Mercury, the Dime
by Michael S. Begnal
Pittsburgh: Six Gallery Press, 2006
ISBN 0-9746033-7-6
46 pp., US$7.00 paper.

The forgotten America, the clearest vision that of the newcomer. This is what Michael Begnal gives us in Mercury the Dime, a gift, a grand and sumptuous gift that should be duly acknowledged. One goes through this world accumulating experiences, accumulating prejudices, accumulating perspectives, and in this vast accrual something most precious is sacrificed; new sight. The world appears so vastly different with new sight, child’s sight, eyes that have never seen that which they currently behold whatever that may be. This is precious, the world of childlike wonder.

When Begnal inquires, “Why take the Indian head off the nickel and the penny?” it is the voice of a child lamenting the loss of that which has become a steady friend, a signpost into the world of coins magical and mysterious.  And one may respond with studied indifference that this is simply a matter of change, my boy, and the way of the world. But this answer offers no solace to one who sees clearly that something precious is being sacrificed. Yet changes in coin imagery are not the solitary focus of this work but a laden metaphor. Each page, each verse, brings forth and uncovers like a relentless archaeologist treasures long forgotten. Onward plods the march of change, turning soil upon soil, stamping in and leaving behind that which is no longer considered germane. Different is not always better, but better is always different. A handy axiom that breaks things down to component level thought. Yes the world changes, yes life is change, yes America itself has changed in accordance. But in this measureless accrual of changes much is quite different, not necessarily better, leaving the unclouded sight of the newcomer to guide us to those treasures we have cast aside in the name of change. In short, Mercury the Dime is not only edifying, it is indispensable.

Michael S. Begnal has been published in numerous journals, including Poetry Ireland Review, Translation Ireland, College Green, The Stinging Fly, Poetry Wales. His collection The Lakes of Coma (Six Gallery Press, USA) was published in early 2003, another collection, Ancestor Worship,  in 2004, and Mercury the Dime in 2005.

Life for CB Smith began in a southern part of the northern hemisphere where the heavy misted skies threatened to strangle him in swamps of crocodile infested feculent. Abandoned at birth by Trotskyite revolutionaries he was picked up by a wild crazy eyed trader and transported to a remote Indian jungle where he was raised by a band of itinerate lion-tailed macaque monkeys trying to write Hamlet using IBM Selectric Typewriters. Thus began his life. His essays and surreal fiction have been published in various worldwide e-zines and magazines. His novel/memoir/treatise Still Life With Psychotic Squirrel will be available through Six Gallery Press, Summer 2006.