NEW POETRY
 
Franz Wright
Jenn Morea
Ted Pelton
Susan M. Schultz
Amanda Nadelberg
Standard Schaefer
Matthew Cooperman
Ed Taylor
Coralie Reed
Gretchen Mattox
Mark Rudman
Ales Debeljak
Simon Perchik
 
 
NEW CRITICISM
 
Bendall on Wagner
Schroeder on Mullen
Thompson on Gibson
Minor on Tran
Rippey on Hannah

AMANDA NADELBERG : the sky is not as open





Fifi

I.

Colored windows in the
city where the nannies
walk the babies tend
to break when the
Yankees beat the
Red Sox. Johnny
Damon is so pretty
with his long hair
and his protein
did you see how
he struck and broke
the bat? I can tell
you with assurance
that this time it
will be different—both
the Red Sox and
John Kerry will
prevail. How good it
is to be from
Massachusetts
in October when
both apples and
small ponies make
good livings. Have
you seen the painter
Nancy how her
brush strokes are
so tiny you
would think she
uses toothpicks for
paintbrushes. Nancy’s
husband is a Mormon
he was born and
raised in Utah but         
his business took
him all the way
to Boston. Mostly
everyone is Gentile
and the sky is
not as open but still
somehow he can
better love his Nancy.
If John Kerry
beats the Yankees
then the Red Socks
will be happy
oh those Yankees
are as bad
as Mr. Bush. What a
good day it would
be for Massachusetts
if they won
first the Pats then
the Sox then
John Kerry.

II.

Paris Hilton and
her sister, the less
hot one, were elected.

The Red Sox
still won. At
least we have
them at least
we have sox.







Wilberforce

Somewhere lady things
become man things
somehow in Ohio.
Ohio has a perfectly
small voice and with it
Ohio invites you to visit.
The rest stops along
the highway in Ohio
are unisexual. Ladies
and gentlemen may
all have an equal
opportunity to eat
and drink and make
use of the facilities. I
think there are
farms in Ohio.
I can’t quite
remember but I
think there are farms.
I don’t know things
about trucks or
horses or birds and I
don’t imagine many
things will change any
time soon. But I’ve been
to many small towns
in Ohio. Miss Ohio
became Miss America
last year, back when
the pageant still had a
talent component. Miss
Ohio sang improv. She
asked the audience
for three words that were
like Ohio and she
made up a song
right there on
national television in
front of all the judges.
Someone shouted
Drew Carey. Someone
else said Iowa, another
state with an overabundance
of vowels. One person
offered Amish people.
Miss Ohio sang a song
about Drew living in
Iowa as an Amish person
and the audience loved
it and the judges loved it
even more. The judges
were Amish too. Once
crowned Miss America,
Miss Ohio traveled
to all the rest stops along
the interstate in Ohio to
meet all the other Americans.
Rest stops I know about. I know
that sometimes there’s
ice cream and sometimes
there are donuts. I know
that it’s best not to
go into the stores
unless you want to
walk away empty
handed having just
spent $14.95 on
a t-shirt that will never
be worn. And I know that
you can never take
enough napkins back
with you to keep in the
glove box. You never know
when you might have an accident.





Cecil


Cecil an old man responsible
for functions and fundraisers. He wore
handkerchiefs in his coat pockets. Cecil
curated an excellent library along
with a garden. People should not
keep trying to grow grass under pines
he said. He said there are plenty
of flowers that would do quite
well under pine trees. People are
too partial to grass Cecil would say.







Isadore

I thought this
was a girl’s
name. A girl’s
name on the
side of a truck
somewhere
in Michigan a
truck we passed.

A trucking
company named
for a woman a strong
woman named
Isadore who
could lift many
boxes. Isa short
for Isadore, a
woman on the
side of a truck
in Michigan.
Isa the truck
named Isadore.

In Canada
near Michigan I
bought this
book because of
Isadore a
woman named
Isadore made me
do this. But then
Isabel becomes
Isaiah and later
Isidora and
Isidore neither
of whom I wanted.

Isadore
is nowhere
to be found a
delightful Cajun
fisherman a
boy’s name
definitely an
Asian fellow,
deceased,
bringing us some
much needed rain.
Isadore is
a door is next
a delightful
fisherman a
professor of
music even more
blasphemy the
patron saint of
farmers and large
gardens is on
her way is a
nice old man
still affecting
the south a
social cripple
wreaking havoc
with my sinuses
a retired high
school principal
spinning around
in the gulf of Mexico.




 

 

(c) 2005 Slope. Slope is ISSN # 1536-0164.