#b#To the First Wife
of My Second Husband#/b#
A watercolor hangs upon a wall
where I reside — a very pretty scene,
a church in Italy, drawn simply, all
infused with red and yellow, blue and green.
Surely, you must have liked it once, because
you chose to buy it, bring it home, display
it double-matted, framed — whatever flaws
it has, that I can see, its charms outweigh.
To me, the piece continues to appeal —
although the site abroad is still unknown,
the many months have made the painting feel
familiar in a place that I co-own.
In fact, it is no longer strange to find
that I enjoy what you left behind.
#b#— Jane Blanchard#/b#
About the poet: “I started writing sonnets when I was in graduate school at Rutgers University in the late 1980s but started publishing them only a decade or so ago after returning to my hometown of Augusta, Georgia,” says Blanchard. “I do write free verse and syllabic verse, but I especially enjoy the challenge of using traditional forms for contemporary situations.”
#b#How To#/b#
people in other lands
know how to be lovers
a man visits Anna Akhmatova
in daytime
demanding
Tell me how you kiss
nothing like this
happens to me
but recently
a man carried two kayaks
one red, one green
one after the other
upon his head
over the arched footbridge
so that we two could explore
evening’s lake
#b#— Carolyn Foote Edelmann#/b#
As a participant in Princeton University’s Creative Writing Program in the 1970s, Edelmann studied with Ted Weiss, Galway Kinnell, and Stanley Plumly. She has spent her poetic life honoring their legacy. She now works at the D&R Greenway Land Trust, and is an avid kayaker.
#b#U.S. 1 Worksheets.#/b#
In 1973 a small group of poets got together in central New Jersey to share their poetry. From this nucleus of poetry lovers came the U.S.1 Poets’ Cooperative. Some of the original poets are still involved in the cooperative; others have gone on to establish fine reputations in the literary world, but continue to submit work to U.S.1 Worksheets.
The annual journal has been showcasing poets from the Cooperative as well as the best work that comes from America and abroad. Two poems from U.S. 1 Worksheets are printed above. A third appears on page 2.
In 2015, says editor Nancy Scott, the group “agreed that we want to publish poets who have control of their craft. We look for that ‘Wow’ factor, whether it’s free verse, a prose poem, or a sonnet, rhymed or not. We don’t want prose that masquerades as poetry. We don’t want to stumble over poor grammar when we read a poem aloud, which we often do.
“We prefer images over abstractions, poems that set a mood, know where to start and how to end. We like humor. In Volume 60, we’ve published poems about buttons, popcorn, love and loss, Brooklyn, Van Gogh, and walking in the rain. In every issue, first poems have been sited next to those of well-established poets.”
U.S. 1 Worksheets also holds weekly meetings, when poets who wants to share their own work can participate in the critique process. With Delaware Valley Poets, the group sponsors a monthly poetry reading, also hosted by the Princeton Public Library.
For information about the Cooperative, including examples of the kind of poetry published, guidelines for submitting, and how to order a copy of the journal, visit www.us1poets.com. Or write to U.S.1 Worksheets, Box 127, Kingston, NJ 08528.
Facebook Comments