2003
Jeannine Hall Gailey
Slipstream 23 presents work with an urban, contemporary edge. This issue was mostly poetry that has a “spoken-word” vibe but also included three pieces of short fiction and artwork and photography. I liked Johnny Cordova’s prosy but gritty poem, “A Kind of Dance” with these lines:
Slipstream 23 presents work with an urban, contemporary edge. This issue was mostly poetry that has a “spoken-word” vibe but also included three pieces of short fiction and artwork and photography. I liked Johnny Cordova’s prosy but gritty poem, “A Kind of Dance” with these lines:
Then, as if sensing my disinterest,
he pointed the gun at my face and said,
I don’t give a shit about that crap,
I’ll shoot anyone, anytime, for any reason.
Even you, he said.
I laughed and said, You wouldn’t shoot me.
And he pushed the barrel against my forehead
cocked the trigger and said Oh, Yes, I would.
The suspense of the “A Kind of Dance” is an illustration of what strong narrative can bring to poetry. The short-short fiction excerpts from Heather Holland-Wheaton’s “Eight Million Stories in a New York Minute” were also beguiling in their simplicity and the display of everyday life in the city. Dee Rimbaud’s drawings, scattered throughout the issue, are haunting. [Slipstream, P.O. Box 2071, Dept. W-1, Niagara Falls, New York 14301. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $7.00. www.slipstreampress.org/index.html] – JHG
