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Covert Press


Last Updated: 11/28/2009

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Gender: Male
Status: Single
Age: 41
Sign: Aries

City: TOLEDO
State: Ohio
Country: US
Signup Date: 9/13/2008

Blog Archive
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Saturday, June 13, 2009 
Dark

in the beginning
in the floating womb
vibrations imprint imprints
darkness wears a wet warm blanket
then light takes over
desires start taking tolls
my toys, my hungers,
my screams, my dreams
my lost loves within gloomy clouds
hangs in sorrowful tears
walks down dark pathways
leads to the pain of memories
back now bent by times demands
losses,  temporary gains, more losses
then back into a cave once again
dark our nemesis, our sadistic lover
time ticks onward always onward
towards that eternal black hole
laugh too loud, drink too much
hide pain with pills, write protest poetry
or preach too frantically
all Gods are of false light
immersed in the Sinister Demise of War
in all religious righteousness
piled high in death, earth & bone
slow feet drags in paths of illusion
of thinking we are running
standing in the same form
beware of that hole!
burn at the stake forever!
do that & you’ll go blind!
there are those with focused fears
by times demands of years passing
some, salt teary-eyed
by dread of the coming
some with cancers
dancing within mind, lung & cell
but there are those who
through weariness of head & heart
look at the last beckoning black hole
with a worn inward anticipation
whispering to themselves, “finally
finally!”

Ray's New chapbook "On The Road Again (Selected Poems)" is now available @ www.covertpress.com
 
2:10 PM 
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Tuesday, June 09, 2009 
Zach King-Smith's new chapbook is now available @ www.covertpress.com. Edited by S.A. Griffin.
Huge news @ The Holy Spectacle in Kansas City in August there will be two releases by Covert Press one by Lester Allen (aka The Postal Dude), the other Love Poems For Toledo (Version 1) by Michael D. Grover. Be there!
3:45 PM 
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Wednesday, April 29, 2009 
Introduction by Michael D. Grover
On the Poetry of Chenelle Milford
I met Chenelle a couple of weeks ago when she started replying to my blogs on myspace. We messaged each other, and I suggested she submit to the journal that I co-edit. When I got her stuff I was blown away by it. By the reality, the harshness, the no pussy footing around about it. In a world today where so much literature is so weak, safe, and watered down this was refreshing.
Since that time we have kept in touch, and I have to say it is an honor to call Chenelle a friend. Chenelle Milford found poetry the hard way, by starting in the heart of poetry San Francisco, and working her way and finding her voice where you would least suspect someone to find it, somewhere in rural Georgia.
Upon reading the entire manuscript I am more of a believer. Chenelle Milford's poetry hits hard. She is a veteran of this war that would be her life, and she is a survivor. Her tattoos and scars are like war medals. Chenelle has landed where she has, to tell her story and this is it. In a world where female poets and feminine issues so often get overlooked this is important literature.
With that said I am all about letting the words speak for themselves, and Chenelle's words definitely do. In these years of poetry I have been privileged to know the talented people that I know, and I can definitely add Chenelle to that list. This poetry is not about flowers and puppy dogs, it is not for the weak. Now with no further words of my own I leave you with Constellations and Contractures. I'm sure you will enjoy.
Michael D. Grover
4/27/09
Toledo, Ohio

2:53 PM 
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008 
It is real simple. The top three submissions from our contest in April were:
1. Christine Bruness "Alley Cat"
2. Doug Draime "L.A. Terminal Poems"
3. Karl Koweski "Industrial Strip"
All of these writers  are extremely talented and it is an honor to have them publish with us. I know Christine will continue to publish with us as we've already got a new halfbook in the works. I wish each of them the best of luck because honestly they all deserve to win.-M.D.G.
1:47 PM 
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008 
Doug Draime
Los Angeles Terminal (Poems 1971-1980)
Covert Press 2008 (www.covertpress.com)
28 pgs
Reviewed by Jack Henry


    Before reading Los Angeles Terminal (Poems 1971-1980) I couldn't pick Doug Draime out of a poet line-up to save my sorry ass.  Blame that on my lack of being a true reader of the underground press.  Doug started out in the 60s and has been a part of the underground arena since.  I had no idea what I missed out on.
    Covert Press has put out another great chapbook in Los Angeles Terminal.  It does what a good chapbook is supposed to do:  it makes you hunger for more.  Doug Draime is a true poet, one of exquisite talent, insight and observation.  He is the bridge between the last Beats, Bukowski and modern writers.  He is the poet I want to be.
    When I first read this book I got pissed off.  There are poets that challenge me, poets that make me laugh and not in a good way, and poets that make me want to shove a sharpened pencil in my eye.  Doug made me get my sharpener out.
    Twenty-seven poems with acetylene focus outline a darker image of Los Angeles.  For those that live here you already know it's a shithole, after reading this book, others will find out.  But the color and life put into each line make the visit worthwhile.

    More than a few poems stick out.

    From Steak & Eggs Special, a haunting look at the search and fear of companionship in the big city.

        a girl in a leather dress
        a stranger
        sits down across from me in a booth
   
        you havin' the special?  she asked
        yeah    i say
        i am too    she says    but adds:
        separate checks ok?
        ok     i agree

    It ends w/a kicker.

        then she takes her shoe off
        & gently puts
        a slender
        black-nyloned foot
        against my crotch

    There is certain loneliness and longing in LA that Doug captures well.
  
    From All I knew About Her…

        I knew she
        chanted at a
        box she called
        an altar,
        words in Japanese,
        she didn't
        know the
        meaning of.
        I knew she
        feared the
        darkness &
        ran from the light.
        I knew, I knew,
        the sound of
        her tears.

    There's also a great deal of insanity in Los Angeles, which might be true of most cities, but in my travels I have never seen as many crazy people as I do here in LA.
    In A Night On The Boards Doug discusses the insanity of trying to get a beer and a sandwich, how reality can explode and mix w/the lunacy of survival.

        …Someone laughed as Mary spilled a
        pitcher of beer
        on her hot new satin dress.
        oh, jesus, i thought, all this shit
        for a couple of free beers
        & a sandwich?

    The last poem is perhaps the best, in my opinion.  Los Angeles Terminal:  After A Friend's Suicide Attempt.  It's a piece that harbors a sense of despair, a sense of detachment that is so common here.
  
        …What we thought were smoke singles
        (or whatever they were) have stopped
        and now there is only the smog.

    Indeed.

    If you are a slacker asshole like me that never read Doug Draime you need to change that right now.  Go to www.covertpoetics.com and buy this book.  It is well worth your money, and it will make you appreciate truly great writing.
9:46 PM 
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Thursday, October 09, 2008 
Waiting for Magic
Wayne Mason
Covert Press
34 pgs
available at www.covertpress.com
Reviewed by Jack Henry

I've heard of Wayne Mason, but I've never read Wayne Mason.  Other than a few poems here and there, on line and elsewhere, the opportunity to sit and read a complete, however slim, is welcome.

And I wasn't disappointed.

Mason has a strong voice and sense of self within the context of his writing.  Vivid, clear and well written, each poem seemingly unfolds a different facet of the writer's persona.

Strongly based in a blue collar work ethic, Mason brings the factory workers world to life.

In "Car Poem" Mason reveals the reality of a working persons life.  

    Standing over
    massive guts
    of my car
    racing sunlight
    to get the beast running
    to haul me to work
    one more day

Mason also reveals a more subtle, delicate side about being a father.

    From "Comassionate Liar…"


    "…And, now a father
    I realize he was
    making it up as
    he went along

    Like me"

This is a very strong book from a superb Dharma writer.  

9:21 PM 
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Monday, September 15, 2008 
Breaking the Hearts of Robots
Jason "Juice" Hardung
Covert Press
34 pgs
available at www.covertpress.com
Reviewed by Jack Henry

I know Juice.
I've met Juice.
And have heard him read.

Like Wayne Mason, I've never really read Juice.

"Breaking the Hearts of Robots" is an extraordinary volume of poetry.  I have always considered Juice one of the best up and coming writers, one of those lions that's biting at an old mans tail and this chapbook does not disappoint.

To my surprise he includes three poems that I included in Heroin Love Songs.  Of course, this honest admission will make the reader think that Jack Henry is a patsy to review this.  Well fuck you too.  If I didn't like it, I'd tell you, and I think Juice would appreciate that.

But I like this volume.

Very much.

One of the key poems in this text is "Sometimes Hamsters Eat Their Young."  It is an exceptional poem, filled with a strong voice and tremendous heart.  About the reflection of a lost mother as well as a childhood lost, "Hamsters" is revealing and affects any reader.

    "…my blue eyes were crying
    but not in the rain
    in the doorway of our dream…"

    "…She said she promised.
    I had a hamster once
    that had babies
    and it chewed most of their heads off."

Amazing, stark and a damning write.

On the flip side is a reflection on fatherhood and its imprint on a child's development.

From "Nurtured Like a Cactus in a Single Man's Apartment."

    "I didn't figure out that the shower curtain goes
    on the inside of the tub
    until I lived on my own
    The floor was always wetter than me
    and I was a newborn calf
    doing splits
    every time I tried to stand on my own
    Now I just take baths"

Juice Hardung is a bright and honest writer.  After a difficult childhood and challenges with substance abuse, he has turned into a powerful voice of a new generation of writers.

I highly recommend this volume.
8:39 AM 
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Sunday, September 14, 2008 
…And Death is All Around Us
Michael Grover
Covert Press
34 pgs
available at www.covertpress.com
Review by Jack Henry

"And Death is All Around Us" is an amazing find.  

When I read Michael Grover I am never sure what to expect.  His words are often tough, angry, belligerent but always honest.  In this text, a volume of poems dedicated to his grandmother and a memorial to her recent passing, Grover has gone beyond any expectation I could have had of him.

Not only is the poetry brilliant, it also contains every aspect I look for in a good poem.  Heart.  Soul.  Vibrancy.  Compassion.  Emotion.  Affectation.  This is just a solid and complete collection of work.

From "Brushing Grandma's Hair."

    "…Later at the dinner table
    She speaks of having her hair brushed.
    My father and I
    Both say that we did it.
    We look at each other realizing we've been
    conned.
    She just smiles knowingly."

This is just a brief glimpse of how important she was both to Michael and his father.

From "A Tough Month."

    My father called me
    Crying this afternoon.
    Grandma went to the doctor,
    She is not coming back out.
    She is going to the hospice
    Where they will prepare her to pass on."

Devastating lines that only dig deeper and deeper, examining the dark spaces that only a true poet can discover.

Michael Grover is also well known for his political points of view and his fearlessness in presenting them.  I kept waiting and sure enough it hit, and in a fantastic way.  Very sly and true, like a frying pan in the face.

    "Huddle House" (Complete)

    On the way to her funeral
    Father and I stop
    At the Huddle House in rural Georgia
    We stop
    Because it was one of her
    Favorite places to eat

    The food is greasy
    And not so good
    On the way out
    On the bulletin board
    A flyer that says
    "Whites Only Party"
    In big bold black letters

This is a phenomenal work and the quotes I use truly do not do the text justice.  It's a strong, honest, emotional work, so get off your ass and buy this text.
11:32 AM 
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