The Canary – 2004

When you pick up this stylish journal, with its austere yellow cover, you notice its shape–-with longer pages that accommodate lots of white space and long lines. You might expect the poetry inside to be eclectic, experimental, and artistic–-and you wouldn’t be disappointed.

When you pick up this stylish journal, with its austere yellow cover, you notice its shape–-with longer pages that accommodate lots of white space and long lines. You might expect the poetry inside to be eclectic, experimental, and artistic–-and you wouldn’t be disappointed. I really enjoyed Kevin Young’s work in this issue, two poems from “Black Maria, a verse novel based on film noir” (I just enjoyed that description from his author notes so much, I thought I would include it in my description. Now I want to write a ‘verse novel based on film noir’ too!) called “(The Alias)” and “(The Suspects).” Hoa Nguyen’s “[Sopping in Juice        Melons Juicy]” was as fun and sensual to read as the title indicates. Don’t be intimated by the post-avant-garde attitude in some pieces here – you will find plenty of surprising images and intimations to enjoy throughout if you keep reading.