Jordan Rice’s Constellarium,
Reviewed by Cindy Hochman

Jordan Rice Constellarium Orison Books, Inc. ISBN-13: 978-0-9906917-7-8 Reviewer: Cindy Hochman   Someone tells a joke. “Where do they put a missing tranny’s photo? On cartons of half and half.” —Jordan Rice, “The Living Is Easy” The heartrending and harrowing poems in Jordan Rice’s Constellarium underscore the difference between poetry and politics, despite the fact […]

Afric McGlinchey’s Ghost of the Fisher Cat,
Reviewed by Maria Rouphail

Afric McGlinchey Ghost of the Fisher Cat Salmon Poetry ISBN: 978-1-910669-39-6 Reviewer: Maria Rouphail   What do violin strings, the mystery of Malaysian Airlines Flight 370, and poisoned quinces have in common? They are conceits in Irish poet, Afric McGlinchey’s second collection, Ghost of the Fisher Cat. Prompted by a Parisian legend of a ghost […]

Ted Jonathan’s Run,
Reviewed by Ace Boggess

Ted Jonathan Run New York Quarterly Books ISBN: 978-1-63045-023-6 Reviewer: Ace Boggess   If Ted Jonathan’s poetry collection, Run, were a novel, it would be described as a coming-of-age story—49 poems that escort the reader on a journey through childhood struggles, a teenager’s coping, and the finding-oneself of early adulthood. Jonathan reflects on a schoolboy […]

Marc Frazier’s Each Things Touches,
Reviewed by Richard Allen Taylor

Marc Frazier Each Thing Touches Glass Lyre Press ISBN: 978-1-941783-07-8 Reviewer: Richard Allen Taylor   Most poetry collections have a poem near the beginning that gives the reader clues on how to read the book. Each Thing Touches by Chicago poet Marc Frazier has at least two. The prologue poem, “After,” opens with “I heard […]

Richard Broderick’s Jesus of Walmart,
Reviewed by George Wallace

Richard Broderick Jesus of Walmart New York Quarterly Books ISBN: 978-1-63045-019-9 Reviewer: George Wallace   One might wonder, given a title like Jesus of Walmart, what kind of admixture of commentary poet Richard Broderick is going to offer concerning the presence of the sacred and the profane in contemporary American society. What immediately comes to […]