June 2018 Vol. III No. VI
Not your ordinary poetry magazine!
If good coffee (or just the concept of coffee), great books, sharp wit, and great authors excite you, we are for you!
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Regular Features Pages
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​Free Verse with Suzanne Robinson
Haiku with Kevin McLaughlin
Formal & Rhyming Poetry with Vera Ignatowitsch
Poetry Translations with S. Ye Laird
African Poetry with Tendai Rinos Mwanaka
International Poetry with Michael R. Burch
Sentimental Poetry with Anthony Watkins
​ModPo & Experimental Poetry with Anthony Watkins
Fiction
More Fiction
Better Than Fiction! (creative non-fiction)
The Interview
Featured Poem (Publisher's Pick)
Featured Poem (Editor's Pick)
Featured Poem of the Month​
“Strange Fathers”
Oh, what a strange father
Walking around the house
In his underwear
Eating ice cream
Calling you by his name
“Daddy, would you turn on the T.V?”
Asking me to rake leaves
Cigar smoke and whiskey-breath
Then, your dad
Living off worker’s comp
Replacing his lawn with rocks
So he could spend more time
Shooting his bow and arrow
In the backyard
Where he chased foxes
Telling you to “come on, beat me!”
When simply shooting baskets
For fun
And your “new” dad
Wheeling around
In his chair
Calling your brother
The literal red-headed step-child
“Red”
Not allowing us to be boys
Because of what the elevator did to him
Jealous we could wrestle
In the backyard
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Steven Haberlin is a PhD student at the University of South Florida, who explores poetry as part of his research. His work has been published in the Journal of Poetry Therapy and recently accepted by the journal Asian Signature.
Featured Poem - Editor's Choice
this month’s poem is
VENDOR AND CHILD
by John Eppel
read it in African Poetry
Better Than Starbucks 2018 Haiku Contest
sponsored by John DeCesare and CraftekDesign
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First Prize $50
Second Prize $30
Third Prize $20
We’re delighted to announce that Better Than Starbucks has been named a finalist in the Best Debut Magazine category of the Firecracker Awards. The Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP) sponsors these awards each year to support and celebrate independent publishing. Thank you CLMP and judges for recognizing our publication. And thank you to all of our poets, creative writers and editors who have contributed so much great work!
The Interview
with Julia Gordon Bramer
by S. Ye Laird
Julia Gordon-Bramer is the author of Fixed Stars Govern a Life: Decoding Sylvia Plath (2014, Stephen F. Austin State University Press) and the Decoding Sylvia Plath series, including Decoding Sylvia Plath’s “Daddy” and Decoding Sylvia Plath’s “Lady Lazarus” both published in 2017 by Magi Press and available on Amazon. Her recent articles appear in Ms. Magazine, AWP Writer’s Notebook, The American Journal of Poetry, and more. In 2013, the Riverfront Times called her “St. Louis’ Best Local Poet.” For more information, visit www.juliagordonbramer.com.
“. . . And now you try
Your handful of notes;
the clear vowels rise like balloons.”
Sylvia Plath, “Morning Song”
Decoding Sylvia Plath's “Daddy”: Discover the layers of meaning beyond the Brute
by Julia Gordon-Bramer
S. Ye: Why is Sylvia Plath’s work and life important to us today?
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JB: Sylvia Plath’s work and life are still important today because she made a model of what poetry can do through mysticism. Each one of her Ariel poems are perfect multi-dimensional works of art with at least six different meanings: spanning tarot, alchemy, mythology, history and the world, astronomy and astrology, and the arts and humanities. It is astounding how this woman made her words work, and how many layers of meaning she packed in. She was truly a genius’ genius. And yet few people realize this and they just focus on her drama and her suicide. Such a waste!
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S. Ye: What can we learn from her poems?
JB: The poet and reader of poetry can learn through Plath what poetry is capable of; it truly is a kind of magic all its own, which is why the god Hermes was the god of Poetry in Ancient Greece. The follower of mysticism can see not only a practical application of the occult, but evidence of a divine order through the universe. Mind-blowing stuff.