We have asked Ed Ochester (above) to edit our Sunday poetry pages for the next few months. Here is one of Ed’s poems:
March of the Penguins
The editor of National Review urged [Young Republicans]
to see the movie because it promoted monogamy. A widely
circulated Christian magazine said it made a strong case for
intelligent design –The New York Times, 9/13/05
What the hell are they going to do now
with the libidinous bluebird, who lines up
a couple of extra girlfriends every summer,
not to mention the evil house wrens–
don¹t be fooled by their cheery little calls,
they have up to five mates at a time!
I won¹t even mention the gay rabbits
we had once, in love with one another’s ears,
etc., and even now my old friend Walter may be
declaiming how God planted dinosaur bones
to test the faith of Christians with the appearance
of evolution, thereby demonstrating once again
we are the first country to pass from barbarism
to decadence without an interlude, and as for
“intelligent design,” even Britney Spears
wouldn’t drop her eggs
at 70 below.
from UNRECONSTRUCTED: POEMS SELECTED AND NEW
(Autumn House Press, 2007)
Under Ed Ochester’s leadership, the Pitt Poetry Series has maintained a reputation for feisty independence — so much so that “the pit bull poetry series” is an inevitable pun. He writes:
>
Ed Ochester’s most recent books are UNRECONSTRUCTED: POEMS SELECTED AND NEW (Autumn House Press, 2007), THE REPUBLIC OF LIES (chapbook, Adastra Press, 2007), THE LAND OF COCKAIGNE (Story Line Press, 2001), and AMERICAN POETRY NOW (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2007), an anthology of contemporary American poetry. In addition to editing the Pitt Poetry Series, he is the general editor of the Drue Heinz Literature Prize for short fiction (University of Pittsburgh Press). From 1978 to 1998 he was director of the writing program at the University of Pittsburgh, and was twice elected president of Associated Writing Programs. He is co-editor of the poetry magazine 5 AM and is a core faculty member of the Bennington College MFA program.
from the archive; first posted January 4, 2009.
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Author: The Best American Poetry
