p o e m s o f m a g i c a l r e a l i s m
INTRODUCTION
f r o m t h e e d i t o r
June 2006 special edition, VOYAGE TO THE VILLAGE
LEARNING MY NAME
g l o r i a v a n d o ~ k a n s a s c i t y, k a n s a s
June 2006 special edition, VOYAGE TO THE VILLAGE
PIETA
r o b e r t p e r c h a n ~ p u s a n, s o u t h k o r e a
June 2006 special edition, VOYAGE TO THE VILLAGE
MYTH OF TIME
g i l e s g o o d l a n d ~ l o n d o n, e n g l a n d
GILES GOODLAND WRITES: "My day job is as a lexicographer, so I often have to define things, usually by consulting dictionaries. But in this case I will say that I feel magi realism is 'finding the magic hidden inside reality, finding the uncanny story lurking just outside the office or on the other side of the computer."
May 2006 special edition, DOMESTICITIES
PAPER HOUSE
p a m e l a h u g h e s ~ l y n d h u r s t, n e w j e r s e y
May 2006 special edition, DOMESTICITIES
WINTER MEMORY
m a r y c l a i r e r v i n g i l d e a ~ a r l i n g t o n, v i r g i n i a
May 2006 special edition, DOMESTICITIES
TWO POEMS
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n, i l l i n o i s
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
THREE POEMS
k e l l y l e n o x a l l a n ~ p o r t l a n d, o r e g o n
KELLY LENOX ALLAN WRITES: "Magical realism is what the non-Western world calls real."
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
DRIPPING FROM THE CLOUDS LIKE HONEY
e r i c r a a n a n f i s c h m a n ~ n e w y o r k, n e w y o r k
ERIC RAANAN FISCHMAN WRITES: "Magical Realism is a bulldozer. It is a mind-expanding, boundary destroying drug. It is what allows us to remake the work around us as we see it. A bird on fire, comfortably picking at a pile of bones. It is the Queen of Spades in love, or a thin trail of blood that navigates streets and hops sidewalk curbs all the way to your kitchen. And it is ambrosia for poets! The last rule, broken. The walls of reality melting, the moon a white hole in a black, black sky. Magical Realism is the blurry line straddling symbolism and metaphor. It is the final, penultimate realization that fiction, poetry, articles, essays, scripts and letters float above the ground you stand on, held only by a piece of dental floss and a gold tooth."
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
WIND SHIFT
j a n c. s n o w ~ l a k e w o o d, o h i o
JAN C. SNOW WRITES: "Life is less than it seems and more than it appears. The greater our knowledge, the greater the realization that not everything real is tangible, nor is everything tangible real. Magical realism helps us get that."
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
SOON APRIL WILL BE HERE
j. m a r c u s w e e k l e y ~ l u b b o c k, t e x a s
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
CASSEL ROAD
s a n d r a m a d d u x - c r e e c h ~ w e l l i n g t o n, c o l o r a d o
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
GREEN MAN
m a u r e e n m c q u e r r y ~ r i c h l a n d, w a s h i n g t o n
MAUREEN MCQUERRY WRITES: "The poet and magical realism both speak of longing. Shelley (I think it was Shelley) described this longing as something 'longer ago, further away or yet about to be,' and in that sense it is evocative. It is the faint line where the ordinary and the extraordinary meet, the voice that calls you out at night, the sense of something that waits just beyond the world we know, the flickering light that beckons us into the woods and makes us long for more."
March 2006 special edition, EARTH~WORDS
UNTITLED
s i m o n p e r c h i k ~ e a s t h a m p t o n, n e w y o r k
February 2006 special edition, ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?
FROM THE NOTEBOOKS OF ANNE VERVEINE, VI
r o s a n n a w a r r e n ~ b o s t o n, m a s s a c h u s e t t s
February 2006 special edition, ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?
CONCEPTION
a m y r a t t o ~ m i s s o u l a, m o n t a n a
February 2006 special edition, ISN'T IT ROMANTIC?
HEART POSTCARD
a l l i s o n d e f r e e s e ~ p o r t l a n d, o r e g o n
December 2005 special edition, SEASON OF SPIRIT
THE STORK IN THE HEAVEN
j a c q u e l i n e o s h e r o w ~ s a l t l a k e c i t y, u t a h
JACQUELINE OSHEROW WRITES: "I never
thought of [The Stork in the Heaven] as magical, or, indeed, intended it to be so (except, of course, in the way that one wants all poems to be magical). What I attempted to describe in the poem actually happened to me and my family. Storks really did nest yearly in my cousin's chimney in Buchovina (Northeastern Rumania); I really did see storks in Avila, which were pointed out to me by an ecstatic German woman (this in
1979) who said—at least as I remember it—precisely what I quote
her as saying in the poem, and I also saw a stork fly overhead in
Israel…."
December 2005
THREE POEMS
a l l e n b r a d e n ~ l a k e w o o d, w a s h i n g t o n
December 2005
REVELATION
j o a n c r o o k s ~ b l o o m i n g t o n, i l l i n o i s
JOAN CROOKS WRITES: "For my money, magical realism may be subtle and atmospheric rather than collar-grabbing. I like artworks in which the so-called realistic and the fantastic sit comfortably side by side (like close-mouthed, lost-in-thought playmates). The fantastic/magical or sense of the supernatural can also take place by means of metaphor—or simply through a confident intrusion of the odd."
December 2005
PHANTOM LIMBS
s h i r a r i c h m a n ~ s e a t t l e, w a s h i n g t o n
December 2005
THE APPARITION
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n, i l l i n o i s
December 2005
ARE THERE ANY FBI AGENTS IN HEAVEN?
r i c h a r d p e a b o d y ~ a r l i n g t o n, v i r g i n i a
RICHARD PEABODY WRITES: "Magical Realism approximates my Acid-based understanding of how the conscious and unconscious world interact. Sensory data meshes with thoughts, memories, emotions, dreams, movies, songs, art. Dennis Potter did a great job of integrating levels upon levels in his masterpiece, The Singing Detective. I like Europeans, I like Latin Americans. I like any writer who can lift me out of myself, make me think, thrill me, and give me a wild ride that I might not have otherwise taken. Whether it's Richard Matheson or Julio Cortázar makes no difference. As long as I'm dancing, I'm fine."
December 2005
BRENDAN, HIS DAUGHTER, THE HORSES
s h e i l a n i c k e r s o n ~ b e l l i n g h a m, w a s h i n g t o n
THE 2005 POETRY CONTEST PRIZE POEM
Autumn 2005
THE BIRDMAN'S RELEASE
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n, i l l i n o i s
Autumn 2005
TWO POEMS
c o n s t a n c e v o g e l ~ g l e n v i e w, i l l i n o i s
CONSTANCE VOGEL WRITES: "As I see it, magical realism is not fantasy, but that which lies just beyond the explainable, something 'on the edge.'"
Autumn 2005
A DIVINER'S BURIAL
a n t h o n y k e l l m a n ~ a t l a n t a, g e o r g i a
Autumn 2005
PERSONAL INSURANCE
m a i r é a d b y r n e ~ p r o v i d e n c e, r h o d e i s l a n d
Autumn 2005
THE MESSENGER
c a r o l e b o r g e s ~ k n o x v i l l e, t e n n e s s e e
CAROLE BORGES WRITES: "I find the term magical realism to be very apt because beyond the sphere of this real world, the one which society (being composed mostly of rationalists) has agreed to deem real, there lays another sphere of perception informed by non-scientific principles. The word magical suggests a perspective that sees beyond the scientically proven. Magical realism allows spiritual and magical perceptions to be viewed as ordinary, a place where the two different realities overlap and interplay."
Autumn 2005
DID YOU SEE THE MOON LAST NIGHT?
c a r o l d. o' d e l l ~ j a c k s o n v i l l e, f l o r i d a
CAROL D. O'DELL WRITES: "Magical Realism is a place between places. It is where our dreams and daydreams create a landscape and we are free to ask what if? We take the best of reality then stuff it in our pocket, and take it to our imagination and offer it as a gift. Magical Realism defines us and speaks of our intelligence, our wit and our wisdom. It is both our play and our serious endeavor."
Autumn 2005
PUERTO POBRE
n a o m i a y a l a ~ w a s h i n g t o n, d. c.
SPECIAL FEATURE
Summer 2005
A DON QUIXOTE TRIBUTE
Poetry, Fiction and more
Summer 2005
SECRET OF SEVILLE
s t e f a n l o w r y ~ i n d i a l a n t i c, f l o r i d a
STEFAN LOWRY WRITES: "This theme brings a very specific image to my mind. The art of culture wrapped in words. The way a place and story can come alive. Literary magical realism is an infusion of a tangible place churning with descriptive words that can take one there. It's really an instant elixir that can lift a reader into a sweeping, almost dreamy, atmosphere about a real society on the map. The Iberian Peninsula is a landscape of so many textures of art and people, that literary magical realism thrives in its literature."
Summer 2005
IN THE DAWN
c a t h e r i n e h a m m o n d ~ t e m p e, a r i z o n a
Summer 2005
GESTO FINAL/THE LAST GESTURE
r a f a e l g u i l l e n ~ s p a i n
s a n d y m c k i n n e y ~ t r a n s l a t o r
Summer 2005
SECRET OF SEVILLE
s t e f a n l o w r y ~ i n d i a l a n t i c, f l o r i d a
STEFAN LOWRY WRITES: "This theme brings a very specific image to my mind. The art of culture wrapped in words. The way a place and story can come alive. Literary magical realism is an infusion of a tangible place churning with descriptive words that can take one there. It's really an instant elixir that can lift a reader into a sweeping, almost dreamy, atmosphere about a real society on the map. The Iberian Peninsula is a landscape of so many textures of art and people, that literary magical realism thrives in its literature."
Summer 2005
FAITH
j o h n m e d e i r o s ~ m i n n e a p o l i s, m i n n e s o t a
JOHN MEDEIROS WRITES: "Magical Realism is a literary mode that challenges us to see our world differently. In magical realism literature, the magical and the ordinary are one and the same, which is what distinguishes it from science fiction and fantasy. We are not asked to live in a different world; instead, we are asked to consider a different perspective of the world. Magical realism strives to tell a story from a perspective of one who lives in our world, but who experiences it differently than most; it asks us to stretch the imagination and consider other realities within our own limited universe."
Summer 2005
NO GAME
d o r o t h y l a u r e n c e ~ i p s w i c h, m a s s a c h u s e t t s
DOROTHY LAURENCE WRITES: "I can't define with direct language what literary magical realism means to me. I can only observe and write about the places, actions and people involved where I can feel magical realism happening. The more I hone my sensory skills and open to the unknown, the more I observe magical realism in everyday mundane situations, the more awesome life becomes for me, the more I can write literary magical realism as I perceive it."
Summer 2005
CÓRDOBA GUITAR
j a m e s m i l l e r r o b i n s o n ~ h u n t s v i l l e, a l a b a m a
Summer 2005
SEPTEMBER'S SEARCH FOR DUENDE
p a u l n e l s o n ~ a u b u r n, w a s h i n g t o n
Summer 2005
NIGHT OF THE MEIGA
m a r i a d e l o s a n g e l e s l e m u s ~ m i a m i b e a c h, f l o r i d a
THE 2004 POETRY CONTEST PRIZE POEM
Winter 2005
GYPSY MOTH
r u t h k n a f o s e t t o n ~ o r e f i e l d, p e n n s y l v a n i a
RUTH KNAFO SETTON WRITES: "A very tentative, spontaneous definition of magic realism, or why everything I write is travel fiction—or a fiction about travel: A wreath of yellow butterflies, a killer jewel, sunken stone library, ice colliding with the Old World… words are not enough, will never be enough, yet must be enough, so you return to the path of the heart awakening, using all your senses, including those of wonder and irony, and you recreate."
Winter 2005
HEPHAESTUS SURVEYS HIS HANDIWORK
s u s a n r o n e y - o ' b r i e n ~ p r i n c e t o n, m a s s a c h u s e t t s
Winter 2005
ANIMATED
l. k. l e u ~ b u f f a l o, n e w y o r k
Winter 2005
FOR NAMES
j a s o n l e e b r o w n ~ s u l l i v a n, i l l i n o i s
Winter 2005
THE NIGHT I WALK INTO TOWN
n a o m i a y a l a ~ w a s h i n g t o n d. c.
Winter 2005
"THE MOON HAS NO SHOES"
c a r i n e t o p a l ~ t o r r a n c e, c a l i f o r n i a
Winter 2005
I CAN'T FIND MY LIFEVEST AND SOMETHING IS BROKEN
a l l i s o n d e f r e e s e ~ l a w r e n c e, k a n s a s
Winter 2005
AN UNPRECEDENTED BLIZZARD
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n, i l l i n o i s
Winter 2005
AN AERIAL MEANDER
k a t h e r i n e s o n i a t ~ b l a c k s b u r g, v i r g i n i a
Autumn 2004
THE BARBER
b. h. f a i r c h i l d ~ c l a r e m o n t, c a l i f o r n i a
Autumn 2004
STONE IN A CUZCO WALL SOFTENS TO A STRANGER
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n, i l l i n o i s
MAUREEN TOLMAN FLANNERY WRITES: "Magical Realism lifts the veils between spirit and matter like a curtain to your bed-chamber, and the whole ensouled environment is invited in. The lines between that which is concrete and that which is felt/dreamed/intuited warp and waver. In this world the impossible is probable, the imaginable is commonplace, the unthinkable is upon us. In short, more like the world we are living in than the one we hear of on the news."
Autumn 2004
TWO POEMS
l o r r a i n e h e a l y ~ f r e e l a n d, w a s h i n g t o n
LORRAINE HEALY WRITES: "At any point on Earth where desire and possibility intersect belief, the air gets charged. Slanted just so. . . .So I would like to suggest the plausibility of the islands of this particular archipelago: ghostly, tall-taled, a little on the hairy side. . . . How am I certain? Born a Celt in Argentina, I have witnessed it, time and again. I have seen the angels elope."
Autumn 2004
WHAT'S SO VERY WILD IN SHE
THAT MAKES YOU SCREAM ALONG
HER HAIR?
a l l i s o n d e f r e e s e ~ l a w r e n c e, k a n s a s
ALLISON DEFREESE WRITES: Magical realism is "a fiercely lush invocation, an urgent abundance, absurdly strewn, hewn at an angle and yet, underneath it, inside it: an emotional honesty far truer than anything that masquerades for logic or is pawned as bare 'fact.' It is tangible, this 'magic' guides us home to the lost familiar reliquaries of childhoods filtered through life."
Spring-Summer 2004
TARGET PRACTICE
d o l o r e s h a y d e n ~ g u i l f o r d, c o n n e c t i c u t
DOLORES HAYDEN WRITES: "Magical realism demands close attention, leaf by leaf, sound by sound, as details build a world both familiar and sinister, everyday and complex. The possibilities for political poetry expand with every acoustical shift. 'Target Practice' is in trochaic trimeter, harsh and cawing. I tried a monorhyme on every third line to build an echo chamber around a very ordinary long-tailed crow. Those reverberations involve the multiple languages of the Caribbean, and voices cursing."
Spring-Summer 2004
THE MAN WHO FOLDS CRICKETS
j a l i n a m h y a n a ~ n o r t h e r n j a p a n / g e r m a n y
JALINA MHYANA WRITES: "Magical Realism: To peel back the edge of the earth like a skin that's grown too tight for our adult selves, a minor ripping of this world to let the fairy tales out."
Spring-Summer 2004
A FEELING OF ISLAND PROVENANCE
z y s k a n d a r a. j a i m o t ~ m a r t i n i q u e l a t i t u d e 2 3. 5 n o r t h
ZYSKANDAR A. JAIMOT WRITES: Magical realism: "The ability of the writer to make the fantastic perfectly within the realm of the day-to-day."
Spring-Summer 2004
THREE POEMS
s h e i l a n i c k e r s o n ~ b e l l i n g h a m, w a s h i n g t o n
SHEILA NICKERSON: "Magical realism gives expression to what lies just beneath the surface or just outside the field of direct sight—the invisible forces that interact with our consciousness and make us who we are. As a poet, I am always trying to discover and identify these forces and validate the mysteries inherent in the mundane."
Spring-Summer 2004
SPEAKING ISLAND
c h a r l e s f i s h m a n ~ e a s t p a t c h o g u e, n e w y o r k
CHARLES FISHMAN WRITES: "For me, the term magical realism describes written or visual art in which the dimensions of dream and memory are grounded in the physical landscape of this planet. It is precise, resonant, and highly evocative work that startles and awakens us by attending to the extraordinary ordinariness of this world."
Spring-Summer 2004
A MAN OFFERS ME
j a m e s b r a z i e l ~ c i n c i n n a t i, o h i o
JAMES BRAZIEL WRITES: "For me the term literary magical realism refers to images and expectations we declare real, what our eyes and mind perceive as real, and extending these images into another space, what an image, what an account of an event, can become if it is not bound by our limitations. Doing this allows us to escape our mind’s rules and boundaries, to see possibilities, and to have fun, to enjoy, to witness the joy of myth. It is a transforming experience."
Spring-Summer 2004
CONNECTIONS
p h i l l i s g e r s h a t o r ~ s t. t h o m a s, v i r g i n i s l a n d s
PHILLIS GERSHATOR WRITES: "Though I may write tall tales, fairy tales and folk tales, I consider myself a realist and my work accessible and plain speaking. I like to stick to facts, but facts are often so strange, shifting, unreliable, unbelievable, they can end up in another realm altogether—heightened, super-real and fantastic. ... I think of magic realism as ordinary, logical narrative that leaps into the extraordinary and unexplainable, into the worlds of myth and dream, and conversely, realistic magic becomes earthy, conforming to fact."
Winter 2004
A LANDSCAPE WITH CRUTCHES
c h a r l e s s i m i c ~ d u r h a m , n e w h a m p s h i r e
Winter 2004
WHEN YOU GO AWAY
g u i l l e r m o c a s t r o ~ n e w y o r k , n e w y o r k
GUILLERMO CASTRO WRITES: "Magical realism is a jolly pirate, a better dressed Santa Claus of the seas with the one good eye trained on the exhilarating waters ahead, and the other turned to the eternal blindness under the patch because, he insists, entire constellations are trapped there."
Winter 2004
SONG
b r i g i t p e g e e n k e l l y ~ u r b a n a - c h a m p a i g n , i l l i n o i s
June 2002
TWO POEMS
c a t h e r i n e h a m m o n d ~ t e m p e , a r i z o n a
CATHERINE HAMMOND WRITES: "For me, Magical Realism exists in the crevice of paradox, somehow caught between. It explores the
unspoken, that which is not discussable because of some taboo or prohibition that may be social,
political, or gender-based. For me, there is always danger, along with faith in the impossible."
June 2002
OCTOBER
m a r j o r i e r o m m e l ~ a u b u r n , w a s h i n g t o n
MARJORIE ROMMEL WRITES: "I'm not exactly sure what magical realism is—feet showing under the curtain of things as they "really" are, I guess—but this poem might be on one edge ... ."
June 2002
THREE POEMS
s i m o n p e r c h i k ~ e a s t h a m p t o n , n e w y o r k
SIMON PERCHIK WRITES: "Whoever reads my work will early on
recognize that it comes from
a source
intended to compliment the real world. There is nothing surrealistic in
my
poems. But poetry, to be effective, needs more than a restatement of
reality; it needs magic. And it is that magic, the illusion that gives
the
work whatever power it has. It is that power that distinguished poetry
from
prose. Readers interested in a more detailed exposition on magical
realism
are invited to visit www.geocities.com/simonthepoet and click on the
essay
entitled Magic, Illusion and Other Realities."
June 2002
THREE POEMS
k e l l i r u s s e l l a g o d o n ~ m a r g i n
KELLI RUSSELL AGODON WRITES: "I think the best Magical Realism poems take an idea or image and bring it that one step further, suspending a reader's disbelief—staying in our world, but stretching the poem into another dimension."
May 2002
HORSE
v i r g i l s u á r e z ~ t a l l a h a s s e e , f l o r i d a
VIRGIL SUÁREZ WRITES: "
Magical Realism is alive and well in the United States. As our culture
becomes more and more fragmented and disjointed, there will be lots of
strange and awe-inspiring events that will take place. What has been
happening in Latin America all these years will now start to happen here.
There have been sightings of Christ's face appearing on the side of
houses, or on tortillas. The Virgin has been seen in Vegas, on playing
chips. The world is a strange, fascinating place. As different
cultures settle in North America, we will have a wealth of our own
examples of Magical Realism."
May 2002
TWO POEMS
k a t h e r i n e g r a c e b o n d ~ d u v a l l , w a s h i n g t o n
KATHERINE GRACE BOND WRITES: "Magical realism is where the recognized world tilts so subtly at first that it goes unrecognized until one finds oneself in a transformed environment and realizes she has been there for quite some time."
April 2002
TOILETS ARE COUGHING
j i m b e r t o l i n o ~ b e l l i n g h a m , w a s h i n g t o n
April 2002
TWO POEMS
j i m b e r t o l i n o & a n i t a k. b o y l e ~ b e l l i n g h a m , w a s h i n g t o n
April 2002
TWO POEMS
m i c h a e l h e t t i c h ~ m i a m i s h o r e s , f l o r i d a
MICHAEL HETTICH WRITES:
A QUICK DEFINITION OF MAGICAL REALISMMagical realism attends to life,
with its seamless convocation of dream and need
yearning and fact, more adequately
than any other approach, I think,precisely because it recognizes all
the various facets of our (and the world's)
selves. Our voices and memories and half-heard
stories walk out into the world and backto tell us in their own language
what mysteries they found.
April 2002
TWO POEMS
d a v i d t h o r n b r u g h ~ s e a t t l e , w a s h i n g t o n
February 2002
SEPTEMBER SENTENCE
k a t h e r i n e s o n i a t ~ b l a c k s b u r g , v i r g i n i a
KATHERINE SONIAT WRITES: "Magical realism heightens elements of actual experience and juxtaposes them with the quickly moving, associative ease of the dream world. This canny ability to subsume reality, yet amplify strange connections creates the magic, for me. In many ways, this subgenre seems to float closer to the ordinary than surrealism does. Perhaps magical realism is similar to a gauze drape thrown over an object that is suddenly tugged at just when the reader
thinks focus is imminent."
February 2002
EMBERS OF THE DAY
c h r i s t i n a h ut c h i n s ~ a l b a n y , c a l i f o r n i a
CHRISTINA HUTCHINS WRITES: "Magical realism: Literature which builds its felt effects on images or
narratives through which the ordinary resonates with the extraordinary,
the boundaries of imagined, comprehended, and perceived reality blur, and
the realm of possibility expands."
February 2002
BLOOM AND THORN
m a r y v i c t o r i a d o m b r o w s k i ~ b a i n b r i d g e , i s l a n d , w a s h i n g t o n
MARY VICTORIA DOMBROWSKI WRITES: "Magic realism is a style in literature in which magical and fantastic events are interwoven with a seemingly realistic narrative. This is the stuff of fairy tales and also the work of Gabriel García Márquez, who began the genre, and what I arrived at in 'Bloom and Thorn.' "
February 2002
THE FIST
a n n e s e l d e n ~ m e c h a n i c s b u r g , p e n n s y l v a n i a
November/December 2001
THREE POEMS
m a u r e e n t o l m a n f l a n n e r y ~ e v a n s t o n , i l l i n o i s
November/December 2001
THE CLAY RESISTS
m a r i a n m c d o n a l d ~ b a i n b r i d g e i s l a n d , w a s h i n g t o n
MARIAN MCDONALD WRITES: "Perhaps Magical Realism calls for a perfectly ordinary story line, but with a whiff of legerdemain, usually by giving one or more characters supernatural powers. ... There are other types of literature that can be defined the same way. A tall tale like Paul Bunyan comes to mind. A fantasy, on the other hand, features wizardry in plot, setting and characters—a veritable feast of enchantment. And why are we so besotted by people and things magical? Are we longing for the occult to solve our problems, or do we remember a time before time when we were magic?"
October 2001
THE VIRGIN OF LAST RESORT
k a t h r y n k u l p a ~ m i d d l e t o w n , r h o d e i s l a n d
KATHRYN KULPA WRITES: "For me, magical realism is any story
that seems to tell us a secret
truth -- something, however fantastic, that we know and
recognize as true, the way we know things in dreams.
Stories, too, that seem to have at their core some
impenetrable mystery, so that on reading the last page we
want to go back to the first, to find it out...this mystery
co-exists with and does not contradict the story's truth."
October 2001
21 COWS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING
m a r j o r i e m a d d o x ~ w i l l i a m s p o r t , p e n n s y l v a n i a
MARJORIE MADDOX offers this definition of magical realism:
MAGICAL REALISMA light-of-hand trick of words,
magic turned inside-out:
the mundane cloak of here-and-now
thrown casually over
unbelief, then
Abracadabra, the mesmerizing
mystical is
here, is
now,
as real
as any Shakespearean
midsummer switcheroo.
October 2001
RESURRECTION OF THE QUEEN, DROWNED AT SEA
m a t t s c h u m a c h e r ~ p l e a s a n t v a l l e y , i o w a
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