Civil Poems by Josephine Miles (1966)

Civil Poems
Josephine Miles
oyez press
(c) 1966

Staple-bound chapbook. oyez press which had a proud history and an ignominious end (so I have heard). Robert Hawley and Stevens van Strum started the Oyez Press in 1964. The last known book published came out in 1989. Josephine Miles was one of the forerunners of the San Francisco Poetry Renaissance. She was influential and a champion of younger poets. This thin volume gives a taste of her worth and work.

The Magdalene Syndrome Gazette Number Three (1967)

The Magdalene Syndrome Gazette Number Three
The Magdalene Syndrome Press
David Tammer & Nick Chavin, ed.
San Francisco, CA
(c)1967

This gem contains work by Clifford Burke, Eugene Lesser, Ho Chi Minh (hey it was 1967), Keith Wilson, Charles Potts and a slew of others. With some B&W photos. Blurred images. Staple-bound. Unpaginated. Great find. Complete with ads at the end of the book. One for Eugene Lesser's first mimeo-chapbook, Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack, another for the I/Thou Coffeehouse in the Haight, and two from other small presses.

Whetstone Almanac by Charles Tilder (1975)

Whetstone Almanac
Charles Tilder
Pulp Press
Vancouver, British Columbia
(c)1975

This is the other chapbook that I know of by Charles Tilder. It was published in 1975 in Vancouver. There are 12 poems here. Similar in theme and content as the earlier chapbook. Very good poems. The story here in the small Vancouver Press, Pulp. It seems that this press evolved into Arsenal Pulp Press in the 1980s although there is no trace of Tilder on the Wikipage. It was the 11th thing they published. I especially liked the 8th thing they published: a chapbook entitled Crimes, or I'm Sorry but We Do Not Sell Handguns to Junkies. The title alone makes me want to read it.

Straw Things by Charles Tidler (1972)

Straw Things
Charles Tilder
The Crossing Press
Trumansburg, NY
(c)1972

I had previously THOUGHT that I had written about The Crossing Press - but actually had not. The Crossing Press was located in Trumansburg, NY from the early 1970s until about 1980 or so. A press called Crossing Press came into existence on the west coast and published feminist literature from the 1980s on. One of the books that was published by THE Crossing Press was a book by Harold Norse.

This staple-bound chapbook was by an ex-pat hiding out in British Columbia instead of dying in the rice fields of Vietnam. I enjoy the naturalist tone of the work here. A poet in nature. The beauty of that experience. Very fine writing here. I know that Tilder had another chapbook out; maybe that's all he was able to get out. Pity if that were true.

Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack by Eugene Lesser (1967)

Poems of an Acrophobic Steeplejack
Eugene Lesser
The Magdalene Syndrome Press
San Francisco, CA
(c)1967

mimeo! I love mimeos. This is a great example of the form. The only copies of this particular item that I found on the net were in institutional collections. The poetry in this mimeo is quite GOOD. I am impressed. He has not published much. The does have a new collection out of his work entitled The Eugene Lesser or current resident Story: Poems 1976-2015, San Francisco, Marin, Los Angeles and if it's anything like this first published work of his, it's got to be marvelous. (will be ordering a copy as soon as I post this entry) The Magdalene Syndrome Press deserves further investigation - so stay tuned! But, YES, read Eugene Lesser!!!