News of the Spirit (short stories by Lee Smith)

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Nice to reread out on the back porch on a lazy summer day (or an unseasonably warm spring evening).

"A Meditation in Tweets"

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I never, ever thought that I would print or in any way promote a poem written in such a distorted style. I admit, I was biased against this poem from the moment I read the title. But ultimately I was impressed by the language and the way the poet used the form to her advantage.

Pasted below is the last stanza of the poem (because, as mentioned in the addendum, the poem is intended to be read in reverse order, beginning with the last stanza).

"A Meditation in Tweets"
by Kimberly Grey

. . .
Birdbath out back but we r the birds of this tub, our little boat almost sunk & us beneath it;
necks smeared w/a pithy brightness. Let this

"A Meditation in Tweets," a poem by Kimberly Grey, was published on April 13, 2010, and is continued online in Linebreak.

Two from Knopf's Poem-A-Day (April 2010)

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"A Remedy for Insomnia"
by Vera Pavlova

Not sheep coming down the hills,
not cracks on the ceiling—
count the ones you loved,
. . .

"A Remedy for Insomnia," a poem by Vera Pavlova, from If There Is Something To Desire (translated from the Russian by her husband, Steven Seymour), was sent on April 9 and is continued at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2010/04/09/remedy-for-insomnia-pavlova/.

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"Seven Horses" by Marge Piercy

When I was a pencil of a girl
I had seven horses, one
for each day of the week.
. . .

"Seven Horses," a poem by Marge Piercy, from The Crooked Inheritance (Middlemarsh, 2006), was sent on April 2 and is continued at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/2010/04/02/piercy-seven-horses/.

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Every day in April, in celebration of National Poetry Month, Knopf Poetry sends a free poem via e-mail. You can sign up for these mailings on the Knopf website at http://poem-a-day.knopfdoubleday.com/?ref=poemaday_poetrynl.

Happy Poetry Month!

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"Cat Love" by Lyn Lifshin

if you had a favorite
pillow or worn cotton
shirt it would be ok
about loving it. But
cat love is a risky
choice. It sounds so
sentimental and this
isn’t even a dead or
dying cat. Let’s say it
is not a cat but say
an old bathrobe you
feel comfortable in. . . .

"Cat Love," a poem by Lyn Lifshin, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2006).

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"Jane Austen's Toes" by Rob Hardy

Jane Austen never mentions toes,
although she must sometimes
have thought about her own—
blistered, perhaps, and sore
from walking in pattens with wooden soles. . . .

"Jane Austen's Toes," a poem by Rob Hardy, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2007).

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"This Morning" by Bonnie Bolling

Another morning and I wake
hungry for something I cannot name.
I walk out to the grass and everywhere
there are gifts—the tree hangs with
lemons. . . .

"This Morning," a poem by Bonnie Bolling, is continued in the Apple Valley Review (Fall 2007).

Madame Tutli-Putli

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This little gem, created using stop-motion animation, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Animated Short. (It also won a handful of other awards.) The animation is phenomenal in parts. One of the creators mentioned in the extras that they didn't intend it to be a novel, so to speak, but more of a little poem, and that they were really trying to create a certain mood. Nonetheless, there are some interesting theories about the meaning of the film on the message boards at IMDb.

Madame Tutli-Putli (17:21), without words, written and directed by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski, with special visual effects by Jason Walker; puppets, sets, and animation by Chris Lavis and Maciek Szczerbowski; choreography by Laurie Maher; and music direction by David Bryant and Jean-Frédéric Messier.

"Compassion and Mercy" (and other stories)

"Clare scrabbled in the bottom of her bag for the house key, furiously tossing tissues and pens and Chap Sticks and quarters onto the walk, and thinking with every toss, What's your hurry? This is your last moment of not knowing, stupid, slow down."

This is a section of "Compassion and Mercy," a short story by Amy Bloom, from her new collection, Where the God of Love Hangs Out (Random House, 2010). The book includes four stories about William and Clare, four (three of them reprints from earlier collections) about Lionel and Julia, and four unlinked stories. "Between Here and Here" is a real standout, as was "By-and-By," originally published in Ms. in 2004.

The Spring 2010 issue of the Apple Valley Review

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The Spring 2010 issue of the journal features fiction by Wendy Fox and Courtney McLean; poetry by Vince Corvaia, Simon Perchik, Avra Wing, G. L. Grey, Darlene Pagán, Cal Freeman, Elizabeth Levinson, April Lindner, Jim Murdoch, Pat Daneman, Floyd Cheung, Linda King, Dan O’Brien, T. J. Jarrett, Anthony Liccione, Hal Sirowitz, and Joanne Lowery; essays by Jennifer A. Howard and J. W. Young; and artwork by Yevgenia Nayberg.

The Apple Valley Review is a semiannual online literary journal. The current issue, previous issues, subscription information, and complete submission guidelines are available at www.applevalleyreview.com.