Something to Declare

The newest issue of Say . . . will be available shortly--at the end of the month, according to my sources--and you should do yourself a favor and buy it. This issue asks the pressing question ". . . haven't you heard this one?" and contains my traffic poem "Jam," as well as ficciones, poesia y comicos by Hannah Wolf Bowen, Stephanie Burgis, E.L. Chen, Peg Duthie, Craig Laurance Gidney, Larry Hammer, Sandra McDonald, Catherine M. Morrison, Janni Lee Simner, Karen M. Roberts, and Sonja Taaffe. I cannot say whether any of these pieces contain the true answer to this haunting question, but they will lead to fruitful introspection. After reading each piece you will sit back and think to yourself, "Haven't I heard that one?" Perhaps you will then try to recall where and when you heard (or did not hear) that one in particular, and illumination will be cast upon that night in St. Cloud when that bottle of cheap vodka mysteriously disappeared, along with forty-four dollars in singles and a t-shirt bearing the image of Opus the Penguin. You will recall the disturbingly attractive yet androgynous stranger who balanced a candle on his or her head and recounted humorous anecdotes on a suburban street side while televisions cast their comforting blue glow through picture windows and a hairless pussycat shivered beneath a young Norway pine. How could I have forgotten, you will think to yourself, and you will smile, and thank Christopher Rowe, Gwenda Bond, and Alan Deniro for delivering this wondrous volume into your hands for the low, low, price of $5. If you wish, you may seek further enlightenment via a subscription to this inquisitive publication, and discover "What's the combination?" or even "Where are you from?" Answers await.