Published by Associate Editor on May 12, 2014. This item is listed in Introductions, Issue 22, Issue 22 Poetry, Poetry

Introduction to Silver Blade Poetry May 2014

by John C. Mannone

As this issue evolved, a theme emerged, which touched many aspects of love and life—there’s the love for one’s friend, a mate, nature, and life itself. Our Featured Poet, Robert Frazier, opens with a poem (Imageography) that speculates on the mind of Albert Einstein; it’s not a love poem (unless you count my love of physics), but it reminds me of something this great physicist once said: “Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love. How on earth can you explain in terms of chemistry and physics so important a biological phenomenon as first love? Put your hand on a stove for a minute and it seems like an hour. Sit with that special girl for an hour and it seems like a minute. That’s relativity.”

Robert Frazier (Nantucket, MA) sets a dark stage (Your Dark Angel) with what he says has “a beatnik cadence a la Howl or Ferlinghetti,” which segues into the plaintive poem on Mars (Red Truths). Jane Ellen Glasser (Lighthouse Point, FL) follows with the first of her two poems (For the Love of Certain Spaces). It is a wonderful list poem speaking of a love of “certain places” that nature has given us. JD DeHart (Cleveland, TN) presents a poem (Erasure) that uses an interesting metaphor. It is a short poem, but powerful. Love has no bounds. Anne Carly Abad (Manilla, Phillipines) proves this with her compelling poem (Vessels). The word syzygy means a conjunction of three astronomical objects, among other things, like Joshua Gage (Brecksville, OH) shows in his love sonnet (Syzygy), which approaches the Spensurian form. There is more than skilled slant rhymes in this poem. The selection closes with a second poem from Glasser, another modern sonnet—love poem (How We Happened). I think it makes for a happy ending to a great selection of poems from some very talented poets. Enjoy.

John C. Mannone

Poetry Editor

Poetry in this issue:

Interview with Featured Poet Robert Frazier

Imageography by Robert Frazier

Your Dark Angel by Robert Frazier

Red Truths by Robert Frazier

For the Love of Certain Spaces by Jane Ellen Glasser

Erasure by JD DeHart

Vessels by Anne Carly Abad

Syzygy by Joshua Gage

How We Happened by Jane Ellen Glasser