New Orleans, Chicago, and Points Elsewhere
Poems
Gerald Locklin
R)v Press: Long Beach, California, 94 Pages

Reviewed by R.K. Wallace

Gerald Locklin, for those younger readers who are not familiar with him, is probably one of America’s most important living poets. Locklin has published over 125 books of poetry and prose, of which, just to get a flavour of his writing, Go West Young Toad and Candy Bars are recommended. This year Locklin retires from his job as a professor at California State University, Long Beach, where he has resided and worked for almost four decades. But as far as writing goes, it is a slightly different story. With over 3000 poems in publication, and a mountain of prose, there is no sign of this prolific writer stopping just yet.

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Thick Lazy Tongue
A Novel
Misti Rainwater-Lites
Ebullience Press: Albuquerque, New Mexico, 112 pages

Reviewed by R.K. Wallace

Misti Rainwater-Lites loves her porn and she loves her poetry, hence why she is the editor of the print poetry zine, Instant Pussy, a outlet for the less conventional and often thwarted creative voices of today’s underground literature world, and also a showcase for some rather tasteful nude pictures of females (and males) that compliment the main course of a fine collection of contemporary verse. But that is not all. Misti Rainwater-Lites has self-published a number of books of her own poetry and prose as well, including Arsenal of Spitwads and Mordiscado. Furthermore, she has been hailed as “the Confessional Poet Laureate of the United States,” and has appeared in so many underground poetry zines that it would easier to name the very few that are missing out on such a new and genuinely raw talent. Read the rest of this entry »