Caffeine Destiny may sound like another coffee-shop inspired magazine, but it is not. For one thing, Caffeine Destiny has three poems from Ruth Daigon, best known as the editor of Poets On, a now defunct themed literary rag. How did they manage to snag Ruth Daigon? She submitted her poetry unsolicited. It says volumes about the magazine if someone with a reputation like Daigon’s freely submits her poetry here.

Daigon’s poetry did not disappoint me. Her language is heavy in detail, which adds to the magic. That’s what I’d like to see from more poets – specificity and a willingness to play with language. The rest of the poetry featured in Caffeine Destiny is pretty good. The editor is obviously consistent in her judgment

The fiction is clever and well crafted. I particularly enjoyed the darkly humorous study of dehumanization in “About the Author,” in which the main character acquiesces in the neutering of his own public image. (I wonder, though, why there are fractions instead of apostrophes in this story.) I also enjoyed the intense prose of Katherine Hill Cantrill and Maya Sonenberg.

Besides the poetry and fiction, the editor provides book reviews written under a pseudonym. Douglas Coupland participated in a Q&A column that consists of short sound-bites. You can’t really bill this as a Coupland interview, though, since it really isn’t detailed enough to be considered one, and consists of questions like “Do you drink coffee?”

As far as the layout goes, the home page is cool and uncluttered in its design and graphics. The type is big and easy to read. However, the margins seem a bit wide. This, however, is a small deviation of taste. I recommend Caffeine Destiny to those who seek good poetry and prose on the Net.

I wonder who will be the next well-known poet to submit to the magazine.