Finding a common denominator to describe a magazine containing work by fifty different poets can be a risky proposition, but not so with HAMMERS. Editor Nat David sticks to a vision. Quotations on the first page back cover by ee cummings, F. D. Roosevelt and Emily Dickinson set a tone of respect for self expression, the written word, and books in general. David wants poetry to wield social power (and so it's fitting that his magazine is named for a tool), the poetry reflects this with socio-political commentary manifest in experience rather than stated overtly. In one poem, a father talks to a son about killing animals for trinkets and trophies; in another, a child runs to obliviate the turmoil he knows is at home; another poem describes sex with a condom. No shortage of relevance here.--Mike Gill
This review originally appeared in TapRoot Reviews #4,
Contact the editor, luigi-bob drake, at Burning Press
Copyright Burning Press 1994, 1995.