DALLAS 2009

It was the winter our guy took the White House
when food was expensive and nobody had a job
It was goddamn beautiful
The ex-prez moved to our town
and his tail was not between his legs...

Happy New Year.
Now read the rest of Romie Stott's "Dallas 2009," which she says is "somewhere between Ginsburg-style truth telling and Steven Wright comedy." The Ginsberg reference gives her, of course, a legitimate Jersey connection, for those readers who believe that Jerseyworks should be about New Jersey. But doesn't everybody have a Jersey connection? Isn't this where the nitty-gritty truth of the universe begins? Oh, you thought maybe that was Baghdad or an alley in Montmartre or maybe in the shadows of your favorite crater on the moon? By the way, has anybody run into Merryl, Bruce, or the ghost of Frank lately at their favorite pizza place?

Here's a story set in "Nerk," which is how Sypniewski, who grew up there, pronounces Newark; by real New Jersey writer Kal Wagenheim: Purple Heart.

At the Van Gogh Museum in Amsterdam, Zoe Gabriel of Hyattsville, Maryland wants to read the paint with her fingers, "like Braille." Poetry by Zoe Gabriel.

New photography not to be missed: Brenton Rossow's beautiful portraiture from Southeast Asia, where he has been living for the past nine years. Photographer Bernard Sypniewski's collection has been updated with ten new South Jersey portraits, faces of Cumberland and Cape May Counties.

The pages of Jerseyworks comprise an evolving, continuous issue, and nearly all work since our beginning more than eight years ago remains on the magazine. Please take time to explore: The timeplay page, for instance links to articles on relativity and to a zen meditation site as well as to photographs of the Aurora Borealis. For the past eight years a script on this page has been updating seconds remaining until the year 2010. It has, of course, timed out.

Jerseyworks began locally and expanded internationally. The following selections were among our earliest:

Four poems by Marylisa W. DeDomenicis.
Marylisa also maintains her own beautiful website at notherpoet.com

Sypniewski visits Belgium, the 12th century-- Photos and text.

Poem by Shirley Lake. Shirley was the editor of Stillwaters Press, publisher of a series of chapbooks representing many of Southern New Jersey's best poets.

2008 Poetry Prize Winners. Prize page contains links to further collections by winning poets John Grey, Angela Mankiewicz, Sheema Kalbasi.

Jerseyworks' contest has been suspended in favor of paying our contributors regularly. Check Masthead for rates.