2006 Kakalak Anthology of Carolina Poets

Reviewed by JERI KRENTZ

Kakalak 2006 Anthology of Carolina Poets

Charlotte Observer Review

June 18, 2005

READING LIFE EDITOR

New anthology features work by Carolina poets

JERI KRENTZ

"A poet's hope: to be like some valley cheese, local, but prized everywhere." W.H. Auden, as quoted in "Kakalak."

They tell of a rope swing, with its "frayed ends trailing."

Of a spider's web and the "jewels of light rain."

Of "feet naked on the still warm dirt."

Of shelling peas. Of sassafras wood. Of blue eyes and dirty boots.

Of stolen yesterdays. Of "the hint of despair." Of standing over a grave marker in the sun.

These are the poems of "Kakalak 2006," a new anthology of poets from the Carolinas edited by Lisa Zerkle, Richard Allen Taylor and Beth Cagle Burt.

Filling a need

The editors decided to create the anthology last year."It seemed there was a need for greater exposure," said Zerkle, a poet who lives in Charlotte. "As editors, we were really trying to think: If we had a place to put our work, what would we want it to look like and how would we want the editors to treat us."

They put out a call for submissions last fall and included a poetry contest, with the winners selected by Winthrop University professor Susan Ludvigson.

Entries came slowly at first, then "snowballed." In the end, they had more than 1,100 submissions.

"Kakalak" includes 99 poems, along with photographs, etchings and paintings. Also featured are works by Fred Chappell, former poet laureate of North Carolina; Marjory Heath Wentworth, the poet laureate of South Carolina; and Katherine Stripling Byer, North Carolina's current poet laureate.

Produced by Main Street Rag Publishing Co. in Charlotte, it's available at local book stores and at www.mainstreetrag.com and www.kakalak.net, where you'll also find information about the 2007 contest.

Brilliance among us

One of the poets oversees a rodent rescue program. Another is a family doctor in rural North Carolina. Another was a "closet poet through 20 years of teaching high school French and raising three children."

One writes about snakes. Another about textile mills. Another about growing old.

They tell of "a second blue egg in the nest."

Of "the grey remnants of a just passed storm."

Of "wisteria playing off the sun-buffed walls."

Of mockingbirds on a powerline. Of the "love note in the pocket of old jeans." Of home.

The collection is a gift -- proof of the complexity and brilliance among us.

Jeri Krentz: (704) 358-5234; jkrentz@charlotteobserver.com