winter 2011

Two Poems   Mike Smith
Concerning Genus Quercus   David Blomenberg
Bird in Mouth   Sarah Greenleaf
Three Poems   Nin Andrews
Two Poems  Al Young
Charlie Parker   Christopher Watkins
Missed   Marcene Gandolfo
Hunting Creek   David McAleavey
Some Invisible   Leslie Adams
The Mother Waits at the Curb   Chris Haven
Two Poems   Simon Perchik
Happiness   Carolyn Dille
Field Song   John Stanford Owen

Visuals by 
Amy MacLennan

from the ether

This issue of the DMQ Review marks the completion of my first year on the editorial board. So, it feels like an appropriate moment to go contemplative.

There are many things I like about this magazine—the fantastic art/poetry pairings, its cool online format, the relatively small number of pieces in every issue, its commitment to publishing the best work we receive, regardless of writerly reputation. Writers who know how things work at most publications would be shocked to learn how much attention and commentary every submission receives. It’s great to be part of a project that takes good poetry so seriously.

It’s no surprise, then, that two of the poems from 2010—Denise Duhamel’s “My Strip Club” and Jill McDonough’s “Dear Gaybashers”—have been selected by Kevin Young to appear in The Best American Poetry 2011. We’re thrilled with this acknowledgement of our fine poets.

Perhaps my favorite thing about DMQ poems is how much they intend a reader. Almost all of the poems we publish are narrative poems of engagement. They address a reader. They want a reader. They are generous with the reader. Often, contemporary or postmodern poetry can mock (or feel like it’s mocking) the audience. That’s never the case with our poems. This issue is an especially good example of poems that invite the reader into their world, neatly paired with the whimsical images of featured artist, Amy MacLennan.

So, we hope you enjoy your visit to DMQ. 

Invite your friends over. Take off your shoes. Stay a while. It’s some of the best poetry around.
 

Dean Rader
Associate Editor