Carve Magazine – 2005

Among hundreds of saddle-stitched paper magazines, the Ithaca-based CARVE begs but one comment from this reviewer: I hope it continues its bold showcasing of unknown talent. Through the course of these three issues, CARVE has stuck to its formula, featuring as many as five poems or poem excerpts from each of five or six poets. The contributor demographics, though largely concentrated in New England, have diversified to include New Zealand and the U.K. And the poems are next to impossible to publish just about anywhere, but you’ll find them rewarding if you keep pace with them. Issue 5 includes a small biography of late British poet Ric Caddel, whose self-described style summarizes much of CARVE: “Part of the poetic process which is going on, is precisely that of jamming diverse elements together to see how they work, associating dissociated things.” In issue 6, we see how diverse such elements can be. Bill Marsh toys around with his wordplay meter on high in five excerpts from his magnetic Songs of Nanosense:

Among hundreds of saddle-stitched paper magazines, the Ithaca-based CARVE begs but one comment from this reviewer: I hope it continues its bold showcasing of unknown talent. Through the course of these three issues, CARVE has stuck to its formula, featuring as many as five poems or poem excerpts from each of five or six poets. The contributor demographics, though largely concentrated in New England, have diversified to include New Zealand and the U.K. And the poems are next to impossible to publish just about anywhere, but you’ll find them rewarding if you keep pace with them. Issue 5 includes a small biography of late British poet Ric Caddel, whose self-described style summarizes much of CARVE: “Part of the poetic process which is going on, is precisely that of jamming diverse elements together to see how they work, associating dissociated things.” In issue 6, we see how diverse such elements can be. Bill Marsh toys around with his wordplay meter on high in five excerpts from his magnetic Songs of Nanosense:

courting speeds
progressive leads

a soul
way as
always

key’s in the
ognition

Following Marsh, Clark Coolidge changes up the tempo with longer, but equally wacky, lines from “This is the man who broke the cornflake code” to “Winesaps / for deutschemarks with the snap of a spitfire,” which all somehow make maddening sense in context. CARVE has also announced plans for a series of chapbooks from past poets in its growing collection to accompany its periodic issues, a move that just might elevate it from a starting pixel to a platform for unknown and experimental writers. Bill Marsh toys around with his wordplay meter on high in five excerpts from his magnetic Songs of Nanosense:

courting speeds
progressive leads

a soul
way as
always

key’s in the
ognition

Following Marsh, Clark Coolidge changes up the tempo with longer, but equally wacky, lines from “This is the man who broke the cornflake code” to “Winesaps / for deutschemarks with the snap of a spitfire,” which all somehow make maddening sense in context. CARVE has also announced plans for a series of chapbooks from past poets in its growing collection to accompany its periodic issues, a move that just might elevate it from a starting pixel to a platform for unknown and experimental writers. [www.carvepoems.org] —Christopher Mote