Edited by William Scott Galasso
Cover Art: Cloudless Sky by Vera Campion, Collage of acrylic hand-painted paper, 11" x 8.5", 2020. From Alice Pero and Vera Campion, Beyond Birds and Answers (Elyssar Press, 2021).
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Percolation Period — Thomas Sanford Weir — 7
Memory on a Dream of the Future — Dorothy Howe Brooks — 8
When We Gather — Marilyn Robertson — 9
in creek shallows — William Scott Galasso — 9
An Impulse to Believe — Joan E. Bauer — 10
Left with the Sky — Kevin Thornburgh — 11
seven-year itch — Gregory Longenecker — 11
Birth of Venus — Doreen Beyer — 12
a white heron’s plume — Richard Matta — 13
Union Claire Watson — 13
train trestles… — Richard Matta — 13
So Little Time — Cordelia Hanemann — 14
Painting Moreno Valley — Joel Ferdon — 15
midsummer — Gregory Longenecker — 15
Desert Junk — Richard Nester — 16
Ironic Ashes — Claire J. Baker — 17
Breakthrough — Claire J. Baker — 18
Cartography of a Symphony — Ellyn Maybe —18
Air — Mark Newman — 19
The Size of It — Mark Newman — 20
‘Round Midnight — Joanne Sharp — 20
first notes — Renée Owen — 20
sheltering in place — Renée Owen — 20
The Snail Digger — Linda Kunhardt — 21
Transformations — Kath Abela Wilson — 22
Orca School — Jacqueline Schaalje 23
Hagabat, you bring — Lawdenmarc Decamora — 24
Pagoda of Pots — Paul Willis — 24
garden opening — Kath Abela Wilson — 24
Body Count — Dorothy Howe Brooks —25
Intention — Michael Sprake — 26
Here There Be Dragons — Robbie Nester — 27
Magic Time — Bibhu Padhi — 28
Valve Nutrients — Martha Webster — 29
Leave No Trace — Russell Rowland — 30
Standoff — Diane Lee Moomey — 31
indigo tinctorial — Renée Owen — 31
At a Certain Age It Seems …— Jane Hilary —32
Leavings — John Zedolik — 33
Burden — Marc Fisher — 34
Stitches — Michael Meyerhoffer — 35
Selcouth — Charles Wilkinson — 36
lifestyles of loneliness — ayaz daryl nielsen — 36
I Am Rooted in the Wind — Lonna Blodgett — 37
Taking Flight — Gary Metheny — 38
sometimes — Gregory Longenecker — 38
Men at Work — Tasha Cotter — 39
the nail he was — William Scott Galasso — 39
New Dad — Danielle Lemay — 40
first marriage — Gregory Longenecker — 40
Night Without Walls — Margaret Saine — 41
String Theory — Gloria Keeley — 42
A Late September Night… — Gabriella Miotto — 43
True Light — Dennis Ross — 44
The Well — Matthew J. Spireng — 45
my smile — Renée Owen — 45
Tatterdamelion — David Prather — 46
Hollow Bones Haiku for You — Joanell Serra — 47
Moving the Stars — Kathleen Gunton — 48
Pilgrimage — Bibhu Padhi — 49
October Trace —William Scott Galasso — 49
Geochemistry — Michael Sprake 50
Snowmelt — Marianne Karplus 51
Return — Marc Fisher 52
35th Annual Contest Winners, Comments — 53
Three Men in a Boat — Robert Spich — 56
Snow (a tanka) — Bruce Gallie —57
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in … David Anderson — 57
Contributors in Alphabetical Order — 58
CSPS Contest Opportunities — 59
CSPS Newsbriefs 2021, No. 4 — 60
Publishing Opportunities with CSPS — 64
2021 CSPS Donors, Patrons, and Membership — 65
CSPS Membership Form — 67
EDITOR’S NOTE
I’m going to start with what might appear to be an odd choice…a quote by North Carolina’s basketball coach Jim Valvano who was suffering from cancer at the time he made it. I’ve never forgotten what he said: You should do three things every day, laugh, think and cry—because that’s a “full day.”
As poets we do not merely rearrange words found in a dictionary or thesaurus and call that exercise, poetry. We engage heart, mind and spirit, hopefully expressing ourselves artistically through our shared love of language and a certain musicality. Further, we share a sense of community and a desire to be part of the natural world on a unique and beautiful planet now threatened by climate change and our own counter intuitive will to dominate the very force that gives us life.
Clearly, we live in a complex modern world admixed with light and darkness. One of the elements apparent in the work that follows is that we, in contrast to many, are aware of our own contradictions and in search of harmony. Sometimes we achieve it, sometimes we don’t, sometimes we falter, sometimes we rise. As editor, I wanted to include poems that were at once topical and of the moment, yet timeless. In doing so, I sought to achieve balance between what we must endure and the inspiration that gives us the strength to do so.
In addition, I am pleased to introduce work by poets not previously seen in the California Quarterly including Mark Newman, Ellyn Maybe, Richard and Robbie Nester, Gabriella Miotto, Jane Hilary and Mike Sprake and I hope you enjoy their work as much as I do. Further, I take full responsibility for the choices made and have no doubt other editors might choose differently, but it is that diversity that enriches poetry and makes us who we are.
Finally, it was an honor and a privilege to be given the opportunity to read such fine work. And, frankly, it was a challenging undertaking due to the number of quality poems received. To all the poets who submitted and the staff that guided me in the process, my most sincere gratitude.
William Scott Galasso, Editor
Laguna Woods, California
- 1st Prize: “Three Men in a Boat” by Robert S. Spich, Los Angeles
- 2nd Prize: “Snow” by Bruce Gallie, Rancho Cucamonga, California
- 3rd Prize: “Rub-a-Dub-Dub, Three Men in a Tub” by David Anderson, Lincoln, California
- “Winged Sandals” by Claire Scott, Oakland, CA
- “A Snake in Pajamas” by Louise Moises, Richmond, CA
- “I Don’t Know Why” by Livingston Rossmoor, Modesto, CA
- “Wish” by Susanne Wiley, Hot Springs, AR
- President, Maja Trochimczyk,
- Vice President/Communications, Richard Modiano;
- Vice President/Membership, Richard M. Deets;
- Secretary/Historian, Ambika Talwar; and
- Treasurer John Forrest Harell.
