NEW HOPE INTERNATIONAL REVIEW

An independent small press poetry review

Bottle Rockets P.O. Box 189 Wethersfield CT 06095 USA $8 [$8.50 Canada; $11 Europe or Asia] Subscriptions: 2 issues $16 [$17 Canada; $22 Europe or Asia] checks [US currency only] payable to "Stanford M. Forrester" email Bottle Rockets visit the website of Bottle Rockets Latest issue appears to be #17. Web design by This page last updated: 14th December 2007.		Bottle Rockets Vol.6 #1
		Small books of haiku and related poems often leave one wishing there were more poems on offer, but BOTTLE ROCKETS is crammed with good things: twenty-one pages of haiku, nicely spaced four to a page, three small poems in honour of the poet Cid Corman who passed away on March 12, 2004, four pages of tanka, three haibun, and nine pages containing renga. It is very good value for five dollars. Contributions to the magazine come predominantly from the States, although I recognise one or two names from New Zealand, Britain and Japan. Tony Beyer, a New Zealander, offers all the notes in the skylark's song sky blue The fine American poet Tom Painting has veterans home the old man builds a house of cards The voices are fresh and there is no room here for tired images. The joy of these small poems is in their fine-tuning, harmony and depiction of those individual moments that nevertheless have significance for most readers. Sharp niceties of nuance and detail are vividly captured by the poets — Carol Purington: Memorial Day Lincoln's words in the child's voice kirsty karkow evokes atmosphere in her tanka: kingfisher blue a flash along the shore I rest my oars musing on when last it was I had a brilliant thought Better still is the limpid imagery in Pamela A Babusci's from temple bells I attain all wisdom then, the sound of the wind a sensitive yet tough poem to interpret. The tanka are mostly written by experts in the field of tanka writing, therefore they are finely crafted and repay endless reading. Margaret Chula presents a finely wrought haibun HEXED. It's a wonderfully freed-up performance ideally suited to the haibun form, with unpredictable changes in tempo, colour and mood. This haibun is in good company with James Rohrer's IN THE COURT OF THE LAND GOD, Linda Jeannette Ward's GIG and Larry Kimmel's brief, but powerful, FROM NOW ON. Ward's impressionistic flavour makes her haibun a perfect contrast to the others. What a class work it is, too. Keep Kimmel's short piece as an encore. Together the haibun are an unsurpassable tour-de-force. Collaborative work such as renga is a favourite of mine. Enjoy these co-operative works for their liveliness and outstanding differences. ENFLEURAGE BIS by Hortensia Anderson and John E. Carley is the plum, especially Anderson's denouement after dusk heated by her pulse points moroccan jasmine With its spaced out writing style and harmonic richness, this is a winner. OVER A HIP-HOP BEAT shows maturity in its rich phrasing of bold romanticism and prickly angularity. THE GREAT PIER takes us from a barefoot walk on the pier, through politics to sars and ends in the simplicity of around the estate's gate heatwaves MOURNING DOVES is a three-page renga by Brent Partridge and Bruce Ross. This is a delightful commune with nature — one hears the mourning doves, sees the winter rainbow, feels the wild purple lilies between my legs This is a lively issue with a well-contrasted content. Everything has significance for these poets, and we become one with them and their surroundings.
		reviewer: Patricia Prime.