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Christian Campbell reads his poem 'Iguana' at the Spaces Between Words pod-cast. LISTEN here . READ the poem and my thoughts on it at my tumblr here .

A trick vessel is a type of mechanical puzzle. It is an impossible object; a magical trick that seems to do something it should not; that should not, logically, be possible. I was fascinated by this idea and how it is a metaphor for so many processes: for art, for the imagination, for love, for memory; for history; for politics and for power. I hope the book deals with these things and that readers will find many secrets.   READ more here .

In honor of World Poetry Day we thought we'd share some of the books near the top of the pile of all the books we are currently reading. THE POLITICS by Benjamin Paloff, Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2011. "Deep within the folds of / my being I am carrying an urgent message. / I'd pay attention if I were you," the voice of 'Diptych of the Annunciation, Left Panel' implores. "People I do not know put words / in my mouth,  take my picture. And still I am not / untouched by beauty." The warning is a reflection of a way to read these poems, which pulse with a willingness to embrace ideas and philosophy in tight, clear lines that build arguments but also aim to create something as equally ephemeral: beauty. The juxtaposition of history and contemporary elements is effective. As the California Journal of Poetics remarks: "Paloff has a gift for combining the historical with the contemporary." The effect is like a lush Sofia Coppola film: fille...

Even Jesus fell victim to purple rain: water’s translucent properties sliced to bring a Canaan feast to life deep purple resurrected sane. I was always a purple people eater myself: lavender, mauve, magenta, onion, eggplant, eddoes tender, purple carotenes, currant-rich fruity wine. To think I find myself sinking in brown: muck, shifting quicksand beyond Nariva Swamp, unknown particles on the back of a shirt collar that you needed an extra hour of blue soap and scrubbing to white out. I, the gravel’s companion, amidst: earthworm-laden soil (riches for Ms. Eyston’s African roses), drab solid patterns of life before Toto and Dorothy wished away in a tornado, rust stuck to the edges of a toilet rim, negatives undeveloped collecting in boxes and boxes of cobweb memories and mental clutter, cockroaches clinging to florescent light, spider legs wrapped around invisible thread, infertile dried-up seed in my English teacher who had 55 students but no pickney of her own, workers in the f...

Photo by Eric Rose from the literary website tongues of the ocean Today is officially National Poetry Day in Trinidad and Tobago, and to celebrate, the Writers Union is holding a bash at NALIS on Abercromby Street, Port-of-Spain. All we have to say is the invitation conspicuously notes, "REFRESHMENTS WILL BE SERVED". Things start at 7pm, but you know how poets like to be fashionably late. There's supposed to be a feature address by Chalkdust (Hollis Liverpool), and performances by Willi Chen and Brother Resistance--all under the watchful eye of Paul Keens-Douglas. Anyhow, some of the finest poets of this country are featured in the ever expanding online Bahamian literary journal tongues of the ocean. Check it out here . Particular favorites include Trinidadian editor Nicholas Laughlin's ' Here is the poem '.