Review of _ligature strain poems_ by Kim Koga

Scanned copy of book cover, ligature strain poems
by Kim Koga

The Chapbook ligature strain poems by Kim Koga plays with form as it seems to connect individual poems in a story in a format one would normally read in fiction that is the text is in a row after row not a few words and enter and new line.  However it still reads like a poem because they are not complete sentences.  The poems connect to tell a story about the experiences of a beaver.  They are very personal experiences.  One reason is the use of the second person, you or your.  I gather that the reader is this female beaver that we learn is pregnant and is dealing with the life struggles she has to go through.  The first mention of you rather your is only a comparison, "…like your feet in dirt in calm soil brown and dark and webbed…"it does not catch on at first to the reader that you’re a beaver, but turn the page and there is the words"…brown oiled fur in water to repel or release your pink child into water or wood…" It  proceeds to touch on daily habits of beavers, but what really stands out is the writers’ desire to have you, the reader feel like what a pregnant beaver is going through.  It is adult intellectual reading.  It is very smart.  The ligature strain is a reference to feeding her pups milk by her teats.  I would describe this as a beautiful and graphic portrayal of nature in specific, one pregnant beaver. 

Ligature Strain poems by Kim Koga are available from Tin Fish Press Retro Series No. 6. 
Thanks Kim Koga for allowing me to review this here.   

Creative Writing Events

Hi readers and writers.  Check out the Creative Writing Events going on at the Oceanside Public Library.  They run from 5:30pm to 6:30pm on the dates listed and are free! Interested, I went to the Postcard Fiction one.  Turns out it was flash fiction as was one of my guesses.  We did a fun activity writing our own flash fiction piece, sharing it with the group, and got to type it up on a post card via typewriter.  This is the first time I used a typewriter with some confidence. My dad had one when I was a kid.  Though fascinated by it, I did not know how to type yet.  Though he did let me use it which consisted of pushing buttons with no clear idea what I was doing. Updating, on 10.4.2025, I also attended the May 14th, Event on Graphic Novels which in complete irony was lectured by one of my prior college instructors. These events took place in 2013. 

I Want to Write All Day Long...

I wrote more today than I write most days.  Commitment, planning ahead, and using a day off from my paying job, paid off.  Like a person who does not want to put down a good book, I hate this feeling of having to take a break to work on something else, though, still important.  Paid job tomorrow. 

Review of Crimson Roses

Scanned of cover picture on novel, Crimson Roses

Because romance novels in my mind are soft porn and there is a concern for a lack of character development this book I am writing about, Crimson Roses by Grace Livingston Hill as a romance is a book I am not normally drawn to read.  This is the first romance novel I have ever read.  I was going on a trip in September, and I needed paperback books for air plane reading.  I was at a local book fair, two books I had already selected were male writers, and I decided to be balanced I must find one from a female writer.  Granted, I didn’t choose anything.  There were aspects that had to draw me in.  I read the first few lines, and felt I could read more without being frustrated. “THE ROOM WAS very still except for the ticking of the little clock, which stood on the table in the hall and seemed to Marion Warren to be tolling out the seconds one by one. She sat by her father’s bedside, where she had been all day…” I also had checked the copyright date.  Although this was published in 1968 the original was published in 1928, so I knew it was fairly in the clear as to whether the book was classy or smut.           

Here are a few more points I’d like to share.  The cover that I scanned is very interesting to look at.  The style made me think 1970s.  After reading the novel I know it is rainy in that picture.  I am referring to the painted lines.  The painted lines that over lay the image are rain.  One could guess it is raining because the gentleman is holding his umbrella up.  I was studying the picture from the details.  When I read the scene to where picture is actually taking place in it is all of a sudden I get it moment in terms of the cover.  This has happened more than once for me when trying to decipher a cover image on a novel. 

I got to page 65 and no romance took place yet.  This is good.  It built up characters and situation of story line.   

I did an Internet search on this author and not much is written about her.  Her Wikipedia post is very short though there are some interesting facts such as she primarily started writing books to make ends meet.  There is a modern website that is selling her books with her full name as the domain.  I am not linking because I do not know if I have the right to link here, but you can easily do an Internet search to find it. 

This book also stands out for its dominance of Christianity.  The protagonist Marion is a devout Christian.  I thought today a book like this would fall under the Christian genre and that since Christianity was very mainstream literature that in 1928 it could fall under Romance.  That is wasn’t there laws against smut literature or if not laws it was not generally accepted as printable? Because the romance novel of 1980s on ward conjures something else to mind. 

What do you know about this area?

Maybe I don’t understand the romance novel structure. 

Book Review, Nurk, The Strange and Surprising Adventures of a (Somewhat) Brave Shrew

by Ursula Vernon takes places along a bank of a stream and a shrew who is thrust into adventure to receiving mail for Surka his believed to be dead adventuresome grandma.  Terrified of mail fraud by an angry postal delivery humming bird he literally sets sail on an adventure.  What I really enjoyed about this novel is the writer sense of humor and ability to describe for example the King of Dragon Flies voice in a way I can imagine it.  ‘Hello Shrew, said the King.’ “His voice was deep but quiet.  It sounded like water running underground." (63) Recommended for anyone who wants to read a satisfying novel but does not have the time to devote to a long one.  It’s 131 pages. 

Book Review, The Wife

Here is a book review I originally wrote for a summer reading program for a public library on the novel The Wife by Meg Wolitzer

 A fresh first person fictional narrative reflecting on the life of the protagonist, the wife, Joan, her conflict of where women were at in society in the 1950s, and the belief that she needs to be with a man as her power to succeed.  It is a story of how a wife really makes her husband the powerful man he is.  Humorous, witty descriptions add to ease of reading and sentence flow.  I resonated with the writing aspect that is how the characters are writers.  The ending of the book has depth.  

Poetry Submission Process

On July 3rd 2012 I submitted two poems to an online literary journal called Rose & Thorn.  On Monday September 17th 2012  I finally received the e-mail.  Was I accepted or not? There was excitement before I opened the e-mail, though, not too much.  Rejection is always possible, and I am reconciled to this fact.  Here is a quote from the e-mail, “Although it was not selected for publication, we wanted to let you know that your poem “The Walking Man and The Orange Hand” did make it to our final round of readings for its cleverness and wit.”  As far as rejection letters go it is nice to know where I stand, and this is ONE very nice rejection letter.  It makes me glad inside to know I have an audience to be more specific to make people see what I see.  

How is the submission process working for you whatever the literary form/genre etc?