Poems into Ploughshares

I have another good read to share, Ploughshares. I seem to be devouring literary magazine lately, but there are so many out there! I was having car trouble this morning (ugh) so I had to catch a ride to work with my brother. This also meant that I was stuck at work an extra couple of hours, but what better place to kill time than the library! I picked Ploughshares (winter 2006-07 issue) off the periodicals display because it looked nice and thick, a good time filler. It wasn’t as fancy or flashy as some other the others I’ve read, but was stuffed full of good poetry and fiction!

It was a nicely diverse collection, nothing too out there, but a nice variety, and nearly 200 pages of material. The majority of the magazine was poetry, but there were also five or six pieces of fiction, one of which, “Safekeeping” by Janis Hallowell (if I recall it correctly) was especially captivating. It’s about a very hefty woman who is hired as a housekeeper and assistant for a famous writer, who also likes to keep things between folds of her skin (her breasts and belly fat). The character, Irene, is certainly very quirky but also quite endearing. Two of the poems I liked best were a piece by Jeffery Harrison called “Danger: Tulips” and one by Peggy Boyers, “Bitch Diary.” The latter was from the perspective of a truffle hunting dog (I think), which was amusing and the choice of the language was also good, I thought. “Danger: Tulips” caught me with its odd title, but the description of this strange abandoned-mental-hospital-and-church-in-a-meadow was very captivating and really clear. I really liked it’s juxtaposition of serene nature and this dangerous asbestos-riddled and abandoned place.

I don’t know if this lends a very good picture of the magazine, but really it’s just a solid collection of poetry and fiction, with a little something for everyone (more or less). I’ll definitely check out future issues, because I really like the variety and general accessibility of the poetry and fiction as well. Oh, what wonderful things I discover while entertaining myself!