WINTER 2009 - No. 103 | TOC
▪ Interview & Review ▪
The CommonLine Interview: Pulitzer Prize Winner Stephen Dunn - Ananda Osel
A few years ago a friend of mine introduced me to the work of New Jersey based poet Stephen Dunn, handing me a book, telling me “…this is one of the greatest living poets.”
The Sky is a Beautiful Wound: Liz Waldner's Trust Reviewed - Lisbeth Cheever-Gessaman
A metaphysical journey is never complete without it's quest for beauty and truth and the relationship of the individual in pursuit of those ideals. Trust, the award-winning collection of poems from Liz Waldner, is an ethereal collection of phantasmagoric conclusions and questions...
Quick Fiction: Snapshots in a Spoonful of Time - Julie M. Tate
One of my favorite flash journals out today is a bi-annual publication aptly titled Quick Fiction, distributed by The Parlor, North Shore's Independent Writing Studio and edited by Jennifer Pieroni, since 2001....
▪ Poetry ▪
Five Short Poems from Little Commentaries - Suzanne Buffam
Crowds press in to glimpse her terrible smile. / What diet of secrets sustains it?...
"Man Tits" & "A Libertine in Albany" - Rebecca Wolff
Look at that pair, / on the one over there. / He's young, skinny, low...
"Feathered Alphabet" - Annie G. Rogers
For a while I climbed the ladder, / not realizing I'd placed it / against the wrong house....
"My Father in a Motel" & "Bar Music"- Rod Tipton
I had never seen / him without his teeth / but he is sitting / on the corner / of a bed in a motel...
"Blue Sunday" - Lyn Lifshin
imagining that he slips / from her the way rings / do from a finger in / the cold. Leaves. October,...
"Sometimes, Time Pitty-Pats on Quiet Feet" & "Two Bits" - Carl Miller Daniels
it was unlikely that he would be overheard, but / still, though, the sexy young man / was always very very quiet when he...
"For The Barren Orange Tree" - Lisa Marie Basile
I do not want to write / like Lorca does, / in misery....
"One Upmanship in Suburbia" & "My Words are War Whoops Against the Womb" - Rob Plath
I hear teenagers / in the schoolyard / next to my apartment...
"Race Relations - a Portrait in Motion" & "Seven Years Bad Luck" - Dennis Paul Wilken
My street is two-toned / But the white is starting to run...
"Wolves Howl at the Moon" - Mark Barkawitz
i sometimes/often wonder / if there’s anything / after death?...
"Sunday" - Mercedes Lawry
Humps of cloud pass slowly / in the morning, revealing a blue, / faint and milky...
"The Last Dance" - Julie M. Tate
A slow, building waltz / pauses outside my bedroom door, / the crescendo knocks politely / at the base of my hips...
"Tracks" & "Walking on Water" - Doug Draime
on her / slender / arms / between / her toes / the backs / of her / beautiful / knees...
"Bi-Alphabetical Order" - John Burgess
bi-a matter bi-birthright (right?) / bi-cell division bi-Darwinism / bi-effectual intellectualize...
"Always Unquestioning and Always Unchallenging" - G. Tod Slone
So much was taken for granted in our society, / even by the highly educated, especially when...
"9 10" & "Clairvoyant" - Christopher Pryor
ten / lines / in / a / poem
"Chris Buckley, After Winning The Guggenheim" - Brandon Williams
I think he keeps it in the back / of his trouser pockets, ready / to pull it out and dust it in front...
"My Father in a Motel" & "Bar Music"- Rod Tipton
I had never seen / him without his teeth / but he is sitting / on the corner / of a bed in a motel...
"Blue Sunday" - Lyn Lifshin
imagining that he slips / from her the way rings / do from a finger in / the cold. Leaves. October,...
"Sometimes, Time Pitty-Pats on Quiet Feet" & "Two Bits" - Carl Miller Daniels
it was unlikely that he would be overheard, but / still, though, the sexy young man / was always very very quiet when he...
"For The Barren Orange Tree" - Lisa Marie Basile
I do not want to write / like Lorca does, / in misery....
"One Upmanship in Suburbia" & "My Words are War Whoops Against the Womb" - Rob Plath
I hear teenagers / in the schoolyard / next to my apartment...
"Race Relations - a Portrait in Motion" & "Seven Years Bad Luck" - Dennis Paul Wilken
My street is two-toned / But the white is starting to run...
"Wolves Howl at the Moon" - Mark Barkawitz
i sometimes/often wonder / if there’s anything / after death?...
"Sunday" - Mercedes Lawry
Humps of cloud pass slowly / in the morning, revealing a blue, / faint and milky...
"The Last Dance" - Julie M. Tate
A slow, building waltz / pauses outside my bedroom door, / the crescendo knocks politely / at the base of my hips...
"Tracks" & "Walking on Water" - Doug Draime
on her / slender / arms / between / her toes / the backs / of her / beautiful / knees...
"Bi-Alphabetical Order" - John Burgess
bi-a matter bi-birthright (right?) / bi-cell division bi-Darwinism / bi-effectual intellectualize...
"Always Unquestioning and Always Unchallenging" - G. Tod Slone
So much was taken for granted in our society, / even by the highly educated, especially when...
"9 10" & "Clairvoyant" - Christopher Pryor
ten / lines / in / a / poem
"Chris Buckley, After Winning The Guggenheim" - Brandon Williams
I think he keeps it in the back / of his trouser pockets, ready / to pull it out and dust it in front...
"Canker Sore on a Hypocrite's Mouth" - Mather Schneider
spitting at me / because I've not entered / on my hands and knees...
"The Welcome Mat" - J. Pharoah Doss
when asked / when was the last time / I spoke with my daughter / I shrug and reply...
"Maybe I Think Too Much" - Tim Alexander
i think something might happen / if i stop writing, / i might become a doctor...
"Gender Issues" - Brad Bisio
A woman asked / Why do you have / earrings in both your ears?...
"2009 Poetry Competition Results" - David Young, Cynthia Spencer, Doug Draime, and DB Cox
CommonLine would like to sincerely thank everyone who participated in the 2009 CommonLine Poetry Competition...
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