Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Do Androids Dream of Being Published in DASH Literary Journal?

Received my contributor copy for the latest issue of DASH Literary Journal and it's one of the more enjoyable publications that I've been published in. It seems to have been put together as a tribute to my fleeting attention span. In fact, the BIO section limits each contributor to SIX WORDS. As stated in issue five's introduction, the editors "prize succinct articulation."



In most journals, you might find one or two short short poems, which is just enough to stick out like some kind of deformed oddity. But DASH has adopted enough of these little orphans to create a sense of belonging. You end up not questioning the appearance of two or three line poems and just accepting them unconditionally, for who they are.

My poem in this issue is a sprawling thirteen line epic with an even more gargantuan title, "Do Androids Dream of Electronically-Deposited Unemployment Checks?"

My title is a mutation of Philip K. Dick's novel "Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?" which was the source material for the 1982 classic Sci-Fi film, Blade Runner. There was a deleted scene that was restored for the Director's Cut, in which Harrison Ford's character has a brief unicorn dream and I found it haunting enough to stay with me, over the years. Fortunately, it proved useful when I was in need of a title for that poem.

Now that I think about it, that entire movie is wonderfully poetic. If you need anymore proof, here is the classic Rutger Hauer rooftop monologue, recreated with Legos:



Some of my highlights on the first read-through, include a couple of wonderful poems by Howie Good and an interview feature with Brendan Constantine ("Surrealism is just part of the super-associative nature of societal thought. It begins in the para-consciousness of infancy and if you're lucky enough to be poorly supervised, it becomes instinct."). I also love the art feature/interview for Tara McPherson.





2 comments:

  1. That is a fantastic title, indeed. Congratulations!

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  2. Thanks. It may not be fair, but titles can make or break poems. Usually, that is most obvious with the poems that I have given weak titles.

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