Contents of California Quarterly vo. 51 No. 3, Autumn 2025, edited by Maja Trochimczyk

   

California Quarterly, Volume 51, Number 3, Autumn 2025

Cover Art: Pacific Coast Highway by Andrzej Kołodziej (Andy Kolo), oil on canvas.  

          

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Bakersfield  — W. C. Gosnell       —   —    — 7

Alice Keck Park — Paul Willis        —  —    —   8

High Above La Cienega  — Carlo DiOrio      — 9

Blueberry Parade  — Jenny McBride         — 9

Still Life in Red Smoke Light  — David Rosenheim — 10

My Rustic Italian Loaf   — Christine Leistner  —10

 Acreage  —  Sarp Sozdinler           —   —  —    11

Knives and Noodles   — Ellice Jeon       —  — 12

Couple  — Jianqing Zheng           —  —  —   13

Unbecoming   — Daisy Bassen         — —     — 14

Photograph  —  Rustin Larson     — —     — 15

reading    — Gregory Cecil         —       —     — 15

A Special Moment      — James Piatt      —       16

The House      — Jenny McBride     —     —     16

Fossils and Footprints —  Sarp Sozdinler     —     17

Dear Apology,  —    KM Kramer          —     — 18

Fragmentationv —    Caroyn Jabs      —     — 19 

Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle  —    W. C. Gosnell  — 20

Museum of Broken Hearts  — D. A. Hosek     —  20

In That Room, Again   — Peter J. Hahn         —   21

Ave Maria —    Livingston Rossmoor   —   — 22

Carmen Philomelaicum     — Eugenius II of Toledo  —    24

Carmen Philomelaicum     — Trans. D. A. Hosek 25

Listening to the Refrigerator     — Kathryn Gessner Calkins 26

Made Historyv —    Daisy Bassen      —     — 27

Spaghetti Western Villanelle  — Deborah H. Doolittle  — 28

Jubilate Mammonæ    —   D. A. Hosek      — 29

Ти Знаєш Відповідь     —  Dmitry Blizniuk  — 30

You Know the Answerv    — Trans. Sergey Gerasimov  — 31

Survivor’s Guidev  — R Haines    —   —  32

After Diana Der Hovanessianv  — Laura Walter  — 34

Crow Dog  — William R. Ford Jr.   —  —   — 35

Manners  — Peter J. Hahn           —     —  — 35

Riding the Big Waves at   Rockaway   — David Rosenheim   —36

Early Morning Thoughts    —   Sarah Baker  — 36

Eclipse  —   KM Kramer      —    —      — 37

Free Man Minus Umbrellav  — Ace Boggess  — 38

Windv  — Duvey Deepak   `     —     —       — 39

What Is It About v  — Andrena Zawinski      —   40

 The Inconstant Moonv  — V. P. Loggins      —    41

Paper Mansion  — Ellice Jeon  `      — — 42

Dream  — Sarah Baker          —       —   — 43

Oczy Picassa   — Andrzej Kołodziej      —   — 44

Picasso’s Eyes  — Tr. Maja Trochimczyk      —    45

Unexplained Journey v  — W. C. Gosnell  — 46

The Cherry Treev  — Lenore Myers  — 46

A Tree Speaks: v  — Angelika Quirk  — 48

Amidst the Pines v  — Kieran Duffy   — 49

Stream of Consciousnessv  — Carolyn Jabs  — 50

If I Were a Dronev  —Livingston Rossmoor  — 51

With the Eyes of a Falcon  —Angelika Quirk  — 52

One Moment:  — KM Kramer       —  — 53

Funambulist v  — Carlo DiOrio       —  — 54

A Turquoise Story  — Maja Trochimczyk     — 55

Origami: Folded Light  — Shahrzad Taavoni  — 56

When the Prophet Comes Home  — Livingston Rossmoor  — 57

The Splendor of the Ever Gate  — William R. Ford Jr.  — 58

Born Wrong Century   — Michael J. Galko  — 58

Tycho’s Star    — Christine Candland     —   — 59

Contributors in Alphabetical Order      —   — 60

CSPS Contest Opportunities         —   —         60

CSPS Newsbriefs 2025, No. 3 by Maja Trochimczyk     — 63

Publishing Opportunities with CSPS  — 65

2024 CSPS Donors, Patrons, and Membership 66

Membership Form   — 68  

 

Turquoise from Neyshanbur, Iran, The Turquoise Museum, ABQ, NM.

                                                     EDITOR’S NOTE

While visiting the Turquoise Museum in Albuquerque, NM, I found that my turquoise pendant I inherited from my Mom— perfectly smooth, more green than aqua—mostly likely came from a Nishapour mine in Iran. My Dad bought the jewel in Mosul, Iraq, when he, a Polish engineer, was overseeing the construction and operation of a power plant in the Kurdish city of Mosul, Iraq (yes, the same power plant that Americans reduced to rubble during their war of “Weapons of Mass Destruction”). Indeed, I watched the annihilation of his work on American TV; that plant had provided electricity and jobs to Mosul residents… I felt distressed and strangely relieved that my Dad did not live to see the ruins himself…

Turquoise from Neyshanbur, Iran, the Turquoise Museum.

Like my turquoise story, poets featured in the Autumn 2025 issue of the CQ capture a full range of emotions— joy, grief, melancholy, child-like wonder, and serenity found in nature and among people. We start our exploration of everyday delights in Bakersfield (Gosnell), then visit a park (Willis), eat freshly-baked bread (Leistner) and taste some noodles (Jeon). We watch children in real life (Bassen) and in old photographs (Larson). The passing of time attracts the poets’ attention (McBride, Sozdinler, Calkins). Some pry open their broken hearts (Hosek, Kahn), others mourn the dead (Bliziniuk, Haines, Ford, Kramer). Nature, as always, provides solace—via birdsong (Rossmoor), wind (Duvey), or the singsong of trees (Myers, Duffy, Quirk)… No sorrow is eternal: consolation may be found in dreams (Baker), flights of fancy (Rossmoor), humor (Doolittle), stars (Candland), being Irish (Walter), or “folded light” (Taavoni). 

Continuing the tradition initiated by Margaret Saine, this CQ includes three translations along with original poems in Latin (Eugenius II/Hosek), Polish (Kołodziej/Trochimczyk), and Ukrainian (Blizniuk/Gerasimov). It is perhaps the flavor of the times that five poets feel compelled to hide their gender in initials (D. A., KM, V. P., W. C., and R). This reminds me of a certain belief in reincarnation: timeless souls have both feminine and masculine aspects, but become embodied to go through their lessons in the school of the Earth, one trial after another: first a victim, then the abuser, first a woman, then a man…Thus, the circle turns and the spiral ascends, propelled by wisdom and love.   

Maja Trochimczyk, Editor

Los Angeles, California

NEWSBRIEFS NO. 3, AUTUMN 2025

This summer, I had an opportunity to attend the annual convention of the National Federation of State Poetry Societies in Albuquerque, New Mexico. It was the first appearance of anyone from the California State Poetry Society in the past ten years. The CSPS laboriously pays the NFSPS annual dues of $3 per member, in exchange of lower fees for members who wish to participate in the NFSPS contests. The NFSPS Convention featured two events for State Poetry Societies’ Presidents where I gleaned some new ideas, for instance to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our great country’s by organizing a special anniversary poetry contest – that would focus on “persona” poems written in the voice of any great historical figure from the past.

        It was also interesting to hear about the many ways in which the State Poetry Societies have been managing their poetry readings and in-person meetings. This was interesting that, since becoming the CSPS President in 2019, I had learned that our Society, spread out over the great distances of California, has little to no interest in live readings, neither in person, nor via Zoom. Here, each area has a number of long-standing in-person readings organized by various local groups and there is no reason for CSPS to compete with them. Instead, our focus has always remained on the written word – the excellent California Quarterly, which continues to be enjoyed by its readers and contributors, and the colorful, art-filled Poetry Letter with featured poets, monthly contest winners, and book reviews. In particular, the CSPS Board has confirmed its lack of interest in  getting involved in “slam poetry” – improvised, live events, mostly by young, politicized, and often very aggressive poets. 

        After attending the finals of the Blackberry Peach Slam during the NFSPS Convention, I realized that the CSPS Board’s focus on the “printed word” poetry and contests is contrary to the priorities of the NFSPS and may necessitate departing from this Federation. The NFSPS brings together over 30 State Poetry Societies, publishes a quarterly Newsletter with brief reports from the states, manages a website, organizes numerous poetry contests, and creates a variety of national policies. Alas, their recently promulgated policies are quite divergent from our society’s preferences, and therefore cannot be adhered to. Thus, after seeking approval for the separation of California from NFSPS by the Board of Directors this fall, we will bring this to the vote of the membership via online ballots. Please note that the NFSPS does not group all 50 states, and the membership occasionally fluctuates, for instance the state of Wisconsin (where the NFSPS was incorporated) recently left the Federation. This necessitated changing the NFSPS Bylaws that mentioned the state of incorporation (the change was approved). 

Poets participating in the haiku death contest, where poets "fought" 

with 3 haiku each, to advance to the next stage...

       In other news, we continue to commemorate the great poet and poetry activist Deborah P Kolodji (1959-2024). The CSPS received a $10,000 Anonymous donation in her memory and we are now deliberating about the best way to honor her. Debbie was a CSPS member and served as Guest Editor of one issue – which was completely sold out. We will print additional copies, then.  Since we love books and journals, we may create a memorial anthology of poetry genres she loved – haiku, haiga, haibun, and other Eastern genres, as well as poetry of science-fiction and the fantastic. Currently, due to many CSPS members not renewing their membership on time, the Society is losing about a thousand dollars per year – due to increasing costs of printing and mailing of our journal.  So, we may need to save the bulk of the gift to ensure the future viability of our beloved CQ. 

Acrobats by Andrzej Kołodziej, oil on canvas.

        The cover of this issue is a copy of a painting by Polish-Californian painter and poet Andrzej Kołodziej  (known also as Andrew Kolo; d. 2025). The intense hues imbue the geometric landscape of “Pacific Coast Highway” with unusual vitality. In 1981, Andrzej founded KrakArt Group of Polish-born Californian painters, that have held many joint exhibitions in the U.S. and in Poland.  His own artwork frequently featured stylized puppet-like figures of acrobats, musicians, or sun-bathers on the golden beach. The “Eyes of Picasso” poem reveal his affinity with artists who transform and deform what they see into their unique, original artworks. Among Andrzej’s writings, his play The Trial of Dali was the most popular, as it was performed in Australia, Poland and at the Hollywood Fringe Festival (2019). As a promoter of poetry, Andrzej organized the Krak Poetry Group that held bilingual readings in California and Poland. As one of two surviving Krak Poetry Group’s members, I’m glad to be honoring Andrzej’s memory with  hiscolorful art and words.

Maja Trochimczyk, CSPS President

Dance by Andrzej Kołodziej