#TBT: Chuya Nakahara, “The Moon”

With the supermoon still fresh in our minds, we bring to you Chuya Nakahara’s poem, “The Moon.”

More solitary than ever tonight, the moon
wonders at her doubting foster father.
Time hauls a silver tide away to the desert.
An old man’s earlobes flow like fireflies.

Ah, forgotten embankments of canals,
tanks, the earth resounding in my chest…
The moon pulls out a rusty silver case
and languidly smokes a cigarette.

Heels over head, seven celestial nymphs
keep dancing round about
but give no comfort

to the moon’s heart, weltering in disgrace.
O far-flung stars!
The moon awaits her executioner.

translated by Christian Nagle 

Buy this whole issue or any of our other issues here. Remember, now you can buy online!

#TBT: Ihab Hassan, In Memorium

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of contributor Ihab Hassan. His work and generosity has impacted cream city review in countless ways. Our sympathies lie with his family.

For today’s #TBT we wanted to offer the final lines of his story “Clouds” from our most recent issue, 39.1.

“In truth, whether they appeared as cumulus, stratus, cirrus, or nimbus, whether they disguised themselves as billows, contrails, or piles, the clouds dedicated all their energies to mutual annihilation. But no one, not even the poet, knew the origin of the celestial feud. Still, stories spread everywhere–cobwebbed fictions–to explain the malediction above.

At last, after shrinking to misshapen lumps, the clouds vanished. But the poet could still glimpse them at the edge of town, dust devils on an empty road, spiteful tumbleweed.”

Issue 39.1 Now Available!

Issue 39.1 (Spring/Summer 2015) is now available!

This issue features writing and art by transgender, transexual, two spirit, genderqueer, intersex and gender-non-conforming writers. These textually inventive pieces by artists such as Duriel E. Harris, Celeste Chan, Paul Tran, Megan Milks, Joy Ladin, deborah brandon, Britt Ashley, and many others play with, bend and queer forms and borders of language, the page, the body and identity.

You can order your copy today by filling out this online order form.

cream city Live!

Join us for cream city LIVE!
Thursday April 30th, 7:00-9:00 pm
Union Art Gallery, University of Wisconsin –Milwaukee
Free and Open to the Public

featuring poetry, fiction, and non-fiction readings by:
Jeffrey Allen, Duriel E. Harris, and Roberto Harrison
special guest poet: Kj Prodigy

ACCESSIBILITY INFO:

Please join us in ensuring accessibility for beloved members with chemical sensitivity and chronic illness by not bringing fragrances or scents on your clothes, hair, or skin from colognes and perfumes, scented laundry detergent, hair and body products, “natural” products, and essential oils. You can prepare in advance by not using products with fragrance, or by using fragrance free, non-toxic products.

JEFFREY ALLEN is the author of two chapbooks, bone and diamond (H_NGM_N Books 2013) and Simple Universal (Bronze Man Books 2007), and holds an MFA from Columbia College Chicago. His poems can be found in Handsome, smoking glue gun, Whiskey Island, and elsewhere. He serves as Poetry Editor for phantom limb.

DURIEL E. HARRIS is the Editor of Obsidian: Literature & Arts in the African Diaspora and cofounder of the Black Took Collective, as well as the author of Drag, Amnesiac: Poems, and Speleology (video). A recipient of grants from the Illinois Arts Council Agency, the Cave Canem Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund and post-doctoral residencies at UIC and the University of California, Santa Barbara, Harris has been featured and her work published internationally. Nominated for the Pushcart Prize, recent writing appears in Fifth Wednesday and Kweli as well as BAX (Best American Experimental Writing), The Force of What’s Possible and The &Now Awards 3. A poet, performance artist and scholar, Harris is a member of Douglas Ewart & Inventions creative music ensemble and Call & Response—a dynamic of Black women in performance. Recent appearances include feature performances at the Art Institute of Chicago, Babylon Cinema (Berlin) and off off Broadway at The Wild Project (NYC). Current projects include the sound compilation “Black Magic” and Thingification—a one-woman show. Harris is an associate professor of English at Illinois State University and teaches creative writing, literature, and poetics.

ROBERTO HARRISON is the author of the poetry collections Os (subpress, 2006), Counter Daemons (Litmus Press, 2006), bicycle (Noemi Press, 2015), culebra (Green Lantern Press, forthcoming 2015), Bridge of the World (Litmus Press, forthcoming 2017), as well as of many poetry chapbooks. With Andrew Levy he edited Crayon magazine from 1997 to 2008. He edits the Bronze Skull Press chapbook series and is also a visual artist.

KJ PRODIGY is a twenty-year-old poet who has been writing poetry since he was thirteen. He graduated from Riverside University High School in the Class of 2013. His mentors Kwabena Nixon and Muhibb Dyer fueled his passion for writing when he was in 7th grade. Local poets Mario Willis, Dasha Kelly, and his favorite Darlin Nikki Janzen are among the people that he studies. He has had thirty features and performances around Milwaukee, hosted at Marquette University, Alverno College, City Hall, and Dead Man’s Carnival, amongst other venues. His most unique performance was in Racine Correctional Institution before forty beautiful-hearted prisoners. He competed in Philadelphia’s Brave New Voices spoken word competition in summer of 2014. He is currently a teacher’s aid at Escuela Vieau, where he mentors and inspires 8th graders through poetry.

RSVP to the event on Facebook, here: https://www.facebook.com/events/1395941060724115/

cream city review is Milwaukee’s leading literary journal devoted to publishing memorable and energetic pieces that push the boundaries of literature. The name cream city refers to Milwaukee as “The Cream City,” the birthplace of the yellow-colored brick made from clay exclusively found in the Milwaukee area.