Our Poetry Circle has undergone a metamorphosis this year. Some of our stalwart poets have graduated from high school or simply moved on to another phase in their lives. Meanwhile others have become the core of our monthly gatherings. This new crew, along with Derek Baer, now the “old man” of Poetry Circle, has, as a whole, concentrated more on form and function in recent months. Striving for more natural rhyme rather than “forced” measures, toying with the sonnet in various incarnations, and inking more concrete images has been the order of the day. This is reflected in the poems herein. I am pleased to report that Derek, now a senior, has continued to challenge himself with new forms and experimental techniques. Included here is “The Castle” a gothic narrative of the Arthurian genre which was rejected for inclusion in Voices III but which he fought to be included in this volume, his contemporary sonnet, and his favorite form, the acrostic poem. Again, senior Jessica Hotko has contributed her rich, esoteric verse. Nikki Williams has contributed more of her sensual, mature work. “Lay your head down lover,” her poem “Surrender” begins. Also appearing again is Ali Daniels, whose best work comes in flashes and bolts of word-lightning. The whimsical “Butterfly” is light and fresh. No one in Poetry Circle works harder at crafting lines than Rachel Ambs, who came to us a girl who sputtered cute poems, and now presents us with well-crafted art. Also included are some terrific poems from Ashtin Johns, whose sharp words cut right through the reader. “You trickle down my spine,” she writes, and ”Screaming out your name/ Late at night/ Clenching my pillow/ With all my might.” For darkness and torment this year we looked to Samantha Stinchcomb whose work is rather like little horror movies in words. “His bruises hold no pain” and “Looking around I see my ocean of red/ It spills from my wrists.” Perhaps our most devoted new member is Brian Kirmse, who routinely brings fragments of poems to me in faded, almost indecipherable pencil and demands, “Now what?” Group members can almost see his poems fermenting as he works.

For this volume we are grateful to photographer Jamie Le West for her excellent, professional grade work, to Janet Louden who coordinates our efforts with the Aurora Public Library District, and especially to Mary Alice Horton, who makes Poetry Circle possible each year via her dedication to promoting a love of words and reading among young people in southern Dearborn County. Her faithful support means a great deal to all of us who sit around in my classroom once a month and pour out our guts in meter and rhyme and try to make a little sense out of this crazy world.

R.H. Nicholson
March 8, 2008