New Poem in Jet Fuel Review; Reading Report: Mary Biddinger, and Sun, Spring and Apple Blossoms Pre-Birthday

Jet Fuel Review cover art by Karyna McGlynn

New Poem in Jet Fuel Review Spring Issue

It’s almost my birthday, and all of the sudden, poems everywhere! So happy to have a new poem, “In a Plague Year, I Find Foxes” in the new Spring 2022 issue of Jet Fuel Review. I’m especially happy to be in the issue because there are also poems by friends like Martha Silano and Leah Umansky and the cover art is by poet/artist Karyna McGlynn. A sneak peek of the poem below, but go read the whole issue:

Some sunshine in Kirkland

Apple Blossoms, Sunshine

We were lucky enough to have a few sunbreaks this last week, which we tried to take advantage of, gardening, watching the unfolding of spring flowers. We took a long walk one afternoon along Lake Washington in Kirkland. I saw a heron cross our horizon from the bedroom window one day, and an immature eagle the next.

I am so proud of the trees I planted during the pandemic; two of these new trees, a late-blooming pink cherry and a Pink Lady apple tree, are doing particularly well. I thought I’d post some apple blossom pictures to cheer you up. Nothing screams “spring is really here” – despite some colder days and rain – like apple blossoms. And the loud robin overpowering the other birds with his song.

Sylvia poses in an Easter basket with Department of Elegy

Reading Report: Mary Biddinger’s Department of Elegy

I wanted to do a quick reading report on Mary Biddinger’s newest book from Black Lawrence Press, Department of Elegy, a wonderfully nostalgic/anti-nostalgic, goth, reminiscence on a Gen-X childhood and young adulthood punctuated by midwestern vacant lot landscapes and marvelously bad decisions. I am loving it – it might be my favorite book of hers yet, so if you are on the fence, get it.

And just to punctuate this, here are some of my favorite lines from the book, from the poem “Bitch Wire:”

“Like many, I poured my best years into

a springform pan, but they were stupid years.”

I laughed out loud at this, and since I also spent a lot of my teen/young adult years making good and bad decisions in the Midwest, I felt like this book was something I could really identify with. Also, once again, kick-ass cover art.