Mary Kasimor's latest collection is aptly titled.  Narrative ellisions are not so much slippery as silken smooth.  Textual distilliations manifest into strings of text, but strings bearing the steel scaffolding of witty alchemy.  Arias are for readers to complete with their engagements.  Hence, "apples rose from the roses with / its special skins / gleam tooth gleam".   These poems are purrrrr-fectly pitched.  

—Eileen Tabios

“[A] backwards glance / gleans a new understanding” It is this reversal of understanding, or rather standing under the world from a vantage point differing from and at later time that Mary Kasimor reflects upon. Her poems are tight weavings of music, singing of and for the mouse in an open field, for corn flakes and her ancestors' bones. All visions, ‘calm-eyed about life and death.” Startling in its even tempo, Kasimor is a virtuoso. I urge you to read this book.

—Geoffrey Gatza

This is an astonishing book of poems from a poet who deserves your attentions.

— Clarice Waldman

 

Mary Kasimor

Why do I write poetry? Sometimes my desire to write poetry really does make me feel out of balance. It is somewhat of a self-flagellating endeavor in our commoditized culture. Poetry has always been on the fringes of most societies—and I am not sure that it is any better or worse here, in this country. But I do continue writing poetry for several reasons: I like experimenting with words—how they sound, taste, look, feel, and mean; figuring out how I interpret my world; and I suppose I see writing poetry as an “in your face” expression against the value of materialism. I see it as something that has no earthly value but is so necessary and vital to a culture. What would we do without William Carlos Williams, Emily Dickinson, Frank O'Hara, or Barbara Guest?

On a somewhat different note, Thoreau said that he was “self-educated” at Harvard. Perhaps self-education should be the goal for everyone. I have done just about everything the wrong way; my paths to education have always been somewhat chaotic, but it has always been right for me. I have an M.S. in Communications—something that seemed like a good idea at the time, but in retrospect, not such a great idea. I also have an M.A. in English from the local state university. I had a great time getting my master's in English-- reading, researching, and writing. Now that I look back at that time, there was very little pressure—I did what I wanted to do, and my thesis was a creative thesis.

I started to write poetry seriously when I was in my early 20's. After I graduated from college with an English degree, I decided to get a job as a waitress and to write poetry, without any real goal in mind. I spent my 20's writing poetry and drinking a great deal. After I had my two children, I quit writing for about ten years. I needed to have a different idea for writing poetry. I was bored with the kind of poetry that I had been writing, and I was too busy as a single parent with little time for myself. After I returned to school to get my M.A., I began to read many interesting poet, and that propelled me into writing poetry again.

I have been influenced by many poets, including Frank O'Hara, Barbara Guest, Mina Loy, William Carlos Williams, Louis Zufkowsky, Olga Broumas, Diane di Prima, Leslie Scalapino, Lorine Niedecker, Homer, Shakespeare, the Beats, and many other young and old writers. I have “trained” as a poet by reading as many other poets as I can get my hands on.

I've been published in online and print journals: Moria, BlazeVox2k3, GutCult , Lungfull!, Prosodia, Volt, Milk, Bird Dog, Coconut, Big Bridge, How2 , and am a regular contributor to Jourine Ensemble , among others. I also have a book published by BlazeVox Books, entitled A Pure Bowl of Nothing.