Bruce Lader

Poet

Raleigh, NC
North Carolina US

Author's Bio

I believe in the vital necessity of political poetry and publish poems against war and to preserve our planet. Many other of my poems blend images of the natural world with musical metaphors, in ways similar to improvising jazz. Here is a sample from the Spring 2009 issue of Falling Star Magazine:

Dearest Betty Carter

Sweet mistress of eureka,
there’s only one of you swinging colors instantly recognized,
leading me through far-out mazes
of harmonies I could listen to
marooned on a remote island forever.

In the car I pray for traffic delays as you nuzzle my ears, caress me with juicy morsels
of elusive melodies
gliding like discoveries of birds.

You change the monotonous sentence of work into honeymoons around unknown planets.
So many nights I have wakened
yearning for your delectable voice,
spider-stepped to the study
where we rendezvous in your galaxy of music.

My wife doesn’t dig the idea
of ménage à trois. She observes me
swaying and gyrating out of control like an infatuated teenager
when you steal my breath away
without leaving a clue how you bridge tunes to the furthest horizons, and mold them
with deceptive curves of delight.

I can’t keep our involvement
hush-hush any longer.
She’ll read this poem and get
the wrong picture about
the nebulous voyages
you navigate with limitless range
of camouflage, the abundant sounds
seducing me astray.

Publications & Prizes

Anthologies:
From The Porch Swing: Memories Of Our Grandparents (Silver Boomer Books, 2010)
,
Against Agamemnon: War Poems (WaterWood Press, 2009)
,
Bay Leaves (North Carolina Poetry Council, 2009)
,
MEOW (Outskirts Press, 2009)
,
Blue Arc West (Tebot Bach, 2007)
,
Celebrations (July Literary Press, 2006)
,
Mountain Time (Old Mountain Press, Inc., 2006)
,
Passing (PoetWorks Press, 2006)
,
Poetic Voices Without Borders (Gival Press, 2005)
Books:
Landscapes of Longing (Main Street Rag Publishing Company, 2009)
,
Discovering Mortality (March Street Press, 2005)
,
Buoy on the Water (Hub Publications Ltd., 1979)
Journals:
.Cent
, ,
Arabesques Press
,
Aries
,
Asheville Poetry Review
,
Audience
,
Ballard Street Poetry Journal
,
Blind Man's Rainbow
, ,
Blue Fifth Review
,
Cafe Solo
,
CircleShow
, ,
Confrontation
,
Contemporary Verse 2
,
Controlled Burn
,
Dalhousie Review
,
Earth First
, ,
Existere
,
Falling Star
,
First Edition
,
Fulcrum
,
Gloom Cupboard
,
Green Hills Literary Lantern
, , ,
Heavy Bear
,
IF Poetry Journal
,
In Posse Review
, ,
International Poetry Review
,
Iodine
,
Jelly Bucket
,
Listening Eye
, , ,
Manzanita Quarterly
,
Margie
,
Midnight Mind
, ,
New York Quarterly
,
Oak Bend Review
,
Old Red Kimono
,
Oyez Review
,
Poem
, , ,
Poetry Salzburg Review
,
Potomac Review
,
Powhatan Review
,
Quercus Review
,
Real
, ,
River Poets Journal
, ,
Rockford Review
,
Sojourn
,
Spindrift
, ,
Talking River Review
,
The Alembic
,
The Centrifugal Eye
,
The Seventh Quarry
, ,
Tulane Review
,
Vanderbilt Review
,
Wanderlust Review
, ,
Prizes won: 

Brockman-Campbell Award, 2005, Honorable Mention; Greensboro Award in Poetry, 2008, Finalist; North Carolina Poetry Council, 2009, Honorable Mention;

Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
And by Michael Blumenthal, Second Blush by Molly Peacock, A Density of Ghosts by Sonia Rapaport, Night Huntress by Joanna Catherine Scott

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
Jewish
Prefers to work with: 
Children
Born in: 
New York
Raised in: 
New York, NY
New York
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Jul 15, 2010