth of the year landed on my window, a soft thump followed by that insatiably fluttering for lamplight. These past days I’ve been savoring firsts, stopped in my tracks while out on my walks to listen … Continue reading

Posted in Nature Writing | Tagged , , , | Comments Off on Signs of Spring: The Moth

The Divorce From Hell as Poetic Muse

Should love poems come with warning labels? Well, dear reader, here they are, a stand up tragedy routine gleefully excoriating the ogres who first arrived as our fantasies. Though I knew Barbara Louise Ungar had been through a divorce from … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , | Comments Off on The Divorce From Hell as Poetic Muse

John Haines 1924—2011

In 1996, as I made my great transition from a mid-town Manhattan apartment to a Catskills log cabin, I was accompanied in my imaginative fantasies by the bear. On the eve of this move, I took a workshop led by … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on John Haines 1924—2011

American Duende

Half a dozen years ago, I commuted from Woodstock down to Soho once a week for a workshop at the old Poet’s House that had caught my eye, “American Duende.” I wasn’t disappointed. Our course packet from the instructor, which … Continue reading

Posted in Poems | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Comments Off on American Duende