Editor's Notes

A figure from Swann Memorial Fountain is pictured on the cover of this issue. The Native American female figure represents the Schuylkill River, and of course there is a connection to the title of this journal. The Swann Memorial Fountain is also called the Fountain of the Three Rivers because the three Native American figures in the artwork represent the three significant streams in the area: the Delaware River (a man), the Wissahicken (a young female) and the Schuylkill River (a mature female). How much richer we are knowing the background and symbolism of the Fountain. Philadelphia, which is known as the city on the river that no one can spell, is a city with a rich cultural history of fine outdoor sculpture. More information about the subject is available in Mike Cohen’s article “Philadelphia: City of Sculpture and the Schuylkill.” Cohen will be contributing regular features on various artworks around the city. For locals, this is the same fountain at Logan Square that Hallahan girls would engage in their ritual of jumping in after celebrating the end of the school year.

The primary reason this cover was chosen is that Suzanne Marinell, the widow of the founder of SVJ, is coordinating an after- school activity called the Hidden River Venture, where children are treated to a “program that includes science and art projects.” Suzanne wants the children to know about the importance of water to life and in this region. She named the project Hidden River because Schuylkill means “hidden river” in Dutch. She wrote and illustrated a book about the Schuylkill, A River’s Year, to share with her students. Readers can read about her art and science project in her article “Connecting Through Water.” She will be coordinating a painting exhibit at the Manayunk Art Center (MAC) on February 8, 2010, that will include a poetry-reading segment on the theme of water.

The other new contributing writer to the staff of SVJ is Anna Evans. Evans is very dedicated to the more formal aspects of writing. For the last issue she did an article on formal writing that was a fine example of dealing with craft. In this issue she provides the article, “Awards and Miseries: The Life and Work of Philip Larkin.” Larkin had the ability to put form into a poem with a naturalness that is both endearing and poignant. The British press voted Larkin as the best English writer in the past half-century. Larkin did not write much, but what he did write is chiseled. Evans presents interesting insight into the life of the man and the connection to his work. She will also coordinate a formal humanities event in March 2010. Anna brings a zest to the journal and poetry spirit-mindedness that is uplifting.

When I went to a Villanova-area bookstore recently to sell used books, I was told by a Ms. Potter that she is not buying books at present because there has been little demand lately and even the used book business has been suffering from the economic downturn. I asked about purchasing a Charles Bukowski book and she said that the store is out of them. Ms. Potter said that she would take any book on Jack Kerouac and Charles Bukowski because they always seem to be in demand. I was not aware of Bukowski’s influence. Vincent Quatroche contributes a piece on Bukowski entitled, “Don’t Try,” that gives the reader a bit of the wild spirit of Bukowski. Ironically enough, the words “Don’t Try” are engraved on Bukowski’s tombstone. By “Don’t Try” Bukowski means don’t try to be like anybody else. Bukowski became the emblematic figure for the modern outsider and the literary loner. In fact, Time magazine called Bukowski the “Laureate of American lowlife.”

I try to connect themes and issues. In this case, Joe “Hoagie” Hauser, the SVJ film critic writes a film article exploring the outsider in American film. As Hauser relates, Bukowski was the quintessential outsider, the loner separated from America’s literary culture and its mainstream society. There were even two movies made about Bukowski: Barfly (1987), featuring Mickey Rourke and Faye Dunaway, and Factotum (2006), starring Matt Dillon. Bukowski himself worked as a screenwriter in Barfly, where Rourke is Bukowski’s alter-ego, Henry Chinaski, subsisting on blue collar jobs to keep himself in drinking money while pursing his one passion, writing. Hauser writes about other outsiders in American cinema. He describes how the outsider, particularly, has been a potent theme in movies, and how the meaning of “outsider” in cinema has changed dramatically over the years.

SVJ usually doesn’t do reviews, but we are including David Kozinski’s homage to Dan Maguire. Kozinski was reading Maguire’s latest book, Finding the Words, and he felt so delighted he wrote a reflective piece about the book. Kozinski is a member of the MAC, and Maguire has been one of the most celebrated readers at the MAC and a past-featured poet of SVJ.

Vishwas R. Gaitonde’s piece “Oakhill Potatoes and Chicken Curry” delves into our sense of smell – how people are so attached to the foods and aromas they grew up with, and that most people, when they travel, most always relish the foods they are most familiar with. The tradition of our cultural heritage plays a strong role in what we like to eat and savor, and it is so hard to change. One has to chuckle when Vishwas writes how Americans “sigh contentedly when they spot those golden arches in countries in the distant reaches of the world.” The cultural connection also applies to travelers from India. Indian travel agents who arrange bus and coach tours clinch the deal with the assurance: “We will serve you Indian food at every place included on the tour.”

“Stranger on the Train” by Tranda Fishelis is an absorbing vignette about a casual meeting on a train ride. It tells how a chance encounter can have enormous potential for fellow passengers. She puts the reader on the train ride.

The issue contains three short stories: “Willoughby Hills” by Donald Modica, “Poor William” by J. W. M. Morgan and “The Cow in His Throat” by Vishwas R. Gaitonde (who contributes two pieces to this issue). In Modica’s story, the problems keep piling up for a son and his father and they struggle to keep going despite them all. In “Poor William,” an accident at sea tests two men and shows a surprising strength in each. In Gaitonde’s story, one realizes life is stressful for all of us but in different ways for different people and there is a better way of dealing with stress.

In the first poem of the issue, “Tomato Envy,” the poet uses a moment of time that we all can relate to and grounds us there with the ripening suggestiveness of the tomato. Following, is “Autumn,” which is sparse, economical, and almost zen-like in its simplicity and expression of nature. David Mook brings us the all-too-real grief of losing a child in “Theology.” How touching and heartbreaking it is when one hears the terrible words “she didn’t make it” and how it affects one’s belief in God and faith. Terry Culleton provides two remarkable poems about saints, and a splendid sestina entitled “Diner Conversion.” Anna Evans delights us once more with “The Other Side of the Fence” and“The Fractal Heart.” Christine Yurick’s “Two Perspectives” is a double-mirrored sonnet that is both innovative and reflective. Laura Holloway engages us with two narratives entitled “Girls Gonna Burn” and “Dodging Bullet.” More could be said about other poems in the issue, which the reader will discover.

Teresa Leo, the featured poet, writes poetry that describes the world we live in a way that is fresh and connecting. Leo writes of “The First Kiss” and draws the reader back to that kind of moment. She shares her poems about Vietnam and serves as an extraordinary witness to the events in Vietnam generations later. The featured poet grew up in Carbondale, in northeastern Pennsylvania, which is just north of Scranton, and now lives in Philadelphia. Leo is an outstanding local author. Her book of poems, The Halo Rule, was the winner of the Elixir Press Editor’s prize in 2008. She has a very interesting back- ground: she lived on a Kibbutz in Israel for a year and backpacked through Vietnam. Her poem “Callback” takes the reader into the room where women wait for the results of their chest x-rays, but as she says in this case, “we do not want the part.” She has an unmistakable style and surprises the reader with the range of her associations.

Once again, SVJ is delighted to welcome on board two accomplished writers to the staff – Mike Cohen and Anna Evans – and I hope as always, we “only connect…”