What Can James Tate Teach Us?

            Poets like the recently deceased James Tate offer works that lend themselves to a variety of interpretations; what better segue into explorations of textual ideas based around a real passage?   Tate’s poem, “An Eland, in Retirement” offers a variety of historical and social discussion points, and can lead to conversations about the role and identity of the poem’s narrator.
Readers can cite lines within Tate’s work to support their own conclusions about his intended meaning, which is often open-ended and debatable.  In this way, we can explore our writing without the danger of the “one answer is correct” approach.  This type of conversation has the potential to move beyond statements based on preconceived notions or personal feelings, and attach meaning to phrases gathered and presented from the text itself.
In this way, one poem can convey a multitude of meanings, depending on our background and context.  It is not unlike a kaleidoscope.

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Simple Tasks

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This is the month when Jews celebrate Passover and Christians celebrate Easter, a time of spiritual insight. During a season when the weather is changing , we consider the way life continually renews itself and appreciate that it happens, even though we don’t entirely understand how and why.

The contributors to this month’s issue explore important questions and probe the edges of our understanding during this time of sacred mystery.

J.D. DeHart’s poems ask how much we know about our world, how much do we want to grasp, and how much this comprehension benefits us.

Gordon Hull shows through gently humorous, absurdist writing how our world throws piles of confusing information at us every day and it’s easy to get confused.

John Grochalski also explores absurdity. His speakers find themselves in uncomfortable, impossible situations that come, not from surreal imagination, but daily life in a social and economic landscape that seems inhospitable for ordinary people.

J.K. Durick’s writing probes the process of narrative creation and the consequences of devaluing truth.

Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope review column highlights the long-time appeal of mystery novels. Many people enjoy the suspense and adventure of a good thrill and puzzle.

In a quirky essay about two strangers from seemingly disparate lines of work, Donal Mahoney compares editing a manuscript to surgery. Both fields involve quite a bit of art as well as technical skill, a competence that we can’t yet reduce to a set of instructions.

J.J. Campbell shoots out some raw, tough-minded advice about making the most of life, while Sudeep Adhikari points out the irrationality of destroying life here on Earth while we search intently for it outside our solar system.

Benjamin Blake crafts pieces filled with imagination and self-examination, yet grounded in our physical world by their specific locations or vivid imagery.

Mahbub’s poetry calls attention to the continuity of ordinary life. Grass grows, people love, minds think, water lets us see our reflections.

In Joan Beebe’s pieces, humans are dwarfed by the power of nature, shown in the sky at sunset and also by our emotions when we experience loss and heartbreak.

Allison Grayhurst’s poetry looks at cycles in relationships, connection and loss. Her pieces have a tribal and timeless feeling, reminiscent of the Biblical commentary in Ecclesiastes.

Michael Robinson’s pieces evoke spiritual searching, as a curious child and then as a thoughtful adult aware of the world’s hardship.

Christopher Bernard reviews the poetry collection The Territory of Dawn: Selected Poems of Eunice Odio, translated by Keith Ekiss. The poems, as he describes them, represent a spiritual quest informed by modernity and open to the findings of science. Living in the ‘real world’ does not have to mean abandoning the search for and celebration of life’s beauty and meaning and purpose.

We at Synchronized Chaos Magazine wish you a wonderful and thoughtful time as the seasons change and you welcome the new chapter of life.

The Boggling Facts

As my mind is boggled,

Boggled I will be,

Begging to stop the boggling of what I see,

Boggling is what they do,

Boggling me and you,

Boggling what do I mean?

Boggling you have seen,

Boggling they think we believe,

Once the boggling has stopped then life will be true,

So why are we boggled or baffled if we believe what they say,

Boggling is the governments way,

Boggle us here,

Boggle us there,

Boggle us everywhere,

So let’s stop the boggling,

Or as what our government likes to say,

Alternative fact by the way…

Gratuity Rex

He told his driver to take him to the airport

and since he was the driver

he drove to the airport

and he thought about tipping the driver

the conversation was friendly

enough

but something about the driver irked him

some people just don’t get on

so he decided to be polite

but firm

unloading his own bags

from the trunk

and since the airplane would not be invented

for another half century

he had to sit in the airport terminal

for quite a while

before his

flight.

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