Tag Archives: poet

Award-Winning Poem Featured in ‘Boomerlitmag’

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My poem Dream and Dream and Dream, which was long-listed for the 2023 Fish Publishing Poetry Prize, has been published in the highly-rated Boomerlitmag. The journal is #58 on a highly-regarded list of the top literary magazines. The ratings are based on the number of their contributors from the previous year who are selected as winners of the coveted Pushcart Prize. As an example, Paris Review is ranked #1.

Here is the link: https://boomerlitmag.com/allen-shadow-2/ and the poem is posted below.

Dream and Dream and Dream

Mama, as everything was going on
I was watching, always watching you

crossing the Bronx streets when I was five
taking my big sister to school

you were crossing me
but, really, I was crossing you

when my father would let go your hand
in the middle of a vast boulevard

when cars rumbled when trucks roared


Always, mama, always
wanting to make it better for you
even though there was no way

when Superman flew
the blind girl around the world
and she could see again

I wanted him to come break 
through the front windows 
and take you

bring you back seeing
setting you down in the little square 
living room or on the back porch

so you too could see all the 
birds and the great Oak
and then could dance 

around the corner
along Southern Boulevard
all the way to Tremont


All the places, just think, mama—
the story clouds, the platypus at the zoo,

elephants, the island in the Pacific
where, surely, you’d be a princess


Just think, we could cheat the 
night custodian to off-load all the fear

and float on the aimless wind—
the sky is loud, mama, loud


Well, I could always go to sleep, anyway
and dream and dream and dream

sometimes there’s a song you can’t know
but you can sing, nonetheless

Shadow’s NY Times Story Included in ‘Best of 2015’

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The piece I wrote as part of the New York Times “Walking New York” feature last spring is included in the Times feature: “2015: Our Best Visual Stories and Graphics.” The feature is published in today’s online edition.

To find my piece, click here, scroll down to the “Walking New York” story and search “Kovler”. Or, even simpler, click here, to read it (it’s a short piece) on this blog. I wrote this one under my given name, Allen Kovler vs. my penname, Allen Shadow.
Times_Best_2015

Shadow in Online Edition of The NY Times

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Just to clarify, my story appears in the online version of the “Walking New York” Magazine feature in The Times, and doesn’t appear in the print edition. If you’re looking, click here and search “Kovler” in your browser to find it quickly.

NYT_Kovler

 

Shadow Published in New York Times

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The New York Times published a piece I wrote as part of their Walking New York feature for this Sunday’s Magazine. In addition to a number of prominent writers, others were invited to submit a story of about 600 characters, and mine was one of few that made the cut.
NYT_Kovler
I wrote about a boyhood adventure along the Grand Concourse, in the Bronx:

The Grand Concourse, Near Tremont
By Allen Kovler (aka Allen Shadow)

At 13, my friend Sammy and I would hike up the Grand Concourse all the way to Mosholu Parkway on a hot, sunny Saturday, equipped as if on an explorer-worthy trek, cargo pants pockets stuffed with sundries, Army canteens smacking our hips as we marveled at the sights: the bric-a-brac stores on Burnside, the Loews Paradise, the bustle of Fordham Road, the eerie tranquility of Edgar Allan Poe’s cottage, the home for the blind. Exhausted, we’d mount a bus back, hanging from the windows, still thrilled.

Dog Guru

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My wife, Roxanne and I saw Jamey Johnson last weekend in an awful club in Clifton Park, N.Y. Johnson’s a country songwriter cum recording artist who’s anything but awful. He’s one of those rare artists who come along once in a generation in a genre, in this case country.

He’s so raw and real it hurts. He’s of the outlaw breed, and his songs — even some of his hits – hold a bare light bulb to reality.

He’s a Montgomery boy, an ex-marine, ex-family man, and ex-rebel rouser, and his voice is as perfectly imperfect as his life. I’m not writing this to pitch Johnson, but country fan or not, this plainspoken poet is worth a listen.

I’m reminded of Steve Earle, who blew me away with his 1986 debut album “Guitar Town.” One literate bad boy with a voice to match. The first time I heard him I wanted to burn my guitar and typewriter (remember those), but eventually returned to my auteur senses.

Feels good to get a jolt of genius through your gut once in awhile. I find it inspirational.

What I love about guys like Johnson and Earle is their take-no-prisoners approach. They know who they are, and they live it no matter what, even if it means sacrificing at the altar of the hit-machine gods along the way.

We can all use inspiration on the long and winding road of music artistry, something or someone to keep us on the scent of who we really are. For me, it’s my labradoodle, Stella. She’s my guru. She knows things even Einstein couldn’t, but most of all she knows exactly how to follow her nose, and I follow her example daily.

Stella, my guru

Stella, my guru

Johnson follows his nose at all costs, even though there are risks along the way. His next album may not do as well. He may fade from the scene like many road geniuses before him. But, no matter what, he’ll have done it his way, and he’ll have lived a fully-realized life.

For me, it took a decade to discover my voice as a poet. In fact, when I was in college, I didn’t even know what that really meant. Then, it took yet longer to marry my poetic voice with my music, even a career as a Nashville songwriter along the way, an interesting and — as I once told New York Times pop critic Jon Pareles – circuitous journey. But I now know who I am as a recording artist and know exactly where I’m headed.

And Stella keeps me on track; and no matter what, I love the ride.
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