Columbia Poetry Review: #12 Spring 1999
Columbia College, Chicago
Poetry -- straight up. Columbia Poetry Review presents its featured works without pomp or pretension; it lays the poems out there and lets them speak for themselves. There are no contributors' biographies lurking in the back to flaunt credentials or differentiate the novices from the well-established.
That said, much of the poetry showcased in this issue borders on the avante-garde. This is not poetry for those looking for rhyme. This is a stream-of-consciousness-raising collection of abstract free verse and narrative poetry.
Jim Elledge's "Two Epistles From Orion" is a terrific example of abstract narrative prose:
". . . No values or benefits to me from congame sweep stakes I feel they are just suckerbate for honest believers I drink no coffee no whiskey Also No tobacko No Dope No bad word talk Pray for me I believe we are all together in Mortal earth . . ."
Gregory Golden's "Vials of the Revolution" is also a great example of the evocative language of the abstract poetry in the Review:
Sleep dips into
your husk to drown
an arousal of suffocation
in freefall
butterfly jitterishness
If you can still find it in the book stores, pick up the Spring 1999 issue (or any other issue) of this literary journal. You won't regret it.
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