And there appeared a great wonder in heaven;
a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet,
and upon her head a crown of twelve stars.
–Revelation, 12:1
It is but an assumption—Mary, in readying herself to
die, began to cradle the earth in her feet. Remedy for
flesh and bone as fragrant as the blooms that dared to
endure in August. As in the third hour—but all the time,
more endured than imagined: white poppy, hyacinth,
dandelion. That Mary forgot not the pink of her finger
and thumb once able to fathom thorns into roses for
plucking. Stars from within the splintering of the cross.
What better to impart unto paradise but the attendance
of her eyes? The eternalness of dirt on her tongue?…
...continue reading
The bearded lady
at the freak show
Coney Island
never got your
pharaoh fame
and now that
Koko the Killer Clown is dead
the freak show is not
worth the $5 admission
there is no guide
and jester left
to give meaning
to the front house receipts
…………queen/king
…………this is
…………a revolutionary age
of transgressive days
where from the top
of the Wonder Wheel
you can see
…………the Nile
and the green valleys
– John Greiner…
...continue reading
Mindy Kronenberg is the publisher and editor of Book/Mark: A Quarterly Small Press Review (located in Miller Place, New York.) It welcomes inquiries and 500-950 word reviews of small press books, which it publishes in hard copy. Mindy’s work appears in many journals and anthologies. Feel free to email her at cyberpoet@optonline.net.
When did Book/Mark: A Quarterly Small Press Review begin? What are some of the places it has archived?
We’ve been around since 1994, and archived with the NY Public Library, Poets House in NYC, William and Mary College (Williamsburg, Virginia). We’re also listed with the Critics Circle Guide, International Directory of Little Magazines and Small Presses, The Writer’s Handbook (distributed through the Suffolk Cooperative Library System) and the Community of Literary Magazines and Pressed (CLMP).…
...continue reading
No one ever thought England would want to take the United States. Hundreds of years had passed since the US-UK split. No one knew that the Queen Elizabeth still held quite a grudge. One evening, Her Majesty, in a sherry-induced rage declared war on the United States. She had the missile named “The Right Proper Gentleman” and was quoted in the House of Commons saying that “King George would be avenged.” The estimated time of detonation was an hour. Jacob quickly called his girlfriend of three weeks, Nora. They agreed to meet at the halfway point between their two places of employment—the Waffle House on 150. The couple parked and ran to meet each other. Nora’s eyes were puffy and red as she clung to Jacob.…
...continue reading
I don’t think I drank that much, Ali thinks. Just a couple of pints. That’s what everyone drinks here to end the day. It’s normal. Being in school here, though, means a couple can often turn into a few. ‘A few’ means three or four or five. That’s what she taught her ESL tutees last night, before the dreaded couple (or few) pints. Thirsty Thursday exists here too, just like it did back home, in college. This is ridiculous, she thinks. Just because she is living in Ireland does not mean she has to turn into an alcoholic. She doesn’t have to, but she’s afraid she might be anyway. Turning into one, that is.
Her stomach gurgles. What the hell? Did I eat something gross?…
...continue reading
The ritual of drinking coffee has always been something special in my family. Not only in
my family but in Serbia in general.
This centuries-old tradition of drinking black coffee was inherited from Turks while Serbia
was under the Ottoman rule.
The Turkish black coffee has always been the favorite coffee of all Serbs. Even when the burst of different coffee flavors has overruled the habit of drinking black coffee in other European countries, people in Serbia have remained loyal to the strong black coffee that had a unique way of preparation and smelled and tasted heavenly. No Serb would ever say that any other coffee tastes better. And rarely anyone in Serbia drinks any other coffee first thing in the morning except the Turkish coffee.…
...continue reading
Elephant grass turns auburn in the wholesome cold
of October one. The month he’s due,
I took Temodar, once upon a time. In the fable, my father
boards an airplane for China,
never to return. Back home, full-bodied cherry tomatoes
pop off the vine and my Chinese wife tosses them
to the dog. My best friends have all been dogs.
While one snatches the red gush out of dry October air,
another leaves his wife, daughter, and unborn child
to take up with his mistress in Chicago.
By now it should sound familiar.
Yet I wonder where all the birds have gone
to hunker down, why only crows are left
to laugh at us, and why is it always October, the dust
in their feathers, that brings us face-to-face
with the worst in ourselves.…
...continue reading