Rattle Rocks!

Well, I just did something that I don't think I've ever done before: I read a literary magazine from cover to cover. The magazine in question was the Winter 2009 issue of Rattle. What a great collection of poems. The editors at Rattle do so much well. Nine times out of ten their selection of poetry is well chosen. (keep in mind that I think most poetry magazines come closer to five times out of ten -- if not less). Plus, Rattle always has these great tribute sections in the magazine. In the issue I read they had a tribute to poets who work in the sonnet form. Truthfully, I thought I was going to hate the sonnets, but I actually enjoyed reading them. The tribute included an excellent foreword -- an essay by T.S. Davis and his love affair with the sonnet. The issue is worth purchasing for that essay alone. In addition to the poems, Rattle also includes excellent essays with noteworthy poets. In this issue, the poets were Alice Fulton and Molly Peacock. Alan Fox, the interviewer, does a great job with his questions, resulting in interviews that are revealing and engaging. After I was done reading the issue, I was excited to write some poetry . . . all of that great poetry, those inspiring interviews . . . well, it just had me believing that maybe poetry does matter.

If you're interested in poetry and you're not subscribing to Rattle, I'd say you're missing a significant artifact in the contemporary poetry scene (I hate that word, but I'm too lazy to look up another).

Disclaimer: It's true that I've been a semi-frequent flier in the pages of Rattle, but I'm not writing this as a past contributor who hopes to get in again. I'm writing this as a recent subscriber . . . and one who wonders why he didn't start a subscription earlier.

Check out Rattle.