Fresh New Poems 2019

I recently had some fresh-from-the-oven poems posted over at the wonderful Two Drops of Ink website.The link is here for your perusal. These are my first published poems of 2019; they ain't much, as the man said, but they're something. Either way, I hope you enjoy them and I appreciate your time. Much thanks, of course, to Marilyn and Scott at Two Drops of Ink.

 

Windy City Reviews on Flashbulb Danger

Ms. Elizabeth Melvin. a reviewer at the wonderful Windy City Reviews website, has posted her thoughts on Flashbulb Danger. PLEASE CHECK IT OUT! Much thanks to Ms. Melvin and Mr. Dan Burns at Windy City Reviews.

First Review of Flashbulb Danger

The first review of my book, Flashbulb Danger, has been posted on Goodreads by an Australian blogger, James "The Caustic Critic." Take a look-see:

A generous, career-wide collection, Lowe's 'Flashbulb Danger' is as close as a poetry collection will come to a congenial, articulate, funny drunk friend in a bar regaling you with tall stories and unfortunate personal anecdotes.

Divided into three sections, by chronology, it moves from early earnestness to bittersweet later-life reflections, but retains throughout a consistent, unaffected voice. 
(Nice minimalist cover by Hannah Proffitt-Allee, too, which Goodreads does not yet have in its database.)

Link to James' Goodreads post

My New Book "Flashbulb Danger" is Available from Amazon Now!

*My new book, Flashbulb Danger: Selected Poems 1988-2018 (Middle Island Press), is available NOW from Amazon.com!

* This is a 3-decade career retrospective, my "greatest hits" if you will. 30 years of writing. That's a lot of typing, bud.

* The book also contains 26 new poems. It's not just vintage stuff. You know I wouldn't do you like that.

* The book also, also contains an in-depth author interview. Juicy backstories! (Maybe.)

* This is a 224-page perfect-bound paperback with original, full-color cover art. So it'll look good on your coffee table.

* Copies are available NOW from Amazon.com for $11.99 each. Please buy one.

* Then please buy another copy for a friend. Or Uncle Dullard. Or Cousin Minerva. Trust me, they'll appreciate it. Really!

"Flashbulb Danger" & Company on Two Drops of Ink!

Just in time for the holidaze, I have some FRESH POEMS posted on the wonderful Two Drops of Ink website. If you're not too tired from gift-wrapping, card-writing or caroling, please take a peek at them. Much appreciation to editor Marilyn Davis for this honor. Merry, merry, happy, happy to all!

"The Sky Cried" on Creativity Webzine

Three new poems of mine were included in the November 12, 2017 issue of the Creativity Webzine. The theme of the issue is rain/water. So if you're in the mood for a swim, be sure to dive in there.
(SCROLL DOWN; THEY ARE THERE!) I thank editor Charles Moulton for this privilege.

Fresh Poems of Mine in the Fall, 2017 Homestead Review!

I am honored to have three fresh poems of mine featured in the Fall, 2017 issue of Homestead Review, a literary magazine published by the Department of Language Arts at Hartnell College in Salinas, California. For this privilege, I sincerely thank editors Dr. Jennifer Lagier Fellguth and Marcia Garcia Teutsch. Have a look-see, won't you?

"Marvel Comics is Forever" & Company on Section 8 Magazine!

I've got a new batch of poems, including "Still Plying" and "Marvel Comics is Forever," posted on the wonderful SECTION 8 MAGAZINE website. Please check them out! Much thanks to the intrepid Section 8 Squad for including me in the company of so many diverse writers and artists. Rock on!

"Wait 'Til Tomorrow": Fresh Poems on Two Drops of Ink!

FRESH POEMS OF MINE were posted today on the fine literary blog, Two Drops of Ink. One poem concerns my beloved Chicago Cubs! Much thanks to editor Scott Biddulph for this privilege. Please check them out! Thanks!

"The Surest Remedy" is on The Bitchin' Kitsch!

I have a new poem, The Surest Remedy, featured in the October, 2016 issue of the Bitchin' Kitsch (page 28). Please check it out! Much thanks to Chris and Dana Talbot-Heindl for this privilege.

"The Play-Doh Incident"

I have a new poem that I'm proud to say is included in the first anniversary issue of the Creativity Webzine. It's called "The Play-Doh Incident" and you can read it HERE (scroll down, it's there). Much thanks to editor Charles Moulton for this privilege!

LB Sedlacek Reviews "Jupiter Works on Commission"

March 2016

THE POETRY MARKET EZINE - 
PUBLISHED MONTHLY
ISSN:  1539-9141  
Volume 15 / Issue 6

"Jupiter Works on Commission"
by Jack Phillips Lowe
ISBN 978-0-6925-0688-2
Copyright 2015
Middle Island Press
57 Pages
middleislandpress.com


Review by LB Sedlacek

Jack Phillips Lowe's narrative poems in
this collection all tell work related
tales.  Subjects like using technology
to make a simple task harder, shopping
in a discount store, product packaging,
imaginary friends, employees talking
at breaks are to be found in inventive
poems such as "Captain Nitro Returns"
and "Box Wars."

An inventive approach to working and
professions, each poem offers a
unique perspective on jobs.  "Coo-Coo-Ca Chew"
is a humorous look at customer service
in the returns area of a department
store.  "Cheer Up, Subversive Jean"
is a humorous account of the FBI
looking into the band The Monkees
for what the rock band was "really"
up to in 1967 at a concert.  "Godspeed,
Myrna" talks of unemployment and how
someone might spend their time good or
bad when not looking for a new job.

From "Jupiter Works on Commission":
"Tomas and Vinny were welders./Until
they got laid off last November, that
is./Now, to keep in touch, the pair
meets once a week/for coffee in the
only restaurant they can afford--..."
This is the title poem.  It's the
story of Tomas and Vinny praying to 
find work and how they decide they
need to quit praying to saints but
instead to the Roman gods and
goddesses, specifically Jupiter.  This
is my favorite poem in the book.  I
could read it over and over again.

Jack Phillips Lowe has accomplished,
or rather put into print a realistic
view of the working life (a life we
spend so much time with whether we are
employed or not it surrounds us; 
unemployment; spouse's jobs; graduating
and looking for a job, etc.)

From "Survivor's Stripes":  "The night
before the job interview,/Reed stands in
front of his bathroom mirror/and stares 
at them peeking through his sideburns:/
curly gray hairs."...//"standing tall,
Reed decides to wear/his grays proudly
to the interview/as badges of wisdom--..."

Lowe writes with a certainty
that captures the everyman soul -- poems
in touch with the world working or not
working.  He delivers a contemporary
narrative of down to earth poetry for the
working souls.

(A big thanks to LB Sedlacek!)

To order the book: Jupiter Works on Commission

"Bird on a Motorcycle"

My poem, "Bird on a Motorcycle," and two others are featured in the December, 2015 edition of Writing Raw. For this privilege, I thank super whiz-bang editor Weeb. Please check it out!

Davina Rhine Reviews "Jupiter Works on Commission"

Chicagoan Jack Phillips Lowe's poetry collection, Jupiter Works on Commission, is a witty and buoyant read in a time where literary arts have largely been replaced with unimaginative social feeds. His subject, work, is reminiscent of the creative and political era of Beauvoir and Sartre's Les Temps Modernes. Poems such as "The Breadman," "Meticulous Care," or "Cheer up Subversive Jean" would have resonated alongside their reporting and columns. His storytelling brings characters like Lou D'Amato (a salesman who made a deal with the reaper), Tomas and Vinny (two guys chronically unemployed who desperately seek out a Roman God for financial help) to life in rich and brief prose.

 

His narrative is clean, unfussy, and crisp ... Much like Hemingway's Nick Adams stories. Lowe's frank and playful observations of the new work environments, low-level management, and worker frustrations are documented in "Snapped", "Multiple Ironies," and "Survivor's Stripes."

 

This collection should be required reading in business and HR courses. As a frustrated worker myself who has seen both business and government ignore the Occupy Movement and the general plight of the American people this collection made me laugh, relate, cry, and pray.

reviewed by Davina Rhine
Author of:
Rebel Moms: The Off Road Map for the Off Road Mom ... 52 Moms share it all to help new moms rock motherhood!

www.rebellionpress.com

"A Hundred 'Likes'" on the Poetry Super Highway

I am honored to see my new poem, "A Hundred 'Likes'" posted on the cool website that all poets should check out, POETRY SUPER HIGHWAY. Thanks to editor Rick Lupert for this privilege!

It's Available NOW! "Jupiter Works on Commission"!

* My brand-new chapbook, Jupiter Works on Commission, was released today!

* It's 57 pages of narrative poetry about the smiles, trials and tribulations on working (and not working) in America today. Special guest appearances by Elvis Presley, the ancient Roman god Jupiter and superhero Captain Nitro! Jupiter Works on Commission is perfect-bound, with a full-color cover and black & white illustrations inside. What's it like? Well. . .if the Smithsonian Institution and Disneyland had a baby, this book would be it!

* Much thanks to super-groovy-cool editor/designer Christina Anne Taylor for a terrific job!

* Jupiter Works on Commission is available NOW from its publisher, Middle Island Press! Please support the small press---we are our own audience!

 

Poems on Zombie Logic Review

I'm proud to say that I've got a couple of recent poems posted on ZOMBIE LOGIC REVIEW, a fantastic 'outsider' poetry website based out of my great home state of Illinois; Zombie Logic Press is one of the longest-standing independent presses in the American Midwest. Much thanks and respect to editor Thomas Vaultonburg, a kick-ass poet in his own right. Please check out the wonderful ZLR!

"The Night Hoss Kiboshed the King" and Others

I've three fresh-from-the-oven poems posted over at the DEAD SNAKES poetry website. Do you want to know how Hoss Cartwright kiboshed the King of Rock & Roll? Then click on the link above, Home Slice, and find out! Much thanks to editor Stephen Jarrell Williams.

"In Fact": New Poem in Nerve Cowboy

My bakery-fresh poem, "In Fact," is humbled to stand in the distinguished company (Cathy Porter, Fred Voss, Charles Harper Webb, among many others) of Nerve Cowboy #38: Great fothermucking reading. Thank you, fantastic editors Joseph Shields, Jerry Hagins and Elissa Yeates!

Oh, and merci, Françoise Hardy, pour La Question.

"Captain Nitro Returns" in The Bitchin' Kitsch!

My new poem, "Captain Nitro Returns," appears in the freshly-posted April 2015 edition of The Bitchin' Kitsch. Please give Captain Nitro Returns a look-see. Much thanks to editor Chris Talbot-Heindl and everyone at the hard-rocking BK!