Poet, Writer, Editor, Bookshop Reviewer
The new summer issue of The Westchester Review is now up, and it includes my poem “Grunewald,” a piece written from my week spent in Berlin in 2010, a journey magical enough that it still spawns new poems to this day. The issue of TWR has a ton of great writers within, and I’m honored to be included. Be sure to check out the whole issue, and you can find my own piece HERE. Thanks for reading!
My poem "Going Ghost" now appears in Boned, a collection of skeletal writings. This is a revised poem from one that almost appeared in my chapbook Berlin (Maverick Duck Press) so if you like this none you may enjoy the book. Thanks for reading.
The new issue of Change Seven Magazine is now out, and it includes three of my poems. "The Good Fresh Kind" is a look back at a lazy day on the job as a lawn-care laborer back in college before the full hammer of adulthood struck. "Death Row Escape" is a poem about how obsession and lust is a prison, and is a poem I held out of my collection Berlin to work on it some more, and I really like this final version. "It's Only Temporary" is a New York City poem, a love poem, a lonely poem, and still takes me back to that strange feeling you get in NYC of being so constantly surrounded by people yet feeling a million miles away from everyone. A deep thank you to the editors at Change Seven for including my work with so many other fine writers, including Emily Strauss, William Doreski, Seth Jani, Ilana Masad, and many others.
"Berlin Night" by Mia Avramut
My poem "Exposed Brick in Candlelight" now appears in the new issue of Up The Staircase Quarterly, an excellent collection of poetry, art, and book reviews. Editor April Michelle Bratten always puts together a beautiful menagerie of artists and writers, and I feel very lucky to be included in yet another issue. I'm especially lucky to have my poetry paired with the wonderful artistry of Mia Avramut, who created a piece titled "Berlin Night" -- a beautiful pairing, as I wrote the poem in Berlin! Thanks for taking a look at my poem, and consider submitting your own work!
My new poetry chapbook Berlin (from Maverick Duck Press) is flying out the door, and I thought I'd throw up a sample poem for anyone who would like to see what the chap is all about. The poems were all written during a week in Berlin, Germany in 2010 and contain plenty of noir sentiments: streelamps, trains, sidewalks, corner cafes, nighttime skylines, hotel ghosts, and more. You can order copies for $6 via the publisher or by emailing me at jhdwriting@hotmail.com. If you already own a copy, you can leave a review and rating at Goodreads.com. Thanks!
Six to the End
out go the lights
six to the end like empty chambers
of a smoking gun dead
broken heels running in the night
up the wet street, up the wet sky
blonde hair gracing the face of the moon
every dream has a hole
and every hole pours red hope
into pools of abrupt sermon songs
there isn’t a street without a crack
and there isn’t woman without a spine
to hold up her coat, or feathered summation
the women, they reload quick
and then men, they hurry for knives
every villain eager for a hero
every heart beaten to a pulp
and the empty shells slip from the gun
clatter onto the glass table
roll across Venetian blinds like mice
in the alleys there are tigers
in Macau there are fires
in morgues there are long dreams of masculine fear
all down the potter’s lane, cemeteries in a row
six to the end like waiting chambers
six to the end like autumn lovers gone
My new poetry chapbook Berlin is inching closer to its release in early December, and Kendall A. Bell, the editor over at Maverick Duck Press, sent me the cover image last night, and here it is (both front and back are seen here):
I'm really impressed, and a major thank you goes to artist Ryan W. Bradley for putting it together, as well as to the entire staff at MDP for all their work. I can't wait for the book release reading on Dec. 5th at the Daily Grind Coffee Shop in Mount Holly, NJ. All are welcome to come along and join the open mic portion, or just hang out and listen, and I'll be reading from Berlin and some other books as well. I'll post details on where you can purchase a copy of Berlin as soon as I can. Until then, thanks for the support!
I'm very excited to announce that my chapbook of new poetry, Berlin, was just accepted by Maverick Duck Press, a great small press dedicated to featuring, as they put it, "cutting edge talent with an eye for detail and a powerful voice." This will be a limited-run printing, and as soon as I have a release date I'll let you all know. Between this new collection and the currently available Lantern Lit, Vol. 1, which features my mini-chapbook The Darkest Bomb, I'll have to get myself out the door to some readings this year, and I'll post details about that as well. But for now, a big thank you goes out to MDP editors Kendall Bell, Kayla Marie Middlebrook, and Bronwyn Haynes, the magnificent city of Berlin, and Marguerite Gisele for walking me down the cobblestone, lamplit streets and for helping me order beer at The Nordwind! And a thanks goes out to all of you for your support and for reading my work. It's deeply appreciated.