Check out our new spring 2012 issue featuring poetry by Etel Adnan, Jake Berry, David Budhill, Barbara Siegel Carlson, Neeli Cherkovski, Ewa Chruschiel, Andrei Codrescu, Alan Elyshevitz, Jack Foley, Kimberly Cloutier Green, Norbert Hirschhorn, Amalio Madueno, Michael McClure, R.S. Mengert, Paul Nelson, Michael Lee Phillips, Ivanov Reyez, Russell Rowland, Gerd Stern, Leah Twitchell and Heathcote Williams with artwork by Stephen Burt, Orson Horchler and Amy Evans McClure.
Poems
Torches for Michael McClure, sage of the mysteriosos
by Jake Berry The torches of heaven outwit the rage of humans They gather without effort in the deep strata (where the Old Ones are buried) —
Etude: A Soft Seizure
by Jake Berry Spokes of the sun strike the sky deep blue — painful An agitation through pipe smoke scattering the nocturnal eye Fragments of joy
Fiefdom
by Jake Berry A fist around the edges — slurry at the heart Tanks Absalom The garter worn twisted Thieves torn from their barracks and scattered
Nubians Contemplate Lake Nasser Behind the High Dam at Aswan
by Norbert Hirschhorn They stand on concrete pylons, pinions of steel, imagining landmarks they can no longer see: acacias, date palms, orange
Three Sisters
by Norbert Hirschhorn work the streets of Leicester Square. One peddles ribbons for your sweetie’s hair, the next hawks roses filched from front
Town Clock
by Russell Rowland When the wind is right, I hear the strike of the downtown steeple clock. Though annually uncertain of the date His own Son
Insomnia, Part II
by Alan Elyshevitz I am solvent, well – ventilated. No one has spurned me. The trees in my window efface the wind. Yet my murmurings catch
Helpless Observer
by Leah Twitchell As the baby rolled and tumbled Down a full flight of stairs, Slow motion kicked in And what took seconds seemed like years. I
Violation
by Leah Twitchell She was rearranging the furniture In her parent’s house — As if by changing the shape of the house as it had been then, The
Athinas Street, Athens
by Michael Lee Phillips What was the first question and what was the answer ? That’s what I’d like to know. And how did the answer know That it
Eleventh Hour
by Kimberly Cloutier Green You were a big, horns – only concert of a man. I was your sapphire – tongued chameleon. Kiss me, kiss me.
Acequia
by Amalio Madueño can’t I believe it will flow forever all that time since the Conquest running through basalt in the high valley where I stand
Cañoncito
by Amalio Madueño all the way from Dulzura and all summer the brush had been thin, dry & for a stretch scorched to black stubble in Arroyo
Principle of the Moon
by Amalio Madueño Cold moist feebly shining feminine corporeal passive — the womanly the gentle Sister Bride Mother Spouse confab of beloved
Embudo Equinox
by Amalio Madueño first, let there be a soft rain out of the West, let there be a grey light in the bosque and the quiet adobe among alamosa,
Embudo Variations — Winter
by Amalio Madueñ I Two kitchen lemons fused by blue green fuzz; I hold the perfect citrus skin of one least rotten. A distant raven sways aside
Kafka
by Barbara Siegel Carlson Two o’clock on his way home. Sun beats down his neck, so he takes a different route. A pigeon begins to gurgle as
Gone is Not Forgotten for Bert
by Gerd Stern when you’ve got to go it’s a pisser of a when not just you won’t stay can’t, that is, however will you be going now here, there,
Checkin’ the Set *
by Gerd Stern there was nothing to forgive then murder impossible to forget drove your express spirit beyond this back beat of no time like no
No Space for Me
by R.S. Mengert When I was a boy, I dreamt of being an astronaut. I grew up freakishly large and half blind. No space for me. No floating
Bill of Lading
by R.S. Mengert If you can empty your own boat crossing the river of the world no one will oppose you. Chuang Tzu I started
49 th Parallel Blues after Nate Mackey
by Paul Nelson The function of waves is to bring the salvage from shipwrecks. — Ramón Gomez de la Serna
Power of the Pocket Journal
by Paul Nelson Those tiny pocket diaries make the year smaller. — Ramón Gomez de la Serna & a year will
Dragonfly Resurrection
by Paul Nelson Horse flies are smudges on the air. — Ramón Gomez de la Serna Dragonflies are silent fireworks. Into the
17 Jasmine
by Neeli Cherkovski in the hills which are prelude to disaster famine, monsoon central planning, but I plant jasmine on your shoulder, and tend
Mantegna
by Neeli Cherkovski consider the blue and the red, take your pain to the hills, do not allow envy or anger into the house, step over the dying
Being, Love for J. C.
by Neeli Cherkovski being, love, water, the harbor where we turn, suddenly it envelopes us and there is no turning back, shadows illuminate gated
So Much Love
by Neeli Cherkovski so much love that I want to hide from love I sit in the garden behind our house on Bernal Hill thinking rose, tree fern
No Love No Hate for Bill Morgan
by Neeli Cherkovski 1 throw the book away let it decompose in the stream throw your pen into a cloud grazing jagged winter peaks as governments
Occupy the Poem
by Neeli Cherkovski occupy the poem on its quiet center and the louder margins take each letter and every word to the limit cross into emptiness
Umm Kulthum
by Jack Foley listening to the astounding listening to the astounding sounds Rendition generates tarab, enchantment sounds of
Ascenseur Pour L’ Échafaud / Elevator to the Gallows for Robin A. Nicholas
by Jack Foley who writes who writes of the sadness of lovers of the sadness of lovers of their of their loneliness when apart loneliness when
Mais Qu’est-ce Qu’il ya, Dit le Non Dieu. Rien, Toujours Rien But What is It ? Says the Non God. Nothing, Always Nothing.
by Jack Foley A Poem of Xmas Xeer “ . . .. quoi que vous soyez chrétien, juif ou mussulman” pour un qui croit pas (comme moi) c’est pas une
Mr. Tambo, Mr. Bones the mime wears whiteface
by Jack Foley Is it possible How do you do, Mr. Tambo that the man in blackface Oh, Mr. Bones, in a minstrel show I been having (in addition to
Night
by Etel Adnan Silence is covering memory’s shaken trees. No prohibition can hold back the waves that are none other than childhood’s attempts to
Rats
by Heathcote Williams http://thisfragiletent.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/rat.jpg ?w=497&h=375 Rats are beating us In a competition that We’ve
translation for calin – andrei mihailescu
by Andrei Codrescu Exile is the most radical form of translation writes Calin – Andrei Mihailescu in “Happy New Fear” an English –
Tanka after Basho
by David Bulbul An outdoor wedding. A summer evening. Dinner. Music. Dancing. And someone’s gorgeous lusty wife. A lusty poet. Trouble.
Rzeszowian Ode
by Ewa Chrusciel I smuggle her hula hoop skirts. Queen of the oven and drawers stuffed with candy. Hysteric who chased us with hunks of bread
Mephisto 10
by Michael McClure MOUNTAINS OF MATTER MADE OF STARS, and scent of crushed GERANIUM LEAVES, in “the everlasting universe of things” roll through
Poet Biographies
Heathcote Williams
a poet, playwright, and actor, he has made a significant contribution to many fields. He is best known for his extended poems on environmental
Leah Twitchell
lives in Brunswick, Maine. This is her first appearance in The Café Review.
Gerd Stern
is a poet, media artist, and cheese maven. He has published several books of poetry and oral history. From Beat Scene Poet to Psychedelic
Russell Rowland
born in Connecticut, he has spent the past quarter century in New Hampshire. His poetry appears in over a hundred journals. He was the 2007
Ivanov Reyez
is a retired professor of English from Odessa College. His poetry is included in Eclipse, The Mayo Review, Pinyon Poetry, The Temple, Poetica:
Michael Lee Phillips
publications include The Antioch Review, Beloit Poetry Journal, The Literary Review, New York Quarterly, The Stinging Fly (Ireland), Poetry
Paul Nelson
is a poet, teacher, broadcast interview host, and a charter e – poets.net site director in Auburn, Washington. He is director of the
Michael McClure
at the age of 22 he gave his first poetry reading at the legendary Six Gallery event in San Francisco, where Allen Ginsberg first read “Howl.”
Amalio Madueño
grew up on the borderlands of California and Baja. He organized farm workers with Cesar Chavez, studied poetry in graduate school at the
Norbert Hirschhorn
is an international public health physician, commended by President Bill Clinton as an “American Health Hero.” He lives in London and Beirut.
Kimberly Cloutier Green
lives in Kittery Point, Maine. Her chapbook What becomes of Words was published by the Aldrich Museum of Contemporary Art in Connecticut, and
Jack Foley
is a poet and critic who, with his wife, Adelle, performs his work frequently in the San Francisco Bay Area. He was born in Neptune, New Jersey
Alan Elyshevitz
is a poet and short story writer from East Norriton, Pennsylvania. His poems have appeared most recently in Snail Mail Review, Sliver of Stone,
Andrei Codrescu
a poet, novelist, and essayist born in Transylvania. In 1966, he moved to Detroit. He is the author of dozens of books of poetry, including
Ewa Chrusciel
won the 2009 Emergency Press International Book Contest for Strata, her first book published in English. Prior to Strata, she released two books
Neeli Cherkovski
was born in Santa Monica, California in 1945. While in high school he edited The Black Cat Review, a poetry journal and began to publish in small
Barbara Siegel Carlson
her poems have been published in Hayden’s Ferry Review, Poetry East, Third Coast, Birmingham Poetry Review, Louisville Review, Agni, and others.
David Budbill
is the author of eight books of poems, eight plays, a novel, a collection of short stories, a picture book for children, and dozens of essays,
Jake Berry
is a poet, musician and visual artist. His work has appeared in magazines, anthologies, online publications, and books for almost three decades.
Etel Adnan
is a poet, painter, and essayist living in Paris and Sausalito, California. She was born in Beirut Lebanon in 1925 to a Syrian father and a
Artist Biographies
Reviewer Biographies
Bruce Spang
a teacher and writer, he works at Scarborough High School. He has published several books of poems, including To the Promised Land Grocery, by
M. A. Schorr
the new edition of his Heart’s Ladder (lulu.com) includes 22 dream songs, entitled Recovery, that were begun at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital