Carol Dorf
The Mssrs. Shakespeare Attend the Festivals
Time travel wearies the dislocated
bard, and even more bleak the demands
that arise from multiple locations,
and audiences who by cheers remand
his appearance to bow with bended knee.
Then there are programs to autograph,
slow work with a quill, thus reluctantly
he relies on ballpoints and doubles to draft
his signature. Sometimes scholars criticize
but all men deserve moments to return
to dreams. Let them write papers and devise
high-borne attributions to his plays. He's learned
to ignore the imposters, and enjoy the crowd's
appreciative bouquets, as he waits, head bowed.
The Trope of the Family Vacation
August second, a dog whines outside
the East Main Street Cafe. I've escaped
for an hour, leaving husband, child, asleep
in a darkened motel room, fan running to block
freeway noise. A flyer informs me, "If you are not
praying for your child, who is?" On the drive
it was one DJ who knew God's and his son's
opinion after the next. Within the walls
of my University town, I missed the changeover
from country to Jesus Rock. I heard reports,
but driving through landscape provides visceral
information. Today we'll find places to eat,
play in Lithia Park and watch Romeo die
with his Juliet, their families' sacrifice. |
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| AUTHOR BIO |
| Carol Dorf's poems have appeared in Fringe, The Midway,
Poemeleon, Heresies, Edgz, Runes, Feminist Studies, New Verse
News,
Coracle, Poetica,
Responsa, The NeoVictorian, Caprice and elsewhere. She
is a former
editor of Five Fingers Review and the Barnard Literary
Magazine. As an
undergraduate, she studied with Marilyn Hacker, Kenneth Koch,
and David
Ignatow. She has taught in a variety of venues including
Berkeley City College,
a science museum, and as a California Poet in the Schools.
She now teaches at
Berkeley High School. |
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| POETRY CONTRIBUTORS |
 Tiel Aisha Ansari
B. J. Buckley
Terese Coe
Carol Dorf
Jehanne Dubrow
Nicole Caruso Garcia
Ona Gritz
Kathryn Jacobs
Allison Joseph
Susan McLean
Marilyn Nelson
Janice D. Soderling
Shanna Powlus Wheeler
Marly Youmans
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| Jane Sutherland: I choose subjects that I cherish, or that spring from deep rooted feelings, or that come to me intuitively--dogs, roses, cranes, an iconic work of sculpture; and I concentrate on the details and slightest disparities in color, tone and textures in order to show how extraordinary are things we think we know and take for granted. The process of painting for me is connected to the physical properties of the subject as well as to its meanings, associations, and memories. |
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