edited by Philip Rowland
Philip Rowland, British editor of NO/ON, a journal of English-language short poems published in Tokyo, Japan, has for the seventh issue laid out for readers what one of the poems calls "a fanciful geography." In fact the poem, by Canadian poet/dramatist J.J. Steinfeld (PK 2008), wittily and succinctly brings into focus one of the themes of this issue and is here worth quoting in full:
A FANCIFUL GEOGRAPHY
A location at the intersection
where the world begins and ends
stirs and renounces itself
what a fanciful geography
a writer with a trembling philosophy
devises new routes for escaping
concocts new messages for sending
to geographers of the distracted
devising and concocting
an almost sinister way
of becoming visible
a few words for the beginning of the world
a profusion of images for its end.
NO/ON's 'fanciful geography' is navigated sometimes one-line poem at a time, such as: "peace arrives boots march on without their feet" (Ed Markowski), or "A road crosses a road another road does not." (Mark Terrill). But to call these poems 'short' hardly does justice to the fancifulness and variety the form assumes in the pages of this journal, where can be found a 'shattered sonnet,' an 'anaximandrian,' a meditation, remixes, haiku, neologisms, concrete poems, puzzle poems, and 'mamaist' poems, to name
a few. Endings and beginnings meet and converge and in between "the wars go on & on." NO/ON 7's fanciful aesthetic reminds us, among other things, that fancy does not necessarily end where the real begins: each grows out of the other, forever spawning new geographies, new landscapes, new horizons, underscored by Gloria Frym's contribution 'Please Understand' which begins: "there was no story/ no arc of triumph/ don't be disappointed/ think lyrically"
If NO/ON's 'short-form' poems continue to open horizons for readers, they also refrain from demarcating them. 'CATCH THIS BOY! breathlessly announces the title of Jonathon Greene's poem. Rowland's NO/ON 7, it would seem, calmly offers "new routes for escaping."
-- Alan Botsford
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"NO/ON: journal of the short poem (formerly NOON) usually appears twice a year. However, there will be a hiatus in publication following this issue, and work will not be considered until the next call of submissions is made. To order this issue or check availability of back issues, please contact the editor via email or at the following address: Minami Motomachi 4-49-506, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 160-0012, Japan."
(noonpress@mac.com)
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