In Triumph and in Death

Mueller and Penn

The dusty blooms of June

Gone so soon in a gale

I once walked through Diamond Head

After a typhoon

I arrived on the island

After the deluge

All of the blossoms were on the ground

Entire trees had fallen down, power was out

I arrived afterward but saw the residue

The evidence, what the thing did

But not the thing itself

Ideas dissipate into things

like a dream in the morning.

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Bill Gillard is a refugee from the high cost of living in his ancestral homeland of New Jersey. He lives in Appleton, teaches English at the University of Wisconsin, and considers Doctor Who in front of a roaring fire on a cold night a romantic date. So far, his wife agrees, bless her soul.

Flashing The Literary Bling

It’s never too early to start second-guessing. Even this year’s Booker Prize awardee asked out loud whether she actually deserved to win. Your brow-status is debatable, as is Darwinism, even among the intelligent (read: logical). Bigfoot’s existence — probably not much of an argument there, unless of course you’re talking about Graham Roumieu’s work. And, in the spirit of DSM’s interview with August Kleinzahler, we have a review of twenty writers and the most influential albums in their lives. – Andrew Geer

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