It’s not often an autumn sun with cool morning air renders my day glorious for a frisky gallop. As we set out, she asks, “how are you doing?” I sigh inside, trying to remember. “Have I told you I’m getting divorced?” She has heard the gossip
spilt from bored lips
She offers commiserations.
Turns to me. “Now you are free to be selfish, to do whatever you want. Best get a Tinder account”. She describes in detail about Plenty of Fish, Match.com, Bumble and Hinge, which use interests, not just photographs! “Use Snapchat for boob pictures.” The bewildered look on my face prompts a “joking” followed by “they can’t save them.” We crease up, laughing.
I consider asking her advice about flirting ‘hard-core’ online. How not to feel like a dinosaur, my dusty bones hung from a ceiling by steel wires, in the museum of Gen X next to a Tyrannosaurus Rex. I’ve been oblivious to this shift to a digital ‘fucking’ world. To “Do my tits look big in this?” The pick of the standing dicks. A mutual masturbation society. Twenty years in secluded bliss of not knowing ‘cybering’ exists. An online Virgin bloody Mary waiting blue to be impregnated
by these the New World Gods.
Flawed
It was not that you lacked
flowers more beautiful
in your own back yard.
There were hummingbirds
that hovered at your window edge
living jewels of the air.
Poets of exceptional touch
that spun gold threaded
words into gleaming magic.
Artists that cut faces
from cold marble megaliths
who smiled under sweat.
The whittled wooden horse
you carried inside a spare pocket
was flawed from birth.
Summer Time
I sit between the eagle and the raven of autumn. Weeping, shaking, fingers trembling like spread wing-tips catching thermal uplifts. Cloud burst tears fall on rocky ground wash wasted thoughts in guttered gravel ground. High view perspective vertigo, breathless at the fall graceless grasping hold. The raven says relax my grip. Release copper leaves in autumn wild winds. But it is summer time. I cannot squeeze the sun to turn down the sound.
The second release for National Poetry Month is a bit different for Dumpster Fire Press. FOR SVETLANNA is a collection of poetry compiled by Rita Marie Recine who was not intended to be the sole author and there’s a story there, just like there’s always a story.
FOR SVETLANA art by DIllinger
You DFP has always sort of prided itself as a home for counter-culture and being kind of edgy in an attempt to be a voice for the voiceless or at least get some seldom heard voices out there.
So, when Rita Marie Recine contacted me via email, I wasn’t certain this was right place for the manuscript but there was story that I’m not fully qualified to tell and she tells it way better than me and you’ll get that after you endure my absurd point of view.
Rita had a friend by the name of Svetlana. Both contending with MS. Both forming a bond in a hospital room and embarking on what would have been a shared volume of poetry. Unfortunately Svetlana passed away before it could be completed and Rita endured to see this completed and came across me.
Now I admit, I was hesitant at first…I mean who hasn’t read a DFP title with something a bit unsettling or low life but after a few exchanges and reflecting on certain aspects of my life. We embarked on this together.
I’ll be honest, I took care of my mother for several years before she died of Stage 4 Renal Failure, administering her dialysis, cooking her meals, helping her bathe while my dad would go off to work nights. We took different shifts to care for her. This situation brought back those memories which weren’t always great nor did help that Rita and Svetlana happened to be about the same age as my mother would’ve been had she lived a little longer.
That’s why has someone running around with the title “publisher” there has to be an avoidance of tunnel vision and that’s why has a human being, I’m not taking any money for the book.
All the proceeds will be donated to the MS Society.
As much as I don’t make money from publishing losing a few dollars that wouldn’t make much of a difference even in terms of paying people for royalties becomes blood money and Dumpster Fire Press is not going to profit from anything of that sort.
This isn’t about being a good person, it about doing what’s right because deep down I’m not a good person but I’ll do what’s right for maybe just maybe people do something questionable later on to make up for it.
So enough of that, Rita and Svetlana need to have their say…
SONG
I let the song take a hold
Words are everywhere
Some we recollect others we cherish
Intoxicated by their intense meaning
But some we try to forget.
Words are the power of language
Put together they create a statement
Words are spoken revealing our true feelings
Shared with others using different mediums.
Words are also expressed by birds and animals
We might not understand them
They speak volumes
There is meaning with every sound heard.
A book has many pages filled with words
Soothing and yet at times hurtful
But for the most part they create joyful images in our mind
There is no end to the vocabulary to be learned.
-Rita Marie Recine
-Svetlana Konstantinov
Svetlana and I were both teenagers when we began our hands at script.
Unknowingly our paths would meet in the most awkward of places, a hospital room.
We bonded with our every words and step.
Revealing a mutual understanding of hope, fate and love I can say.
We laughed together, joked, and shed tears together.
I recall the first time we saw one another we knew we would be friends.
That friendship grew into a sisterhood. Not biological, but of the heart.
I was impressed how our lives had been so similar.
It seemed we were the same person in a different shell forming an endless bond, one day as we were both receiving our daily dose of medications, we decided to write a poetry book.
Our dream became a goal.
Sitting at her kitchen table drinking coffee or tea, we wrote, listened, read; always aiming for the highest mountain.
Life was an uphill battle during that time period
From stillness came the brilliance as the sun’s rays of the southern sun.
Candidly, we wrote what we spoke.
Our mission was to write a book together through our frailties and strengths
Sadly, on October 12, 2018 at the age of 49 my beloved sister of the heart passed away into the celestial skies where there is no pain.
Through illness, hospitalizations, and trepidations we became sisters. Providing mutual encouragement and positive reinforcement in gratefulness and recognition
Our endless phone calls I recall with fondness and sadness all at the same time. Today I still ponder
At the present time I am here to finish our feat.
As an homage to my friend and sister of the heart
In her honor, I write For Svetlana.
In a few words I would end my dedication by expressing a welcoming acknowledgment to Svetlana for being a part of my life.
Our friendship will never falter
Two kindred spirits who let their voices heard through verse and prose Love you, your sister of the heart, Rita Marie Recine
To you our readers we would like to offer our much appreciation and credit may you find beauty and emotion in every page turned.
We are pleased to share our genre of literature with the universe, our terra mater until the skies
I am certain wherever Svetlana is, she is smiling.
–Rita Marie Recine
Two women. Two complete strangers who embarked on a single journey together under the direst of circumstances bring you a unified vision of beauty celebrating the joy of living and love. Rita Marie Recine and her friend Svetlana Kostantinov vowed to write a book poetry together to chronicle their journey through life and adversity. Sadly, Svetlana departed before it could be completed but Rita Marie continued and along with Dumpster Fire Press we are proud to present this heart touching collection of poetry.
Rita Marie Recine is first generation Canadian. Of Italian origin growing up in Montreal Canada with a large family of
Today she resides with her family in Laval Quebec
She attended Dawson College in 1981 graduated from Concordia University with a Spanish major and Tourism Degree in 1986
Her proses may be seen in anthologies, online magazines across the globe
From Canada, U.S.A., Europe and India
She began writing in her Italian community newspaper il Cittadino in the early 90’s
Writing a poem for her Italian parents Yolanda Bracaglia Recine and the late Sante Recine, titled per papa (For Daddy and Mamma (Mother)
In 2017 She published Open book, Where the road to serendipity ends with Southern Owl Publications. She writes in English, Italian, Spanish and French
Rita has been writing poetry since adolescence.
She lives in Laval Quebec with her family.
Our poems are a reflection of our values, thoughts, emotions and beliefs inspired by our ancestors and other trailblazers who have paved the road for us indie poets and more. We have used imagery and impressionism
Our storytelling reveals two women with different backgrounds view the world and its surroundings in the same fashion
Svetlana Konstantinov, second generation Canadian. Her family originated from Russia
She worked at Concordia University as an undergraduate team assistance.
Her strength and resilience had been a great force to all who knew her.
Svetlana has published several of her poems in anthologies by The National Library of Poetry and The International Library of Poetry. She has received several Editor’s Choice Awards from 1996-2003. As well, thirteen of her poems were put on tape and CD. She was also elected into The International Poetry Hall of Fame in 1996.
Svetlana has been writing poetry for 25 years. Growing up in Montreal Quebec
Dumpster Fire Press is proud to announce the first release for National Poetry Month…
VOICES FROM THE FIRE volume 1….
Cover art by Dillinger
Spotlighting voices heard, seldom heard or never heard at all. First featured on the VOICES FROM THE FIRE series , we’ve got poets , writers and artist spanning from here, there and everywhere in-between…
of course the color version is a bit expensive and there is an e-book format and a black and white version available at a lower cost.
Links are provided on bottom of the page for that.
I need to give credit where credit is due though: a colossal thanks to Dillinger and R. Keith for all the visual work they’ve contributed and to James Maj for generosity via his entrancing paintings.
Also Beau Blue, thanks for the sweet logo
So, here’s some cool news regarding what happens to VOICES FROM THE FIRE in the future…to keep costs down I’d like to do 90-100 pages, I still love color and will always adore black and white as an alternative but DFP has never been about alienation and I don’t want cost preventing people from reading or at least putting something cool on top of their coffee table.
However, not sure how it goes with other anthologies as that is a beast of its own nature.
But future volumes will be cheaper and hopefully more frequent…
Also started work on Volume 2 in which an entire section will be dedicated to National Poetry Month, so maybe get excited for that as the number of our global contributor’s has expanded.
There will also be a table of contents, however bios will be absent as all voices are equal.
But like I told a lady at a department store I worked at who was upset at the lack of matching shades of gray towels available via immediate inventory
“Well ma’am…sometimes you just have to settle.” (don’t ever say that to anyone you’re dating)
In the meantime, enjoy settling…seeing as how we’re not dating
(DON’T DATE ME)
It’s been an honor hosting these voices:Carman Benoit, Roz Washington, James Maj, Harry McNabb, J.J. Campbell, Kristen Sanner, Samir Karimo, Marc Olmsted, R. Keith, Jared Morningstar, Amanda Morningstar, Damian Ward Hey, Dillinger, Jim Graves, Brian Rihllmann, Paul Tanner, S.A. Gerber, Beau Blue, Jack Henry, Milenko Županović, R.M. Engelhardt, L.B. Sedlacek, Richard Modiano, John Stickney, Ryan Quinn Flanagan, Anthony Kane Edwards, Dan Holt, Efe Tusder, Luis Berriozabal, Michael Grover, Michael Lee Johnson
and Dumpster Fire Press cannot wait to add more to the fire.
VOICES FROM THE FIRE will return on April 1st just in time for POETRY MONTH!
Heralding DFP’s Poetry Month Event focusing on Poets (we’ve got some stellar new poets and artists joining the fray) in VOICES…along with past titles, the launch of several poetry titles including the first volume of VOICES FROM THE FIRE !
Until then, I’ll be catching up on correspondences, committing edits like a mad man in an attempt to get ahead of this month to crash into the oncoming mayhem of May…
Dumpster Fire Press 