14 wine soaked poems by John D. Robinson and Pete Donahue. Each chapbook comes with an original broadside from each poet. A5 size. Limited to 30 copies.
But the chap here:https://www.scumbagpress.co.uk/product/a-gallon-of-red-a-gallon-of-white
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
Sunday, March 21, 2021
BOOK REVIEW: John Yamrus- SMALL TALK. Concrete Mist Press, 2021 (116 pages)
In his career as a writer spanning fifty years this is John Yamrus’ 27th book of poetry. In the opening poem ‘approaching 70’, which his publisher Heath Brougher insisted to be the first in the collection, the speaker Yamrus remarks: “i get the feeling/ that i ain’t done yet.// not by a long shot.” And as he cheekily surmises in ‘the neighbor’s dog’, that unlike the sleepy, deaf & incontinent mutt- there’s more life, more work for him to do:
i’m
not deaf yet,
and
it’s been weeks
since
i even
came close
to
peeing
on the rug.
There are 51 poems in the collection and many have previously been published in dozens of small press publications such as Chiron Review, Daily Dope Fiend, Heroin Love Songs and Lummox Journal.
Stylistically, Yamrus continues to use clean, minimalistic lines, starkly and increasingly devoid of figurative language. The lower case, free verse poems continue to loiter on the left-hand margins of his pages, with each of his conventionally derelict lines, rarely exceeding more than three or four words.
Asked about how he came up with the title a spritely Yamrus says, “The title was always there, right in front of me...while i was pulling it together, the working title...the intended title, at least in my mind...was PEOPLE...and i knew that wasn't gonna do it, but that's what i had in mind while i was writing it. and then as i went further along into the writing (which, as is my usual way of working, wasn't really a very long time at all, because i always work fast), it dawned on me that while it IS about people, it's even more about the conversations they have and so SMALL TALK was really a no-brainer.”
In a recent podcast with Marcia Epstein ‘Small Talk With John Yamrus’ he further explains: “As I’ve gotten older with my writing, I have figured out or at least decided that I don’t want to make any big pronouncements or tell any big stories with my work. I want to get more and more to get the reader involved. And Small Talk as it kind of implies, there is a give and take in a conversation- just back and forth and with the book I wanted to present the reader with pictures, ideas where they kind of fill in the blocks.”
Listen to the podcast here: https://talkwithmelawrenceks.podbean.com/e/small-talk-with-john-yamrus-v20210310/?fbclid=IwAR38iDmr76HEnc2JdAodallk3Co0dCzA6Ra_Xj4oUYr30Isdku_9ptm8qp8
As implied by the title, Yamrus likes to involve the reader in “small talk” about ephemeral, everyday events - enjoying the moment, getting shat on by a bird, being hassled by wannabe poets, recalling the unremarkable but quirky lives of his friends and making lean, pithy, philosophical observations about existence.
The front cover of Small Talk derives from a photo by Ashley Cox. The cover appears to feature two people at night time separated by a dense smoke or fog. Yamrus says of the cover, “well, the cover started out as a photo by Ashley, and then got worked and reworked and worked again by the graphic designer Eileen Murphy. i wanted something that had a very noir feel to it as these poems (at least to me) all seemed to take place at 3 in the morning.”
The poems are often highly observational and written in a conversational voice, sometimes directly to his audience. Most of the work is loosely based on anecdotes from Yamrus’ vast & richly textured catalogue of real life experiences.
The poems in Small Talk are written from alternating points of view and embody many shades of thought, imagination and feeling. As Yamrus has mentioned elsewhere, he sees poems “like snapshots taken from a speeding train”. He provides the vehicle, the chassis- but mid-flight, he offers his readers the steering wheel & leaves it to their imaginations to breathe new life into his poems, by allowing them to draw upon their own associations and meanings.
The poems tend to fall into three categories- the micro-poems, the portrait poems of his friends or acquaintances and his poems about his life as an alternative small press poet.
The micro-poems are usually only about twelve words maximum in length. They are pithy kernels of wisdom, much like epigrams or aphorisms.
In about fifteen poems Yamrus carves language to the bone. He comments on relationships, mortality, happiness, his writing- whatever takes his fancy. He can be wry, witty, ironic, scathing- but also sensitive and amusing. Some of the more memorable ones include ‘the’, ‘all’, ‘looking’, ‘if’ and ‘he’, a personal favourite:
he
always
said
he
wanted
nothing
and
that’s
exactly
what
he
got
(all poems posted with the permission of the artist)
The portrait poems are narrative in form and feature a gallery of quirky, marginal characters. The poems ‘puke-green’, ‘Ricky Lee’, ‘Tony The Lip’, ‘the thing’, ‘my friend Stanley hated the sun’, ‘my friend Bill’, ‘reluctantly’, ‘there was this woman in there and she was big, and’, ‘Nelly Big Bang’, ‘one of’, ‘most days’, ‘she used to’ and ‘Peggy’ are all fine examples of Yamrus' minimalistic study of people.
In the poem 'puke-green' Yamrus uses the motif of the colour to wryly and ironically comment on the unnamed individual & his eventual tragic fate:
puke-green
was
his favourite color.
it
was also
his favorite word
(or,
words, if
you wanted to
get technical about it).
anyway,
it was kinda sorta fitting
that he had already turned his
favorite color that Sunday morning
when
they found him
face down
under the Penn Street Bridge.
In his characteristic style, Yamrus uses skimpy but realistic detail to allow the reader to reflect on the odd people in their own lives. Asked why his interest in dysfunctional characters who often end up dead within his poems Yamrus is direct, “we’re ALL dysfunctional, aren’t we? it’s only a matter of degree. and, sooner or later we all end up on the wrong side of the grass.”
As in many of his previous poetry collections, Yamrus includes poems which represent and comment on his life as a poet. He is vilified by critics (‘I’ve been shit on…’), scorns the ‘crap poems’ that people send him in the mail, mocks the questions reporters ask him (‘after the reading’), disdains the praise of a university professor (‘Jesus, it’) hates having to be spruced up for publicity shots (‘think of this’) but at the same time, thoroughly enjoys the attention. Asked to tick-off some of the highlights and failures in his writing life, Yamrus says fox-like, “i guess the answer to that question is in the poems. the highlights, the low lights, the wins and the losses. they're all in the poems. aren't they?"
In the most memorable poem in the collection, ‘Rick’, Yamrus hilariously recounts, simply but compellingly, how he was awarded “the prestigious Wakefield Prize” as a young aspiring writer:
Rick
was
this old
friend of mine
who gave me my first
and only award for poetry.
it was
near 3 in the morning
and we
were drunk
on cheap vodka,
complaining
how we couldn’t
get published anywhere
and never
won any awards for our work
and
we were
standing on this corner
ready
to call it a night
and
he looked up
at the street sign
and saw that it was Wakefield Street
and
he handed me
the bottle and said:
i now award you
the prestigious Wakefield Prize
except
he was drunk
and couldn’t say it very clear.
but,
like they
say in the books,
it’s the thought that counts,
and that
was the first
and only award
i ever got
and Rick
went on to give up writing
and
playing the
piano and guitar.
and
he taught Econ
in a very well-known college
until
one day
he’d had enough
and
stuck his head
in
the oven,
looking, i suppose,
for whatever remained
of his music, his hopes, and his dreams.
Yamrus insists in his Talk With Me podcast the story is accurate, and even shortly afterwards, outrageously included the bogus award in a submission which lead to the acceptance of some of his first poems.
In the end, Yamrus writes poetry essentially because he has fun composing it and because people enjoy reading it. To paraphrase the late great jazz musician Chick Corea in a 2020 podcast, “If you communicate well and engage your audience and it brings them some sort of pleasure or inspiration then you have accomplished the goal of art” (In the Studio, BBC. Chick Corea: Accomplishing the Goal of Art, 17 November 2020).
This is highly accessible poetry from an accomplished artist. The poems are deliberately simple but melded with a wry irony and a mocking defiance of the poetic canon but always attuned to the cadences & rhythms of everyday life:
Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com/Small-Talk-John-Yamrus/dp/0578844354
John Yamrus reads his poem ‘approaching 70’: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DdxR903lpSzM&source=gmail&ust=1616375357583000&usg=AFQjCNENqEyE-nJgYzZqpycTxpKxf1eY7w
Learn more about John Yamrus here: http://www.johnyamrus.com
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Book Review/ Interview: Wolfgang Carstens Prince Charming (Six Ft. Swells Press, 2020) 68 pages
This the latest poetry collection by Edmonton poet and publisher Wolfgang Carstens. There are 41 poems in this slim volume, some of which were previously self published in limited chapbook editions which are not available for purchase, including Perpetual Pallbearer (2018) and Welcome To Canada Bitch! (2019).
Carsten’s Prince Charming is the second book he has published through Todd Cirillo’s Six Ft, Swells Press and follows the highly readable Hell and High Water (2017): https://www.amazon.com/Hell-High-Water-Wolfgang-Carstens/dp/0985307560#ace-g2545694624
In the interview with Carstens which follows this short review, he says of Cirillo’s role as editor, “Todd Cirillo is a true editor in the purest sense of the word. He’d send me suggestions about certain poems, arrangement of poems, and I would work through his suggestions to see if they worked for me. One particular poem ‘it was,’ from Hell and High Water, for example, is a testament of Cirillo’s genius. The poem was originally written from a male perspective. Cirillo suggested flipping it around and writing it from the female perspective. When I did, Cirillo was right—it becomes a much more powerful poem.”
The title of the collection derives from the domestic poem ‘i’m starting’:
“i’m starting
to look my age,”
my wife says,
as she’s putting on
her makeup.
“no you’re not,”
i say,
kissing her on the cheek.
“yes,”
she says,
“i look 40.”
“well,”
i say,
“i guess i need
to trade you in
for a younger model.”
“Honey,
i love you,”
she says,
“but there’s
no other woman
on the face of the planet
that would put up
with your shit.”
“that’s not true,”
i say,
laughing,
“i’m charming.”
“Prince of Darkness,
maybe,”
she says,
“but Prince Charming,
you’re not.”
“that’s pretty good,”
i say,
“i’m gonna put that
in a poem.”
“and that’s another thing,”
she says,
“without me,
who’s gonna write
your books
for you?”
(all poems in this review have been posted with the permission of the poet)
The light-hearted but direct banter between husband and wife and her role as his muse is characteristic of Carstens’ poetry through Six Ft, Swells Press. Pressed about how the title was chosen and how he was persuaded to wear fancy dress for the book’s cover, Wolf says: “The more I thought about a title for the collection, the more “Prince Charming” jumped out at me. The idea to put me in drag was Cirillo’s idea. He staged the cover photo and I merely followed his instruction.
“I actually did two photo shoots. The shoot from which the cover photo was taken and another shoot in full drag with make-up and wig. In the full drag shoot, I forgot to wear my tiara. It was the only thing Cirillo told me not to forget.”
Carstens’ wife Tracy Lee, for whom the book is dedicated, appears in many poems- the most memorable include ‘today’, ‘after too many beers’, ‘when my wife’ and ‘driving my wife.’ She is represented in several ways- as muse, as bitch, as soul mate and sometimes in a mocking manner. Asked what his wife thinks about appearing in his poems Carstens candidly says, “ My wife is truly one of the funniest people I know and many of my “relationship poems” are autobiographical. The title poem, for example, was based upon a real conversation—as many of these types of poems are. If you ask my wife, she’ll jokingly tell you she writes my books.”
Carstens writes about relationships in an open and non-bullshit way. He often uses dialogue to add authenticity and variety to the work. ‘on our first date’, ‘the first time’, ‘hope’, ‘I’m trapped’ and ‘I need’ are some excellent examples of his craft.
As in Carstens’ arguably best collection of poetry ‘crudely mistaken for life’ (Epic Rites Press, 2010), he continues to dissect the concept of death. The best poems in Prince Charming include his classics ‘i want my funeral’, ‘i used to believe’, ‘in a drunken stupor’ from Bulletproof and the more subtle, poignant poems ‘I sit alone’, ‘how old’ and ‘Beverly’. The latter three are short, pithy poems which use simple anecdotes to provide sharp insights into the interplay between the sadness death brings and life’s regenerative spirit.
Carstens says regarding his approach to writing and his representation of death, “I don’t sit down to write poetry. I write only what inspires me. It’s not a fascination with death but rather death inspires me to write about living. If you look at my death poems, you will generally find a message about living each moment fully and completely.”
The poem ‘Beverly’ about his late aunt, captures this idea beautifully:
Beverly,
i saw
a little girl
who looked just
like you.
she
had your
smile.
it
had me thinking
Death
doesn’t always
win.
Further to this notion in Carstens’ writing, is his adherence to what he calls “the philosophy of Warren Zevon”, the late great American musician, which he richly shares with his editor and publisher Todd Cirillo. The concept is brilliantly highlighted in one of the last poems in the collection ‘i wear shorts’:
i wear shorts
every day.
all year,
whether
it’s plus 30
or minus 40.
lots of people
in Alberta
rarely go outside
in winter.
for me,
it’s like Zevon’s sandwich,
everyday
above the blades of grass
is a good day.
they say
i’m crazy.
i
say they don’t
understand
the Warren Zevon
philosophy.
most only ask
“who is Warren Zevon?”
i tell them
it’s getting cold out here,
probably time for them
to head back indoors.
Asked whether he actually wears shorts everyday and about what he means by the Warren Zevon philosophy, Carstens replies enthusiastically and at length:
“The Warren Zevon philosophy is perfectly expressed by Zevon’s response to David Letterman’s question about whether or not his impending death provided him any insights about life. Zevon’s response was only that it showed him “to place more value on every minute” and to “enjoy every sandwich.”—which is, of course, another way to express my own “Live today—tomorrow never comes” mantra. It may sound cliche but it’s a powerful way to live—to embrace not only the good times, but the bad times as well. I can think of no better expression of a live well lived than Nietzsche’s “Amor Fati”—which is to be able to look back on your life and to wish nothing different forwards or backwards—to not only embrace every joy, every sadness, every triumph and every failure—to be happy, not in spite of it all, but because of it all—to realize that without these experiences, you would be somebody completely different. It’s a tall order, of course. Warren Zevon wasn’t morose when Death came knocking. He didn’t try to run or hide or beg for mercy—in fact, he opened the door, invited Death inside and served him breakfast. Few have died with as much dignity, grace or humour as Zevon—and he fully embraced Nietzsche’s Amor Fati. He stared into the face of the eternal recurrence and said “Yes” to everything. That is the Warren Zevon philosophy—encapsulated by that enigmatic phrase “enjoy every sandwich.” Yes, I wear shorts every day—in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter—and in the context of my poem, the Warren Zevon philosophy is represented as wearing shorts in the freezing cold—not to bundle up against winter, but to embrace it.”
Despite the bleakness of some of Carstens’ subject matter- the coming on of “winter”, the imminent collapse of relationships, blackouts, sickness and death- there is also a great humour and exuberance in his work. The poetry is typically pared back, highly accessible, and as always, worthy of multiple readings.
I reckon the poem which best reflects the spirit of Amor Fati in this collection is ‘I want my funeral’ in which Carstens triumphantly imagines a drug & beer fuelled wake in his absence:
put a bottle opener
on my casket;
pack it with ice
and turn it
into a beer cooler;
peel back my flesh
and turn my skull
into a hash bong.
just party motherfuckers!
celebrate the fact
that I’m dead
and you’re not.
Buy the book here: https://www.amazon.com.au/Prince-Charming-Wolfgang-Carstens/dp/0985307579
INTERVIEW WITH WOLFGANG CARSTENS 9 MARCH 2021
Edmonton is a damn cold place in winter. What keeps you there?
It doesn’t matter where you live, my friend, as long as you’re with the right people. As Nietzsche put it, “as long as you have a powerful why, you can put up with almost any how.”
Prince Charming is your second book published through Six Ft. Swells Press following Hell and High Water (2017). Can you describe the process editor Todd Cirillo undertook to put together and publish the collection?
Todd Cirillo is a true editor in the purest sense of the word. He’d send me suggestions about certain poems, arrangement of poems, and I would work through his suggestions to see if they worked for me. One particular poem “it was,” from Hell and High Water, for example, is a testament of Cirillo’s genius. The poem was originally written from a male perspective. Cirillo suggested flipping it around and writing it from the female perspective. When I did, Cirillo was right—it becomes a much more powerful poem.
it was
a nice gesture,
of course,
getting
the heart tattoo
with his name
inked across it,
but,
in his heart
of hearts,
he knew
she had it
backwards.
it was he
that would always
belong
to
her.
The front cover photograph is by Tracy Landers and the graphic design by Julie Valin. The Prince Charming reference can be found in the poem ‘I’m starting’. Can you provide some background information on how the title was chosen and how you got to wear fancy dress?
The more I thought about a title for the collection, the more “Prince Charming” jumped out at me. The idea to put me in drag was Cirillo’s idea. He staged the cover photo and I merely followed his instruction.
I actually did two photo shoots. The shoot from which the cover photo was taken and another shoot in full drag with make-up and wig. In the full drag shoot, I forgot to wear my tiara. It was the only thing Cirillo told me not to forget.
Do you really wear shorts everyday as you say in ‘I wear shorts’? What do you mean by the Warren Zevon philosophy?
The Warren Zevon philosophy is perfectly expressed by Zevon’s response to David Letterman’s question about whether or not his impending death provided him any insights about life. Zevon’s response was only that it showed him “to place more value on every minute” and to “enjoy every sandwich.”—which is, of course, another way to express my own “Live today—tomorrow never comes” mantra. It may sound cliche but it’s a powerful way to live—to embrace not only the good times, but the bad times as well. I can think of no better expression of a live well lived than Nietzsche’s “Amor Fati”—which is to be able to look back on your life and to wish nothing different forwards or backwards—to not only embrace every joy, every sadness, every triumph and every failure—to be happy, not in spite of it all, but because of it all—to realize that without these experiences, you would be somebody completely different. It’s a tall order, of course. Warren Zevon wasn’t morose when Death came knocking. He didn’t try to run or hide or beg for mercy—in fact, he opened the door, invited Death inside and served him breakfast. Few have died with as much dignity, grace or humour as Zevon—and he fully embraced Nietzsche’s Amor Fati. He stared into the face of the eternal recurrence and said “Yes” to everything. That is the Warren Zevon philosophy—encapsulated by that enigmatic phrase “enjoy every sandwich.” Yes, I wear shorts every day—in Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter—and in the context of my poem, the Warren Zevon philosophy is represented as wearing shorts in the freezing cold—not to bundle up against winter, but to embrace it.
Your wife Tracey Lee appears in many of your recent poems. What does she think about her role as muse, “bitch” and soul mate in your work?
My wife is truly one of the funniest people I know and many of my “relationship poems” are autobiographical. The title poem, for example, was based upon a real conversation—as many of these types of poems are. If you ask my wife, she’ll jokingly tell you she writes my books.
I saw online some footage of your readings in Kansas City and New Orleans. What did you enjoy and take away from the experiences?
It gave me a great excuse to hang out with good friends Todd Cirillo, Rob Plath and William Taylor Jr. Most poetry events are disastrous—poorly thought out events with bad poetry, bad writers and horrendous readings. Here, I came prepared—backed with three of the most powerful writers and readers on the planet.
The great take away was know your audience and choose your material accordingly. My poem, “i woke up completely drunk,” from Prince Charming, for example, is a great example of how quickly readings can go sideways:
i woke up completely drunk.
i should’ve been at work
two hours ago
but have yet to leave
the house.
at any rate,
i began my day
by revisiting my reading
in Lawrence, Kansas.
i never realized
that i completely interrupted
the event organizer and host.
she’s
literally in the middle
of introducing me
when i start my set.
yeah,
that’s how
you pull the crowd on your side.
first, cut off the event organizer and host,
then read poems about fat women,
women who can’t cook,
women who stalk you,
women whose genitals resemble mongooses,
women who don’t give blowjobs,
about moving to Salt Lake City
with you sister wives,
then for good measure,
throw in a bunch of dick jokes—
all the while
being so drunk
you can barely speak.
well played Wolfgang,
you are a consummate
professional.
Many of the poems in the collection explore death. Why the continued fascination?
I don’t sit down to write poetry. I write only what inspires me. It’s not a fascination with death but rather death inspires me to write about living. If you look at my death poems, you will generally find a message about living each moment fully and completely.
The poem ‘i sit alone’ was written during a Fall camping trip—where the winds were picking up and orange and yellow leaves were dropping around me. The scene struck me as a perfect metaphor for death. The dying fire being my passion for living and my life force. The message here is to get busy because you don’t have as much time as you think.
The output of books you have published through Epic Rites Press appear to have slowed recently. What’s happening in the future with your press?
The future of ERP involves the publication of a monthly printed magazine that features short, underground, family friendly poems that exemplify what great writing means to me. The magazine, ESCAPE IS AT HAND, printed in a run of 2000 copies, will be distributed freely to bars, cafes, fast food joints, restaurants and anywhere else that people congregate and wait. The mission is to deliver great underground writing into the mainstream population and introduce great poetry to people who normally wouldn’t read poetry. Each issue will be read by roughly 100,000 people. The first issue features work by Todd Cirillo, Rob Plath, William Taylor Jr. and Bill Gainer. It was supposed to launch in early 2020 but was delayed because of the pandemic.
The mission of ERP has always been to expose mainstream readers to great, underground writers. This mission is better achieved by a monthly magazine.
What’s your next writing adventure?
I’ve recently completed a book of original philosophy currently under review by a few publishers. I’m presently hammering out a second book of original philosophy. Also, I have articles under review for publication in a few philosophy magazines.
Thank you, George.
All the best Wolf with your upcoming projects!
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