“I would like to open a door”—the sentence was uttered by a prisoner on death row for decades now, in San Quentin. For decades now he has not touched the handle of a door. California has repudiated capital punishment, but when Jarvis Masters was sentenced to death the gas chambers were still . . .
Read More
Why settle for a beer cocktail when you can enjoy a boozy beer? As the holidays come round againAnd you gather with family and friends,Boozy beers make us merryWith malt, chocolate, cherry,And spice. Here are six I commend. 1.For a booze-infused brew you’ll repeat,Try this toffee-hued ale for a treat.From oak barrels . . .
Read More
O Germany, thank you for beerThat we relish this time of the year.A Sober October?My dears, that’s a NoperWith so many brews to revere! Oktoberfest Märzens are fine,As are Festbiers if you’re so inclined.Yet there’s more than these stylesFor us Germanophiles—And for you I have sampled these kinds. 1Foam-headed, light-bodied, and darkIs . . .
Read More
Are you ready to go back to school?Are you ready to follow the rules?Fall semester draws near—Why not reach for a beerTo ease into your schedule? Stay cool! Whether teacher or parent or student-of-age, don’t you’d think ‘twould be prudentTo stock beer in your fridgeThat can serve as a bridgeAs your summer . . .
Read More
Moldy Strawberries is an inspiring exercise in hopelessness and futility. Caio Fernando Abreu’s short story collection, translated from Portuguese by Bruna Dantas Lobato, serves as a coming to terms with life under a repressive government, life without a brighter future. Abreu wrote in Brazil in the 1980s, through the country’s twenty-one-year military . . .
Read More
Hyam Plutzik’s 32 Poems/ 32 Poemas (Suburbano Ediciones, 2022) 32 Poems/ 32 Poemas (2021) is a fully bilingual (Spanish and English) collection of selected poems by the twentieth-century American poet Hyam Plutzik (1911-1962). The three-time finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in poetry was born in Brooklyn, New York, to Jewish immigrant parents from Belarus. Plutzik, . . .
Read More
Barque of phosphorOn the palmy beach…—Wallace Stevens, “Fabliau of Florida” The summer is now getting hotter,But your beach beer need not taste like water!Here are Florida brewsI’ve selected for youTo pursue as a beach blanket squatter. My recs make a 4-pack and flight,So I’ve fashioned my sequence just right:From lager to Tripel,These . . .
Read More
Toxic relationships abound in Cherish Farrah, but the rub is not knowing which relationship to watch out for. Bethany C. Morrow’s second novel for adults addresses classism and racism, as well as families and friendships. It’s a slow burn from page one and ends in discomfort for all. Like Mem, Morrow’s first novel, Cherish Farrah is . . .
Read More
A Review of Hank Drossel’s Item: Regarding the Basilisk. SYOM Press, 2022. ix+187 pp. Hank Drossel worked for decades as the travel agent and logistics manager for various arts institutions, especially music ensembles. From a perch at Eastern Airlines, he supported Cold War-era “hearts and minds” tours: avant-garde artists and groups performing American . . .
Read More
There will never be an endTo this droning of the surf.—Wallace Stevens, “Fabliau of Florida” As Spring breakers, vacationers, snowbirdsHit the beaches of Florida, these wordsIn my limericks hereAre to recommend beersFor your forthcoming excursions seaward. From the Gulf and Atlantic-side makersOf craft brews that pair well with breakers(And the sunshine and . . .
Read More