Poetry Magazines - The best collection of poetry magazines online - Simon Armitage

     Pentagram Press is run from a small town, Markesan, in Wisconsin, by Michael Tarachow. The editions are exquisite - fine productions to a degree I’ve rarely encountered (and they seem to be still improving). The editorial policy is admirably independent of literary fashion, and indeed, must be reflective of the editor’s personal tastes. As with any taste - including my own - it’s not for everyone, but the pluses far outweigh the minuses. Obviously, in the limited space I have here, I cannot go into the books in depth, but I can pick out the plums and fire off recommendations.

     First, I have three books by Tarachow himself. Self-publishing is frequently a kind of literary masturbation, but there’s nothing onanistic about this batch. Into It (1976) is a very effective book of lyrics and meditations, with many fine turns of phrase : I wear / the wind / as / talisman and structure is / functional: // the right tools / put to / use. // one season’s dry song / held on / as measure / to the next.

     In Interlude (1979) some of the simplicity and lyrical approach have been replaced by a more involved tone - but not totally. The sure touch, the deft phrasing is still there: No maps show us. / The boundaries we’ve made / move as we move. / Where we have been / takes us further on.

     In The Turning Point (1981), Tarachow shows himself in a transitional phase between the softer, more lyrical poems of the earlier books, and a more reflective, self-aware style. I don’t think he’s reached his goal yet, but the pointers are here : The point is revealed / only in context // an extension of familiar / lines that we share // more often than not at odds / with the world we make our way through.

     Turning Point is, incidentally, one of the finest book productions I’ve yet seen. It costs $4, and Interlude $3.50.

Two books by Theodore Enslin : a very prolific, and, in the end, rather predictable poet. Tailings (1978) is a sequence written on a sojourn in New Mexico. I find the poems to be rather throw-away flicks of the wrist. I think Enslin can write these by the yard, and does. Fans of his, and I am not one of them, wilt enjoy the book, which is finely produced. His other book, The Fifth Direction (1980) is, if anything, even more beautifully produced. Again, it doesn’t convince me, but, again, Enslin’s many admirers will enjoy it.

     Tom Clark’s The Master (1980) is a good story - with Clark getting the boot into the Dharma I raised consciousness racket. Shades of the Naropa Poetry wars. It has its weaknesses, but the narrative rolls on towards a denouement as good as it is expected. Anyone who enjoyed The Last Gas Station or Sylvia will find much pleasure in this too. Recommended. Costs $4.

     Lastly, Gil Ott’s Maize (1980). It’s a long poem with really absorbing graphics by Carol Emmons. To be honest I’d be happy to buy this for the graphics alone - and I mean no disrespect to the author or the poem. The poetry swings from the abstract to the concrete with a will. Ultimately the poem’s concerns are as much language and the poem itself as anything else. I can’t really quote from it, but those who find Gil Ott’s work of interest (and there is to be a long sequence by him in the next SHEARSMAN), will surely find Maize absorbing. Good value at $4.50.

Pentagram Press books can be ordered through the publisher at
Box 379, Markesan, Wisconsin 53946, USA.
or from:
Bookslinger, P0 Box 16251, 2163 Ford Parkway, St Paul, Minnesota 55116, USA.