Author: rakemag

There are basically three kinds of poets. There’s that guy at the coffee shop who’s in need of a personal hygiene care package from the International Library of Poetry. There’s that tortured woman in Iowa who’s won so many big-buck fellowships and grants that her very existence tortures fellow poets everywhere. And then there’s the practical poet, the bard who decides to get a decent day job and write a little on the side. Like the good doctor William Carlos Williams, local poet-lawyer Warren Woessner took the road less disheveled, writing his poetry after the bills got paid. Which isn’t to say he isn’t devoted to his art; in addition to publishing thirteen books, he co-founded the poetry journal Abraxas in 1968 (it’s still going strong) and hosted a poetry radio show (it’s not). His new book, Our Hawk, resurrects the Toothpaste Press imprint of Coffeehouse Press, and features a gorgeous handmade paper cover. The poems inside have their own beauty as well. Woessner, a devoted bird nerd, writes about a hawk summering in the city, as well as nerve-damaged fishermen, a comet in the southwestern sky, and a page from a law book, fluttering amid the rubble at Ground Zero. Sometimes that office job bleeds over a little. 3038 Hennepin Ave. S., Minneapolis; 612-822-4611; www.magersandquinn.com

There’s a certain cult of pastrami that takes people on a global search. For many, the journey begins at a New York deli, but from then on, it’s usually a sad undertaking, as each new pastrami sandwich moves further from the true form. Enter Louie’s Habit and–oh my–a new standard. Louie’s pastrami is cooked slowly and with concentration. Thick-cut slices come out peppery on the crust, moist and tender beneath, with a deep, rosy color shining through. Piled on a thin slice of rye, it rightfully overwhelms and embarrasses the bread. If you ask for a slice of Jarlsberg Swiss melted over the top to help bind your sandwich together, you won’t be kicked out of the club. 1179 E. Wayzata Blvd., Wayzata; 952-249-7700

Marriage is a bit vague, isn’t it? Unless you have a lawyer write your vows, the actual terms of the agreement aren’t really spelled out beyond love and cherish. Who has to clean the bathroom? Whose last name does the dog take? In William Somerset Maugham’s witty, subversive 1920s comedy The Constant Wife, the spouse of a surgeon decides to redefine her marriage as a sex-free zone after her husband takes a mistress. When Constance plans to vacation with her own lover, however, her cheating husband raises a peevish British protest. Although the Guthrie has run its share of British drawing-room comedies, this is the first time it’s staged a Maugham play. 612-377-2224; www.guthrietheater.org

LANDMARK: 24 Hours at the Stone Arch Bridge Sunrise August 27 to sunrise August 28, Stone Arch Bridge How do you say “I love you” to a 2,176-foot span of metal and stone? Six local artists decided the only way to pay proper tribute to the architecture, culture, and history of this 1883 landmark, as well as the geology and spirit of the place where it stands, was with a twenty-four-hour multimedia spectacular. During this meandering, seemingly nonsensical lineup of performance and installation events, brass musicians will float on the river and dancers will portray the bridge’s past as a major transitway (it was built by James J. Hill). Tour guides and tucked-away installations will tell historical narratives. Video projections will create the illusion of never-ending daylight. Even poetry will appear and disappear along the riverbanks, making a lovely valentine. Minneapolis riverfront; www.localstrategy.org

Is Matthew Barney the George Lucas of art film? He devoted years of painstaking toil to a cycle of films, completing them, as Lucas did with the Star Wars franchise, in nonsequential order. They are also populated with exotic creatures, some of whom might not be out of place in a Star Wars flick. But while Lucas’ saga boils down to a good vs. evil battle, Barney’s Cremaster films … well, the fetal development motif gets a little complicated. Suffice it to say that Cremaster 2 (which premiered at the Walker in 1999) follows a backward narrative from the 1977 execution of Gary Gilmore (played by Barney) to an 1893 performance by Harry Houdini (who may have been Gilmore’s grandfather, and is played by Norman Mailer). Beyond that, you’re just going to have to take our word for it: This is truly weird and wondrous stuff. 612-375-7600, www.walkerart.org