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Spring-May 2005
Table of Contents
Editorial - May
Poetry
Poem Reviews
Book Reviews
Interviews
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Title of Poem: Still Life with Martini
Poet: Alan Catlin (New York)
Source: Drunk and Disorderly (2003)
Rating: 4 laurels out of 5 laurels.
Poem review available in print.
Alan Catllin from New York
Title of Poem: The Ghost Road
Poet: Alan Catlin (New York)
Source: Death Angels (2004)
Rating: 4 laurels out of 5 laurels.
This poem "Ghost Road" is a poem about the Vietnam War.
It is a poem that reminds us the horrors of the Vietnam War in the early 1970s.
Human life has so become so cheap during the Vietnam War because killing is as normal as eating.
Every road that the US soldiers visited were jokingly called "highways to hell" -
"In Nam--
half in jest--
we called every
road, every path,
every where
we went
highways to hell
and........."
The poem reveals that human bodies are scattered in many roads. It is a horrible sight to see human bodies dead and scattered like litter on the roads -
"they were
once you saw
where we went
when we walked
there ending up
like human
litter not fit
for body bags,"
The poet felt like a "ghost patrol" for the dead.
"ghost patrols
for the dis-
embodied,
lost spirits
one and all."
The Vietnam War was fought between two ideologies - communism versus capitalism. It is one of the bloodiest battle in modern times.
I was still a toddler when the Vietnam War broke out during the presidency of of Richard Nixon in the late 1960's and early 1970's. I was not aware of the horrors of the Vietnam War since I was a toddler at that time. But as I grew, I was able to read the horrors of the Vietnam War in history books and movies.
The horrors of the Vietnam War is alive in this poem.
Hence, this poem is nominated Best Poem of the Year 2004 by Muses Review.
Rate the poems of Alan Catlin from 1 to 5. One is the lowest and 5 is the highest.
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by Alan Catlin (New York)
Source: Drunk And Disorderly (2003)
They think its funny
that my bar nickname
is Doctor Death.
I never killed any of
those people who dropped
dead on me, it's just
that their numbers came up
in my shift. The guy that
fell over and heart attacked
at my feet. I never even
served. Nor did I give
that Lady at the Itie
anything; I pass the cordial
cart by and she croaks
That's my fault, right?
Ernie never even touched
the martini before
he had an aneuryism
in the bathroom. He died at
my feet, thirty-three years
old. I could see that
martini I made him
shimmering on the table
long after he was gone.
losing its chill.
--------------------------
The Ghost Road
by Alan Catlin (New York)
Source: Death Angels (2004), p .2
In Nam--
half in jest--
we called every
road, every path,
every where
we went
highways to hell
and
they were
once you saw
where we went
when we walked
there ending up
like human
litter not fit
for body bags,
ghost patrols
for the dis-
embodied,
lost spirits
one and all.
Note: Death of Angels is a book of short stories with poems.
--------------------
Marlboro Man
by Alan Catlin (New York)
Source: Drunk and Disorderly (2003)
Available in print edition.
--------------------
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