The Open Issue
Fall 2011. Vol. 34 No.2
We interview Jennifer Still, and bill bissett and David Eso invent a new form of the interview. This issue includes poems translated into French, winners from our past two contests, new book reviews, and, of course, lots of poetry.
Online content from this issue
-
Innocence
by Nico Mara-McKayThe gnarled tree is a presence Standing back from the tiled walkway Between the sun-baked paving stones and the pool... -
Art Sometimes Makes Me Vague / L’art parfois me confond
by Elana WolffArt Sometimes Makes Me Vague Some day we’ll live in the sky, Birdine. The big... -
Answers to Wittgenstein’s Seven Propositions
by Andrew ReidWhat is the case? Small infractions. Bent brier, turned leaf: integers opening the whole a trail through the bushes. ... -
Less
by Heather CampbellIt’s a morning of razor-cut tissue wrap over the ridges. It’s breakfast by touch, molar-pinching coffee. It’s hot water enough... -
Frigidarium
by Brecken HancockNavy blue in the hall. Five and five doors and blue navy rising, rising under the underslots. Five and five... -
South
by Jennifer StillGrand Forks, Fargo, any North Dakota town with a Super8 and a Target. To be out of your mind was... -
Field Test
by Jennifer StillTwenty years measuring strangers’ eyes, entire fields of vision. Despair and happiness look the same in the iris: synaptic... -
The Angle of Repose
by Heidi GarnettUnlike the western slopes and save for the Thompson River, the northernmost edge of the Cascade Mountain Range is dry... -
Cockatoos
by P.S. CottierYes, we've heard their sad repetitions, the 'pieces of eight', the rote 'Pretty boys', dropped from tired beaks like peanut... -
Breast Reduction
by Maxine HaydenBeep beep beep beep the regular heart beat. Whoosh, ventilator for every breath. Acrid smelling blue paper drapes cover her... -
Alice Underground
by Frances BoyleNight-blind she fingers the rosary, wraps it round, mumbles prayers by rote. Only the feel of the beads slipping through... -
the colony
by Andrea Fraserchina doll in full fatigues splayed across the jungle floor yellowed curls quibble against lex naturalis encroaching vegetation moist and... -
New Old Place
by Amanda Baker-PattersonWe move into a 90-year-old building on top of Seattle’s steepest hill. Cascade of pavement breaking onto Mercer Street, wet... -
Cantilevered Songs
Reviewed by Richard StevensonJohn Lent composes in long loping lines, often in mellifluous sentences, rather than breaking his lines on phrase, or against... -
Indexical Elegies
Reviewed by jenn angela lopesJon Paul Fiorentino’s Indexical Elegies gorgeously unbolts the process of desiring machines. According to former French philosopher Gilles Deleuze and... -
A Walking Interview with bill bissett
Interviewed by David EsoMost interviews are staid conversations in stable environments where the Q and A makes a metronome monotony that goes against... -
An Interview with Jennifer Still
Interviewed by Clarise FosterClarise Foster: Your new book, Girlwood, is quite stunning; Brick Books makes beautiful books, both inside and out. Congratulations. Talking...