Bøger af Dying Words

Penny Ante Feud 13: Between the shadow and the soul The space in between: as thinking animals these gaps are the source of endless puzzles and our instinct to connect seemingly unrelated things and concepts: life-love-sex-death-god, the list goes on...this practice is where we as poets find answers, or at least find clues, or maybe just more questions, who really knows? In this edition of Penny Ante Feud we attempt to make an abundance of connections; in fact, if you count the number of hyphenated words or phrases in this issue it will surely astound. And if they're not actually on the page the effect is the same. There must be something to it, it's never purely unconscious, but perhaps subconscious. And as far as the work itself, each of these poems will amaze - they may take a lot out of you, you may be only able to digest small portions at a time, but you'll want to put this on your shelf of favorites and possibly refer to it as a manual for making connections whenever you feel disconnected. In any case, it's some of our strongest work yet and if nothing else gives us hope - a connection between now and the future - that we'll continue on, doing what we do, getting the word out there one poem at a time.

Penny Ante Feud Collector's Edition Issues 1-8: Reisssue of our first eight side-sticthed issues now in glorious perfect bound format. Penny Ante Feud is about the here and now, about making it count, keeping our promise that if we have something to say, we say it, before it's too late. And, by heck, being democratic in the whole thing. Long poem or short, each author has equal stake in each issue: one poem, by God, just one poem. Make it a good one.

I guess it was our inevitable fate - perhaps a redundant statement there but fitting all the same - we didn't know when but we surely knew how we'd go down - suddenly, without a lot of fanfare. This is the theme of Penny Ante Feud 17: On the way way way down, and was the image we tried to portray in this series, that of the smallness, the finiteness but nonetheless the importance of what we do, in living as well as in writing. We don't do either on a grandiose plane, otherwise we lose sight of our imperfect realities, but we do them anyway. The works included here are a great testament to that: we may conclude or at least pause, for a while, and know that it's OK, it can't be otherwise.

Appointments must be kept, especially with our fate. Whether it be what you will believe will happen - to you or to those you study - it all works out the way it was supposed to. Sometimes it's poetical, often it just stops. We understand. We're surrounded by myths, distractions, histories, suppositions, which make us all seers. Welcome to our world. Stay awhile.

Penny Ante Feud 9: Supply and Demand This issue of Penny Ante Feud is entitled "Supply and Demand." In keeping with our industrial, working-person's aesthetic we're meeting the demand of our readers with our supply of great poetry. This publication has really taken off and as a symbol of our growth and progress we have built upon our humble beginnings this new and formidable structure.

Whatever you're trying to say or however you're trying to say it, you want those within earshot to hear it and maybe even believe it. Maybe you're coming off a little preachy, for which we can't blame you. Or perhaps you're just trying to put things in the right order, for which we commend you. In any or all cases Penny Ante Feud 11 "Predication" explores quite a bit of this communicative dynamic. I mean we're all here and we've all got something to say, so let's stay awhile and hear each other out, whether they be dying words or otherwise.

This, the 10th edition of Penny Ante Feud is called "The Same Premise of Disaster." Borrowing the these words from James Douglas Morrison it is true that this is where friends we all meet, and here we are, and it's proof that we're doing something right, giving the premise of single poem offerings a shot, most people getting it from the get go, and we have, as a result, a special small press magazine; each issue may be growing steadily in size but we'll always be the small press. After all, we publish poetry, and one poem at a time mind you.

This is an easy job. You send me in your poems (one at a time) and I put them together with the others I receive and give them back to you, hopefully in a more usable form. Often I get the sense that you are writing them especially for me - or to me - like a letter you would send to a friend or one you would hope to get: a stay of execution or what have you. O, of course, the theme: The Fires of Earth. Well, in deference to "Our Fair Sister" we've all heard about the fires of that other place, but for now they're just rumors and besides, we're all still here, and although sometimes it's not pretty, it's better than the alternative. Plus, it just sounds cool, like some serial sci-fi fantasy drama. And we're still here - I know I already said that but it bears repeating. So we'll just continue to stick around then. Smoke if you got 'em.

Possibly and probably the most dire and dour issue to date, Penny Ante Feud 16 "Poor Bird" still manages to let the light shine through. When we speak of quality writing above all else, this is what we mean: to the last man and the last woman, we all come together to produce something greater than the sum of our parts. So much so you'll think that the 20 something poets in this issue got together to compare notes before applying.

An existential moment - or two or three: that's what you'll find in this issue of Penny Ante Feud. We're big and small, close and far away, right and wrong - all at the same time, wandering the cosmos and carrying our (sometimes) limited consciousness with us on that journey, a journey among the stars with the dogs and cats too, pure human spirits all of us.