The brilliant experimental poet Leslie Scalapino passed away two days ago, after a decades-long career of crafting devastatingly frank, beautiful, and sometimes longingly abstract poetry. The founder of O Books, a press that helped many emerging poets and writers to get their start, Leslie will have three books published this summer and fall from Litmus Press, Post-Apollo Press, and Chax Press, and Poets House in New York will stage her play Flow-Winged Crocodile June 19th and 20th. There will be a memorial event for her at St. Mark’s Poetry Project on Monday, June 21st. Leslie Scalapino was one of the very first poets published in Drunken Boat, in our first issue. Her piece, excerpts from Tango stands out among that of the 11 poets included in that issue. Anyone who has not yet experienced Leslie's poetic landscapes, should take the time to explore her works today. must ‘accept’ death of others. —except them. ~Leslie Scalapino