Last issue we accused Jones Av. of being a little too perfect for us, that is, poems lacking in dissonance. And this issue does seem meatier, less frigid perfection, and more seeping blood and guts. Jennifer Footman chimes in with a semi-glibe poem about the dead called Here’s Looking at You. First line: “They glue the eyes of the dead shut.” Not glibe enough for us. Perry Bernardo talks blood in the dish water, lose and diffusion, but it ends way before he says anything. Laura Joy Lustig offers us: “Tear open, deep into/ulcerated leftovers,/with shards flying/but nothing sticking.” So don’t get it wrong. Jones Av is a great little poetry chapbook. All we’re saying here is that there’s a lot of blood here, but it seems to be crystalizing on the ice. Is poetry dead? (by the way, OEL Press has put out its first chapbook, but we haven’t seen it here at bp yet. The Neon Hunger by Peter Bakowski. $4.)
lit chapbook / publisher: OEL Press / main creator: Paul Schwartz (editor) / $2, $8 for 4 / 88 Dagmar Ave., Toronto, ON, M4M 1W1