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Saturday, December 14, 2024

unrested


NOW AVAILABLE:

Vagabond is happy to present: unrested by Gregory Pond.

 “Unrested” is a poignant collection of heartfelt poems by Gregory Pond, a Black poet whose work resonates with the raw realities of living in contemporary America. Through his lived experiences and profound reflections, Pond’s verses beautifully encapsulate the struggle and resilience of navigating a predominantly white society. Each poem is skillfully crafted, offering a compelling exploration of identity, injustice, and the ongoing quest for civil rights. A poignant line from the collection encapsulates its essence: “how is it right that I still have to fight for my civil rights just ‘cause my skin ain’t white?”

~ Mahnaz Badihian,

poet, painter, novelist

From the first poem of Gregory Pond’s masterful collection unrested, that speaks of the realities of ‘Ameri-can’t’ and 'the burn of the Ameri-rope’ – we are brought into the light of a poetry that both remembers and envisions in powerful lyric and narrative form, the heart always ascendant, always resting in the nitty gritty – ‘feeds that haven’t eaten/ beds that can't find sleep.’ Greg Pond is one of our clear-eyed visionaries in these times of lies and ‘people bamboozled and taken for a ride.’ Above all these poems speak with clear-eyed compassion of the lonely and communal struggle toward ‘a world-wide revolution,’ ‘a new humanitarianism.’ From ‘beneath a galactic blanket/ of stars and planets’ the poet is ‘weeping into/ tissues soaked wet/ with poetry.’

~ Sarah Menefee,

poet, homeless rights activist

 

Order your copy of 

unrested by Gregory Pond today  

at a special discount of only $15
 

 
 

 

Gregory Pond was born in Brooklyn, NY to Panamanian parents and moved to San Francisco in the late 1970’s.  He is author and publisher of four books of poetry: aftermoon, Blackened Blue, 4:00 a.m. (DARK) and 4:00 a.m. (LIGHT). He hosts the 3rd Saturday Poetry in Chinatown open-mic series, is a board member of Clarion Performing Arts Center and has curated and performed in several Queer Rebels productions. He is a member of the Revolutionary Poets Brigade and volunteers as facilitator of Poetically Speaking, a weekly conference-call program for seniors.

 

Tuesday, February 27, 2024

The Border Crossed Us


 

NOW AVAILABLE:

The Border Crossed Us 
(an anthology to end apartheid)

Winner of the 2016 International Latino Book Award
(Best Poetry Anthology)





We are very happy to announce that the release of The Border Crossed Us (an anthology to end apartheid).

This important collection of poetry and artwork on Immigration and Palestinian Justice 
is an incredibly powerful body of work that stands out as a strong example 
of the growing world-wide solidarity between all people for a better, more just planet.

Poetry. Latinx Studies. Native American Studies. Middle Eastern Studies. Winner of the 2016 International Latino Book Award for Best Anthology. "Required Reading" for the 2017 Latino Book Review. Includes 25 full-color illustrations. This collection combines the themes of Immigration Justice in the U.S. and Justice for Palestine.

"Here in THE BORDER CROSSED US (AN ANTHOLOGY TO END APARTHEID), poets weigh in with images, metaphors and poetic turns that teach and illustrate the dilemmas and injustices currently under-girding the immigration issue.

"In this collection, we see poems of lament and affirmation, like Dorothy Payne's: 'So with hot woman-words / and a wildfire of revenge, / I'll unbury the mothers / and cradle brown men / still hanging from limbs / to restore to the soil / a borderless nation /...'. Or Antonieta Villamil's: 'Say that I bring in my sight / the eye of the hurricane / and under my fingernails / the earth I could not dig for my dead.'

"We have odes to the Gaza Strip, to Honduras, South Texas, Colombia, South Africa, the Arab Spring, Los Angeles, Indian lands, and so much more. We have poems in Arab and Hebrew. English, Spanish and anguish. From across this country and other nations, from 'endless' borders to poems without end."—Luis J. Rodriguez, Los Angeles Poet Laureate

 


Only $25
8.5 x 8.5; full color illustrations; 220 pages

Thursday, February 1, 2024

The Storm


Now Available!

The Storm 

New poems 

by Mark Lipman

Order your copy today at a special discounted rate.

Only $15.

 

There are two words that describe Mark Lipman’s book, The Storm, — engaging and compelling. His poems are also remarkable for their insight not only into the individual’s struggle to find the answers to surviving the stress and emotional chaos of daily life, but for their calming suggestions and influences—and all while maintaining the rhythm and soul of both the poem and the poet.

 

Whether addressing THE STORM within the soul of the individual, the senseless killing of a homeless man in STICKS AND STONES, the struggle between the rich and the poor, the inanity of war in PICKING SIDES, or the never-ending conflict or perhaps choice in AN ODE TO LIFE OR DEATH, Lipman’s poetry offers a perception that not only reveals the truth but possible solutions.

 

Lipman’s poetic style is obviously drawn from his world travel and experiences interviewing different people, seeking new adventures, and gaining an intimate knowledge of wide-ranging cultures and beliefs. This has given a unique perspective to his poems. While most poetry reflects the world through the eyes of a poet, Lipman’s marked empathy encourages him to remain just barely outside each poem just enough to be both objective and passionate at the same time.

 

Yet, as Lipman points out, one must not lose sight of WHAT CANNOT BE CHANGED in which he points out that “. . . There are just things / that cannot be done / no matter how hard we try, / that we must accept as they are.”  But even then, the poet cautions “. . . the journey continues every day . . . often uphill . . .” The trail, never-ending continues . . . /  at the top of the slope . . . rest and reprieve . . . beyond the common path . . . to THE OTHER SIDE OF THE HORIZON.”

 

Generally speaking, the more a poet explores the search for the meaning of life, love and tranquility, the more the poem becomes an expression of the poet’s techniques rather than a revelation of the poets insight and emotional susceptibilities. The poem, THE OCEAN SEA, expresses both this exploration and the richness of Lipman’s techniques, but the real treasure lies in the subtle portal into the poet’s sensibilities.

 

His “perfect moment of tranquility” is none-the-less highlighted by “that no matter how distant we may be, / with love in your heart, you can never be alone.” Turns out, it’s not this “. . . speck of dust / that we all call home,” but that it’s “in moments such as these” we may “. . .find that elusive peace.”

 

The ocean, seagulls, tide coastlines are integral element of Lipman’s poetic quest for paradise, both a place and a sentiment he expresses as an undiscovered place” in “Across the Blue Horizon,” where “the soul could truly fly,” it would in a dream “that stretches on forever” and “where the ocean serenades you / and puts your mind at rest.”

 

The title poem, THE STORM,” begins with the premise that “life is not complete / if we only live on sunny days / with tranquil seas to lull / us back to sleep.”

 

We do not wait / for ideal conditions / to raise our voices / to speak of revolution / to ask permission / to live.” As the poet says, we laugh and dance and cry but look the muse “right in the eye / and let her know you do not conform.” At the point, Lipman appears to step inside his own poem to reveal that he is the master of his own fate. “I don’t run away from the rain, / for I am the storm.”

 

While much of this work is an expression of Lipman’s skill in stretching the limit of contemporary poetry, it also embraces a poet’s appreciation and love for traditional rhyme and meter, and there’s no finer example of this that as TO LOVE LIKE A POET “…Thru the Passage of Time,” artfully uses both true and slant rhymes to capture the passage of both love and time.

 

Still, Lipman does not get far away from the sea, rather it a nod to Lawrence Ferlinghetti whose own “Door to the Sea” was both a painting and an abstract expression, incorporates the sea, tidal waves, cliffs, ships, oceans and shores, a full press to an unknown horizon. This poem is an excellent lead-in to two well-written poems, AT THE EDGE OF THE WORLD and ODE TO THE ANCIENT MARINER.

 

In his Introduction to this collection, Lipman reveals the reasons for writing his reflections of and on the world as seen through his eyes, “. . . to set myself adrift and let the winds and raging waters carry me where they may.” And while his poetry is carrying him away, he remains cognizant of the indisputable truth, or in his words: ”… I’ve also come to realize that the storm is likewise an internal one, one in which I must create those calm seas within me, to find a true balance in life, to not only be active in this struggle we all fight just to stay afloat, but to use the time I’ve been given to truly make the most out of life.”

 

Of course, IF ALL ELSE FAILS . . . “. . . and there’s no greater poetry than the look of love in a woman’s eyes.” Now, that’s what I call seeing the world through the eyes of a poet.

 

Dan Speers, CitizenPoet
Poet Laureate, Haverhill, MA