Issue 21 • July 2016
Male Perspectives
edited by Marge Simon
Male Perspectives
edited by Marge Simon
Introduction to Issue 21 • Male Perspectives
Welcome to my Male Perspectives issue. Among the many poems that spoke to me for various reasons, I have selected some by women, but most are by men, (or those identifying as men), which was my original intent. I assure you, that’s how it shaped up. I simply didn't get as many submissions from women as I did men.What differentiates a male perspective from a female one? I’m not totally convinced that there is such a wide gap, especially if we are discussing women writing from a male perspective or vice versa. With Brian Garrison’s “The Red Spacesuit” and G.O. Clark’s “Age-Old Game” you come away quite touched with their perceptions, relating the love of a father for his child. If these poems were penned by women, would they be any more touching? Would they be more detailed? In my editorial experience, a good poem is as long as it needs to be and not a word longer. “The Red Spacesuit” is a post-apocalyptic redaction of William Carlos Williams' s classic imagist poem, “The Red Wheelbarrow.” To me, it’s up to individual poets as to how they want to convey an emotion.
Can women write from a male perspective? I say most certainly. I present a number of excellent poems by women such as Jane Williams’ “I am not my father’s son” and Jenny Blackford’s amazing “The Aluminium Apples of the Moon.” Please note that “aluminum” is pronounced and spelled differently, as she hails from Australia. The narrator is a bunyip who is speaking as a mythical evil spirit of aboriginal mythology. Some modern sources allude to a linguistic connection between the bunyip and “Bunjil,” a mythic “Great Man” who made the mountains and rivers and man and all the animals.
Sincere thanks to those of you who have supported this issue, either by submitting and/or with personal encouragement along the way.