Journal of New Jersey Poets – 2003

This generously-spirited review produced at the County College of Morris in New Jersey focuses solely on New Jersey writers and artists, but contains a surprising diversity of work.

This generously-spirited review produced at the County College of Morris in New Jersey focuses solely on New Jersey writers and artists, but contains a surprising diversity of work. Especially whimsical and fascinating were several black-and-white photos of poet Marianne Moore, including one of her dwarfed by elephants in the Bronx Zoo. The poetry ranges in style and form from traditional to experimental. Here are a few lines from Jamie McNeely’s obsessively lovely “Your Voice”: “…Your voice, a coral-scarred cave // now above sea level, hardly hollow: How I hear the white tides /…rushing violence down your throat.” And here are a few lines from Lee Slonimsky’s “Beowulf(s)”: “Our favorite vignette: / wood lice gliding out / from a windaxed tree’s floating trunk, / miniature Beowulfs braving black seas / beneath the glaze of forming ice…” This issue also contained a handful of poetry book reviews. An interesting peek into the literary talents of the Garden State. [Journal of New Jersey Poets, County College of Morris, 214 Center Grove Road, Randolph, New Jersey, 07869-2086. Single issue $10.00. http://www.ccm.edu/humanities/journal.htm ] – JHG