Anthologies, new and noted

SAY IT LOUD: Poems about James Brown, ed Mary E Weems & Michael Oatman (Whirlwind Press, Camden NJ 2011) Poems of praise, energy and captured essence, drawing the fullness of James Brown's influence on poets, artists and writers. Amiri Baraka and Patricia Smith? Yes, and more. You got your affirmation, witness and rebuke. A raging embodiment of hardcore funk and breakout sharkskin cool.

AGAVE: A Celebration of Tequila, ed Ashley and Nathan Brown (Sage Brush Press, Temple and Dallas Tx, 2011) There is no worm like this worm. I have no idea if Tequila can bring peace to the Middle East, but when it comes to enunciating the dangerous delectations of the agave's liquor,  this anthology most certainly does bring it. This anthology's one part cactus, two parts swan dive into a Sonoran monsoon. A blue, beautiful beauty - bring the spirit on!

MAINTENANT: A Journal of Contemporary Dada Writing & Art, ed Peter Carlaftes & Kat Georges (Three Rooms Press, NYC NY 2012) Dada isn't exactly the news, but even in its predictable irrationality the genre offers surprises, shocks and guffaws as it explains a world that puzzles and pains us. "This lousy envelope of debate," writes S.A. Griffin, invites its readers to hang with the sooty, sacrificial savior from the urban clothesline.