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The narrator is 3rd person omniscient. Bell, Book and Candle adds a whiff of spells, witchcraft, and romance from the recent and remote past. It means for Arlene to close her book and quench the candle to avoid the fire. Or make a spell to do the same. The Bible quote is used to introduce the candle, bell jar (candlestick) and box (bushel) and to set the stage for more Biblical references later. The fiery furnace reference is from the Bible and from Barton Fink 1991, a film she often mentioned. Bell is from the fire truck. The fire department is how we deal with Nebuchadnezzar's fiery furnace in the modern world. Bell, Book and Candle is the medieval spell to excommunicate Christians. It is used by modern witches to cast spells as in the Bell, Book and Candle play and film. Old and new language is mixed. The florid and formal with low register and the intimate. The formal language creates absurdity in a new colloquial setting of mistakes and an ambivalence toward Arlene. 'Lady...

Woman who lived, died a recluse will be mourned. By Bill McClellan ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH Sunday, Jan. 07 2007 "She is wearing rags and feathers from Salvation Army counters, and the sun pours down like honey on our lady of the harbor." — Leonard Cohen from "Suzanne" Most of Betty Wynn's bed was covered with trash, but there was a little corner in which she could lie down. That was all she needed. She was not concerned about the things that concern most people. On the day after Christmas, her brother, Sam Lachterman, got up first. He is 85 years old, six years younger than his sister. He has long white hair, an unkempt white beard. He has a doctorate in mathematics, and he never married. He has lived with his sister most of his life. He was in the kitchen when he heard her call out from the room that had once been a dining room. She was on the floor, which was, as always, hidden under mounds of trash. He almost stepped on her. Then she rolled over on her s...

The first stanza is really nice and a very solid image. In the second stanza, the images move quickly and become more personal. On the third stanza, the details about Arlene seem to center the poem and where it the poet is at his most confident. Some symbolism is presented to the reader, and life and death seem to be the likely code to decipher. It seems to parallel with the ‘The second Child/He's the reason’. Whatever the case, I feel a balance is trying to be played, between a personal observation and deeper philosophical insight. To thread these concepts together can be difficult I give credit to the poet for trying his hand at such a difficult endeavor.  —Kent Walker, my writing coach a. R ichard upon hearing of her death, suggested that Arlene was ‘a flame of exuberance’. A rlene’s voice struck some listeners as ‘unattractive’ or ‘pushy'.  So full of life, s he would burst out of her  skin. A force of nature, she had a joy in her, a love of life with the confiden...

Lysistrata ("Army Disbander") is a Greek comedy by Aristophanes, first performed in Athens in 411 BC. Spunky Lysistrata is on a mission to end the war between Athens and Sparta with a sex strike by the women.   Beta—2 nd letter in the Greek alphabet. A young woman. Her girls ’ night out could play a part in a modern rendition of the play. She'll be soon back in the saddle enjoying it more, having made the point. Person Two—a young woman Thing—a dildo Up your butt—an expression or metaphor. Miletus—a Greek trading post on the western coast of what is now Turkey, known for dildos. Rock—the Acropolis in Athens,  a religious and civic center . W omen were generally not allowed there , but  they had  temporary access to specific parts of the  Acropolis  during certain festivals or religious ceremonies . Bazooms—they’ll crash the Rock by showing their tits. There is some precedence.  Phryne was an ancient Greek courtesan active in Athens,...

WHY I LIKE IT: Poetry editor Hezekiah writes… Pythia is a short, epic, poetic quest for two, not to be missed. Charles Jacobson is promethean in this intimate, imagistic, incidental encounter-conquest. Who’s the muse who writes his stuff?—I goda get in touch. “…to sink into unguent warmth” “ I took her scent and felt her breath.” And maybe the best line, “An arabesque veil of smoke drifted into cloudy gray-green eyes.” I was riveted by his words and the amplitude of the scene as it transcends to the divine and lapses back to the banal.(Spacing and font size are poet’s own) HS Senior editor Charles writes: What you are about to read is consummate poetry by a consummate literary artist. Just as mesmerizing as ‘Pythia’ are the author’s extensive notes and footnotes. Once settled on the page,, he is both sculptor and archeologist. Exquisite word choice and rarefied technique put this poem in a class by itself. Five stars.   Pythia...