By ts, on October 11th, 2011
The Hinge Literary Center has begun a wonderful project to host a weekly discussion about a single poem. At the end of the week, the writer him/herself will weigh in on the discussion. Join in on the conversation! Details below:
This morning, the Triangle’s new literary center launched The Hinge Poem–an attempt to get readers throughout the Triangle talking to each other around a single poem. We’re starting with Alan Shapiro’s fantastic “Wherever My Dead Go Whenever I’m Not Remembering Them,” which you can find here.
Throughout this week, we’re throwing the door open for everyone to talk about the poem, and then on Sunday afternoon, Alan will be online to join in the conversation and answer your questions.
By mhotham, on August 11th, 2011
By Wilmer Mills
The Plow-man homeward plods his weary Way,
And leaves the World of Darkness, and to me.
- Thomas Gray
I.
In Tennessee the first light snows will soon
Begin to fall, filling the spider webs
Like chalices of ice above the ground,
Above the garden there I’ve kept since June,
And where, tomorrow, when the daylight ebbs,
I’ll be again, inside the screen door’s sound,
Far from my family’s home.
Bed rows turned
In a tiller’s wake, sod of family plots,
They draw me here, steam in the compost heap,
Flat lands full of water, running churned
And turgid where old things erode and rot.
Continue reading Dirge for Leaving
By mhotham, on August 11th, 2011
 photograph by James R. Peters
Wilmer Mills served for two years as the Kenan Visiting Writer at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Published widely in prominent literary journals, his book of poems, Light for the Orphans, was published by Story Line Press in 2002. This interview was conducted via telephone by Zackary Vernon on February 24, 2011. The printed text of this interview has been edited by both Mills and Vernon for clarity and concision. An essay based on this interview, “Walking Down Furrows, Talking Down Lines,” appeared in the Winter/Spring 2011 print edition of the Carolina Quarterly, Volume 61, Issue 1.
Zackary Vernon: Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. I really appreciate it.
Wilmer Mills: No problem. Thank you for wanting to interview me.
ZV: Since we have not yet decided on the poems that will be published in the next issue of Carolina Quarterly, most of my questions today have more to do with your biography as well as your general philosophies on life, literature, and (my favorite topic) agriculture.
First, I’d like to just get down some basic facts. You were born in Baton Rouge in 1969, but then moved to Brazil when you were two. What exactly was your family doing in Brazil?
WM: My parents were missionaries for the Presbyterian Church, but they were specifically agricultural missionaries. They were sponsored by the Presbyterian Church as well as two other organizations, Land for the Landless and World Vision International.
ZV: Were they teaching the people of Brazil new agricultural techniques?
Continue reading An Interview with Wilmer Mills
By mhotham, on August 11th, 2011
Fall/Winter Collection 2007
By Wilmer Mills
I.
We need no further proof that “Poetry,”
The word, is meaningless when, through the mail,
It sells an adjectival quality,
A style, a mode of clothing now on sale.
These fashion models preen for us to see
The latest looks in poses that project
That “deep mystique” and how “poetically”
And perfectly their hidden bones connect.
Each section of the catalog was shot
In different picturesque and quaint locales:
A dock, a Swiss chalet, a garden plot.
Even a farm looks good around the gals.
Continue reading Poetryfashion.com
By mhotham, on August 11th, 2011
By Joe Gallagher
Someone spilled a full family-size can of Quaker Instant Oats.
They left five perfect piles on the stairs leading to the A-train at 23rd.
The can is still there, on its side, the last flakes staring out.
Here I am wondering what exactly happened,
Curious as to how sad the whole scene can make me.
Truly my mid-20s have been the worst years of my life.
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