California Quarterly, Vol. 52, No. 2 (Summer 2026), Ed. Nicholas Skaldetvind and Maja Trochimczyk
Cover Art: “Detail, Rancho de Taos Church, New Mexico,” photograph by Margaret Randall
Table of Contents
California Quarterly, Volume 52, Number 2, Summer 2026
Autobiography of Judas — Bonnie Naradzay — 7
Address for the Wine Tasting Society of South Tyrol — Bonnie Naradzay — 8
Preferences — Charles Rafferty — 9
My Olden Days — Charles Rafferty — 10
Weather Report for Where I Want to Be — Jordan Jones — 10
Thank You Note — Diane Thiel — 11
Wayfaring — Diane Thiel — 12
Seeds of Awakening — Ambika Talwar — 12
The Paths Are Made for Walking — Tracey Zielonka — 13
H20 — Gregory Cecil — 13
Sonnet 43 — Rudolfo Carrillo — 14
We Walk on Our Own Roof — Omer Redzic — 14
Sonnet 63 — Rudolfo Carrillo — 15
Highland Hospital — Stephen Benz — 16
Seafront in Agadir — Thomas Lavelle — 17
Ghazal Variation on A Theme from Emily Dickinson — Stephen Benz — 18
We Have Each Other Now — Candace Walsh — 19
Ache in the Apiary — Dan Beachy-Quick — 20
Elemental Girl — Richard Dinges, Jr. — 21
Imbecile Prayer — Dan Beachy-Quick — 22
Suspension — Mark Belair — 23
Up and Over the Ridge — Valerie Martinez — 24
As If Heard — Deborah H. Doolittle — 25
Roy Harris: — Third Symphony— David Calonne — 26
A Sense of Urgency — Mary Katharine Tramontana — 26
Stitching in the Ditch — Deborah H. Doolittle — 27
Upcanyon — Lenya Quinn-Davidson — 27
Leaves of Grass on Your Back — Sally Anderson Boström — 28
Local Wonders — Paul Willis — 29
Cages — Carl Warmuth — 30
From After — Norman Finkelstein — 31
From After — Norman Finkelstein — 32
In Her Wake — Marisa P. Clark — 33
Unpublished — Kurt Hemmer — 34
The Occasional Poet — Anthony Caleshu — 35
Cate’s Vape and It’s Awkward — Michael Beirne — 36
Book a Day — Jeffrey L. Taylor — 36
Carmina Amori — Michael Beirne — 37
A Little Poem to Love — Michael Beirne, tr. — 37
Jetties — Matthew Mazzoni — 38
Bargaining — Susie Meserve — 39
Три Отрывка oб Аваллоне — Dimitri Psurtsev — 40
Three Excerpts About Avalon — Philip Metres, tr. — 41
Le loup tourne à la porte — Valentine Penros — 42
The Wolf Turns at the Door — Mia X. Perez, tr. — 43
A Prayer of Bioluminescence — Tani Arness — 45
Fire — Greg Gregory — 46
Tracings — Greg Gregory — 47
Blue Mists of Passing Time — William R. Ford, Jr. — 47
A Veces He Pensado Que En El Aire — Jordi Doce — 48
Sometimes I Think That Traces Marta López Luaces, tr. — 48
Passage — Matthew J. Spireng — 49
Mascarado Avanço — Waly Salomão — 50
Masked, I Advance — Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, tr. — 50
From Swing State — Jean Day — 51
Black Magic — Matthew Mazzoni — 52
When Designs Collide — Ambika Talwar — 53
I Left Those Places — Margaret Randall — 54
The Footprints You Leave — Margaret Randall — 55
Cover Art: “Detail, Rancho de Taos Church, New Mexico,” photograph by Margaret Randall
Contributors in Alphabetical Order — 56
CSPS Contest Opportunities — 56
CSPS Newsbriefs 2026, No.2 by Maja Trochimczyk — 59
Publishing Opportunities with CSPS — 61
2024 CSPS Donors, Patrons, and Membership — 62
Membership Form — 64
EDITOR’S NOTE
German philosopher Ernst Bloch suggests that “A symbolism that is in itself fermenting, incomplete, functional. […] “[to] represent the rising triumph of the organic exuberance over the crystal.” I’ve set out to present an example of poets’ vertical investigations abstracting from the muck and confusing murk a clattering of time, of place, of history, making the reader giddy with notions of the numinous, names, theories, dreams, dates, legends. A good poem rewards this kind of looking.
These poets place themselves at the center of all time in that self-perpetuating way great mythic figures have always done without border, age, limit and within a labyrinthine wonder. Fresh and clean verse, pure and naked of pretense, as the wild goat heads and unmoored light which washes the Ionian Islands’ and Albuquerque alike. The inherent lyrical structure bestowed upon these works imparts a sense of coherence and unity, steering the reader to believe this was a preconceived notion of collaboration. Seekers of light and truth go beyond. They’ve roused me from a bedazzled stupor marked by a sense of inner-defeatism characterizing the better part of the last three months as I scoured after the alchemical “what” of the submitted poems, how to articulate my rationale in selecting a poem and a translation, and then to sequence the thing. Each of these poems is its own incarnate statements of poetics in motion to “represent the rising triumph of the organic exuberance over the crystal.”
The reward is this
terrific group singing the relationship they share with the world. Certain poets have widened my eyes with their
singing: Margaret Randall, Dan Beachy-Quick, Valerie Martinez, Philip Metres,
Diane Thiel, Norman Finkelstein, Stephen Benz, and Bonnie Naradzay. Songs in
which there is the recognizable sound of a human voice inducing you to continue
reading. I will also wager that if you are like me, you turn to poetry as a
means of revealing that which pertains to yourself, for the possibility that another
poet out there will open a window for you that you didn’t before trust was
there. Faith.
My aim has been to sequence them into a
shape of communal feeling. And, as with any decent anthology, you are able to
open at random and Dame Fortune will enfold you in the language’s sheer beauty
of resonance. It has been an honor.
Nicholas Skaldetvind , Editor, CQ, Vol. 52, No. 2
Albuquerque, New Mexico
NEWSBRIEFS 2026, NO. 2, SUMMER 2026
This issue of the California Quarterly was edited by Nicholas Skaldetvind, a doctoral student at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, as shown in his choices of UNM students and faculty (Margaret Randall). With the balance tilted heavily towards the academic milieu of the Editor (17 of 59 poems were written in Albuquerque), I decided to step as Managing Editor and add fine verse sent by 11 poets through our regular submission channels (mail, Submittable, and our website): Mark Belair, Gregory Cecil, Richard Dinges, Jr., Deborah H. Doolittle, Greg Gregory, William R. Ford, Jr Matthew Mazzoni, Lenya Quinn-Davidson, Matthew J. Spireng, Ambika Talwar, and Jeffrey L. Taylor.
The 39th Annual CSPS Poetry Contest is in progress. Poems must be postmarked by June 30th, 2026. Reading fees for all entries are $3.00 per poem for CSPS members and $6.00 for non-members. There is an 80-line (two page) limit for poems and a limit of 7 poems per poet. Three main prizes include publication in the California Quarterly, a small cash prize, and a certificate. The Judge may also select six to ten Honorary Mentions. This year, the CSPS Board decided to add a special 250th Birthday Prize for the best poem celebrating the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States in 1776.
The Annual Contest Judge, Mary Langer Thompson Ed.D., is an award-winning poet and writer who currently lives in the high desert of California where she opened a public school as its principal. Born in Illinois, she also was an English teacher, adjunct professor, and California's Senior Poet Laureate (2012-13). She edited From Silence to Speech: Women of the Bible Speak Out in 2015, published Poems in Water in 2014, and wrote two children’s books, and several chapbooks.
The first issue of California Quarterly’s volume 52, edited by Konrad Tademar Wilk, was liked by poets. David Moreland wrote: “I received the copy of the Quarterly and I am very impressed with its quality. I am proud to have had my two poems selected for inclusion in your publication.” Amanda Leon messaged the editors: “thank you for accepting the poem Death and Godless Lands! I’m a huge fan of California Quarterly and I appreciate the opportunity.” The CQ cover displayed a patriotic hot-air balloon from the International Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I used my photos from that memorable event also for the Poetry Letter No. 1 of 2026 that gathered all prize-winning poems from Monthly Contests of 2025, as well as work by Featured Poet Nancy Murphy and three book reviews. The Poetry Letter was posted on our blog, with more balloon illustrations, from the Fiesta and from the archives of the Smithsonian – both garnered praise from many readers.
During the CSPS Board Meeting on
18 April 2026, the results of vote by mail by members were confirmed, approving
the CSPS cutting ties with the National Federation State Poetry Societies and
amending its Constitution and Bylaws to reflect that change. The President’s
Blog and Social Media Report noted that there were 111 posts on the blog since
the inception in 2019; with 63.9k views in past 6 months, 111k views in past 12
months; and 234,430 all-time views. The all-time audience visited from: the
U.S. (72k), Hong Kong (25.6k), China (20.2k), Brazil (14.4k), Vietnam (12.8k)
Germany (11k), Singapore (10.8k) and Israel (9.43k).
PERSONALIA
Richard Modiano, VP Communications, is the co-editor of a recently published poetry anthology commemorating the tragic fires in Pacific Palisades and Altadena (i.e. the Palisades and Eaton fires) that destroyed thousands of homes and killed 31 people—plus 409 “excess mortality” deaths according to a joint study by Boston University and the University of Helsinki. The Catching Fire: The Los Angeles Wildfires: January 5 thru February 1, 2025 (Rose of Sharon Press, 2026) was co-edited by S.A. Griffin and Richard Modiano. As John Bellamy Foster wrote, “the poems in this volume reach deep into this horrendous experience and at the same time help us rediscover our common humanity.”
Nicholas Skaldetvind continues to gather publication credits. His chapbook In the Way of Things was issued by the Fernwood Press and In Keeping with the Noisy Earth by the Bottlecap Press. His poem was accepted by Peripheries, a literary journal of the Harvard Divinity School, He is also Culture Reporter for The Daily Lobo and Graduate Teaching Assistant at The University of New Mexico.
In February 2026, Ambika Talwar was nominated Poet of the Month by Our Poetry Archive, ourpoetryarchive.blogspot.com. Her poems were published by The Wise Owl in India, by Soul Scribers in Vernal Verses, and included in a haiku anthology in Japan, Haiku for Soulmates by Gabriela Marie Milton. Her short stories appeared in World Wide Writer's Web and in Whispering Sagas edited by Lopamudra Banerjee, Amita Ray and Chaitali Sengupta. Her paintings appear in Folklok Dispatch by the Department of Folklore Studies, Gauhati, Assam, India. Congratulations!
Maja Trochimczyk,
CSPS President
ABOUT THE EDITORS
NICHOLAS SKALDETVIND, EDITOR
Nicholas Skaldetvind is an Italian-American poet and paper-maker. He holds a M.A. (2019) from Stockholm University, Department of English and Transnational Creative Writing (thesis "The Spontaneous Poetics of Jack Kerouac’s Letters from 1947-1956: Repetition, Language, and Narration.”) In 2015 he received B.A degree from Saint Louis University, Madrid, Department of Spanish Language and Literature, Department of International Studies, and Department of Ibero-American Studies. He is a recipient of numerous scholarships and grants, including Graduate ERASMUS Merit Scholarship (September 2018 – January 2019) at Bath Spa University. Department of English and Creative Writing in Bath, England; as well as scholarships at creative writing workshops at Berkeley, CA; Naropa University, Colorado and book arts and papermaking workshop at Wells College in Aurora, New York. He also was an undergraduate Exchange Student at the University of Copenhagen, Department of Political Sciences, English Literature, Spanish Literature, and Historical Linguistics (August 2012 – May 2016) and took a writing course in Danish in 2015. He currently works on his Ph.D. at the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque.
Skaldetvind's research and teaching interests include: Twentieth-century American Literature, Transnational Studies, Epistolary Poetics, Life Writing, Literature of the American West, Papermaking and Book Arts, Fibers and Shrinkage, and Paper Drying Process. He is a multilingual poet and writer: native speaker in English, with advanced knowledge of Spanish, Danish, intermediate knowledge of Swedish, Portuguese, Italian, and French. He joined the Editorial Board in September 2023.
MAJA TROCHIMCZYK, CSPS PRESIDENT & CQ MANAGIND EDITOR
Maja Trochimczyk is a Polish American poet, scholar, translator, photographer, and non-profit director born in Poland and residing in California. She studied musicology at the University of Warsaw, and sound engineering at the Chopin Academy of Music in Warsaw, leaving Poland in 1988 with two M.A. degrees. In 1994, she earned her Ph.D. in musicology from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Dr. Trochimczyk published six books of poetry (incl. Slicing the Bread, 2014; Into Light, and The Rainy Bread, 2016, and Bright Skies, 2022). She also edited five poetry anthologies: Chopin with Cherries (2010); Meditations on Divine Names (2012), Grateful Conversations (2018, co-edited with Kathi Stafford), We Are Here: Village Poets Anthology (2020, co-edited with Marlene Hitt), and Crystal Fire. Poems of Joy and Wisdom (2022). Her most recent poetry book, Paderewski Essays and Poems features 53 English-language poems about pianist, composer, statesman and philanthropist, Ignacy Jan Paderewski (1860-1941) written in 1890-2018 in England, Scotland, Ireland, Australia and the U.S. The book also presents four essays by Dr. Trochimczyk about Paderewski's changing poetic image, from an Archangel, to Poland's Savior.
Her poetry and photographs appeared in numerous journals and anthologies in English and Polish: California Quarterly, Cosmopolitan Review, Magnapoets, Quill and Parchment, Ekphrasis Journal, Edgar Allan Poet Journal, Epiphany Magazine, Lily Literary Review, Loch Raven Review, Lummox Journal, Quill and Parchment, Phantom Seed, Pirene's Fountain, poeticdiversity, Poezja Dzisiaj, Hybrydy, Pisarze.pl, The Sage Trail, The Scream Online, Spectrum and many anthologies, especially those by Haiku Study Group of Southern California. She was twice nominated for the Pushcart Prize. Dr. Trochimczyk is a recipient of PAHA's Creative Arts Prize (2016) for her two poetry books about WWII experience of civilians, Slicing the Bread, and The Rainy Bread. In 2013, she received a medal for the promotion of Polish culture abroad from Poland's Ministry of Culture and Arts, and in 2025, she was honored with the Polonia Award for 25 years of volunteering for Polish American community in California.
As a music historian, Trochimczyk published ten books of music and history research, and hundreds of articles on music, immigration, and Polish culture. She has served as President of CSPS since February 2019 and edited volumes 44:1, 45:3, 46:4, 47:2, 48:1, 49:2, 50:3 and 51:1 of the California Quarterly. She was the President of Helena Modjeska Art & Culture Club for 9.5 years (2010-2012 and 2018-2025) and a member of Polish Institute of Arts and Sciences since 1996, and American Musicological Society since 1992. She served as Board Secretary of the Polish American Historical Association (2010-2020). Since 2008, her small publishing houses, Moonrise Press, issued 38 books of music history studies and poetry by such Californian authors as Ed Rosenthal, Beverly M. Collins, Toti O'Brien, Cindy Rinne, Ella Czajkowska, Christopher Vened, and Konrad Tademar Wilk.
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