Touch the Donkey #13

 

Great poetry in the 13th issue of Touch the Donkey, order your copy!

Published by rob mclennan and above/ground press, 2017

http://touchthedonkey.blogspot.ca/

 

 

 

marginal prints, by philip miletic

 

marginal prints by Philip Miletic is an accomplished book of avant-garde-type poetry that engages the reader fully. With expert control of his words, Miletic opens an exciting world to us, a world of spaces and meaning, couched within the avenues of a relationship. His poetry has a shifting range of forms, moving from poems like:
15
eyes erred
and edged;
soft-spoken script,
whispered periphery

to:

I thought of the passage
I thought of the passage in relation to you
I thought of the passage in relation to me
I thought of the passage and our shared conversation
I thought of the passage and our shared sense of ecstasy

marginal prints is a chapbook worth reading. Philip Miletic lives in Kitchener, ON and his book is published by above/ground press (2017).

–Eleni Zisimatos

 

The Uncertainty Principle, by rob mclennan

 

rob mclennan’s book, The Uncertainty Principle, is a notable collection of short meditations on various themes. My favourite literary form—shorts, not quite poetry and not quite long enough to be full-fledged prose—his words resonate with a tone that is reflective and not cynical. I call them meditations because they contain philosophy. They affect you. And they are definitely reflective of ‘uncertainty’ in the sense of it being the world’s basic, unstable building-block. This book comes from deep engagement with the living and not just surface gloss.

“I prefer the theory that time is a single point, as
opposed to a linear trajectory. Every moment
ever happened or will sharing this, from the
War of 1812 to the moon landing to the chaos
in Egypt to the birth of my grandfather to the
creation of Stonehenge to my fingers brushing
up against your face for the first time.”

This is the first time I read mclennan’s prose, and I must say it is very different from his poetry, and definitely worth reading. The gaps and breaths of thought and solid word-choice make this book a literary achievement.

“If you don’t eat your cookie, your fortune can’t happen.”

Chaudiere Books

 

new from above/ground press: Kristjana Gunnars

Kristjana Gunnars’, “snake charmers: a cycle of twenty poems” is a rich body of poems strongly evocative of place and mysticism. Her writing style is fluid, with colourful description and emotional tenor:

There is that empty chair, forever.
I can almost hear it whisper:

alone in the middle of the ceramic
tile floor, the herringbone blue, white,
crossing forever, a tossing sea of earth
and a garden table with no cups
and no utensils or flowers, fanning
round in royal blue mosaic, a red
cushion slightly off center on the brown
wicker chair.

This is our courtyard
of existence: these are the things in it,

this dark chair, the pillow
askance, the warm air, heavy, still thick
with the trace of your shadow.

The entire book resonates with lines like these, and the reader
is able to enter into an exotic landscape where not everything is as it seems.
It is well-worth the read. /ez

Published by above/ground press, 2016. http://abovegroundpress.blogspot.ca/

 

In Memorium, P. K. Page

P.K. Page was one of Canada’s most esteemed poets. I would like to remember her as a vital poet of strength and worth, and to quote her poem, “The Search,” published in Vallum 5:2 SPIRIT in 2007. P.K. Page passed away January 2010:

THE SEARCH
By P.K. Page

Hunt, hunt again. If you do not find it, you
Will die. But I tell you this much, it
Is not under the stone at the foot
Of the garden, nor by the wall at the fig tree.
— “Treasure Hunt,” Robert Pen Warren

You have the whole garden to search in.
So begin. Begin now. Look behind every
shrub, turn up stones if
necessary, dig deep in the black
soil. Do not let night
interfere. Use a lamp to
light the darkness up.
There is no time to lose if
you are to succeed, so
“hunt, hunt again. If you do not find it, you”

may be sent to ‘Coventry.’
Not pleasant.
No joke. But worse
is indeed possible. So LOOK.
If you need glasses put
them on. NOW. In that
way you should not even miss a bent
stalk. I cannot really
talk, nor mention what
“will die. But I tell you this much, it”
is not where or what you think–
in the woodshed, for instance, and not
behind the wheelbarrow nor in
the compost. Don’t
waste your time
thinking where were YOU would have put
it, had you been asked. You
weren’t asked. But it–let me assist
you this much in your pursuit–
“is not under the stone at the foot”

of the broad leafed maple. So stop
your wild surmises.
Time is running out and,
as your life
depends upon finding
it, search meticulously.
And good luck, I’d like you to
succeed.
Remember, not in the greenery
“of the garden, nor by the wall at the fig tree.”

Fortune

Boethius wrote about the Wheel of Fortune and how it’s not wise to build a house on the edge of a cliff for one never knows what turn his or her fortune will take. We know very little in life, but what we do know is that things change. One minute someone is in the depths of despair, another is sick. Then there is a sudden turn of the wheel and one is moving upwards again. So it has been proven throughout time.

Being happy is difficult today. But as the ancients said, happiness is the goal of life. Being in love is also difficult, with its attending insecurity, shyness and, I guess, madness (also as the ancients would say). But if there is a spark and hope for happiness then life becomes meaningful. And as long as the Wheel does not come down too quickly, for it is inevitable that it will come down at some point, we can enjoy our brief moments of joy. And especially, love.

Blast From the Past: Dante

“While I was in this condition, the desire to write some poetry came to me, so I wrote this sonnet which begins: ‘All my thoughts’.

All my thoughts are telling me of Love;
they have in them such great diversity
that one thought makes me welcome all his power,
another thinks Love’s power is insane,
another makes me hope and brings delight,
another moves me oftentimes to tears.
Only in begging pity all agree,
and tremble as they do with fearful heart.
Now I know not from which to take my cue;
I want to speak but know not what to say.
Thus do I wander in a maze of Love!
And if I want to harmonize these thoughts,
to do so I must call upon my foe,
by asking Lady Pity for defence.”

Dante Alighieri, Vita Nuova.    b. 1265

Blast From the Past#2: Dante Alighieri

‘The high desire that is now aflame and urgent in thee to have knowledge of that which thou seest pleases me more the more it swells; but first thou must drink of these waters before this great thirst of thine can be satisfied.’ Thus she spoke to me who was the sun of my eyes; then she continued: ‘The river and the topazes that pass into it and out and the laughter of the flowers are shadowy forecasts of their truth; not that these things are imperfect in themselves, but the defect is in thyself, that thy vision is not yet so exalted.’

————————–

Dante, born: 1265

(Excerpt from The Divine Comedy 3: Paradiso. Translated by John D. Sinclair, 1939).

SPRING HAIKU CONTEST WINNERS!

Thanks to all who submitted. Many wonderful entries. the winner is:

Jeff Casselman:

Through gold alluvial
Azure flowers bloom, small plumed
Footsteps to the sky.

Congratulations Jeff!

———————————————————-

Second place is:

Ingrid Philipp:

golden grasses stab
faintly clouded brilliant blue
skies stretching endless

——————————————–

And 4 Honourable Mentions:

Jan Jorgensen:

Light penetrates sky,

dances through blue flower field –

what joy to live here!

————————————-

Courtney Alsop:
Blue flowers listen
Yellow fields hold my secrets
(The town a witness)

————————————–

Shannon Tien:

Wake Up

The dreamcatcher breaks

its promise, does nothing when

ocean becomes sky.

——————————

Ilona Martonfi:

Van Gogh’s luminous light

budding plum trees  cornflowers

clump of blue-purple houses

—————————————————–

Hope these haikus will bring spring to us here in Montreal. Still -15 out today. But the sun is out. Congratulations to everyone!  /ez

Rebels of the 1950s

In the USA, there has been a tradition of poets and artists who were considered to go counter-culture, especially in the 1950s. This mythologizing has painted vivid images of Kerouac and James Dean, on bikes puffing mean cigarettes. And these artists, musicians, writers and poets rose up from the ashes of WWII and created a new world. Their work stands as a monument to change and revolution, things we almost dare not speak about today. Although art is ‘rooted’ in imagination, it is often through art that we begin to see clearly. “In a dark time the eye begins to see,” wrote poet, Theodore Roethke. Although these rebellious trends are less evident in Canada, which traditionally has played it safe (except perhaps for some Quebecois rebels), the US imagination spills over borders and infects. This is a good thing with true art, and not with the vacuous cacophony of Hollywood, pop or fashion trends. Being true to oneself as far as one’s honest voice goes is important. When things are not right, the artist will rebel. It is a kind of law of nature.

Here is a link to a great synopsis of the ‘rebel poets’ or movements of the 1950s.

http://www.npg.si.edu/exh/rebels/poets.htm