Donald Illich's Iffy Proposition

I used to be a 98 lb. weakling writer. I'd submit poems on the beach with my best manuscript, and I'd be afraid of too much sun and whether my work was good enough. A poetry editor like Paul Muldoon would come by my blanket and read my pages. “You call that a simile, you wussy? I ought to kick tons of sand in your face.” Which he did, metaphorically speaking, by letting me know that I should stick to the kiddy pool. The poets' lines around here were too defined and muscular for the likes of me. My manuscript left with Mr. Muldoon, to be ground up as chow for the junior New Yorker editors. That's when I read this book by this amazing poetry-builder Reb Livingston, “Stop Getting You Ass Handed to You and Do It Yourself.” Using her simple 12 step program (a few steps: 1. Write/find some poems, 4. Raise a llama, 7. Work with POD publisher to publish them, 12. Have a margarita.) After I recovered from my hangover and that night with the llama, I decided to publish my own journal. Now, when writers come by I'm the one kicking sand and other debris, though I try to be nice. I take a liking to many of them, and maybe one day, I'll be able to settle down with one of these manuscripts, have a baby chapbook, put it through trade publishing.... Oh, never mind that, just please submit to the online version of my journal by e-mailing at ifpoetryjournaleditor@gmail.com. No attachments, 3-5 poems, and bribes help.
--Donald Ilich

Donald Illich was born in Biloxi, Mississippi, and it is just like you saw it in Biloxi Blues with Matthew Broderick, except different. He is slightly less smelly than he used to be since he got married in June. He publishes and writes poetry.

Rauan Klassnik Dreams of Silliman

Sometime in early October I began having dreams that involved Ron Silliman. At the time I was kind of worked up at how Ron had suggested legal action was possible against the creators of Issue 1 of forgodot.com.

At the end of a post on his blog Ron wrote 'Play with other people’s reps at your own risk.' I thought this was, of course, ridiculous-- and then Ron started appearing in my dreams. At first I was kind of freaked out. But I'm not someone who places too much stock in my dreams. Some people (nudge, nudge, Reb Livingston) believe that keys to understanding one's own psyche lie in one's dreams. I am not one of those people. However, I do like to remember my dreams. And when they're interesting I am quite intrigued. But, I see them in the way that I approach a movie or work of art or a walk in the park. Sometimes my dreams are just pointless. Sometimes, though, I think they are indeed interesting and amusing. I think this is the case with the Ron Silliman dreams I had, and that's why I decided to post them to my blog. And, luckily, Ron Silliman hasn't sued me yet-- what would he sue me for anyways? Dreaming?
--Rauan Klassnik

From "Ron Silliman Dream #6 (2nd batch): Gorgeous"

I’m walking through tall, dry grass and suddenly Ron Silliman’s whispering to me:

“Remember when the days were long
And rolled beneath a deep blue sky”

I look around but I’m completely alone and, so, I keep on shopping. But when I reach for a carton of eggs

“But I know a place where we can go
And wash away this sin”

Again I look around——but, alas, nothing.

Then, while I’m unpacking, reaching deep into the sack for a bag of asparagus

“We’ll sit and watch the clouds roll by
And the tall grass wave in the wind.”

Again I look around and this time I notice a note on the refrigerator: “Come upstairs”--- and there are candles all the way upstairs and then down the corridor and all through the bedroom. I knock on the bathroom door:

“Come in, baby. It’s Ron. It’s Ron.”

And, there, rising out of a mountain of bubbles is the most gorgeous woman I have ever seen——a bit like Botticelli’s Venus, but so much greater...

Stepping into the steaming hot bubbles I take her, giggling, in my arms...


“Who knows how long this will last
Now we’ve come so far, so fast
But, somewhere back there in the dust
That same small town in each of us”

For more Klassnik dreams Silliman

Rauan Klassnik is the author of Holy Land.

This Week at No Tell

Erin Elizabeth Smith is okay with settling this week at No Tell Motel.

New Titles by No Tell Poets

Shane Jones, I Will Unfold You With My Hairy Hands (Greying Ghost Chapbook Series)

Anne Gorrick, Kyotologic (Shearsman Books)

Carolyn Guinzio, Quarry (Parlor Press)

Gina Myers, Behind the R (Ypolita Press)

Michael Schiavo, The Mad Song (Northshire)

SMALL PRESS SPOTLIGHT: REBECCA LOUDON

Cover Art: Scott Odom
Cover Design: Maureen Thorson

Available for purchase at Lulu NOW $15
Available at retail outlets SOON.


Rigoberto Gonzalez interviews Rebecca Loudon:

My ideal reader is a person who has suffered, who feels apart, who has known trauma, and who is capable of honestly engaging with the lot they've been handed. Everyone has suffered, but some people are willing to embrace the forest that surrounds us, some are not. Many readers prefer the tranquil, the pastoral, the serene. These are not usually my readers. The groundbreaking photographer Diane Arbus once wrote of her work, "There's a quality of legend about freaks. Like a person in a fairy tale who stops you and demands that you answer a riddle. Most people go through life dreading they'll have a traumatic experience. Freaks were born with their trauma. They've already passed their test in life. They're aristocrats." (From Diane Arbus: An Aperture Monograph). I think perhaps Diane's aristocrats are my ideal readers.

No Tell Nominations

Every year No Tell Motel nominates poems for "best of" anthologies as a way to bring further attention to the poems and poets it publishes.

NTM's Best of the Net 2008 Nominations (Sundress)


"Bupleurum Wandering Chamber" by Anna Maria Hong

"[ directions to my house ]" by Brent Goodman

"Poem in Which I Sort of Break Down" by Clay Matthews

"pink-think (a primer for girls of other colors)" by Evie Shockley

"That Morning" by Rauan Klassnik

"Saw This & Marked It" by Mia Nussbaum



NTM's Best of the Web 2009 Nominations (DZANC Books)


"Alys: Architect, Prodigal and Witch." by Paula Mendoza-Hanna

"Jack’s Physical" by Scott Glassman

"Immigration Quotas" by Marcela Sulak

No Tell Poets Interviewed by Joe Milford

Reb Livingston 7/26/08

Jill Alexander Essbaum 10/4/08

Ravi Shankar 11/2/2008