On Saturday, the February issue of Blue Unicorn arrived at our house.
Blue Unicorn: A Tri-quarterly of Poetry is a selective journal edited by Ruth G. Iodice and John Hart, based in San Raphael, California now entering its fifth decade of publication. It is organized as a non-profit, with yearly subscriptions available, as well as individual copies.
This most recent issue has a broad array of fine and interesting work. There are translations of epigrams by the Roman poet, Martial, by two different poet-translators (Brent Southgate and George Held); a translation of a poem by German poet Rainer Maria Rilke (“Woman Going Blind” translated by Donald Mace Williams); and a riff called “French Interlude: Rondeau on Themes from Aragon” by Mark J. Mitchell.)
Most of the forty-five poems included in this issue are contemporary poems in English. These poems range widely in terms of subject matter, form, and tone. You’ll find terza rima from the point of view of the species of tall grass that anchors the U.S. heartland and is under great stress from environmental factors (“Big Bluestem” by John W. Steele), a bold poem with incantatory force (“The Apple, William Tell, and Emily Dickinson” by John P. Kristofeo), and a valedictory poem saluting the lasting impact and value of one of my favorite poets, Richard Wilbur, who died this year (“A Distant Aubade: The Poems of Richard Wilbur Considered and Praised” by William A. Holt).
My own poem, “Clue,” was sparked by one of those lazy domestic moments some years back when Julia and I decided to play the classic board game, Clue. We talked over how to play the game, and then Julia asked a key question, “Yes, but who died?” So we scrutinized the printed rules and found out that the victim is always the host, Mr. Body. In the way of questions, one answered leads to a host of others, and that small moment long ago gave rise to my own poem.
Each poem in this issue of Blue Unicorn stands alone, but together they are an Ali Baba’s cave of poetic gems, and I am really happy to have my own poem in their lustrous company.
Wishing you a rare and splendid day! LESLIE
Our Piano with Needle-point Unicorn by Karla