The one about the fellow dying way up North at some fort Mickamuck or other, and the man sent to bring his body back on his sled through the frozen wilderness. This was set in the 1880’s? !890’s? Well, the man makes camp the first night up on the side of a valley, leaving the sled out all night a ways below. In the middle of the night the dogs all start to howl, and the fellow reports that he distinctly heard a man’s voice say “Mush!” or something like that. He swore it was true, and even got a witness or two (there might have been a few others who were traveling with him and the body of the unfortunate) to sign statements. Another reason Canada is a pretty darned good place to think about.

Before Tricky Dick closed the floodgates on the river of blood, Canada was the word that I often whispered to myself as I counted the days to high school graduation.

Intensity, political engagement, risk. This one I’ll read as so much more than a twitter on paper.

I’ll add Margaret Atwood’s “The Loneliness of the Military Historian” to the honor roll, but must point out that it’s prolix. It’s flash fiction stood on its ear and called a poem.

Could it be that many of the writers in this anthology attended the same MFA program?

Case in point:

What appears to be “nicely done” student exercises in creative writing:

Lorna Crozier’s vegetable series “Cucumbers,” “Carrots,” “Onions”

& Sonnet L’Abbe’s inspired foodling around with vowel sounds–”Ah,” “Oh,” and so on.

Lots of other examples.

No wonder Todd Swift–whose poems featured here appear to be the work of an average MFA candidate at the University of Iowa, looks finished by comparison.

Sorry–Couldn’t resist!