The Meeting Place
Artzine/poetry zine, Peter Marrack, 14 pgs, petermarrack.com, $5
This is a cool little poetry/art zine, with 14 pages of meandering poetry and other- worldly “net aesthetic” art exploring themes of love, sex, personal identity, dreams and the absurdity of modern life. These types of zines are (at least usually) right in my wheelhouse. I find quick, slapstick stanzas loaded with wit and facetious remarks direct and easily digestible. But the poetry is somewhat hit or miss here. In reading it over and over, I didn’t find myself getting closer to the crux of the work. There are some great little turns of phrase to get caught in your head: “What I feel is what I want / Now let’s get back to / Walking”, “my broken ego / stroking my / libido”. But these are sandwiched between stanzas that are less than insightful and easily skimmed over: “In her world the moon orbits the earth / orbits the sun — water rushes / from mountaintop to river and Ocean’s / where you swim and make bonfires”. And yet I do enjoy the sly, tongue-in-cheek tone to some of the poems. There are glib little pockets, which sort of undercut the seriousness of the whole thing in an interesting way: “A man stands on the / balcony of his expensive / apt. smoking a cig”. In all seriousness, that’s a great way to start a poem (I’m a sucker for cig humour). In terms of composition, I think this one could’ve gone through an extra stage of planning and editing. The cardstock/photo paper cover holds up well (it’s a sturdy little thing), but in using several different types of paper, it looks and reads a little clunky. All in all, it’s a nice zine that shows some promise; I just wish it was a little more refined in its presentation and overall articulation. (Jeff Low)