Mary Makofske’s No Angels, Reviewed by Ann Wehrman

No Angels Mary Makofske Kelsay Books Reviewer: Ann Wehrman With her latest collection, No Angels, Mary Makofske balances precise, tactile observation with a sense of dignified and compassionate distance, also posing universal questions. Her lyrical and narrative writing contrasts richly detailed texture with accessible transparency. Makofske has created poetry that shimmers with depth, clarity, multiple […]

Neil Shepard’s The Book of Failures, Reviewed by Brian Fanelli

The Book of Failures Neil Shepard Madville Publishing Reviewer: Brian Fanelli The last few years have been anything but easy. The world has faced a global pandemic and resurgent far-right populism and nationalism. Neil Shepard’s latest collection, The Book of Failures, tackles these issues head-on. The result is one of Shepard’s most socially conscious and […]

Lola Haskins’ Homelight, Reviewed by Lee Rossi

Homelight Lola Haskins Charlotte Lit Press Reviewer: Lee Rossi Lola Haskins, who has published 14 books of poetry as well as 3 prose volumes, is a poet whose left brain is quite as active as her right. (Haskins, you should know, taught computer science for three decades at the University of Florida.) Not long ago, […]

Molly Fisk – The Goodbye

The Goodbye What to do with my hands — her fingers curved to hold mine but not holding, taking the shape of a loose grip, in repose, outstretched on the pale blue sheet. Her eyes half-open and moving, but not furtive. As if measuring things in another realm, and she might be. Whether the new […]

Chad Weeden – Vanishing Point

Vanishing Point We dug our heels in the sand. Pelicans mobbed the surf for chum. A driftwood barge combed the horizon. Caked in salt. New year. We hadn’t said a word past Reno. Another bridge torched behind us for the hell of it. Yet there we were. Washed up. Wrapped your arms around your jagged […]