Poetry Roundup: Asimov's September 2010

The Now We Almost Inhabit by Roger Dutcher and Robert Frazier

The Singularity is approaching, and while that is one "Now" we almost inhabit, once it gets here, things will change so fast that anything we know will only be almost. And maybe the end implies the Singularity is like The Rapture? I don't get this one entirely but it is poetic and nicely worded and not blinding obvious, which is always nice. Best of issue.

Egg Protection by Ruth Berman

Some robins protect their eggs from Berman's fourth bad poem of the year. She muses on how she doesn't want their eggs and they don't trust her. I'm getting too sick of Berman to even get up any sarcasm at this point. Long, meaningless, non-poetic story.

Poetry Roundup: Asimov's June 2009

And Drunk the Milk of Paradise by Robert Frazier

Oblique, poetic bit about a revolution on Mars, doesn't say anything much but not awful.

Within Your Shoes by Mark Rich

When everyone is extraordinary, the normal guy is the only unique one. This one was great on the first reading, but somehow diminished on the second one. Not to say I didn't like it, but although it is a real poem, has rhythm and depth and something to say, and tells a story on top of that, it ends up being almost too trivial? That review is almost ironic, considering the content.

Split Decisions by Kendall Evans & David C. Kopaska-Merkel

Navajo spirituality meets quantum physics. Lots of toying with wave-particle duality wave-form collapse, has a nice lyrical quality, but not as original as it thinks it is. Good, not great.