Chapbook Spotlight: small fruit songs

Cati Porter’s small fruit songs is published by Pudding House Publications in Columbus, Ohio, a small press that puts out a substantial number of chapbooks each year, including their Greatest Hits series. The collection is standard chapbook size, with card stock cover, saddle-stitched. The cover has an attractive and subject-appropriate image of “Self-Portrait as Radiant Host,” a still life of fruit by artist Julie Heffernan. The pale gray cover, if held at the right angle, sparkles with glitter. Inside, the poems are nicely surrounded by black end pages.

Although the collection is subtitled “prose poems,” I was not aware of the poems as such while reading. The usual box format is not adhered to in all the poems. Many are broken into stanzas and a number of lines do not reach the right margin. What I noticed was the musicality, the lyricism of the poems. And the unity of the collection. Both qualities I look for in a chapbook. All of the seventeen poems are related to fruit. Yet Porter makes sure that there’s never any danger of the topic growing stale.

The poems are lush and juicy and full of longing and sweetness. We find different kinds of fruit—apples, oranges, plums. We find a variety of colors—red, purple, green, white. And we find a variety of fruit-related things—bees, blossoms, honey, gardens, orchards. Throughout the chapbook there is a feeling of abundance.

Porter spices up the collection with alluring titles. Several enumerate categories of fruit: “Civil Fruit,” “Fallen Fruit,” “False Fruit,” “Multiple Fruit,” and “Small Fruit.” Others tantalize the reader with their strange fruitiness: “Fructify,” “Fructus Industriales,” “Fruiteress,” “Frutage,” and “Infructescence.” A number of the titles are followed by intriguing epigraphs that provide definitions of fruit-related words or etymologies of them.

These are poems that show the poet’s lively imagination and skills of invention. There is a surreal aspect to a number of the poems. In “Dreaming the Fruited Damson Tree” we find a woman who falls in love with a fruit tree, marries it, and then eats the offspring as they fall from the branches. In “Fructify” we find a woman’s stomach full of stinging bees, a metaphor for grief. In “Hive” and again in “Infructescence” we find a girl who sprouts flowers from her body.

Here’s a sample poem.

Frutage

1. A picture of fruit; decoration by
representation of fruit.
2. A confection of fruit. [Obs.} nares.

She allows him to pick her when she is sweetest
and she lays herself down in a tub of sugared
water. It is only at this hour that he can admire
her, when the light is a certain shade of ripe.

She has been taken from the tree out back. There
are so many he can hardly consume them all.

He has laid her out across the canvas of the
lawn.

He photographs her just this way, the light so—
bees all around.

The only thing I found missing in this delightful collection is page numbers in the Table of Contents. Pages in the collection are numbered, but for some reason the publisher did not include the page numbers after the titles on the Table of Contents page. The publisher might also consider making her website more ordering friendly. There is a link for an ordering form, but it is tucked among numerous other links and difficult to locate as is specific ordering information. However, readers can also order the chapbook directly from Cati Porter’s website.

Enjoy Cati Porter's interview with Gayle Brandeis.

Listen to Cati’s recording of “Fructify”.

Listen to more audios of poems from small fruit songs.

The Best Words

On March 15th I ran an event called "Girl Talk." (See earlier post on this.) One of the members of the audience was Isabel Augusto Queijo, unbeknownst to me, a fellow blogger. Isabel picked up a copy of my book, What Feeds Us, and later asked if she could feature one of the poems at her blog. She chose "The Best Words" and posted it yesterday along with some nice links, a cover image, and this very clever photo which she based on the first two lines of the poem: "The ones that sound obscene but aren't, / that put a finger to the flame but don't burn."


Check out this slightly naughty poem at Isabel's blog, A Room of One's Own.

This was a fun poem to write. I keep an idea journal on my kitchen table. At the back of this little notebook, I collect cool words. I have a fondness for words which sound obscene but have perfectly polite meanings. These are words you can say without getting into serious trouble. After I had a goodly number of such words, I wrote the poem. It was one of those poems that took a long time to write and involved multiple drafts and lots and lots of revisions. But it's one of my favorites to read at readings. I'm always happily surprised by the laughter it evokes, often from people I might have expected to somewhat disapprove.

Also check out Isabel's blog. She has some amazing photography posted there.

NaPoWriMo

Last year I read about NaPoWriMo—National Poetry Writing Month. I don't know whose brainchild this is, but the idea is that each day in April, National Poetry Month, you are to write a new poem. Voluntary, of course, but once you take the pledge, you're making a commitment to yourself. I can only make a partial pledge. I know myself too well to think I can write 30 drafts in a month. But I am determined to increase my output. So far I'm doing okay with two drafts underway.

One reason why I can't make the full commitment is that once I get a draft going, I become kind of obsessive about it if it has some promise. I'm more inclined to dwell on it, revising and revising, than I am to move onto the next new draft. At a certain point in the revising, I find that it's a good idea for me to put the poem aside and not look at it for a while. Then when I go back to it, I find some goofs I'd missed or a new image suggests itself, a better word, a stronger music.

The other reason I can't fully commit is that starting tomorrow and for the rest of the week I will be doing a third grade residency. Four one-hour classes for each of five days, plus a professional development workshop after school. Fun but exhausting. I expect to return home each day close to comatose. Then I also have two days of workshops in a girls' high school and two evening readings.

I know, I know—excuses, excuses. But honestly, I'm going to aim for ten new drafts this month. That's still pretty good if I can do it. If you care to join in on this project and if you find the occasional prompt helpful and stimulating, I can suggest a few good online sources.

1. Readwritepoem

Offers numerous prompts for this month, but also on a weekly basis throughout the year. Check the March 27th entry for a list of invented forms. One of my new ones is a Pleiades. (Warning: If you look at the example by the guy who invented this form, you'll see that he's violated the seven syllables per line rule. Or did someone change the inventor's rules?)

2. Poets Online
Run by Ken Ronkowitz who offers a new prompt each month. All poems and prompts are archived. Ken's been doing this for years now, so there are lots of prompts available.

3. Poetic Asides
Robert Lee Brewer's blog. Robert is writing one new poem per day, plus taking on the addtional challenge of offering a prompt per day.

Lips Reading

Last night I participated in a group reading to celebrate the publication of the most recent issue of Lips.

The journal was founded twenty-eight years ago by current editor Laura Boss. This issue is a memorial to poet Michael Benedikt, long-time friend and companion to Laura.

A terrific crowd of about 60 people turned out for the reading which included 16 poets from the issue. Although there was the background noise typically found at a B & N reading, we had nice big comfy chairs, coffee and cookies, and a microphone that worked reasonably well.

Laura began the evening by welcoming the audience and speaking about Michael's involvement in the journal's history. She then invited several poets to read tribute poems to Michael or a poem by Michael.

Jim Gwyn read the following tribute poem by Robert Bly who was one of Michael's close friends. The tribute was followed by readings by 16 of the poets who appear in this issue. It was a lovely evening, full of good memories, visits with friends, and poetry.

It Takes So Long to Finish a Poem
(for Michael)

My hand remembers stroking a sleek bird years ago, one which
was crouching under my fingers, longing for the sky roof on top
of the cabin roof, the forgiveness high in the air.

As for me, I have given so many hours to the ecstasy of detail,
the shadow of a closing door, the final syllable of that poem
which is already gone, looking back over its shoulder.
Well, well . . . Sometimes in our slow hours a child climbs down
into this world.

—Robert Bly

Good News Department

Lovely news today! My book, What Feeds Us, is featured in the new e-issue of Rattle. If you click the link, you'll be taken to the page which lists e-issues. Once there, click on the cover image (as seen here), and the issue will open as a gorgeous pdf which, if you like, you can save to your computer. My feature includes five poems from the book: "Annelida," "Meditation in the Park," "The Best Words," "A Boy's Bike," and "Idiosyncrasies of the Body." I feel honored by and grateful for this attention. Please pay me a visit!

And there's so much more there than just me. Poet John Amen's book, More of Me Disappears, is also featured. There are two poems which received the Neil Postman Award for Metaphor, stunning artwork by Dianne Carroll Burdick, two essays about poetry and craft, a generous excerpt of an interview with Marvin Bell, and half a dozen poems to whet your appetite for the upcoming summer print issue of Rattle. The poets include Bob Hicok, Lynne Knight, and Gregory Orr. This entire issue is a visual and graphic delight.

Editor Tim Green has done a wonderful job with the e-issues, a terrific concept for another way of getting poetry out into the world. This is just one of his additions to the journal since taking over as editor. Other contributions include a beautifully enhanced website. At the website you will find book reviews, sample poems from the current issue of Rattle, and an ever-growing audio library of poets reading their poems which previously appeared in the journal.

Chapbook Spotlight: American Flamingo

There seems to be a proliferation these days of chapbook contests and publications. Historically, the chapbook has been viewed as kind of a stepping stone leading to the full-length book. Perhaps because of the increase in the number of poets submitting to book contests and the limited number of books that publishers can afford to produce each year, the chapbook has taken on increased popularity, and we see many more of them being produced. Some of these are very fine works of art. One such collection is Suzanne Frischkorn's American Flamingo.

Before I move into this chapbook, I want to first say that I have noticed a number of chapbook poets referring to their chapbooks as books. I wish they'd stop doing that. First of all, it's just inaccurate. A chapbook is not a book, so to call it a book sets up a wrong perception. A chapbook is much shorter than a book. The chapbook typically has 12-24 poems and is usually saddle-stitched. The book typically has 40-60 poems and is perfect bound. If I bought something advertised as a book and it turned out to be a chapbook, I would feel that I'd been misled. I'd very likely buy the chapbook anyhow if it sounded like the content would appeal to me, but I like things to be called what they are. Maybe that makes me cranky.

More importantly, a chapbook is different from a book in that it has a much sharper focus, a tighter thematic arrangement. This, to my mind, is what gives the chapbook its appeal. Frischkorn's American Flamingo is an excellent example of this characteristic and virtue of a chapbook.

The collection is the first chapbook in the Cuban-American Poetry Series published by Menendez Publications. The publisher is using Lulu.com to produce the collection. Orders go directly to Lulu rather than to the publisher. I ordered with some reservation as I'd never used Lulu before. But the chapbook arrived within a matter of days, was lovingly packaged in a sturdy box (as opposed to a flimsy envelope) and the chapbook was slipped inside a protective spongy envelope.

Then when I pulled out the chapbook, what a beautiful surprise! This is the prettiest chapbook I've ever seen. My cover image above only hints at the beauty. Inside, each poem is tastefully surrounded by floral designs. While this risks being a distraction, here it isn't as flowers run throughout the poems. The book's design complements the poems.

The collection consists of 15 poems, all pertaining to the experience of being a Cuban exile. With rich imagery Frischkorn evokes the sensuousness of Cuba. We see the flowers—white mariposa, jasmine, jasper, pink oleander—and smell the scent of sugarcane, cargo ship, poverty, and fear. Beauty and violence are tethered together. An important motif is the stain of Cuba, the mark it leaves on its people, even its exiles, or perhaps especially its exiles. History is woven throughout, both the large kind and the personal. A few poems travel back to Spain, several mention specific locations, many are laced with bits of Spanish. The opening poem, "Exilio," informs us that the speaker, the granddaughter of a woman named Mercedes, will "twine a history with silver thread." And that's just what she does in the following poems.

While this chapbook is beautifully unified, there's also a lot of variety in the poems. Some poems use direct address to create a sense of intimacy. There are some prose poems, a persona poem ("La Dama Azul"), and, most cleverly, a crown of five sonnets which instead of appearing one after the other are scattered among the other poems. I loved the echo effect that created. "Granada" closes both the crown and the collection. Here is the poem in its entirety:

Granada

Things are looking at you and you cannot look at them,
lavender daisy, alone in a green sea, if you must drown
it is best to be lavender and alone. Here, in the General
Life gardens, morning glories bloom en masse. A visitor

wonders how exile fell on Moors, harbingers of water's
secrets, they who carved verses on their walls. You lose
yourself, or perhaps, wish to. Late summer garden
you have duende too. Leaving is difficult. Sometimes

to stay invites death. I am speaking of the firing squad,
of having cafe with a friend on Monday, and learning
of his death on Tuesday. Come and see the blood
in the streets. I came to the source, seeking the shape

of my eyes, my nose—I passed as a native, and at last
found a way home. I discovered Cuba in Retiro Parque.


This is a fine chapbook, just what a chapbook should be. Assuming that this publisher intends to continue the series, I suggest that she include a table of contents, number the pages, and add her imprint on the title page rather than on the back cover. Most of all, I hope she will continue to publish such aesthetically satisfying collections.

Reviews

A nice piece of news: A lovely new review of my book, What Feeds Us, now appears online at Rattle. The reviewer, Karla Huston, did a terrific job and I am very appreciative! I also say three cheers for Rattle which regularly runs reviews on their website. As all poets know, without some reviews it's difficult to get the word out about our books. I therefore often encourage poets to be reviewers themselves. It just makes sense that if we want to receive reviews we need to be willing to write them. If we don't, then who will?

I've been writing reviews of poetry books for several years. It's a bit time-consuming and it's challenging, but I always feel that it enriches me as a poet. I learn something about poetry from each review I write. And I find that I read much more carefully when I'm writing a review of the book in hand. The close and repeated readings usually make me more appreciative of what the poet has accomplished. I pick up a lot that I missed on the first reading.

If you've been avoiding writing reviews because of time, keep in mind that there are many journals that take very short reviews; you don't have to spend weeks on the review. Some such print journals that come to mind: Mid-American Review, Boston Review, Cider Press Review, and New Letters; and some online journals: Poemeleon, Rain Taxi, Rougarou. In addition to what you'll learn while doing the review, you'll be providing an important service and you'll gain some nice publication credits. Everybody wins; everybody gets a prize.

Another journal I want to mention is Review Revue. This journal has been around for maybe three years. It's a tabloid format, easy to fold up and tuck in your pocket. Easy to read on the train. The journal, which comes out three times a year, is devoted entirely to essays, reviews, and interviews—all about poetry. It's one of the best bargains around at only $12 a year per subscription; even better at $20 for a two-year subscription.

The most recent issue, which arrived just yesterday, contains an interview with Fleda Brown, former poet laureate of Delaware; a review of Brown's new book, Reunion; an essay about Georgia O'Keefe by poet Christopher Buckley; an essay about Mark Strand; a review of two collections from Iris Press by poet Phebe Davidson; and an article of tribute to Jean Pedrick by poet Sebastian Matthews. And there's more. (Notice, please, that several of these articles / reviews are by poets!)

I want to encourage you to support this journal. But I must also encourage the editors to make a strong commitment to getting issues out on time. I know that's a persistent problem that many journals suffer from for a variety of reasons. But RR is always late. Hey, there's even part of an editorial about it in this latest issue. This issue, by the way, is dated December 2007. It's now the end of March. (Also, Editors, if you're going to advise readers at the end of a page "continued on page 8" or "continued on page 19," you really should number the pages!) I'm hopeful that the editor's apology means improvement in the meeting deadlines department. This journal is worth keeping around.