Jonathan Waterlow: The jokes always saved us — humor in the time of Stalin
In a world of stifling conformity and endless fake news, even simple satirical barbs can serve as a profoundly personal assertion that ‘I joke, therefore I am.’
Aesop: The Frogs Ask for a King
Once upon a time, the Frogs were discontented because they had no one to rule over them: so they sent a deputation to Jupiter to ask him to give them a King.
Meg Pokrass: Summersaulting To Shore
My dark-haired lover explained marriage was like an animal. “There’s a smell when it dies,” he said. I let my marriage trickle out.
Ace Boggess: Thirty Blessings for Poets
3) May the poem on which you’ve just given up be accepted by the journal you’ve forgotten.
4) May someone quote your work in a movie that has nothing to do with poetry.
Michael Simms: Dogsbody to the Muse
Sometimes it’s painful to watch a group of poets trying to work a room as if they were politicians. The AWP conference, as the wag put it, is comprised of 15,000 introverts pretending to be extroverts.
Michael Simms: On the Spectrum with Garrison Keillor
Many of the issues people have had with Keillor’s behavior through the years may have been caused by his autism.
Michael Simms: Blurbing Jose
Jose Padua’s poems are the twitch of the tail of the cat stalking the mouse of your unconscious.
