Online poetry journal Mannequin Haus focuses on surreal and experimental poetry. Their recently released Issue 12 includes my poem “The Second Hand of God is a Beautiful Foot” (excerpt below). You can read the whole piece here.
Author: playhaus2015
“Waiting for a Blueberry at the End of Time” published in Oddball Magazine
Each day since 2009, online literary journal Oddball Magazine has covered “poetry, art, and entertainment for the masses.” Today, one of their offerings includes my poem “Waiting for a Blueberry at the End of Time.” You can read it here.
“Frozen in Babylon” and four other poems published in BlazeVOX
Online poetry journal BlazeVOX is known for publishing a wide variety of contemporary experimental work. Their Fall 2018 issue brings together a huge number of writers around the loose theme of “the idea of ‘public space’ and more specifically on spaces where anyone can do anything at any given moment.”
The issue includes five poems from my “Civilization’s Lost” series: “Frozen in Babylon,” “Upon the High Castle,” “No Guiding Light,” “The White Grave,” and “Schools of Drift.” The pieces in the series were inspired by lost civilizations from around the world. Under the current American regime, it seems important to examine the fragility of languages, cultures and nations. “Upon the High Castle,” for instance, is based on the cliff side city of Mesa Verde in Arizona. You can read my contributions here.
Abstract poem in Brave New Word’s “Blank Verse” Hemingway tribute
Online Experimental poetry journal Brave New Word‘s Issue 12 is a tribute to Ernest Hemingway’s experimental, pre-Dada poem “Blank Verse.” You’ve probably seen it somewhere. BNW editor Volodymyr Bilyk describes it this way:
“Blank Verse” is a five line poem that consists solely of punctuation marks divided by extensive spaces to resemble a legitimate text object. The poem consists of:
- a pair of quotation marks; an exclamation mark, colon, coma, dot; coma, coma, coma, dot; coma, semicolon, exclamation mark and another coma.
As you can see – it is obviously a throwaway joke. But in the same time it manages to go far beyond its original intent.
You can read his full examination of the piece (and view Hemingway’s original) on Volodymyr’s personal blog here.
All the pieces in BNW #12 are responses in some way to Papa Hemingway’s piece. There are contributions from many artists in the international experimental poetry scene, including Mark Young, John M. Bennett, Sacha Archer, Andriy Antonovskiy, and many more. Lots of amusing remixes, re-dos, and re-visionings. Who knew one could do so much with punctuation! If you like your poetry concrete and a little silly, this issue is for you.
My own response is a concrete poem called “Grawlix Grid,” an 8×10 construction of various punctuation marks. You can view it online here.
Video still in H&
Another video still appeared in experimental poetry journal H& yesterday (Oct 9). This one’s from an unpublished video. You can view the journal and image here.
“Bleeding in the Cracks” in Slipstream; print issue 38 out now
Slipstream literary magazine’s print version for Issue #38, the one with the Water Theme, has been released and is ready for purchase from their website. I know this, because my contributor’s copy arrived in the mail last week. This issue contains one of my poems, “Bleeding in the Cracks.” Very exciting to see my work in an actual printed journal, a real rarity these days. Slipstream exclusively releases printed copies.
You can read more samples from #38, view the list of contributing authors, and order copies from this webpage.
Video still poem in H&
Another video still appeared in experimental poetry journal H& on Sept 24. This one’s from an unpublished video. You can view it here.
“Rabbit Makes His Living” in EZ P-Zine
EZ P-Zine Issue #4 was recently released; the theme is “resolve,” and covers “closure, epiphanies, personal solutions, contentment, and new paths.” My poem “Rabbit Makes His Living” is included; it’s one of a few pieces following the rabbit character in his mischievous antics. You can check out EZ P-Zine in a number of formats, both print and digital. You could order from the Pyre Publishing website, or using the links on the Goodreads page. A print copy costs $5, while the digital version is free. You decide!
Here’s a taste of my piece below; the full version is in the zine.
“A Pirate Only Knows” in The Rye Whiskey Review
Online poetry journal The Rye Whiskey Review focuses on works related to booze. I only had one poem in stock that fit the theme, “A Pirate Only Knows,” and fortunately it was good enough to make the blog. Today is the first appearance. You can read the whole poem here.
“Into the Breach” published in Streetcake
The latest issue of online literary magazine Streetcake was just released today. This is issue 59, which includes one of my poems called “Into the Breach.” You can check out the whole poem and the rest of the issue here.
jeff bagato 