November 2017 Vol. II No. XI
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!
ModPo & Experimental Poetry
I go through crushes like experiencing the five stages of grief
I go
Through crushes like
Experiencing the
Five stages of grief. Seriously.
No joke.
Denial
I could
Never be in
To a guy like that. He’s
Too [insert bullshit excuse here]
For me.
Anger
Ugh! Why?
I hate having
Crushes. They’re stupid. Guys
Are stupid. Why can’t I stop these
Feelings?
Bargaining
If he
Doesn’t look at
Or talk to me today,
Then I’ll stop crushing on him. I
Am done.
Depression
I have
A crush. *Tears*. He
Doesn’t like me and he
Never will. I should just move on
Instead.
Acceptance
I like
Him. I really
Do. Maybe if I talk
To him today, it will lead to
Something.
Denial
He did
Not talk to me
Today. He doesn’t like
Me—well, I don’t like him. . .And so
it goes.
​
Mary K Gowdy
Better than Starbucks began wholly as a creation in my mind. Now the wonderful collaboration of four dedicated editors is creating a monthly magazine that I could have only dreamed about when I was starting out as a one person organization.
Having said that, there are no direct connections between U Penn, Al Filreis, KWH (Kelly Writers House), ModPo (Modern & Contemporary American Poetry), or any of the actual affiliated programs to ModPo and this magazine, other than I have been a part of ModPo for several years now. There is, however, a strong spiritual and intellectual connection between BTS and ModPo.
If I had not gotten involved in the larger community of ModPo, I don't think I would have restarted a literary publication. I am certain I would not have added a Formal & Rhyming Page, and probably not a Translations page. I have a pretty narrow preference for poetry, but the course and the people at ModPo have expanded my view of poetry to the point that I decided if I could find good people to help me do it, we would make BTS as broad of a source of styles and genres as possible. We have been fortunate to establish a team of talented editors and are in the process of an ever expanding quest to find poetry wherever it may be.
​
Thus, it seems fitting that we dedicate a page to my fellow students at ModPo, and/or anyone who wants to share experimental poems. The thing about experiments is, they often fail, but as the point is to learn, not to create perfection, even failed experiments in the lab or on this page, will offer something for us, if we will find it. and when the experiment doesn't fail... well, you will see! - Anthony Watkins
Blind Reason
stone pumps blood
ice peers through windows
gloats
Draconian gavel
sentences
nuts bolts
Innocents writhe
search
for
sword scales
breath
reason
Evidence
Half empty coffee cup
graces countertop
Eggshells sidle silverware,
plate unrinsed in sink
Spatula, skillet yolk-stained crust
defy on back burner
Napkin hugs
hardwood
Apparently
my sixty-two-year-old
has been here
again
​
Denise Buschmann
CLAUSTROPHOBIA
Claw me out of this coffin: paranoid
Likely due to recent diagnosis
Annoyment deployed, peace-level destroyed
Under the auspice of deep psychosis
Still waiting for 'official' prognosis
Turning twisting blind in wood-box confined
Ravaged by old nightmares, new neurosis
Out of time, out of sight, out and out of mind
Planted deep beneath cold tombstone unsigned
Here: this spot (plot) where wildflowers once bloomed
Outlined in weathered erosion unkind
Boxed: entombed, doomed, praying to be exhumed
Inhaling thin putrid air, mouth agape
Awaiting the Day of My Great Escape
​
Chad M. Horn
Featuring
​
Sometimes California or the March Set
by Anthony Watkins
Silent Poems
by Anthony Watkins
​
Games Poets Play
by ModPo Students
