Between 1692—93 twenty people were accused of being witches and executed in Salem, Mass. Nineteen were hanged on Gallows Hill, and one elderly man was pressed to death by heavy stones after he wouldn’t enter a plea. Several others died in jail. My purpose in this collection is not to retell what happened, which is widely known, or to give an account of Arthur Miller’s powerful, play, The Crucible. Instead, I’ve chosen to use his technique and blend characters together with people we know living among us. In Miller’s play, two judges are used as a composite of several involved in the trials. He keeps the real names of people but changes ages, and other basic facts. Rather than use all the play’s characters, I decided to work with those characters who are most easily recognizable and together, create a community, a town, a city. The point isn’t accuracy of historical fact, as much as to convey the atmosphere that led up to what happened. Little is known about the individuals involved, but much about the paranoia, and hysteria, as well as sexual tensions and wrangling over land boundaries that exploded in Salem. While for Miller, it was partially an allegory for the Communist witch-hunt during the 50’s that inspired his play, the situation has much wider implications, as he knew. What is going on now in this country makes it especially poignant for me, but to restrict it to that, is also too limiting. I see the situation as something ongoing, barely noticeable, until an accumulation of incidents makes it impossible to ignore, its darkness sweeps down on us, and we have no choice but to rise up and confront it. --From the Introduction by Linda Lerner.

A Dance Around the Cauldron

Literature & Fiction

Lerner, Linda

Poetry

Lummox Press

Bill Gainer's world is not a safe place, not for the old men, not for him. It's a place of mysterious things, happenings, people, and times. It's a place where the mysteries of old men are told, not with guilt, but as they happened. The Mysterious Book of Old Man Poems tells of a time mostly past, not forgotten, but hidden away in the hearts of old men, its magic intact.

The Mysterious Book of Old Man Poems

Gainer, Bill

This is a collection of old poems that have been neglected for several decades. At the time I thought they were sub-par, so I did nothing with them. But recently, I found them again and thus this book was created. I hope that it will bring new fans to my illustrious career as a writer. Enjoy.

Orphaned Words: Forgotten Poems from a Haphazard Life

Armstrong, RD

The past haunts these highly allusive poems, rich with thoughtful, precise images that convey “numinous ambiguities,” as in the title poem. A Circle of Bones is a welcome addition to 21st-century American poetry. —Clifton Snider

Circle of Bones

Hill, Gil Hagen

Tamaracks is national in scope and presents the work of 113 Canadian poets from Halifax (Brian Purdy) to Vancouver (Daniela Elza). It also contains detailed biographical and bibliographical information on these important writers. And it is a collaboration between James Deahl (editor and Canadian) and Lummox Press (RD Armstrong, CEO and American)...a co-adventure (surprising in these times of closing borders and tariffs on goods).

Tamaracks: Canadian Poetry in the 21st Century

Deahl, James

These are the 3 Winners and 4 Honorable Mentions from the first Angela C. Mankiewicz Poetry Contest... from the Lummox Poetry Anthology (annual) aka L 7 (2018). Jeffrey Alfier, First Prize; Mike Mahoney, Second Prize; Vachine, Third Prize; Donna Snyder, Honorable Mention; William Taylor, Jr., Hon. Men.; James Deahl, Hon. Men.; and April Bulmer, Hon. Men. Jeff and Vachine are from S. California; Mike is from Wallingford, PA; Donna is from El Paso,TX; William is from San Francisco, CA; James is from Sarnia, Ontario, CAN; and April is from Cambridge, Ontario, CAN. Overall it's an eclectic group. Special thanks goes out to the judge, Thelma T. Reyna and to Chris Yeseta, the layout genius.

Speak the Language of the Land

Alfier, Jeffrey

Rolland Vasin (aka) Vachine found his poetic voice in the Day Room of UCLA's 6 West Unit for Mental Illness Recovery. A Vietnam Veteran treated for war-related stresses, Rolland found solace in written and verbal expressions in modern poetic verse. His work is gutturally compelling, humorously ironic, and self-revealing, has been described as "a novella in fourteen lines." A CPA by trade, his practice is devoted to auditing and advising not-for-profit organizations which provide developmental and restorative services to children and their families. Rolland takes his bonuses in the smiles of human service professionals who make our world a better place at the end of every day and those they serve.

Stitches and Scars

Vasin, Rolland

United States

My Book of the Dead is dedicated to all my relatives who bear the surnames of Curran, Curraidhin, Lydon, Scanlan, Scanlon, Cox, Hammer, Dwyer, Gallagher, Wintermantel, Codori and all the others. You know who you are. With special mention of husband Edward D. Wintermantel Jr., daughter Cristin Curran Wintermantel, son-in-law Chris Buckley, and sister Mary Pat "Mur" Curran. Aine ní Churraidhín.Thus Ann Curran begins her third book with Lummox Press; a book that traces her roots back to old Ireland in all its triumphs and misadventures as experienced by the Curran family tree (in all of its iterations). Curran doesn't dote on her ancestors, though, for she is no sentimentalist. No, she has her tongue lodged firmly in her cheek for most of this long look into the past; a past that is many centuries old.

My Book of the Dead

Curran, Ann

This book contains the work of 140 poets and artists. Poets from around the U.S., Canada, Australia, the U.K. and Europe. Lummox publishes based on merit, not fame, so many of the poets may be unknown to the reader. However, there are strong showings from New York, Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Canada and California. This book shows that poetry is alive and well even during this age of Covid!

Lummox Poetry Anthology #9

Literary

Kell Robertson became a traveler after he left his home in southeastKansas at a young age (13), either pushed out by his stepfatheror of his own accord (I've heard distinct versions), finishing schoolthrough the 8th grade while living with his grandparents in ElkCity. When that was no longer possible, he hit the road, wanderingthe nation, creating his own reality as he lived it. He continued hisself-education, reading in public libraries, bringing a few booksalong with him.It was poetry and music that saved him in a way, even later inhis life when he succumbed to the family malady, alcoholism. Hewas a wandering poet, a survivor through the many chapters of his"down and out biography," usually living "low to the ground." Hechose a hard life (or was it chosen for him), living in rented houses,apartments, sometimes camping in forests, homeless shelters or avariety of refuges, once in a while with a women in a rented home.Two places where he stayed longer were San Francisco, California,and northern New Mexico, especially Placitas and Santa Fe. He alsolived in Ft. Worth, Texas, and Raton, New Mexico, for a while. Hetraveled on buses, trains, cars (often hitching). An itinerant poet ina world of the poor, he found his own way in life, working odd jobsfor little money, playing "guitar gigs," reading poetry and writing,existing as he could. If life was hard at times, he softened it withwhatever might make it more amenable (from the preface by GL Brower).

Ride Easy!: Selected Poems of Kell Robertson

Robertson, Kell

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