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1. Letter from the Editors

Dear Readers,

This week, in our prose series, we present Julie Kane's "Maxine Cassin (1927-2010)," from The Dark Horse, Spring 2018: The Neglected Poets Issue:

"Those who follow New Orleans music will tell you that some of the most gifted artists of the previous century are little known beyond the borders of the city precisely because they could not bear to leave it. The same holds true for Maxine Cassin, one of the city's finest poets."

Look for it here...

Enjoy this week's poems!

Warmest regards,

Don Selby & Diane Boller

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2. Sponsor Messages

 Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference
Bread Loaf Translators’ Conference, June 1-7, 2018—Specializing in the literary translation of poetry and prose. Award-winning translators Kazim Ali, Susan Bernofsky, Mónica de la Torre, Bill Johnston, and Sora Kim-Russellwill offer introductory and advanced workshops along with an inspiring schedule of readings and lectures all in the heart of Vermont’s Green Mountains. See application details at
www.middlebury.edu/blwc/bltc.

 Vermont College of Fine Arts MFAs in Writing
Vermont College of Fine Arts offers a traditinal low-residency MFA in Writing program—now celebrating its 35th year—along with a residential MFA in Writing & Publishing program.

 15th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival
15th Annual Palm Beach Poetry Festival - Delray Beach, Florida, January 21-26, 2019. Focus on your work with 8 of America’s most celebrated poets: Ellen Bass, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, Stuart Dischell, Aracelis Girmay, Campbell McGrath, Matthew Olzmann, Gregory Pardlo, Eleanor Wilner. Six days of workshops, readings, craft talks, manuscript conferences, panel discussion, social events and so much more. Special Guest, Sharon Olds, Poet At Large, Tyehimba Jess. Visit palmbeachpoetryfestival.org to apply online. Deadline: November 12, 2018.

 Online Poetry Coaching & Mentorship from Warm, Enthusiastic, Accomplished Poets
A OneRoom poetry coach can help you deepen your writing practice, improve your craft, and finish a big project like a chapbook or collection. Poet member Ash Goodwin says: “Oneroom helped me clarify my goals, and I’m ecstatic that in 2017 I completed more than 100 new poems in three different projects. I’ve made rich connections with fellow writers and love that element of community. My coaches offered perspectives, approaches and considerations that have shaped my writing practice for the better in many ways.” You can apply to join the program at https://www.joinoneroom.com/genre/poetry/apply. We look forward to hearing from you!

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3. Poetry News Links

News and reviews from around the web, updated daily:

• Rebecca Foust introduces "Anniversary in Paris," by Christine M. Gelineau. (Women's Voices for Change)
• Mississippi poet Jon Parrish Peede becomes Chairman of the NEH. (Mississippi Business Journal)
• Terrance Hayes introduces a poem by Kevin Young. (The New York Times Magazine)
• Renaissance Woman: The Life of Vittoria Colonna, by Ramie Targoff, reviewed by Sarah Dunant. (The New York Times)
• R.S. Thomas's "poetry is more orthodox than he let on," says Peter J. Leithart. (First Things)
• And more....

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4. New Arrivals

These new arrivals are available for purchase via Poetry Daily/Amazon.com.

• Weather Inventions, Emily Rosko (The University of Akron Press)
• Dear Pilgrims, John F. Deane (Carcanet Press)
• The White Silhouette, James Harpur (Carcanet Press)
• Where Outside the Body Is the Soul Today, Melissa Kwasny (University of Washington Press)
• Because I Cannot Leave This Body, Carol V. Davis (Truman State University Press)
• Blood, Metal, Fiber, Rock, Elizabeth Bodien (Kelsay Books)
• In Her Shambles, Elizabeth Parker (Seren Books)
• Visiting the Minotaur, Claire Willliamson (Seren Books)
• Feminists Are Passing from Our Lives, Leslie McGrath (The Word Works)
• The Consequence of Moonlight, Sofia Starnes (Paraclete Press)
• The Chance of Home, Mark S. Burrows (Paraclete Press)
• Almost Entirely, Jennifer Wallace (Paraclete Press)
• What Will Soon Take Place, Tania Runyan (Paraclete Press)
• Angela Alaimo O'Donnell, Still Pilgrim (Paraclete Press)
• Communion of Saints, Susan L. Miller (Paraclete Press)
• The Paraclete Poetry Anthology, Mark S. Burrows, ed. (Paraclete Press)

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5. This Week’s Featured Poets

The work of the following poets will appear as Today's Poem on the days indicated:

Monday - Derek Sheffield
Tuesday - Christine Lavant
Wednesday - Nicholas Friedman
Thursday - Mark Cox
Friday - Andrew Wynn Owen
Saturday - Eric Pankey
Sunday - Paul Guest

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6. Featured Poets May 28, 2018 - June 3, 2018

These and other past featured poets may be found in our archive:

Monday - Ethel Rackin
Tuesday - Brendan Galvin
Wednesday - Fleda Brown
Thursday - Erica Funkhouser
Friday - Graham Foust
Saturday - Marion McCready
Sunday - Donna Masini

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7. Last Year’s Featured Poets

These poems will be retired from our archive during the coming week.

Ella Frears, "After the Lie, Donald Came in a Vision to Donald"
Beverley Bie Brahic, "Land's End"
Lucien Darjeun Meadows, "Rust"
Lloyd Schwartz, "Small Airport in Brazil"
Ed Skoog, "Listen to The Kinks More"
Mary Jo Salter, "The Hotel Belvedere"
Debra Nystrom, "Where the Cancer Center’s New Wing Will Be"

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8. Poem From Last Year

The Hotel Belvedere

A June day under the Jungfrau.
Near the railway that brought her here,
an old woman sits on a bench.
She isn't facing the Jungfrau
but the Hotel Belvedere

which has, as its name implies,
a beautiful view of the Jungfrau,
a name for what she had been
when she last saw it, maybe,
on her honeymoon.

She regards the hotel intently,
studies what I assume
were the windows of their room.
Was it hard to come back alone,
hobbling on that cane?

No, not alone: her husband
and daughter (or granddaughter—
surely this couple's offspring
can't be very young)
have arrived with ice cream cones,

inverted mountains where snow
is piled on the widest end.
They make the most of that pleasure
before, like a magic trick,
a tripod's pulled from a backpack.

Steady as you go
is what the granddaughter says
as she pulls the old woman up
and the three of them, like a tripod,
lean to make one shape

that peaks on top, like the Jungfrau.
But the hotel's the backdrop.
The camera's timed to snap
at a smile, and another smile;
new pose, and it snaps again.

Even the staring stranger
who has no need to invent
their story is distracted
from the majesty of the Jungfrau,
and heeding gestures meant

to yield up little grandeur:
the acts of a granddaughter
who, when she's old, will tell
of the long journey they took
back to the hotel,

the origin of what mattered
to a few vanished people.
There was ice cream; and a view
of the snowcapped Jungfrau,
which is nowhere pictured.

 

Mary Jo Salter
The Common
Issue 13

Copyright © 2017 by Mary Jo Salter
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission