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Diner – Fall/Winter 2003

Volume 3 Number 2

Fall/Winter 2003

Jennifer Gomoll

The poetry of Diner reflects the journal’s title: hearty, digestible, eschewing the frou-frou. Sometimes the fare seems a bit undercooked; you want to tweak a line here or cut a word there, but the read is a good experience. There are two featured poets/translators (Blue Plate Specials): Annie Finch and Dzvinia Orlowsky.

The poetry of Diner reflects the journal’s title: hearty, digestible, eschewing the frou-frou. Sometimes the fare seems a bit undercooked; you want to tweak a line here or cut a word there, but the read is a good experience. There are two featured poets/translators (Blue Plate Specials): Annie Finch and Dzvinia Orlowsky. Notes on each are provided, outlining their history, interests and writing style, all of which heightens the experience of reading their work. Finch’s “My Baby Fell Apart” is, in my opinion, the strongest poem in the issue, a rhythmic and poignant piece on losing (or fear of losing) a child. A few lines: “My baby fell apart. Then I could see // her falling, through a loud internal sea, / away from the one place that still was tender. / There was no baby left inside of me.” Other highlights include Steven Cordova’s clever “Ms. Daydream to You,” in which Daydream is presented as a woman with a Russian accent; and Alexander Chertok’s “What Is Morning?” about waking to a sweet birdsong. Scattered throughout the issue are evocative digitally-altered photographs by Colin Sjostedt. An enjoyable magazine all around. [Diner, P.O. Box 60676, Greendale Station, Worcester, MA 01606-2378. E-mail: [email protected]. Single issue $10. http://www.spokenword.to/Diner] – JQG

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