Poetry from Tony Longshanks le Tigre

 

*Infinite Denial*
What if we discovered a colossal number
beyond which numbers could not go,
so that what we had deemed infinity
turned out not to be so?+11+
6/8/14
______________________
*Poem Inspired by Diane DiPrima*
You are the silent architect
of a subterranean city
that will take their breath away
long after you are gone–Tony Longshanks LeTigre
6/9/14
The Death of San Francisco (?)
The yuppies say it’s overrun with hipsters
The hipsters say it’s chockablock with yuppies
The rich folks say it’s time to clean up the streets
The poor folks say the upper crust is gonna crumble
As there is safety in numbers, there is wealth
In acceptance, & strength in being humble

 

Tony Longshanks LeTigre is a hackerspace infiltrator, parkour enthusiast, urban exploder, disseisor, tosher, magick practitioner, amateur seismologist & general misadventurer currently attempting to escape from San Francisco, CA.

Poetry from Jim Davis

 

On Nick Flynn’s Pulse (Hidden Bird)

 

“Imagine a glass of water / a drop of blood”

 

Imagine the infinite swelling of waves, bruised mornings, nights written in

 

A long forgotten language: the constellation dance, echoes, rippling

 

Glass of the frozen ocean. Alaskan bay. Bering Strait. Ridged reflection

 

Of fickle tides – the way the mouth’s roof quells the tongue.

 

Water, harried by lips and winter, has something to say:

 

A moment in such company, it would whisper if it could, would inspire a

 

Drop of rain to expand in concentric rings, engorge the tides

 

Of what could not be explained: why are we this / & not nothing

 

Blood welling from our separating bodies. Blood and salt, and beating wings.

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Mind Your Own Business: Ayokunle Adeleye’s Entrepreneurship Column

The POTENTIAL IV: Staying True

Once upon a time, there lived a poor hunter and his childless wife.
One day, while gathering wood in the forest, the wife built a maiden
out of snow. “If only you were real,” she sighed, “how I would love
and treat you.”

The forest queen heard the wife’s wish. She promised to turn the snow
maiden into a real girl. But with one condition: in place of a heart,
she would have an icicle. With that, the maiden magically came to
life. “If she ever steps outside the snow forest,” the forest queen
warned, “the ice will melt, and she will die.”

For many years, the snow maiden and the wife lived together. Then one
day, the wife died. The snow maiden was sad. She moved through the
forest until she came upon a young boy from the village, lost in the
woods. Taking pity, the snow maiden led him to the edge of the forest.
If she walked any further, she knew her heart of ice would melt.

The snow maiden looked into the boy’s eyes and knew what she must do….
***

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Poetry from Christian Sorensen

Air Raid

People scream as bombers fly

Above the city at night.

Fire and smoke fill the sky

As soldiers cry in fright.

Houses burn and windows crack

As bombs rain upon the town,

Smoke from rubble shifts to black

Tears from faces trickle down.

Women cry while children dead

Rot upon the broken street.

Soldiers look on empty beds

Firemen combat smoke and heat.

 

Raid is o’er, the bombing done

Peace for now, with cooling guns.

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Leah Dearborn reviews Elsie Augustave’s novel The Roving Tree

 

Review: The Roving Tree by Elsie Augustave

Leah Dearborn

Book cover - Elsie Augustave's The Roving Tree 

The Roving Tree tackles an ambitious scope of issues and themes, from the damaging nature of internalized racism to the impact of heredity versus environment. Adopted from a small Haitian village at the age of five, Iris’ life often reads like an all-too-real fairy tale in a United States poised to enter the Civil Rights Movement.

Iris herself is a very sympathetic character. Forced to bear the baggage of a culture that isn’t even her own by birth, she nevertheless refuses to be victimized by racism. As a child, she’s confronted by many well-meaning (or less so) adults, but struggles to find a place among them. Although The Roving Tree is not the first book to describe such an incident, it’s still shocking when strangers touch Iris’ head without her permission, just to find out what the hair on “those people” feels like.

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Elizabeth Hughes’ Book Periscope

 

Mash Up by Joe Klingler

Cover of Joe Klingler's Mash Up


Mash Up is the follow-up to RATS, also by Joe Klingler. In Mash Up, Detective Qigiq comes to California from Alaska to team up with Detective Kandy of the San Francisco Police Department. They have to find out who is mailing body parts, specifically fingers and an ear, with the message “Don’t Steal Music”. They discover that this coincides with thousands of songs being pirated from the internet. Boxes of fingers start showing up where friends of Sally, the young woman murdered for stealing the music, live.

Detective Qigiq and Kandy also come across the company Silver Platter. The company has introduced a virus that deletes the illegally pirated music files from computers, then disappears before it can be traced. To make Detectives Qigiq and Kandy’s job even more difficult, someone has put up an ad to replace iPods that are “defective”. Then the person sends a replacement with a explosive attached to it. Mash Up is an exciting page turner. You will not want to put this book down until you have read every word on every page. Another five star novel from Mr. Joe Klingler. I highly recommend Mash Up.

 The Horsefly Chronicles by Phil Siracusa

Cover of Phil Siracusa's Horsefly Chronicles


The Horsefly Chronicles is the first book of Mr. Siracusa’s life of living with the paranormal. He has gone through life with a spiritual entity that is with him always. He talks about doing dark spells, rituals and the use of the Ouija board. He tells of when the Ouija board is used how a portal is opened and can be very dangerous. When the portal opens, there is a chance that dark spirits or demons come through.

In his family’s home there is a spirit named Sara that lives mostly in his closet. Although, Sara has stated there are many more that live in his home. Whenever anything is about to happen a huge horsefly appears. It either flies around him or lands and stares at him. Mr. Siracusa also talks about the weight loss centers he opened and when he worked for the Mafia. He would also do rituals for people who wished to communicate with loved ones who have passed on.

If you are curious about the paranormal and how it can affect someone, I recommend this book. If you are already familiar with the paranormal, I recommend this book. I know you will enjoy the Horsefly Chronicles as much as I have and cannot wait until the next one comes out!

Surviving Mental Illness: My Story by Linda Naomi Katz

Linda Baron-Katz' Surviving Mental Illness: My Story cover image

Surviving Mental Illness:My Story is the story of author Linda Naomi Katz as she is diagnosed with bipolar disorder and how she learns to live with it and becomes an advocate for the mentally ill. She has included some valuable resources in her book, like NAMI, the National Alliance for Mentally Ill. She meets and marries Charles Katz, and he also has a mental illness. They are able to support and understand each other since they both have some form of mental illness. They learn to work through the hard times in their marriage, which can be hard even without mental illness. They are both very special and brave for learning to overcome these obstacles. Ms. Katz should be commended for everything she has been through and for being able to advocate for the mentally ill. She wants people to understand how they are people too, and can work and live just like people who do not suffer from illness. She works hard to make the stigma and other prejudices a thing of the past.

If you know someone who suffers with any kind of mental illness, you should definitely read this book. You will be able to understand and possibly learn of resources that can be beneficial to your loved one or friend. If you don’t know anyone, this is still an excellent book to read, so, that you may understand and let go of any prejudices you may have toward the mentally ill. I think this is a very good book and recommend it.


Under The Blood Moon by Alexis Kennedy

Under the Blood Moon cover image

 Under the Blood Moon is a fantasy/thriller and the first in a series. Seth, the king of the Lycans, wakes after having a curse put on him 200 years before only to find out that his clan has been killed off. He has to find the right mate that can help him defeat the Prince of Darkness before the Blood Moon and an apocalyptic battle begins. Brad a gypsy of darkness has to find a bride for Prince Armando and awaken him before the Blood Moon to begin the battle. Seth has help from a gypsy fortune teller, Madame Elmira, who warns him that Julia may not be the right mate. Seth argues she must since his amulet showed her everything when she held it. I highly recommend Under the Blood Moon. It is thrilling and will keep the reader on the edge of their seat page after page. I loved this one better than others written in this genre. It has suspense and mystery and will keep the reader wanting more. I am very much looking forward to reading the other books in the series. Thank you Ms. Kennedy, you definitely have a winning series with Under the Blood Moon!

 

The Price of Love by Maggie Smith

Maggi Craft's book cover for The Price of Love

The Price of Love is an excellent romance novel. The story is about Slayde Price and Arden Simms. In high school, Slayde Price, a football jock, dated Kenedy, the beautiful popular girl and also Arden’s sister. Years later, Arden is enrolled in medical school and after eight years of not taking any breaks, she decides to go to Paris where her sister is living and working a a model. When Arden arrives in Paris at the apartments where her sister lives, she finds out her sister Kenedy is in Milan ona photo shoot. Slayde notices Arden and and to her surprise gives her a hug like they were the best of friends and invites her to his apartment. After awhile they fall in love with each other. When Kenedy comes back she is not at all happy about them being together.

Will Slayde and Arden’s love overcome the obstacles that are thrown their way?! Read The Price of Love and find out what happens in this exciting novel of love and romance. Price of Love will keep the reader wanting more. This book will keep the reader interested page after page. I highly recommend The Price of Love by Maggie Smith. Definitely a five star novel of love!

Misdiagnosed: The Search for Dr. House

(cover available soon!)

Color image of author Nika Beamon

Author Nika C. Beamon

Misdiagnosed: The Search for Dr. House is an excellent book about Ms. Beamon’s search for a diagnosis. She has written it so the story is interesting and keeps the reader interested page after page. She goes through when her symptoms start and how her health deteriorated as she went to doctor after doctor after doctor searching for help, relief from what was happening to her and a diagnosis so healing can begin. She also researched on her own on the internet which is very important when doctors don’t know and won’t admit they don’t know. She includes how difficult it was for her to find and maintain relationships because of her chronic illness especially when she would become seriously ill and need to be taken to the hospital. She had a relationship with one man that lasted quite awhile, but he was out seeing other women also and lying about it to her. She never gave up and persevered until the elusive diagnosis was found. Ms. Beamon includes very
valuable websites and addresses and advice in her book. I highly recommend this book and rate it 5 stars and 2 thumbs up!!