32 Poems – Summer 2003

32 Poems is a new literary journal built on the model provided by One Story magazine – every issue contains, simply, 32 poems – no reviews, no letter from the editor, no fiction. It has generated a lot of buzz in the literary community, and for once, the buzz was deserved; this modest little 5 ½ by 8 ½ saddle-stapled journal contained a dazzling array of poetry. Styles leaned mostly towards the lyric and the experimental, but there were some examples of narrative and formal verse as well. To illustrate the range, I have to quote a few lines from Kimberly Johnson’s “Sonnet” and Mary Ruefle’s“The Phantom Ball,” two of my favorites. From “Sonnet:”

32 Poems is a new literary journal built on the model provided by One Story magazine – every issue contains, simply, 32 poems – no reviews, no letter from the editor, no fiction. It has generated a lot of buzz in the literary community, and for once, the buzz was deserved; this modest little 5 ½ by 8 ½ saddle-stapled journal contained a dazzling array of poetry. Styles leaned mostly towards the lyric and the experimental, but there were some examples of narrative and formal verse as well. To illustrate the range, I have to quote a few lines from Kimberly Johnson’s “Sonnet” and Mary Ruefle’s“The Phantom Ball,” two of my favorites. From “Sonnet:”

No seduction in the hothouse, its aisles
of deliberate orchids only heave
benearth ceiling fans…

But when orange blossoms wave
in pneumatic arcade, I dither. I coo. I hallelu.”

From “The Phantom Ball:”

I was a tea cozy and a tripod
I cut off my hands so he would have shoes…

I became a woman who fingers her necklace
I cannot remember our song

I very much look forward to reading more issues of this journal. I can only tell readers to subscribe so that it sticks around. [32 Poems, P.O. Box 5824, Hyattsville, MD 20782. Single issue $6.00. www.32poems.com] – JHG