for Abdel Aziz al-Maqaleh Through the mandhara of your eyes, dear Poet I see each second of eternity pass, frame- by-frame, over Sana’a A Shadow constantly seeking its Object Through the mandhara of your eyes, dear Poet I see the slow making of a City, the slow making of a life Here in the dust […]
Issue 65
Bob Holman: How Kora Was Born
as sung by Papa Susso to Bob Holman This story begins long long long long ago So long ago that it was a place not a time There was a man He was so alone The only person he could talk to was Africa Luckily there was a tree nearby Even more luckily behind that […]
Bob Holman with Christopher Connelly: Griots Gestural Poems, and Giving Off Sparks: Bob Holman Teaches PBQ How to Put the English on the Word
If you have paid attention to poetry at all during the last 20 years, you have probably heard of Bob Holman, who has long been the neglected art’s most tireless advocate. He is the author of seven books of poetry and the editor of two anthologies, including Aloud: Voices from the Nuyorican Poet’s Café, winner […]
Christopher Connelly: Introduction to International Poetry Supplement
Don’t mistake the Painted Bride Quarterly’s “International Poetry Supplement” for another friendly exhibition of the exotic species of poetry that flourish in other countries. Instead, think of it as a kick aimed at contemporary American poetry’s corpulent ass. Years of inbreeding have produced a surfeit of lazy poems that are either too hermetic to be […]
Brian Teare: Dangerous Kitchen
Divorce proceedings : getting mother on the cross-town bus. Two hours early to make sure—”Don’t rush me, cherubs. They can’t start without the wife.”—bath, hat, shoes, good wool suit, matching calfskin gloves. To the curb to wait. After she left, we changed what we could : we cleaned. After an afternoon’s eternity of lye, bleach […]
Sean Singer: Loss
There is loss in the world. I don’t feel awful because lost people Took part of me. But because I can no longer give to them. He is in a coffin in a church in Chicago, or she is dating someone new And singing Schumann. Great Tumblers of the Universe have done things: make me […]