…National Poetry Month, of course. Being such an open-hearted person, I will rise above my bitterness that National Fiction Month doesn’t exist and join in the deserved celebration of poetry.
Poet/editor Kim Roberts announces that the new edition of Beltway is up and ready “with a new issue devoted to authors who have recently published their first, full-length, single-author books." Five authors are featured, all with notable books:
A.B. SPELLMAN, author of Things I Must Have Known,
SANDRA BEASLEY, author of Theories of Falling,
KATHI MORRISON-TAYLOR, author of By the Nest,
BRANDEL FRANCE DE BRAVO, author of Provenance, and
GREGG SHAPIRO, author of Protection.
Additionally, "We offer a generous sampling of each book, with bios on each author, and links to their presses. In the Introduction, we list other recommended first books by DC authors as well.”
In a wealth of riches, I was especially taken with Sandra Beasley’s poem “Theories of Falling” and Brandel France de Bravo’s “Wedlock.”
Some enticing excerpts:
After years of research,
I can only guarantee that if you go over Niagara in a kayak, you will die.
A ball of chicken wire and quilts? You might make it.
Oak barrel? You'll walk away,
though just to die in a poor house ten years later.
~"Theories of Falling” by Sandra Beasley
***
Bedrock isn't just a town that Fred and Wilma,
Barney and Betty and all the other prehistoric couples
in leopard skin togas call home; it's what marriage
is supposed to be (honey, you're my rock),
but I say less steadiness and more animation,…
~"Wedlock” by Brandel France de Bravo
You can find Beltway here.