Carrie Magness Radna – Page 2

Coming Soon from Cajun Mutt Press: Shooting Myself in the Dark by Carrie Magness Radna

December 15, 2022 James D. Casey IV

The first Cajun Mutt Press book release of 2023 will be Shooting Myself in the Dark by Carrie Magness Radna!! Look for it on Jan. 17th, and “shoot” me a message if you grab a copy. I’ll mail you some CMP logo stickers! Please leave a review as well. I’ll have a copy to post some more pictures of soon, and I’ll share the Amazon link once it goes live.

Cover by JDCIV

“More so than any troubadour I know, Carrie Magness Radna is an artful prodigy when it comes to blending the subtle chasm between poetry and musical cadence, creating compositions that stir the senses with their tonal acuity and polyphonic jolts. In Shooting Myself in the Dark, her latest assortment of euphoric and often erotic story-songs, she solidifies her status as a bardic traveler and chronicler of life’s manifold beats and wallops. Radna’s expressive lilt is a symphony of authenticity, beauty, and, of course, love, with a rhythmic fusion of colorful runes drawn from her vast knowledge of pop culture and her astute reckoning of our daily struggles. In these poems, she aims to make sense of the disquieting doldrums by drumming up a chromatic world of “tipsy valentines,” “tangerine oxygen,” and “ruffians in Nantucket.” Radna infuses her whole spirited self into this multihued collection. Listen closely to her melodious linguistics and you will hear not only a bold, blunt, badass, and sometimes brokenhearted voice; you will also hear the harmonic hum of humanity. So get ready for a romping, stomping, bopping rollercoaster of a rousing good time. No matter your mindset at the moment, Radna’s notes will strike just the right chord.”

—Cindy Hochman, editor-in-chief of First Literary Review-East

“I love a book that plays like a record album, poem sequencing as fade-ins and outs are carefully crafted. Radna’s intro (ABACAB), opens on the word “Angel” and sings of “Beautiful Dreamers,” leaving the reader unprepared and surprised to hear the voice of Lucy Van Pelt three poems later. This made me laugh out loud. Musicality, surprises, and laughter are sprinkled with romance, in all its practicality and insanity from the intro to the outro: “1st Year in New York,” a love poem written to both Radna’s adopted city and also, deservedly, to herself.”

—Puma Perl, writer and performer, author of Birthdays Before and After

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 10/07/22

October 7, 2022 James D. Casey IV

As I give thanks

I illuminate,
like an angel, glowing
with pink neon-lit wings;

my chest sweats
from my last
Tequila Gold shot.

I fall into bed,
singing Bee Gees hits
as I smile widely.

When was my last
true moment
of happiness?

Don’t dwell on the negative,
Mom would say.
Since she’s not here now
(still alive in Texas),

I must carry on, y’all,
& remember the tough
hours anyway—& reflect
on this sudden, hour of bliss,

& give thanks for this.

Carrie Magness Radna is an audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, a choral singer and a poet who loves to travel. Her poems have previously appeared in The Oracular Tree, Mediterranean Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, Poetry Super Highway, Shot Glass Journal, Vita Brevis, Home Planet News, Cajun Mutt Press, Walt’s Corner, Polarity eMagazine, The Poetic Bond (VIII-X), Alien Buddha Press, Jerry Jazz Musician, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Rye Whiskey Review, and First Literary Review-East. Her poetry collections: Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press) was published in December 2019, and In the blue hour (Nirala Publications), was recently published in February 2021. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, she now lives with her husband in Manhattan, New York. https://carriemagnessradna.com

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 06/10/22

June 10, 2022 James D. Casey IV

Melissa (no. 120 of Women’s names sensual series)

She lives as if her home is a museum:
dust doesn’t settle on the window blinds
or swirl in the harsh morning light.

Each pillow is professionally plumped,
nothing is misplaced, repeated or in haste,
waste never exists here.

She says the words “order,”
“organizing” & “selections”
as if they are delicious;

to most people, the same words
grab & turn its slobby victims
sharply & painfully inward,
as if they are caught
in a vise.

Any advice she gives sounds urgent,
especially over the phone
she sounds like an emergency siren.

What about her polished children:
are they merely ornaments to show off,
until they get dirty
or get ideas of their own—
will she straighten out
all their Slinky kinks,
or ignore them forever?

& the future:
Will anyone care about her museum,
her well-put body,
now showing its wear with aging—

Will they take over the mortgage,
or sell each object one-by-one,
after her last, restrained breath?

Carrie Magness Radna is an audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, a choral singer, and a poet who loves to travel. Her poems have previously appeared in The Oracular Tree, Mediterranean Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, Poetry Super Highway, Shot Glass Journal, Vita Brevis, Home Planet News, Cajun Mutt Press, Walt’s Corner, Polarity eMagazine, The Poetic Bond (VIII-X), Alien Buddha Press, Jerry Jazz Musician, Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Adelaide Literary Magazine, Rye Whiskey Review and First Literary Review-East. Her poetry collections: Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press) was published in December 2019, and In the blue hour (Nirala Publications), was recently published in February 2021. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, she now lives with her husband in Manhattan, New York. https://carriemagnessradna.com

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 04/04/22

April 4, 2022 James D. Casey IV

Car on fire

Another Mercedes-Benz is abandoned
on Central Park West—its iconic
hood ornament was picked clean
from its midnight blue metal husk,
& its engine smoked odd vapors—

That wasn’t surprising—
people dig bling & any rich tags,
usually they are pawned off
casually to curious collecting bidders.

But the smoky engine
erupted into flames
on the UWS—no one cared,
as if the car itself
had committed
some heinous crime.

Remember,
in war-torn countries,
the most expensive cars & objects
first were set on fire—their perpetrators
sending a message to the consuming West?

But this is the West Side;
the car’s flames danced
under expensive apartment buildings
situated by the park.

Who did this? An uneasy visitor
who wanted a taste of Easy Street?
A tail-end of a riot?

Or,
did a long-time resident
needed to sabotage himself,
to begin anew,
without any known trappings—

or,
was it
just another accident?

Carrie Magness Radna is an audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, an Associate Editor for Brownstone Poets, a 2022 Pushcart nominee, a choral singer and a poet who loves travelling. Her poems have previously appeared in The Oracular Tree, Mediterranean Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, Poetry Super Highway, Shot Glass Journal, Vita Brevis, Home Planet News, Cajun Mutt Press, Walt’s Corner, Polarity eMagazine, The Poetic Bond (VIII-X), Alien Buddha Press, Jerry Jazz Musician, Brownstone Poets, Rye Whiskey Review and First Literary Review-East. Her poetry collections: Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press) was published in December 2019, and In the blue hour (Nirala Publications), was recently published in February 2021. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, she now lives with her husband in Manhattan, New York. https://carriemagnessradna.com

Cajun Mutt Press Featured Writer 02/02/22

February 2, 2022 James D. Casey IV

Madame Fly

It was a different energy—
I guzzled down the contents of the mystery bottle;
I needed to feel strong again.

But I saw blood pouring
out of the maple trees
like sweet red syrup,

& my eyes saw too much
as if I had 6 eyes fastened
tight in my head,

& I felt so light
as if I’d grown wings
& flew out of the jungle,

but I was still a lady,
drugged like Ms. Alice,
trying to find her way home.

Carrie Magness Radna is an audiovisual cataloger at the New York Public Library, a choral singer and a poet who loves to travel. Her poems have previously appeared in The Oracular Tree, Mediterranean Poetry, Muddy River Poetry Review, Poetry Super Highway, Shot Glass Journal, Vita Brevis, Home Planet News, Cajun Mutt Press, Walt’s Corner, Polarity eMagazine, The Poetic Bond (VIII-X), Alien Buddha Press, Jerry Jazz Musician, Rye Whiskey Review and First Literary Review-East. Her poetry collections: Hurricanes never apologize (Luchador Press) was published in December 2019, and In the blue hour (Nirala Publications), was recently published in February 2021. Born in Norman, Oklahoma, she now lives with her husband in Manhattan, New York.

https://carriemagnessradna.com