before-sunrise-press: Milk and Honey Siren - Various Authors, Edited by Jeremiah WaltonReviewed by Melanie Boeckmann Milk and Honey Siren is a 90-page anthology published by Nostrovia! Poetry. The anthology is thematically organized and groups poems by 34 contributors into eight chapters, with two additional short stories by Lance Manion and Samuel McGrath. Adding the two short stories at the end separates them from the poetry-heavy rest of the works, although the subtitle “a poetry anthology” could be expanded to include the prose pieces. The chapter titles are not self-explanatory but pique curiosity, a feature frequently found in Nostrovia! publications. We first dive into “The Development of Agriculture”, in which Kallima Hamilton takes us into space, and Roger Kees writes about a dream-like experience with the sun. In contrast, Kristen Berger’s poem about the transformation from larvae to moth is infused by realism. The second part, “Welcome to the Monkey Hotel” is made up entirely of Kyle Hemmings’ Invisible Monkeys #1-5, a long form prose poem that I enjoyed immensely for its tongue-in-cheek references to social and cultural phenomena. “Meta-metaphors”, the third chapter is again divided into three shorter poems, two by Benjamin Saphiro and one by Raphael Cohen. In this chapter, Saphiro’s Eastern Hear t, broken stands out by packing everything into just three lines. The next three chapters are the longest and thus make up the largest part of the anthology. Just some notable examples from these chapters: Dress v. Girl by Stephanie Guo, The Holding On by Allison Grayhurst on grief, or the visually aesthetic 267.-261 by Dan Hedges. I’ve seen that movie, too! by Guiseppi Martino Buonaiuto manages to weave together cultural icons, writers, symbolism and the poem’s storyline.  Overall, the range of topics, authors and styles is still pleasing rather than confusing. As several poets contribute pieces to more than one chapter, one has the chance to re-discover a favorite and get a better idea of each author’s work. Grouping individual poems under a thematic idea is nicely executed here. GRADE: B+ Overall, the poems represent an eclectic mix of various styles and contents. That is the strength of an anthology: you get to pick and choose. Unfortunately, the picking is made difficult for us readers through negligence in layout and design. What I missed was an author index and a contributors’ page. Other than their names and the works in this anthology, no further information on any writer is given: I believe this unnecessarily limits authors’ exposure and makes it more difficult for me as a reader. The table of contents should also indicate where individual poems are located, as it is one has to needlessly search again and again for a favorite.
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before-sunrise-press:

Milk and Honey Siren - Various Authors, Edited by Jeremiah Walton
Reviewed by Melanie Boeckmann

Milk and Honey Siren is a 90-page anthology published by Nostrovia! Poetry. The anthology is thematically organized and groups poems by 34 contributors into eight chapters, with two additional short stories by Lance Manion and Samuel McGrath. Adding the two short stories at the end separates them from the poetry-heavy rest of the works, although the subtitle “a poetry anthology” could be expanded to include the prose pieces.

The chapter titles are not self-explanatory but pique curiosity, a feature frequently found in Nostrovia! publications. We first dive into “The Development of Agriculture”, in which Kallima Hamilton takes us into space, and Roger Kees writes about a dream-like experience with the sun. In contrast, Kristen Berger’s poem about the transformation from larvae to moth is infused by realism. The second part, “Welcome to the Monkey Hotel” is made up entirely of Kyle Hemmings’ Invisible Monkeys #1-5, a long form prose poem that I enjoyed immensely for its tongue-in-cheek references to social and cultural phenomena. “Meta-metaphors”, the third chapter is again divided into three shorter poems, two by Benjamin Saphiro and one by Raphael Cohen. In this chapter, Saphiro’s Eastern Hear t, broken stands out by packing everything into just three lines.

The next three chapters are the longest and thus make up the largest part of the anthology. Just some notable examples from these chapters: Dress v. Girl by Stephanie Guo, The Holding On by Allison Grayhurst on grief, or the visually aesthetic 267.-261 by Dan Hedges. I’ve seen that movie, too! by Guiseppi Martino Buonaiuto manages to weave together cultural icons, writers, symbolism and the poem’s storyline. 

Overall, the range of topics, authors and styles is still pleasing rather than confusing. As several poets contribute pieces to more than one chapter, one has the chance to re-discover a favorite and get a better idea of each author’s work. Grouping individual poems under a thematic idea is nicely executed here.

GRADE: B+

Overall, the poems represent an eclectic mix of various styles and contents. That is the strength of an anthology: you get to pick and choose. Unfortunately, the picking is made difficult for us readers through negligence in layout and design. What I missed was an author index and a contributors’ page. Other than their names and the works in this anthology, no further information on any writer is given: I believe this unnecessarily limits authors’ exposure and makes it more difficult for me as a reader. The table of contents should also indicate where individual poems are located, as it is one has to needlessly search again and again for a favorite.

Too Obscene

Too Obscene is a one shot zine housing poetry and flash fiction deemed “too obscene  for publication by other presses and publishers.  It was inspired by the trials centering around Allen Ginsberg’s poem Howl.

You can download it here and preview it below.  

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Crucified For Cthulhu

by Scott Emerson


I hang bleeding
beneath this crown of
tentacles
trying to cleanse the world
before we all go mad

“The Half-Life of Nations” by Jeremiah Walton

Beloved America, I see a dark anthem being pledged

Beloved America, I see your Imaginary Now being shattered, thrusted inwards your mind dropping into soup bowl hips, corpses of Past Time bob in the broth

Beloved America, I see your eucharistic alms being burned in heaps of dry grass and diesel flames giggling with joyous drunks of fledgling origins

Beloved America, I see the yellow chastising the whites of your eyes, hungry beast!

Beloved America, I see a wall of fire consuming you

Beloved America, I see your ratthroated dreams squealing in the flames

Beloved America, I see your straightjacket moral concepts kissing our eyelids shut

America, I see you as the Abscess of Civilization

Zit waiting to pop raging red bullet of the flesh waiting to fire

A raving lunatic dog slobbering, warm with God, chasing sheep

You think you will exist past the mountains short walks?

Past the rivers feast when the candles burn low illuminating chicken bones?

Rows of skulls line your Banks, the wax maker dipping his hands in silver-copper-nickel-gold sludge

Molding count downs in Their empty eye sockets, eyes that learned to never hear

That learned to draw the knife and stab at wounded Deer caught in the Bear’s trap

Sight your rifle, breath in, steady that aim of yours, beloved America!

Not even the opium merchants can cure your disease

Yours is not only of the flesh, but of the mind

Beloved America, sedate your hunger

The dark anthem is being sung in your streets

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published in eFiction

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You can follow my blog Gatsby’s Abandoned Children for more poetry, publishing opportunities, and publishing tips.

Cheers!

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