Lilliput Review Issue 170

Issue #170 of Lilliput Review brings to mind the closing of summer. The poems speak of fresh cut grass, the fading away of memories, loved ones, the sense of brevity in things and people whom we consider permanent. I feel the sense of summer coming to a close and thought I would share with you the poems that struck this particular thought of mine:


Last summer’s drought,
a hillside, blackened
by a lightning strike—

battalions of green shoots
through the ash.

Hosho McCreesh, Albuquerque, NM

I love Hosho’s visual imagery in a field once thought to be brought to its end, blackened, and then springing to life anew. Though summer is over, we approach a new season and that’s what I think of for the “battalions of green shoots/through the ash.”



garter snake waiting
on the front porch –
and news, friend?

ayaz daryl nielsen, Boulder, CO

I like this poem simply because most people I know would recoil at a snake on their porch, perhaps consider it a bad omen, but Ayaz considers the little fellow a friend, and beckons me to wonder what news the little fellow might have about the land.



it’s our task
we must take on
so much
discard so much
until finally
carrying just a little home
and on the way
losing that too

John Ajac, Apopka, FL

Mr. Ajac’s poem moves me in its skeletal brevity about carrying and scattering things behind. You can place as much onto the poem as you wish for yourself such as making it a metaphor for traveling through life or take it at face value as a simple thought that might have popped into his head. Simplicity allows for greater imagination for the reader and I enjoy all the ideas that come to mind when I read his poem.



a small poem :: is not a brief life

Grant Hackett, Great Barrington, MA

Grant Hackett is a wonder at one-lined poems and of course anything I say is guaranteed to be much longer than his poem. There are many ways a reader can take this poem and I’d be interested in what Mr. Hackett hopes we take away from it. I take it to mean that any poem that moves you has more to it than the words being read, that you absorb and carry it with you for much longer than the moment you spent reading it.


This collection has many poems that let you expound on them with your own thoughts and feelings which I always enjoy doing. As always, Lilliput Review costs only a crisp (or wrinkly) $1.00 bill and you will find your envelope containing that precious little magazine chock full of interesting Lilliput Review fliers and a mini catalog of what is for sale. I always love opening the envelopes because the paper is always in vibrant colors and the poems in each issue never cease to amuse me. If you would like to discover the fun and enjoyment for yourself, go to:
http://lilliputreview.googlepages.com/home

Or visit Don Wentworth’s blog:
http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/


Thanks always for reading, please drop in for more Poems Found by Poet Hound and interesting additional links…