E-newsletter
Newsletter :: January, 2007
Three new books:
'Coming Back to Sorrow'
Walking in March in the woods of home,
I come back to the sorrow of the war.
How many places dear to others the bombs
are obliterating-sites of memory
and history, cratered, burnt, gouged, poisoned,
delivered to amnesiac, rubble.
Braced by the clarity of bare trees,
I think of trees disordered by violence.
Putting my hands in the chill, clear river
that sings my world, I know there are other
rivers, banks blown away, flowing with blood.
Thomas R. Smith
from WAKING BEFORE DAWN (Red Dragonfly Press, 2007; $12)
from 'Awakening'
I knew the small rowboat
I had once built drifted
on dry sand in darkness
beneath me.
...
Within the dark hollow
between ribs, stretched
deep masses of webs, hung
with wisps of dried grass
and tiny feathers, and
deeper within, moving,
the dark bodies of spiders,
and deeper yet, for just an instant,
the body of a man,
sleeping. Had to be mine.
In dream, Dad said he'd seen
my eyes go dull, but now
I could feel them burn
in the sockets of my skull.
I continued to pull
till the sleeping body
vanished in light.
Joe Paddock
from A SORT OF HONEY (Red Dragonfly Press, 2007; $12)
'Patience'
Yesterday, in early light,
I noticed, in the garden,
around the little butter
ponds, the lichen reaching
out from the inner
lip's edge, living, connecting,
indicating more than one circle.
Truth is, I thought,
life springing living from
the dead, when it dies
will begin, and they, and I.
And walking on, such passion
stayed to weep and not grieve
to leave each burning hour
nothing its fire to consume,
a holiness stone empty.
Jason Michael Anderson
from NOTHING MY FIRE (Red Dragonfly Press, 2007; $36)
Minnesota Book Award Nominations:
in poetry:
THE ICE HOUSE by Floyce Alexander (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $12)
TRUST THE WILD HEART by Nancy Paddock (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $12)
RARE MOMENTUM by Athena Kildegaard (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $12)
WHAT IS BURIED HERE by Lyle Daggett (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $10)
fine-press:
HAN-SHAN IS THE CURE FOR WARTS by Jim Lenfestey (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $70)
THE WAVERING SCALES by Yannis Ritsos (Red Dragonfly Press, 2006; $55)
Upcoming Events:
Saturday, February 3
Scott King will read from LEFTOVER ORDINARY at the Science Center at the Maltby Nature Preserve in Randolph, Minnesota (about 10 miles out of Northfield). The reading is at 7 pm in the main building and is free to the public. Plenty of winter trails for a night hike under the near full moon.
Saturday, February 4
The poem 'Trust' from Thomas R. Smith's new collection WAKING BEFORE DAWN will be featured on Garrison Keilor's Writer's Almanac.
Monday, February 19
Thomas R. Smith will read at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis
Thursday, April 5
Thomas R. Smith will read at the Loft at The Open Book in Minneapolis as part of their Local Motion Series.
Monday, May 14
Thomas R. Smith will read at Magers & Quinn in Uptown, Minneapolis.
***
As a not-for-profit press, Red Dragonfly Press needs your support. Though we have received some backing through grants and private foundations, individual donations and sales remain vital to our survival. So help spread the word about the press, buy some books, and make a donation if you can.
Red Dragonfly Press is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization. All gifts are tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Please make checks payable to Red Dragonfly Press.
Thank you,
Scott King, editor
Red Dragonfly Press
307 Oxford Street
Northfield, MN 55057