fall 2006

Three Before the Fall   Ronda Broatch
Two poems   Barry Silesky
Two poems   Christopher Salerno
Back Burner   Sally Molini
ego  Lisa Espenmiller
Three poems   Matthew Hittinger
The Face  Ricky Garni
Ladies at the Applesauce Factory  Gary Charles Wilkens
House Built on a Hillside  Jordan Sanderson
Geopathy   Yvette Johnson
Two poems  Sarah Sloat
Ritual Cloud Line  Doug Ramspeck

Featured Poet   David Lehman

Visuals by 
Ira Joel Haber 

from the ether

On Acceptance

When a bona fide submission arrives in the mailbox at editors@dmqreview.com, it waits with others arriving until the end of the month. At that time, one month’s submissions are forwarded to the editorial staff members for a thorough reading and response. Those less-than-bona fide are returned to their contributors with the recommendation to review the online submission guidelines before resubmitting. And so begins the journey of someone’s poems, much as salmon leave the sea to make their way upstream to spawn . . .

The editors of the DMQ Review reside all over the US, from Seattle to New York, South Carolina to Indiana to California, a geographic diversity made possible by our etherized condition. Well, at least made possible through the ether of the internet and likely in spite of our variously etherized conditions. Such regional differences and exposures contribute to our editorial strength. Each sensibility helps to make our choices as diverse and interesting as possible.

I’m one of the Californians. I’m also the set of fingertips behind each issue’s From the Ether so far. You’ll be hearing from other editors in forthcoming columns, and all of us have poems that can be found in the DMQ Review Archives, each of us having published here prior to joining the editorial team. It’s my privilege this issue to introduce incoming Associate Editor, Christopher Salerno, who has just published his first book, Whirligig through Spuyten Duyvil.

Besides its regional diversity, the editorial staff represents a significant degree of writing, teaching, reading, editing, publishing, administrative, life and graduate degree experience in poetry as well as prose. In other words, they’re terrific. Each of them reads and brings significant talent to bear on every submission received. Your work is in good hands. We appreciate the privilege of being entrusted with it.

Our Fall Issue continues its collaboration with Poet’s Bookshelf, edited by Peter Davis. David Lehman is our gifted Featured Poet. We hope you take the time to enjoy both his selection of new work as well as his recommendations from Poet’s Bookshelf.

Many thanks to featured artist Ira Joel Haber from Brooklyn, New York, for his evocative images that help bring it all home.

Fall is upon us full-tilt. Daylight telescopes toward winter’s darkness bringing Dylan Thomas to mind. I misappropriate him here: “Do not go gentle into that good night./Rage, rage against the dying of the light.” And kick ass with your writing while you’re at it.

Regards,

Sally Ashton
Editor in Chief