MAY POETRY ANTHOLOGY

On June 10, 2014, Silver Birch Press released the May Poetry Anthology — an 84-page collection of 31 poems about May in its many forms, along with thirty-one full-color paintings by Gustav Klimt.

BACKGROUND: In early April 2014, Silver Birch Press issued a call for submissions requesting original or erasure poems where the word "may" appeared in the text or title of the original poem or the title, author, or subject of the book that provided the source material for the erasure poem. As it turned out, we received submissions from thirty-one poets, and decided to feature one poem per day on our blog during the month of May 2014.

Many of the poems spoke of May-related subjects &madash; flowers, birds, and spring — while others ranged in topics from dark to light, with the word "may" buried somewhere in the text. Some of the poems displayed sly humor &madash; and more than one poet had fun with the word "mayhem." The collection also features four erasure poems and one found poem.

It's always fascinating to see the type of material that evolves from a random starting point &madash; and the word "may" has the kind of ambiguity that sparks the creative mind to action. It's a noun (a woman's name, a month of the year) and a verb ("expressing possibility or opportunity"). It's part of other words (Mayflower, mayor, mayonnaise, Mayan). Scramble the letters and it spells Amy. Read it backwards, and it's yam. Yes, May is meaningful, versatile, mysterious, and fascinating. And now it has its very own poetry collection.

Featured poets (in alphabetical order): Thom Amundsen, Brinda Buljore, Joan L. Cannon, Mary-Marcia Casoly, Allison Chaney, Subhankar Das, Daniel Patrick Delaney, Deborah DuBois, Paul Fericano, Adelle Foley, Jack Foley, Philip Gordon, Benjamin Grossman, Donna Hilbert, Clara Hsu, Mathias Jansson, J.I. Kleinberg, Roz Levine, Tamara Madison, Karen Massey, Catfish McDaris, Victoria McGrath, Marcia Meara, Paul Nebenzahl, Gerald Nicosia, D.A. Pratt, Hayley Rickaby, Disha Dinesh Sahni, Joan Jobe Smith, Caitlin Stern, Jacque Stukowski.

May Poetry Anthology is available at Amazon.com.