AGNI 37
Contents
Fiction
Occupational Marks and Other Signs
Senior Transfer
by John Domini
The Wall and the Stream
by Edwin Honig
Claude Comes and Goes
The Sugar Tooth
Poetry
Called Up: Tinker to Evers to Chance
Vermont House
by Ed Barrett
from Five Verse Memoirs: 4. Chopcock
A Modern History of California
by David Citino
More
The Police
The Genius
Smoker
Traveling in America
Fang
The Sports Complex
Gray Bat
Roseate Tern
The Old Man, Bereaved, Paces Upstairs in a Jumble of Rooms
by Colette Inez
Kaleidoscope
Flight of the Blind Bird
Seventh Heaven Can Be Seen at First Glance
Translated from the Bulgarian by Lisa Sapinkopf and Georgi Belev
The Sea
My Students
by Lisa Lewis
Mother’s Third Husband
The Cinder
Poem Written in the Logic of Late Capitalism
Anna Anna
Seduced and Abandoned
by Radoi Ralin
Translated from the Bulgarian by Lisa Sapinkopf and Georgi Belev
Sounding Fields
Death to Santa Foy
Easy to say, Easy to say,
by Len Roberts
Dead Pet Poem
Excitement, The Need For
Hostile Witness
by Bruce Smith
Mercy
by Bruce Smith
Scenes From a Puppet Play
by Bruce Smith
Between Patients
The Way We Love
Good-bye
Ideogram
Death of a Distant In-law
First Prairie Winter
Reading Plato
by Gale Warner
Conversations
An Interview with James Schuyler
by Carl Little
Reviews
Glyn Maxwell’s Out of the Rain
Standing on the Verge: Emerging Poets and Artists
Editor's Note
Poetry
Gatherings
Hunt in Couples
four rounds from Narrative: Ali: 6, 8, 10, 11
Girl Cadaver
Timid Family
Grandfather
Among the Divided Lilies
Your Mouth Near My House
Five Verses
by James Bland
Something Faithful
The Way He Breaks
One Rose
by Thomas Cooke
A Costume Straitjacket’s Black Sleeve in Armoire Shadows
Commencement Ode
If You Love Something, Let It Go
Listen
by Tory Dent
Poem for a Poem
by Tory Dent
Awake
by Paja Faudree
Lefty
by Paja Faudree
Portrait
by Edwin Frank
Blue Willow
Indian Paint
Silver Queen
Uncle
In Visible Light
And Other Fantasy Lovers
by Jill Gonet
Eighth Grade Acrostic
Testimony of the Female Serial Killer
Steps
Good Humor
The Inner Life
from A Psalter: psalms 4, 7, 8
by Suzanne Keen
Like Sabines
Geology, Summer 1983
The Insomniac’s Pet Shop
by Peter Marcus
To Hear the Chorus Sing
by Peter Marcus
On Hearing About the Disappearance of Frogs
The Alzheimer’s Monkeys
Collards
from Muse and Drudge: 1-6
House
by Laura Mullen
The Castle
by Laura Mullen
Ode
by Gale Nelson
A Mathematics of Breathing
Becoming Miss Holiday
Nijinsky’s Winter Afternoon, With Faun
How To Teach Them
Snow
Drapery Factory, Gulfport, Mississippi 1956
Naola Beauty Academy, New Orleans, Louisiana 1943
Clyde Peeling’s Reptiland in Allenwood, Pennsylvania
by Kevin Young
Art Feature
Vanity With Seat
by Elaine Corda
9/12/91
“BookBridge,” detail from “Eggroom”
Approaching Storm
by Jane Ehrlich
Untitled
by Lyn Feakes
Untitled
River, River Passage
Place of Things Beginning
Pansy—Possum’s Feet
Could
by Keith Walsh
Lolita’s Daymare
by Susan White
“Stand on the verge” with us and dive into AGNI 37. In the words of Teresa Iverson, “the imagination is an airy element,” and the short, buoyant poems of this issue keep it afloat as our reader swims from one experience to the next. This issue offers “Standing on the Verge,” a refreshing series of work by emerging poets and Massachusetts artists including Claudia Rankine, Kevin Young, and Elizabeth Alexander. AGNI 37 features Carl Little’s interview with James Schuyler, Edwin Honig’s haunting prose, as well as work by Carl Phillips, Victoria Nelson, Albert Goldbarth, Ha Jin, Natasha Tretheway, Bruce Smith, Paja Faudree, Gale Nelson, and many more.
Editor
Askold Melnyczuk
Askold Melnyczuk
Managing Editor
Jennifer Rose
Jennifer Rose
Intern
T. Patrick Rewalt
T. Patrick Rewalt
Editorial Assistants
Nick Owchar
Jhumpa Lahiri
Natalie Gerber
Lissa Franz
Ellen Davis
Tim Burton
Nick Owchar, Jhumpa Lahiri, Natalie Gerber, Lissa Franz, Ellen Davis, Tim Burton
Advisory Board
Derek Walcott
Robert Pinsky
Leslie Epstein
Derek Walcott, Robert Pinsky, Leslie Epstein
Designer
Elizabeth Knox
Elizabeth Knox
Executive Editor
Sharon Dunn
Sharon Dunn
Contributing Editors
Rosanna Warren
Sue Standing
Tom Sleigh
George Scialabba
Scott Ruescher
Liam Rector
Dzvinia Orlowsky
Gail Mazur
Fred Marchant
Ha Jin
Diana Der-Hovanessian
Marie Howe
Stuart Dischell
William Corbett
John J. Clayton
Lucie Brock-Broido
Sven Birkerts
Thomas Bahr
Rosanna Warren, Sue Standing, Tom Sleigh, George Scialabba, Scott Ruescher, Liam Rector, Dzvinia Orlowsky, Gail Mazur, Fred Marchant, Ha Jin, Diana Der-Hovanessian, Marie Howe, Stuart Dischell, William Corbett, John J. Clayton, Lucie Brock-Broido, Sven Birkerts, Thomas Bahr