Daniel Gutstein

Interview with Danish Kroner

Volume 16:1, Winter 2015
The Sonnet Issue

Interview with Danish Kroner

I am looking for the warm wine
I was told “Come, come! we’ll serve warm wine
& there will be many kippered fish, too”
please point me toward the kippered fish
I confess ignorance of this tradition where
a common egg is apparently pickled
(purple) & kept in a large jar w/ many purple eggs
does each partygoer receive a pickled food item
before the sing-along? b/c
there might be quite a delay as guests are
seated at the table according to name cards
invariably a partygoer will remark &
I will respond: Yes that is my Christian Name &
no, I am not aware of the prevailing exchange rate.

 

Daniel Gutstein is the author of two collections, Bloodcoal & Honey (Washington Writers Publishing House, 2011), and non/fiction (Edge Books, 2010). His writing has appeared in Ploughshares, Prairie Schooner, American Scholar, the Penguin Book of the Sonnet, and Best American Poetry. He is co-director of a forthcoming documentary film on the standard American tune, "Li'l Liza Jane," and is a lyricist and vocalist for the punk-jazz band, Joy on Fire. To read more by this author, see the Winter 2004 issue, the Evolving City issue, his profile of Dudley Randall for the Memorial Issue, and his interview with Rod Smith for the Profiles Issue.