Hanging Loose – 2004

This lovely issue of Hanging Loose features the amazing high-school-age poet Nathan Resnick-Day: “Listen to me as one listens to the rain. / It has been twenty years since the gas lamps flickered in Paris during a monsoon that took the beards off men. / […] / I was given a birdsong that loved me for what I was not” (“The Discourse of Hermeto”).

This lovely issue of Hanging Loose features the amazing high-school-age poet Nathan Resnick-Day: “Listen to me as one listens to the rain. / It has been twenty years since the gas lamps flickered in Paris during a monsoon that took the beards off men. / […] / I was given a birdsong that loved me for what I was not” (“The Discourse of Hermeto”). While some pieces tend to fall on the mundane side to me, I am struck by the fresh voices represented here and found the entire journal an easy, enjoyable read. Other standouts include Meg Yardley’s “Ten Ways of Looking at a Catalytic Converter” (especially for the emission-test-challenged), Kurt Cole Eidsvig’s beautiful “You’re Probably in Japan by Now,” and Rodger Kamenetz’s “Drowning.” Hanging Loose contains several short-shorts of note, and the earnestness of the fiction found here is refreshing. Highly recommended, as there are also some pretty photos of Brooklyn’s historic Myrtle Avenue El by Theresa King that form a nice centerpiece. I look forward to reading the next issue in hopes of finding more of the same originality and youthful sincerity, and in hopes of reading more incredible (and often genius!) writing by high-school-age authors. [Hanging Loose, 231 Wyckoff St., Brooklyn, NY 11217. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $7. www.hangingloosepress.com] – LC