Hello, World! BLOG DEL SOL Has Arrived!

Greetings, wanderers in the literary wilderness, mariners on the wine-dark Internet. It's time to heave that sigh of relief you've been saving for a special occasion: Blog del Sol is here to help you find the short story, the essay, the book review or literary journal or political rant (yes, we've got those too) you've been seeking for lo these many megabytes. Lost in the mountains without a map? Fear not; the Saint Bernard has arrived, and he brought you a cask full of poetry.

If you're here, you probably already know that Web del Sol is one of the best places to look for literary content on the Web. That's been true ever since Michael Neff founded the site in 1994, back when Mosaic was the leading Web browser, Kurt Cobain was still alive, and none of us knew anything about Monica Lewinsky or her blue dress. The site has grown organically since then, until now it resembles a topiary maze planted on the site of a massive fertilizer spill. There's so much here--so much top-notch literature; so many informative interviews with talented, kind, articulate authors; so many video clips and contest deadlines and manifestos and "best of" lists--that the site can seem overwhelming.

That's where Blog del Sol comes in. Every week we'll be highlighting some of WDS's best content, both as a way to turn you on to some excellent literary culture and to help you learn your way around the place. For instance, you might know that WDS provides links to great journals like Exquisite Corpse and Missouri Review; but did you know that WDS publishes no fewer than seven of its own literary journals, such as La Petite Zine, Double Room, and Del Sol Review? We also have a site that reviews literary journals and their Web sites (Portal del Sol) and a site dedicated to the InterBoard Poetry Community and its monthly poetry contests. There's so much great stuff here that I'm going to have to make up a whole new cliché to describe it all. I'll get right on that.

In the meantime, please direct your attention to Jan Owen's poem "The Irises," in WDS's poetry journal Perihelion. I love this poem for the way it addresses a very recognizable, very human experience--the death of a loved one--without being an ordinary lyric poem about the poet's life experiences. I tend not to like poetry that's too baldly autobiographical, and this poem skirts that territory neatly without veering into full-on depersonalized Language poetry. The grammar and syntax are relatively straightforward; it's in the images that this poem really sings:

There is my camera closed
on the promise of smiles,
and the square black bible from school
with its rainbow-crocheted bookmark
of Celtic rings and crested snakes
hallowing chapter 10 of Job.

Be sure to prowl around the rest of Perihelion while you're there, and we'll see you next week with more of Web del Sol's greatest hits. Promise! Cross my heart and hope to blog.