Jennifer Acker's Blog, page 130
August 16, 2018
Passing Strange
W. RALPH EUBANKS
All thinking Southerners, at some point, find their minds at war with their hearts, a battle that often ends with the heart claiming victory. It is this triumph of the heart that landed me, a black expatriate Mississippian, back in my home state again after nearly forty years.
All thinking Southerners, at some point, find their minds at war with their hearts, a battle that often ends with the heart claiming victory. It is this triumph of the heart that landed me, a black expatriate Mississippian, back in my home state again after nearly forty years.
Thirty-Two Days Without Alcohol
SERHIY ZHADAN
Three thousand steps back.
All I need to do is hold on
to my mineral water,
to hold on to
the countdown:
thirty-two days without alcohol
thirty-three days without alcohol
thirty-four days without alcohol.
Three thousand steps back.
All I need to do is hold on
to my mineral water,
to hold on to
the countdown:
thirty-two days without alcohol
thirty-three days without alcohol
thirty-four days without alcohol.
August 14, 2018
An Untouched House
W. F. HERMANS
He turned, took a few steps, looked at me, and walked towards the back door. I followed him, still holding his sheet of paper. Then he stopped abruptly and took a step back. “Those trousers you’re wearing don’t fit you very well. They are exactly my size, not yours.”
He turned, took a few steps, looked at me, and walked towards the back door. I followed him, still holding his sheet of paper. Then he stopped abruptly and took a step back. “Those trousers you’re wearing don’t fit you very well. They are exactly my size, not yours.”
August 11, 2018
Review: Nerve Chorus
ANDREA JURJEVIĆ
" With personal subject matter and elegant, yet accessible, philosophical explorations, Carroll succeeds in maintaining a strong tonal unity and distinct lyricism. Like experimental dance, these poems invite a visceral experience. Meanwhile, they should be admired for their lyrical flexibility, the exactness of their imagery, their life-affirming quality, as well as their intellectual engagement."
" With personal subject matter and elegant, yet accessible, philosophical explorations, Carroll succeeds in maintaining a strong tonal unity and distinct lyricism. Like experimental dance, these poems invite a visceral experience. Meanwhile, they should be admired for their lyrical flexibility, the exactness of their imagery, their life-affirming quality, as well as their intellectual engagement."
August 8, 2018
On Zoos
HANNAH GERSEN
The tiger was showing off, pacing alongside his swimming pond, looking as if he might jump in at any moment... At least twenty people held up phones to capture the moment on video. My five-year-old son stood by the glass divider, watching, rapt. Several feet away… I observed the tiger’s pixelated clones prowling across tiny screens.
The tiger was showing off, pacing alongside his swimming pond, looking as if he might jump in at any moment... At least twenty people held up phones to capture the moment on video. My five-year-old son stood by the glass divider, watching, rapt. Several feet away… I observed the tiger’s pixelated clones prowling across tiny screens.
August 1, 2018
Streets of Goma
ALLYN GAESTEL
In photographing Goma, I wanted to let the city rest. I wanted to explain nothing, to make photographs that do not try to document or argue anything. Just look, lovingly, at a place. I wanted to photograph the in-between. The poetic nothing. Just a street. Just the rain. Just a place. Just a city.
In photographing Goma, I wanted to let the city rest. I wanted to explain nothing, to make photographs that do not try to document or argue anything. Just look, lovingly, at a place. I wanted to photograph the in-between. The poetic nothing. Just a street. Just the rain. Just a place. Just a city.
July 31, 2018
Reading Willow
ARTHUR KLEPCHUKOV
My wife pointed out the willow tree on move-in day. The branches draped over a hill as round as my wife’s belly at seven months. We’d traded a West Coast high-rise for an East Coast village where the only thing to wake our baby would be other babies. We came to the city in our youth.
My wife pointed out the willow tree on move-in day. The branches draped over a hill as round as my wife’s belly at seven months. We’d traded a West Coast high-rise for an East Coast village where the only thing to wake our baby would be other babies. We came to the city in our youth.
July 29, 2018
Salons, New York City, and the Litriarchy: an interview with Iris Martin Cohen
IRIS MARTIN COHEN
Honestly, they all sound so boring. I'm kind of glad to be able to say that it isn’t a parody of Lerner or Murakami or Foster-Wallace because I haven’t read any of them. It’s more just a constant churn. It’s hard not to notice what appeals to the prestige literary marketplace.
Honestly, they all sound so boring. I'm kind of glad to be able to say that it isn’t a parody of Lerner or Murakami or Foster-Wallace because I haven’t read any of them. It’s more just a constant churn. It’s hard not to notice what appeals to the prestige literary marketplace.
July 27, 2018
July 2018 Poetry Feature
ERICA EHRENBERG
Where the coats are hung, / the second bodies / of the children hold / their forms. In folds / they breathe out, / relaxing backwards, being free. / And if they reach dirt / they eat the dirt, cold. / Hunger pulls more space / into their stomachs.
Where the coats are hung, / the second bodies / of the children hold / their forms. In folds / they breathe out, / relaxing backwards, being free. / And if they reach dirt / they eat the dirt, cold. / Hunger pulls more space / into their stomachs.
July 26, 2018
Ask a Local: Rewa Zeinati, Beirut, Lebanon
REWA ZEINATI
Visually, the city is still marked with remnants of war through the buildings, shops, aged houses and streets; through conversations with people who still carry a sense of animosity and bitterness even if they’ve never lived that civil war and they’ve only heard about it from their parents.
Visually, the city is still marked with remnants of war through the buildings, shops, aged houses and streets; through conversations with people who still carry a sense of animosity and bitterness even if they’ve never lived that civil war and they’ve only heard about it from their parents.
