The lines of rainwater, beads
stretching into strands, the rivulets
running downwards, converging
and diverging like Port Authority
crowds at afternoon rush hour
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Another important international poet has died.
I first came across the work of Palestinian poet in a now out-of-print anthology, Modern Poetry of the Arab World, and was mesmerized by the music of his lines and caught up in his ethical concerns — along with those of the other poets included.
The mix of imagery, the religious sensibility and the politics — Darwish was a rare poet and will be missed.
I just came across this review of my chapbook, Suburban Pastoral. Not sure when it ran, not sure how he got his hands on it. But that’s quite OK with me.
Suburban Pastoral is a collection of poems by Hank Kalet, who spends most of eir time editing newspapers in the New Jersey area, along with writing columns for The Progressive Populist. This is a chapbook containing Kalet’s works over the last few years. Voices of Reason, the imprint under which Kalet released this chapbook, “is an arts collective that seeks to raise money for organizations in central New Jersey working to alleviate hunger and aid the homeless”. So, with a good cause in mind, this chapbook was released. The poetry is strong, with Kalet attempting different things with seemingly every one of the twenty-plus poems here. Like chapbooks from larger imprints, there is nothing on a page besides the title, page number, and the poem. I’m not sure how I feel about that. While it is nice to show a professional side to small press imprints, perhaps a more graphic interpretation of certain phrases or lines would make this chapbook all the more impressive. Regardless, the poems in this work are poignant and interesting, devoid of triteness. Kalet is a good poet, and while this issue is small, the fact that this is “Number 1” may give hope to those individuals that wish to see subsequent issues of Suburban Pastoral or works from artists and poets in the Dayton, New Jersey area. If poetry is your thing, send along a donation of Voices of Reason and I’m sure they will send whatever things are currently out by the imprint. Here’s to hoping that this provides a revenue stream for their efforts.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me by clicking here.
I’ll be reading Sunday at the South Brunswick Public Library as part of its monthly poetry reading series (disclosure: I’m the organizer). Here is the release from the library:
South Brunswick, NJ – Hank Kalet — managing editor of The South Brunswick Post and The Cranbury Press, and an award-winning journalist and political columnist — will be the guest poet on Sunday, January 20 at South Brunswick’s monthly series of Sunday poetry readings. The program, sponsored by the South Brunswick Arts Commission, in cooperation with the South Brunswick Public Library, starts at 2 p.m. in the Library, 110 Kingston Lane, Monmouth Junction.
Kalet is a longtime South Brunswick resident whose poetry and prose have appeared in The Aquarian Weekly, The Progressive Populist, City Belt, The Journal of New Jersey Poets, Big Scream, Big Smile, The Writer’s Gallery and numerous other journals.
His chapbook, Suburban Pastoral, was published in 2006 by Voices of Reason. He is the former editor of the literary journals Flux, The Subterranean and The Other Half. His column, Dispatches, appears weekly in the Post and the Press, and he writes a semi-monthly column for the Progressive Populist. His latest poetry will be appearing in the forthcoming issues of Lips, The Writer’s Gallery and a new literary journal to be published by Middlesex County College.
Admission to the poetry readings is free, though a donation of a nonperishable food item, which will be given to the South Brunswick Food Pantry, is encouraged.
South Brunswick Post, The Cranbury Press
The Blog of South Brunswick
E-mail me by clicking here.
Hank Kalet 