Pictures Worth the Words
An appreciator of art and writing, I am struck foremost by sensitive placement of photos within this issue of New Letters. To begin, Michael Sinclair's, "July 4th #2, Independence, MO" wraps the cover with a foggy panorama and offers a segue to the lead story which begins with a mention of July 4th. Likewise, Margie Hensley's photo of a church nave covered in skulls precedes Robin Hemley's essay featuring a graveyard enthusiast. And a woman in white undergarments bends over before Steve Paul's poem "Shore Birds" which begins, "The contortionist in white panties..."
Such emphasis on the visual is not surprising in a literary journal whose stories each offer vivid glimpses into a diverse array of lives. At the outset, Stephanie Powell Watts' "Famiily Museum of the Ancient Postcards" veritably shimmers. Here a niece relates events surrounding her aunt, a cantankerous woman who marries late in life only to be divorced within a year. The two females are outliers within the extended family circle, one young and one single, and therefore thrust together at family events. The niece's love of her aunt develops from a begrudging alliance to an adult understanding of the reasons her aunt has struggled with men. It's an endearing tale of an underdog we cannot help but embrace.
In flash fiction form, by Ryan Clary's "Leave it on the Counter" follows the internal dialog of a man in a convenience store. Short of cash, the man must decide whether to purchase coolant for his car or a gift for his wife. The car needs the coolant, but the wife is upset because he's had an affair. As far as the man is concerned, the marriage may need coolant more than the car. In "Wedding Reception," a couple takes a break from a wedding party and escapes to the beach. In their stilted conversation, the idea of romantic love is explored. These two slice-of-life snapshots reveal awkward moments freshly rendered.
An enjoyable, wandering meditative discourse on his life, Thomas E. Kennedy's "Chasing Jack" is an essay about literature. An army recruit who buries himself in books instead of women, Thomas befriends like-minded Ben. The two men reconnect years later during his 1960s style cross-country travels. Sadly, the meeting is a disaster. Like many literary-magazine lovers, books prove to be Thomas's most constant, reliable companion.
Walter Bargen's essay "Potholes on the Yellow Brick Road" makes his point in the form of an analogy. A poet visiting the small town of Coffeyville, Kansas, Bergen likens the ability he gives his audiences to write and read poetry to the different uses for bricks. As a weapon, building material, or destroyer of nature, bricks have a latent power which rests in the hands of those in which it is placed. Just like poetry. Though compelling, the essay could have benefitted from shorter paragraphs to separate Bergen's complex thoughts.
Providing an emotionally naked look into someone's life, Elizabeth Kirschner's poem "Walking the Wife" describes a girl watching her father tend to her emotionally unstable mother. Her anger about her imperfect life forms as the scene unfolds. It's a concise and powerful piece.
Fantasy life is captured again but in playful form in Tony Blanstone's "Three Poems From Pulp Fiction". Here Blanstone describes nightmares caused by too much Chinese food, something she sees in the window, and guilt. The juxtaposition of the use of an old fashioned form of poetry, the sonnet, for a contemporary topic is interesting, even if the language feels a bit heavy-handed.
Other poems of note include Laura Kasischke's "Two Poems," written by the two halves of her brain. "Yellow Fever: Holly Springs, MS September 1978" by John Bensko and "Occupation Plan of a Basement" by Charles Dobzynski and translated by Marilyn Hacker are haunting portrayals of mass tragedy.
Further in, Thomas Kennedy presents himself in a portrait in the form of an interview with Okla Elliot. The piece is a nice compliment to Kennedy's essay included the magazine. Readingabout the life of a writer and an ex-pat in Copenhagen is worthwhile but the questions could have been less pat and more penetrating.
Indeed, this issue of New Letters offers an array of visual experiences, whether in the form of portrait, photograph or the written word. It's true that a picture is worth a thousand words. But when done properly, words can also create beautiful and haunting pictures.
