Porcupine – 2003

Porcupine is a fine mix of what you’d expect from a literary magazine, and what you’d never see coming.

Porcupine is a fine mix of what you’d expect from a literary magazine, and what you’d never see coming. In the first category: poems by Virgil Suarez, and Rilke translations. In the second: poetry and quilts by five poets and five textile artists, each randomly assigned another’s work to inspire a piece of their own. A few fiction selections round out the issue; of these, I found W.A. Reed’s “Connie Keeps Goats” to be a standout. Reed has an sharp eye but gentle pen for a character who keeps a number of Pygmy goats inside her house. He also knows pecking order among pets: “The other goats despise Kate [a goat] and her obvious attempts to court Connie’s affections. The little shit. They bump their heads against Kate’s soft, white belly and turn their backs when she tries to engage them in conversation.” Finally, I thoroughly enjoyed an interview with the poet Antler, because he talked about watching animals down at the river, not about creative writing programs. I’m sold on his “Looking Up at the Milky Way Thought”: “What must it be like for fish / [. . .] still alive / looking up seeing / falling snow / Slowly cover the ice / till darkness / engulfs their realm . . .” [Porcupine, P.O. Box 259, Cedarburg, WI 53012. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue: $8.95. http://members.aol.com/ppine259] – JQG