Poetry Roundup: Asimov's August 2010

Cultural Boundaries by F.J. Bergmann

Visitors to a small alien world are amazed by how fast learning they are. And then they all die of contamination as we leave. This ground has been covered a million times, and in better poetics. A tad amusing, but nothing special.

A Wrong Turn by Elizabeth Penrose

Folded infinities don't make good glove-compartment maps. Neatly written and not obvious. Amusing.

The Great Peeloff by Qadira P. Garger

Best of the issue. Double meaning, neat poem, well written. Not a ton of depth, but there is something, and this one is fun without being obvious.

Poetry Roundup: Asimov's December 2010

Xenoaesthetics by F.J. Bergmann

Nice language, a touch of amusing imagery, but I'm not sure I can get behind the concept. A species who doesn't use adjectives or appreciate beauty is not just secretly desperate for it. Stop anthropomorphizing very alien aliens!

Sailor by Mark Rich

Very nice rhythm and wordplay about a solar-sail ship leaving Earth behind.

Blueprint For a Domed City by Jessica Taylor

A beautiful, safe, organized domed city is pretty awful in the grand scheme. Much like the turns-of-phrase in this poem.

Mark Rich is the clear standout this issue, nailing both language and concept. Bergmann has the language only, and Taylor murders even that. But I'm still not sure Sailor is good enough for any awards.

Poetry Roundup: Asimov's August 2009

The top 5 poems of the year are split between this issue, and October/November's.

Chicken From Minsk by Karin L. Frank

Poor little chickens aren't dinosaurs anymore.

Kind of funny, awkward wording in places, actually rhymes. Not bad.

Osteometry by Erin Hoffman

Another poem in remembrance of dinosaurs.

Spacing is a bit distracting, interesting thoughts on extinction, but ultimately forgettable, like our civilization is implied to be.

Doing Splits by Ruth Berman

Pithy variations on "split"-containing idioms.

A bit disjointed, but I like it.

And My Sinuses Are Killing Me by Tina Connolly

Not everyone wants to turn our cities back into forests.

Good flow, good idea, unique sentiment, best of issue.

The editor really screwed up here, DC (as in the city) is distractingly typo'd as KC.

Human Resources by F.J. Bergmann

Well done surreal imagery, funny yet meaningful ending. Second best.

After reading everything, and rereading, I think And My Sinuses Are Killing Me & Human Resources are the second and third best poems of the year.

Poetry Roundup: Asimov's July 2009

For Sale: One Moonbase, Never Used by Esther M. Friesner

Would be interesting to see in the Classifieds, in Asimov's not so much. Generic.

Exobiology II by F.J. Bergmann

Just a bunch of sentences with

semi-random line breaks.

Seriously I'm not getting any sense of rhythm

here. And the title is just as irrelevant as

the very similar one on story immediately following.

Makes you think, because it doesn't tell a story

that makes a whole lot of sense.