Abecedarian                                 

airstream barometer cannot deny
berth controlled deliberate elastic

collecting dendrites eggshell fortunes
detritus everything fantastic gone

elohim fanatic gastrointestinal hinterlands
for goyhim harrier indiscriminate

god hanging indelibly judicious
head induce jampack kill

indeed Jack-o’lantern kissed landmines
jehovah kendoll lantern maw

knows lacerate mandibles ne’er-do-well
logarithms meningitis now oscillate

might never only pound
not obliviate personhood qualms

open pensive quinine reserves
parachutes quarantine ruminant sediments

qualify remains send tendons
road sentences thrall undone

saws thwart ululating valueless
thoroughfare upanishad varied workout

upended viscous winking xrays
vowels wend xeno’s yapping

wrap  xylidine yellow zool
xing you zero aggregate

yourself  zygote agate bends
zigzagged aspires bellow cantos
 

Poems on this page © James Maughn2005-2006

James Maughn lives in Santa Cruz, CA, and teaches at Cabrillo College.  He's published poems in Can We Have Our Ball Back?, Moria, Pettycoat Relaxer, Horse Less Review, and Homestead Review.  He coordinates A New Cadence Poetry Series in Santa Cruz.

What's your favorite poem that you've written? Care to share it with us?

Presently, I’m still fond of the second section of a longish series I’ve been working on.  The section is called say   no   more. The whole thing’s a bit long, but here’s part of the first part:

say    no    more                                  

How in private
the sin
cere to be sure

but thoroughly mod
ulated
to ring perfect in

what
ever ear  bent to
gape

gapped to oath
admit one
shored to save

sword of
damned to please  sir 
may I

*

What is your favorite poem by another poet (still alive still kicking still publishing now).

I’ve yet to meet a bad Graham Foust poem.  That frightens me a bit.

What poets have had the most influence on your work?

Ruth Stone, though we approach poetry very differently, was incredibly generous to me when I was at SUNY Binghamton. I’m still very much aware of her influence, though one might be hard pressed to find it in the poetry. 

What's your pet-peeve in a poem? (ex. comma splices, obscurity)

Comfort.

What's your favorite print journal and why?

I’m fond of Lungfull! because there’s no part of it I don’t enjoy reading.  Including the spine.  They also just took a poem, so I like them for that, too.  I think the rough drafts are a really interesting idea, though it freaked me out a little to have to produce one.  I don’t dip into my completed  journals as often as some.   The Canary is also pretty consistently great.  They don’t take my poems, but I
can’t hold that against them. 

Do you have a writing ritual? Care to share it? Do you ever break this ritual for artistic reasons? If yes, how does it change or improve your method?

I have habits.  I frequently break them.  I usually write in the mornings, between 5am and 9am.  Lately I do my kata practice beforehand.  This helps me focus.  So does espresso.  It’s not the same kind of focus, but both are beneficial.