Red Lemonade takes a different approach to publishing. Want proof, you say? The texts of our published titles are here for you to read, in their entirety. No lame limits. Really!
BLACKBIRD LEYS: Book of Poems
AN AFRICAN-AMERICAN WOMAN LOOKS BACK AT 20 YEARS OF HER LIFE IN EXILE
THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN ARTIST/WRITER GOING INTO EXILE HAS NOT CHANGED DESPITE THERE BEING A BLACK PRESIDENT. THERE ARE STILL SOME OF US WHO DON'T FEEL LIKE WE HAVE A PLACE THERE
Dear Bill,
I haven't been posting much on RL because of the stupid publishing rule that nothing can be online for it to be considered to be put in print. I am editing all of these poems and writing new ones some of which can also be found on my website www.lucienquincysenna.com. I am trying to resist posting them but sometimes it is hard, especially the political ones. How is your work getting on? I loved your piece on deQuincey. He was the father of "shame" memoirs. Lucien
I never thanked you for all your kind words of encouragement and I do edge towards "frailty" of meaning, as Speh put it, which can make it hard on readers who do not know or can only hear the words like a song. Just an aside, reading your bio, I see you are a fan of de Quincey. He's a distint relative of mine. His real name was Quincey and he is related to the Quincys of New England. My full name is Lucien Quincy Senna. Sorry to say, I inherited some of the darker sides of his personality which I have dealt with. But I love him too. Especially the fact that he had the cheek to write to Wordsworth but he finally did get a response!
Wow, related to de Quincey! That is cool, I must say. I knew the talent had to come from somewhere! Here's something I wrote to you on another page, but I'll repeat it here: I latched on to your use of colors and dyes because, (1) I like the imagery in and of itself, but also (2) I feel as though your poems convey meanings that are almost subliminal, but I'm afraid to say too much because I might reveal my own ignorance; therefore, I focus on one aspect of your work.
Speaking of deQuincey, here's something I wrote about him for the Literary Kicks website:
http://www.litkicks.com/DeQuincey
Once again thanks Bill for being such a close reader and for all your encouragement. Plus being a sleuth about my poetry. I wish other readers were like you and Marcus Speh.
Thanks Bill and Marcus for all your close reading. Down Dudley is what people in Boston used to say about going to the ghetto of Roxbury, but it could be Dudley England, wasteland of industry. Double-meaning I always try. I haven't seen any of Marcus's comments on Dudley -- for some reason they don't appear.
Oh, and, I thought I asked this question somewhere else, probably on the tail-end of one of Marcus' questions, but now I can't find it so I'll ask it here: Does Dudley refer to the town in England?
Lucien, I may be way off in the following little review. Let me know if I'm getting it wrong, ok?
I like the tactile, art-related references that stir like alchemy within many of Senna's poems. A line in "Down Dudley" says, “We take azure for granted,” meaning, if I’m not mistaken, the peaceful, blue-sky backdrop of life, even though the subjects of the poem are “owned by too many, controlled and loved too little” and “fail at all the vices we plan to overcome daily.” Azure is also the color of the flag and helmets of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. The name comes from the mineral azurite, which was ground to make a certain shade of blue oil paint.
The mention of India ink, in “EXILE”, seems to connote some bureaucratic tag on humanity, even in death.
“Global War” invokes kohl, the cosmetic worn by Egyptian queens during the Bronze Age. India's oldest caste, the Koli, mothers would apply kohl to their infants' eyes soon after birth to "strengthen the child's eyes", or to ward off the “cursed of the evil eye.”
Comments