DROPS OF RAIN / DROPS OF WINE

I’ve written about a father’s death—it’s an impossibility. That is, one can write on a father’s death but when one does so, one is just writing out that impossibility. Nonetheless, if one is a writer, the impossible is risked and Patrick James Dunagan does so masterfully in Drops of Rain / Drops of Wine which he contextualizes as also a “eulogy” for his father. On the cover is a resonant photograph of his father Gary Lee Dunagan, in Vietnam though date and photographer are unknown:

Thank you, Patrick, for persevering. I will have more to say on this book in the forthcoming issue of Galatea Resurrects.

***

And here's the rest of my latest Relished W(h)ines update of recently imbibed books and wines.  As ever, please note that in the Publications section, if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects!  More info on that HERE. 

PUBLICATIONS

STEP BELOW: SELECTED POEMS 2000-2015 by William Allegrezza (It’s an honor to publish this book that is both lyrical and experimental.  An. Honor.)

GEORGE OPPEN: NEW COLLECTED POEMS edited by Michael Davidson with Preface by Eliot Weinberger (BUT. OF. COURSE. LinkedInPoetryRecommendation (LPR) #223) 

STAYING ALIVE, poems by Laura Sims (ravishing. LPR #226)

THE AMAZING CAGE OF LIGHT: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Martine Bellen (wonderful. LPR #225)

RADIO SILENCE, poems by Philip Schaefer and Jeff Whitney (a knockout. LPR #224)

*  DROPS OF RAIN / DROPS OF WINE, poems by by Patrick James Dunagan

ARCTIC POEMS by Vicente Huidobro, Trans. by Nathan Hoks (fabulous)

TRACES: POEMS TO PAINTINGS with poems by James Wagner and paintings by Nava Waxman (Wagner’s a really stellar poet of ekphrasis and I enjoyed his latest effort with Waxman’s deceptively powerful paintings)

XXX, poetry and needlepoint by Maria Damon (charming—I also found it quite festive!)

AFTER SWANN, poems by Marthe Reed (stellar joys)

MEDITATIONS IN A HELICOPTER ABOUT TO EXPLODE OVER A GUY COVERED IN CHUM, SURFING OFF OF SHARK BAY BEACH, poems by Jason Bredle (vigorous and pleasing energy!)

SPINE, poems by Carolyn Guinzo (lush and, impressively, starkly-writ imagery)

NIGHTS READING :: BURTON’S THOUSAND AND ONE :: , poems by Marthe Reed

A TRANSPARENT REALITY, poems by Marthe Reed

PAPER CHILDREN, poems by Mariana Marin, Trans. by Adam J. Sorkin

*  YOUR LAPIDARIUM FEELS WROUGHT, poems by Jennifer Stella

*  THE PERFORMANCE OF BECOMING HUMAN, poems by Daniel Borzutzky

LIKE THE RAINS COME: SELECTED POEMS (1987-2006), poems by Mercedes Roffe, Trans. by Janet Greenberg

*  ORLANDO by Sandra Simonds in VERSE, VOL. 32, NUMBERS 1-3

*  AFTER HISTORY by Douglas Piccinnini in VERSE, VOL. 32, NUMBERS 1-3

DARK TIMES FILLED WITH LIGHT: THE SELECTED WORK OF JUAN GELMAN, poems Trans. by Hardie St. Martin with Introduction by Paul Pines

“DARK TIMES/ FILLED WITH LIGHT,” The Café Review’s tribute to Juan Gelman, edited by Paul Pines

MORSE, MY DEAF FRIEND, poems by Croatian writer Milos Djurdjevi

SIGHTINGS: SELECTED WORKS (2000-2001) by Shin Yu Pai

*  ECLIPSE BABEL, text and drawings by Brian Lucas

*  MEDI(T)ATIONS, poems by Emma Bolden

*  THE STARS GLOW OF OUR SWEAT, poems by Francisco Aragon

*  SONGS FROM A MOUNTAIN, poems by Amanda Nadelberg

HERE AND NOW, poems by Stephen Dunn

INTENTIONS OF ALIGNED DEMARCATIONS, poems by Felino A. Soriano

MORNING OPERA, poems by Burt Schneider

THREE SHADOW INVENTIONS, poems/mixed genre by t thilleman (in manuscript)

THE STARS LOOK VERY DIFFERENT TODAY: A DAVID BOWIE TRIBUTE, curated by R.R. Hansen (sweeeeet!)

NEW POETRY FROM SPAIN, Edited and Translated by Marta Lopez-Luaces, Johnny Lorenz & Edwin M. Lamboy, featuring Juana Castro, Antonio Colinas, Jenaro Talens, Luis Alberto de Cuenca, Olvido Garcia Valdes, Diego Martinez Torron, Francisco Ruiz Noguera, Jaime Siles, Cesar Antonio Molina, Julia Otxoa, Miguel Casado, Maria Antonia Ortega, Juan Carlos Sunen, Juan Carlos Mestre, Emilio Porta Tomas Sanchez Santiago, Rodolfo Hasler, Blanca Andreu, Amalia Iglesias Serna, Jorge Riechmann, Marta Lopez Luaces, Luis Munoz, Jordi Doce, Vicente Luis Mora and Ernesto Garcia Lopez

*  DEAREST ANNIE, YOU WANTED A REPORT ON BERKSON’S CLASS: LETTERS FROM FRANCES LEFEVRE TO ANNE WALDMAN, edited by Lisa Birman

THE POETRY PROJECT  NEWSLETTER ISSUE #246, Feb./March 2016, editor Betsy Fagin

POSIT 9: A JOURNAL OF LITERATURE AND ART, editors Susan Lewis and Bernd Sauermann

DANIEL DOUKE, art monograph (Nevada Museum of Art, 2016)

NEW PAINTINGS by PAUL FENNIAK, art monograph (Forum Gallery, 2016)

CHAIM GROSS: ON WITH THE SHOW, art monograph

TWO OLD WOMEN: AN ALASKA LEGEND OF BETRAYAL, COURAGE AND SURVIVAL by Velma Wallis

ONE  MAN’S WILDERNESS: AN ALASKAN ODYSSEY by Sam Keith from the journals and photographs of Richard Proenneke

THE FINAL FRONTIERSMAN: HEIMO KORTH AND HIS FAMILY, ALONE IN ALASKA’S ARCTIC WILDERNESS, biography by James Campbell

THE ARCTIC HOMESTEAD: THE TRUE STORY OF ONE FAMILY’S SURVIVAL AND COURAGE IN THE ALASKAN WILDS by Norma Cobb and Charles W. Sasser

THE BIG TINY: A BUILT-IT-MYSELF MEMOIR by Dee Williams

WINES

2005 Mollydooker “The Boxer” shiraz

2004 Samuel’s Gorge shiraz McLaren Vale

2005 Ch. Destieux Saint-Emilion

2011 Layer Cake shiraz

M.V. Andre Clouet Brut Rose

M.V. Bollinger “Special Cuvee” Brut

1990 Philip Togni cabernet

2003 Willi Schaefer Graacher Domprobst Riesling Beerenauslese

1978 Diamond Creek Volcanic Hill NV

1991 Seavey cabernet NV

2006 Seavey merlot

1997 Seavey cabernet

2012 Seavey merlot

2012 Seavey Caravina cabernet

2012 Seavey cabernet

2013 Seavey chardonnay

2002 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet

1959 Castillo Ygay Rioja Gran Reserva

1959 Mouton Rothschild

2013 Dancing Hares

1991 Grahams port

2003 Domaine Leroy Gevrey-Chambertin Oux Combottes

1970 Ch. Latour

2012 Schrasberg Blanc de Blanc North Coast Brut

2014 Trefethen Family Fineyards dry Riesling Oak Knoll

2013 Cakebread chardonnay NV

2013 Merry Edwards pinot noir Russian River Valley

2011 Lagier Meredith syrah Mount Veeder

2013 Robert Mondavi Moscato d’Oro NV

2007 Peter Michael “Ma Belle-Fille” chardonnay Sonoma County

2005 Saxum Bone Rock

2013 Schramsberg Blanc de Blanc Brut North Coast

2013 Robert Sinskey “Abraxas” Carneros

2013 Pride Viognier Sonoma County

2013 Dutton Goldfield Pinot Noir Azaya Ranch

2011 Rocca Family Vineyards Syrah “Grigsby Vineyard”

Charles Kruz Zinfandel Port Lot XIX

2013 Blackbird Vineyards Recuerdo Torrontes (La Rioja, Argentina)

2013 Straight Line Tempranillo

2012 Jax Y3 “Taureau” NV

1997 Greenock Creek Corner Stone Grenache