 |
is a small press established in 1978 by poet and editor Judith Kerman. We specialize in contemporary literature, especially poetry and works that straddle conventional categories: Great Lakes, women, Caribbean, translations, science fiction poetry, recent immigrant experience, Judaica. Publications are in both chapbook and trade paperback formats. |
Sundays at the Office
by John Palen
Each office has its
individual touch,
a map of Canada or photographs,
cartoons from the New Yorker. It’s with such
details we intersect each other’s paths
and point to life beyond the cubicle.
Her flowers, dried at home, adorn a shelf,
his children’s crayon drawings crowd the wall,
the signs of a productive, balanced self,
except on Sundays.
Then, in the stale air
of pressures, deadlines, weariness and stress,
they’re understood for what they really are,
scraps of the might-have-been, sad images
barely afloat above the undertow
of memos wanting more, wanting it now.
John
Palen has worked as a reporter and editor and chairs
the journalism department of Central Michigan University, where
he writes about science. He holds the Ph.D. in American Studies.
His 2005 book, Open Communion, was also published by
Mayapple Press.
John also has chapbooks published by March Street Press
John Palen
Staying Intact
Poetry. Paper, saddlestitched, 28 pp
$6 plus s&h
1997, ISBN-0-932412-11-4
These poems, as with any real poetry, make us see in new and deeper ways. Most of the works involve common feelings or occurances that we do not normally deem significant or beautiful. John's elegant use of words brings out that beauty (not always a pleasant beauty).
Look for similar books by subject:
Other work by John Palen: