Sayin it in fewr ltrs

The other day I was talking with a co-worker and made the comment that back when I was in school a mouse was just a rodent. In reply she quarried, "isn't it still?" I said, "What's that on your desk?" Her chair swerved back away, "Where?"  This isn't a a ditzy person.  Some changes we hardly bat an eye over anymore and clearly parts of language are among them.   Pauk Jury's "5 Ways Texting Is Ruining Changing English" illustrates some of the ways we've progressed (I don't mean that like it sounds) in the past few years.

I'm interested if anyone is employing or even stops to consider employing some of the common Textese language in there poetry?  Maybe for effect? Ok, I mean besides in Flarf. Such language modifications are a part of our changing culture. 

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Journalism Legend Daniel Schorr Dies At 93 : NPR

 

July 23, 2010

Daniel Schorr, a longtime senior news analyst for NPR and a veteran Washington journalist who broke major stories at home and abroad during the Cold War and Watergate, has died. He was 93.

I was saddened to learn of the passing of Daniel Schorr today. To me he was an institution. While in recent years his deep reassuring voice graced the radio waves via NPR, I recall his earlier network days and during the 70’s when at the height of the Vietnam War / Watergate era, his no-nonsense reporting earned him a spot on Nixon’s famed enemy list.  While he won numerous awards, it seems funny to me, at that juncture in my life I felt making Nixon’s list was the ultimate prize.

I had no idea he was 93, I suppose I just never gave it much thought. As an avid NPR listener I would listen to him throughout the week and especially his weekend edition wrap up of the events of the week. His mind was sharp right up to the last time I heard him.

His analytical view of world events was generally in step with my own point of view on things… but in the occasional instance where we differed, his arguments were none the less sound and would give me pause for consideration. While rare, he was capable of turning my thinking on things, but the rarity of this has more to do with the amount of mutuality of thought and less on his often convincing arguments.

His voice was deep and resonated well on radio. If there was anyone who was born for radio, he was surely it.

I already feel a void on the radio dial.

Dan Schorr Memorial Special

Journalism Legend Daniel Schorr Dies At 93 : NPR

 

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Next Poem

The "next' poem is always THE thing, the question, the fear. ~ Anne Sexton, Feb. 1, 1959

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Confession Tuesday

      As you can see in the picture at the at the left, the sky here looked somewhat ominous as I was leaving the office tonight. It didn’t wait for me to get home for the sky to open up in torrential downpour. I confess this means I will not get the lawn mowed tonight. It’s confession Tuesday again…

     Cathy has expressed the opinion that I always look half dead after mowing the lawn in the heat of the summer. I confess that I’m not one to argue this.  But in my own defense I will point out that I prefer to look at it as looking half alive. This is a good thing isn’t it?

~0~

I’m so totally addicted to diet Coke. Not  diet Pepsi- no way.  I confess that if I’m at a dining establishment that only serves Pepsi, it’s probably going to be Ice water or Tea for me.  My family believes the perfect job for me is quality control for Coke.  Trust me… I know when it’s just perfect… it has to have that cool burning sensation as you swallow it. It seems to be getting harder to find a good quality fountain Diet Coke.  Quick Trips used to have among the best, but even they seem diluted these days.

I confess today was a really rare day as I didn’t have ANY diet Coke. 

I confess I am having a glass of Chardonnay  at this moment though.

 

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Did You Know?

A few bits of interesting facts you may not know about the next Poet Laureate, W.S. Merwin-

I've actually been enjoying Merwin as a poet for quite a while now.  I own three of his books, one being Migration which is a quite lengthily manuscript so I've read a lot of his work. As such, I've learned a bit about him over the last couple of years, but recently, a few more facts and I believe he is as interesting a person as he is a part of the American poetry landscape.

Here are a few of the more interesting bits of information.   How many of these did you already know?

1. Merwin is a two time Pulitzer Prize winner and was a winner of the National Book Award (for Migration).
2. During the1960s Merwin decided to stop using punctuation in his poems. He said that he had "come to feel that punctuation stapled the poems to the page ...  Se said, “I wanted instead the movement and lightness of the spoken word.”
3.  He and an earlier wife, Dido figured prominently in a period of time when Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes were in Europe.
4. Merwin was the son of a Presbyterian minister.
5. Merwin and his present wife reside on an old Pineapple plantation on Maui that had been restored to a more natural state. He's cultivated more than 700 endangered species of indigenous plants including the Hyophorbe indica, a palm tree he helped save from extinction
6. The 18 year old Merwin  sought out the advice of  poet Ezra Pound, who told him to write 75 lines every day.
7. He claims to never have composed a poem on any sort of mechanical or electronic device, preferring a small spiral notebook or even a paper napkin.
8. He does not have e-mail, further says he doesn't want it.
9. He was first awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1971, and used the occasion to speak out passionately against the war in Vietnam, donating his prize money to the anti-war effort.
10. He has began studying  Zen Buddhism in the 1970's.
11. Merwin, a pacifist, was incarcerated in a naval mental hospital near the end of the second world war for his pacifism.
12. He has translated materials from from French, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese, among other languages.

So how many of these things did you know?  What if anything surprised you?


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In Search of Lasting Poetry

"Peace goes into the making of a poem as flour goes into the making of bread." ~ Pablo Neruda

Each gentle word is brought forth
its cheek gently stroked
its hue noted against the shadows
of nearby words-

Stand here! No,
over here-  ah... perhaps another
time for you dear one.

Some are ground more coarsely
and some must be sifted twice at least.

Work together-
harmony everyone- harmony.

And if I anger-
it is for want of more harmony.
If I MUST get loud
If terse is called for,
it will be in defense of
unity... it will be
to build a better loaf.


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Week in Review

 

• I haven’t written nearly enough this week. ::frown::  [for which no one is to blame but myself]
• I read an amazing poem this week by Terresa Wellborn titled POEM: In Praise of Schizophrenia
• I received a signed copy of Susan Rich’s book The Alchemist’s Kitchen the mail [books in the mailbox always trump bills]  I’m reading it and very much enjoying it.
• Got a little excited about the  new Poet Laureate news.
• Read from works by Mary Oliver and Victoria Chang
• I’ve been pondering a poem idea of my wife’s (which I will take to paper this weekend and see what I can do with it)
• Did Snoopy dances around the house when the National League won the All-Star Game.
• Checked out the new Prospero’s Bookstore in Blue Springs
• Of course there was the regular 9-5 (those hours are metaphorically speaking)
• The 4:30a.m. trip to the airport
• The dogs… always the dogs.

and so on…

Oh Really...

 

I write like
Ursula K. Le Guin

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

 

 

By the way....

using other poems I've written I had various other results including:

• JAMES JOYCE
• J.K. ROWLING
• DAN BROWN
• DAVID FOSTER WALLACE
• VLADIMIR NABOKOV

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Three Cheers!!!

How Exciting!

W.S. Merwin is among my favorite poets and I am ecstatic at the news he is to serve as the next U.S. Poet Laureate.




W.S. Merwin  Poet Laureate

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The Shape of Things to Come - Poetry in e-form

NEW YORK — Billy Collins, one of the country's most popular poets, had never seen his work in e-book form until he recently downloaded his latest collection on his Kindle.


He was unpleasantly surprised.


"I found that even in a very small font that if the original line is beyond a certain length, they will take the extra word and have it flush left on the screen, so that instead of a three-line stanza you actually have a four-line stanza. And that screws everything up," says Collins, a former U.S. poet laureate whose "Ballistics" came out in February.


When he adjusted the size to large print, his work was changed beyond recognition, a single line turning into three, "which is quite distressing," he adds.


To me and I would presume most other poets, the way words appear upon the printed page is so vital to the integrity of the work. For the formatting to shift and create new line configurations is like printing a picture of the Mona Lisa in a book with the left side on a right handed page and the right side on the flip side. Who in their right mind would do that?


Admittedly I am very visual orientated when it comes to poetry. I do enjoy going to readings as well as giving readings but I place a very high premium upon seeing the words on a page. The idea of such formatting issues in e-books is a very big turnoff to me.

e-books   poetry    Billy Collins

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Gracefully Insane revisited

A few days ago I posted the following Anne Sexton quotation, "Even so, I must admire your skill. You are so gracefully insane." Lucindyl was curious about it asking if I knew in what context it was used and suggesting it must have a good story behind it.


The line is actually from a poem titled Eulogy In the Classroom by Sexton. I am imaging that it is a representation of the poet Robert Lowell who taught a class that Saxton, Plath and George Starbuck all were associated with. Given Sexton’s tendency to write Confessional Poetry it would not seem to be too far a reach to come to this conclusion. From everything else that I have read about Sexton and Lowell it would seem that she had quite a bit of respect for his brilliance even as she surely must have seen his decline in mental status.



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A Second Prospero's?

 

The independent bookstore that has graced the midtown area of Kansas City for years is taking it to the burbs.   They aren't moving, just cloning themselves sort of. Actually, come Friday they will reopen  Parkside Books, 208, N. Missouri 7, in Blue Springs as Prospero’s Parkside Books.

Beginning Friday and lasting through Sunday they will celebrate the official  grand reopening along with a tent sale where some paperbacks will be priced at a buck and hardbacks as low as two bucks. Half the proceeds going to two not-for–profit charities… the Hope House and Write the Future.

At a time when many Independent Book Stores are closing, this is good news! And Prospero's has been a big supporter of local writers and particularly poets. I haven’t heard if they are planning anything like the poetry pit at the new location yet.

 

 

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Confession Tuesday

It’s Tuesday— again.

I haven’t time to dittle-dattle so if you are here for Confession Tuesday come along…

Dear Reader~

I confess that I’m tired today. Is it age? What is it that leaves me without energy by mid day. I think the people in Latin America have the right idea about an afternoon siesta.

~0~

Last night I did not write. Instead I fixed dinner, mowed the front yard and watched the Home Run Derby. I confess that I should have written because tonight I will want to watch the All-Star Game. So what will probably happen is that I will try and write while I’m watching it, or write after it when I am even more tired then I am presently. Of course I will likely beat up on myself for being lax in my writing come Wednesday.

~0~

Have I mentioned how annoyed I am at spammers that post comments on my blog.? I love people to comment, good bad or indifferent, but not post their spam. In fact, sadly that is the reason I went to moderated posts a couple years back. So people that insist on being jerks are not going to get their span on here anyway and would do well to stop wasting time. I confess this makes me grumpy.

~0~

My wife made a really interesting suggestion for a poem the other day. I confess this suggestion is really interesting has not fallen on deaf ears. It is in fact so intriguing that I have been thinking a lot about it because I want to do it justice. Cathy is very supportive of my writing but generally only cares for my most straight forward (accessible) work which means since I really like things more abstract I generally lose her interest on these pieces of work. I confess I should try to make this poem one that leaves little to the imagination so that she appreciates it.


I confess that I am all confessed out for now… hope everyone has a great week! Tanks for listening.





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Unconscious Mutterings –week 389

 

You say…I think:

• Dickens :: scare
• Collection :: stamp
• Weekends :: away
• Travel :: schedule
• District :: of Columbia
• Vampires :: Buffy
• Peep show :: marshmallow
• Crochet :: mallet
• Lion :: King
• Fetch :: ball

get your own list here

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Climbing into Poems

This week I’ve started my mornings reading from Mary Oliver’s Thirst.  It’s been a good way to get the days off. What I like about these poems is their spirituality. By this I’m not inferring religious so much as I am their contemplative nature and quite frankly “nature” is another very notable aspect of many of the poems.




I’ve read a handful of other poems by Oliver, plus I heard her read locally not that long ago and many are laden with rich images from the outdoors. Her poetry isn’t particularly complex but it is easy to climb right into them. I would not want a diet of only poetry like this, but I am happy to supplement my poetry tastes otherwise with these gems.

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Grace comes in all shapes…

"Even so, I must admire your skill. You are so gracefully insane."     — Anne Sexton

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Iran and the Brutality of Stoning

Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani is a 43 year old Iranian woman who faces death by stoning after being convicted of adultery. She has already spent five years in prison and received 99 lashes for alleged adultery, the issue of her innocence or guilt not withstanding, the fact that Iran would in this day and age stone people to death is brutally abhorrent. It speaks loudly about the barbaric state of the Iranian government.


People around the world should speak up concerning this and can do so by signing the Save Sakineh Petition and or the Protest e-mail here: International Committee Against Stoning. 


It would not hurt to share these kinks with friends or via twitter or facebook, etc.

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Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani  stoning   Iran


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Confession Tuesday

      It’s late Tuesday and I’m rushing to get my weekly confession done before I turn into a pumpkin at midnight….

      Hurry with me to the confessional, no time to waste--

 

Dear Reader-

A week ago we lost some channels on cable.  It’s been a frustrating week dealing with the cable people with various different stories as to the problem but still no resolve. I won’t go into the gory details but the short version is we are still where we were a week ago after spending multiple hours on the phone. Now we are awaiting a technician on Saturday because they now have run out of explanations.  All this is to say that I confess that I do not enjoy these kinds of drawn out things. I like to think that I can be a patient person and in many respects I believe I am, sometimes maybe even to a fault, but I’ve lost my patience on this situation.  I’ve almost lost my desire for cable as well.

                                              ~0~

I confess that I may be a _________snob.  (insert your choice of word)  My wife has accused me of being a poetry snob, a wine snob and I admit I am very likely a coffee snob. In the case of the latter for example I do not care for the coffee we have at the office. I’ve come to the conclusion that one of the reasons I am hard to satisfy when it comes to coffee, it comes down to the fact that I’d rather drink espresso that coffee.  I’m probably a wine snob too because I tend to favor white wines… especially Chardonnays and prefer Northern California to most imports. There are some good Northwest Chardonnays as well.

As for poetry…. ok, I confess I do have my idiosyncrasies about what I like and what I dislike, but what poetry lover doesn't? Does that make me a poetry snob?

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Temporarily

they lie
curled and swirled
in a basket of labor.

They smell of the day;
cigarettes and coffee
the grass and dog,
the sweat, the sex-
a scratch and sniff of where
they've been.


The coloreds and whites,
paisleys, printed and denims-
they are all mingled together.
A collage of color and odor


to be segregated later
into lights and darks.
To be centrifuged
to separate and flush
the day from the garment.


Michael A. Wells © 2010

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Photographing the Mind

I heard an NPR piece this morning about Jennifer Karady a photo artist who has an exhibit titled "Soldiers' Stories of Iraq and Afghanistan," appearing at SF CameraWork in San Francisco.  Her approach can be found within  the juxtaposition that presents itself when a soldier returns to what I will call the “normalcy” of life back at home, but retains the searing images in the mind that have come with their war experiences.
I’m curious what others who see these photographs feel about this art work, so go check them out on line and tell me what they do for you.
A link to the NPR Story can be found here.
Jennifer Karady’s own web site.

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Happy Birthday Shannon!

 

My middle daughter was a 4th of July baby so besides the 4th we celebrate her birthday each 4th.  However this 4th she is overseas, although she will be leaving soon to return home. So Happy Birthday all the way down under to Australia & have a safe trip home!  Mom and I are having strawberry shortcake in your honor. ;)

A poetic treat…

 

This video is Susan Rich reading one of her poems from THE ALCHEMIST’S KITCHEN.  It was a real treat to hear her read this piece.  I’ve borrowed it from her blog and hopeful she will not mind.

The poem is titled "At Middle Life: A Romance"  and what I like about it from a purely technical point of view is that it combines all three components that I believe complete a poem (unless of course you are dealing with something experimental) and they would be a cadence or rhythm, musicality, and just the right language in the best order for the human senses  to be present in the poem.

On occasion I seem to get maybe two of these three components together, hitting all three is the objective I long for.  In the absence of achieving it, the next best thing is finding one another poet succeeded at.  Thanks Susan! As a bonus I am a romantic at heart and find this one to speak to me personally.

 

 

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Morning Journal Entry

      I don’t know the time which is only important for for what I don’t know.

The back yard breeze across the deck gently pats my face and the shade moves about with no more exertion than meandering dogs with inevitability seemingly low in priority.  

It will not be like this all day- a value added fact. It is for the present just what it is and I accept the gift.

Between last night and this morning a poem was born of observation. It seems my mind was open to the possibility last night and still graciously accepting enlightening thoughts this morning. The summer breeze clears the mind to make room for the possible. 

Unconscious Mutterings - week 387

You Say - I think....

1.Collectors :: bill

2.Passion :: fruit

3.Winner ::  race

4.Uninhibited :: inland

5.Challenge :: court

6.Self :: exam

7.Your :: money

8.Viewer :: discretion

9.Random :: selection

10.Vice ::  president

Get your own list here

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Confession Tuesday

 

Whew… I nearly forgot Confession Tuesday! Off to the confessional…

Dear Reader-

I confess that I’m pretty happy with myself today.  I anticipated a rough work day and I did have a lot to do- but I did not let it kick my but! 

It’s easy in my work to look at days that did not quite go as I planned and get down on myself. I’m all for self evaluation but seriously it’s hard on even the best planned days to stay on cue because so much of what I do is crisis driven and out of my control. So when I have a day like today I may be tired when it’s over but still it’s nice to feel good about the outcome.

                                       ~0~

Klaus is making such progress in his recovery and while his legs were for the most part paralyzed between three and four weeks ago, he is now able to rise and stand on his own for three or four minutes at a time. He is trying to walk but it starts out as more of a crawl. and as he gets himself up in his excitement and momentum he will topple over at times. I confess that I am excited to see him trying so hard and having some success, but it breaks my heart when he stumbles. I know he has to do this if he is going to walk anything close to how he did before his injuries but I confess it is sometimes hard to watch. He works so hard. By the end of the day his little body is really taxed.It all reminds me of when the kids were small. As a parent you hate to see them tumble and get hurt, but you know you have to let them learn and that involves falling down too.

 

                                      ~0~

I confess this past week has pretty much been a bust as far as writing.  Not getting near enough done. I further confess that the past month I have blown off submissions. I’m not happy about either of these things. I confess that I am well aware that the process of writing and achieving publication is work and requires a discipline and I can honestly say I’ve not exhibited much of this in writing the past week.

                                   ~0~

I confess that dinner was pretty good tonight in spite of the fact that I was working from pretty much bare cabinets.

It’s 10:30 and If I hurry up I can still carve out a half hour or so to write tonight!

 

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Writer's Meme

This was on Book of Kells a while back and I'm just now getting around to answering it. If you haven't already answered these then consider yourself tagged if you're reading this.


1. What's the last thing you wrote? - A text message to my wife.


2. Is it any good? - I suppose for what it was intended. We aren't talking the Great Amerinan Novel.


3. What's the first thing you ever wrote that you still have? – I honestly can't don’t recall.


4. Favorite genre of writing? - Poetry.

5. How often do you get writer's block? - At least once every three or four months I get what I’d refer to as “writers funk” which starts like this: What I write would irk a bird if I lined his/her cage with it. Sometimes it lasts days or even weeks. In some instances (though rare) it will ultimately paralyze me and leave me in a writers block.

6. How do you fix it? – Usually two things. Hold my nose and keep writing to push my way through it. I also turn to reading several poets that I admire to remind myself that the printed word can be a powerful thing.

7. Do you save everything you write? – Any more, yes. I’d say that I capture about 98% of it, though it is not especially well organized unless it’s something I believe has promise.

8. How do you feel about revision? -  It would be the only things that saves me 85 % of the time. It’s a necessity I not only accept but endorse.


9. What's your favorite thing that you've written?  Oh my. Hard to say - I guess without dwelling on it probably "Sport Utality Poem" or "Night Wish".


10. What's everyone else's favorite thing that you've written?  Probably "Tiananmen Mother" or "We Missed".


11. What writing projects are you working on right now? I have an on again off again manuscript that becons me at times. The working title is "File Folder" which is the name of what I would envision as that title poem. Something I wrote several years ago. Every few months I try changing the concept of it. It truly has more control of me then I of it.


12. What's one genre you have never written, and probably never will? - Horror. It's very likely I never will.


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Dull like a brother-in-law in front of a TV

 I always enjoy being introduced to a new poet that is especially able to captivate my attention from the start.  Not every poet is like that, but I often find that an excellent place to go looking for such inspiring wordsmiths is New Letters on the Air.

I’ve had two recent discoveries from New Letters interviews.  One is C. Dale Young who was interviewed by Robert Stewart and the other is Martha Serpas who was interviewed by Angela Elam. Today I want to talk a bit about Serpas because her interview especially hit home with me on several levels.

Serpas grew up in the bayou country of Louisiana. Many of her poems poignantly cut to the heart of the crisis of survival of the very land that she considers her home.

One of her books, The Dirty Side of the Storm was written prior to Katrina with the exception of one poem. But what I heard of the poems from the interview give a personality to the nature that makes up the complex Louisiana gulf basin. Serpas visits the erosion land in the basin with an eye on the threats to its very existence from a variety of man made encroachments including but not limited to the many canals that have been cut through the area for ease of access to the many oil operations.  Of course, if these poems predate Katrina, they also predate the existing BP oil crisis.

In her poem The Water, she has so many minglings of words that I just love. You hear them and they are have an almost living & breathing quality upon the page.  One such example….  “like a dull brother-in-law in front of a TV. He means something to somebody— but not you, not just now.” The poem can be seen in its entirety here and even better can be heard as well.
What I love about her poems is the way she seems to put man smack dab in the middle of nature with all the venerability the becomes both man and nature at the same time. The interdependence that cannot be denied. There too is a spirituality to her writing that is evident in seeking, finding, and losing.

In closing this post I’m sharing a link to the LA Gulf Response that Martha Serpas recommends and check out the video trailer for a documentary that will be released later this year titled Veins In the Gulf.

         















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My desk at the office

 

This would be one of my more organized mornings. You can actually see wood surface.

I’ve decided to start my morning at work reading a poem before I start the day. I’m trying this because I’ve found that before my writing sessions doing this gets me relaxed and in a creative mindset and figure doing the same before beginning my regular job may well have similar benefits.  I’ll let you know how I feel it is going in a few weeks.

 

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Emily’s secret love - The Boston Globe

 

Emily’s secret love

 

Following her father’s death, poet Emily Dickinson did something unthinkable in his lifetime: She began to romance her father’s best friend.

Emily’s secret love - The Boston Globe

Check out this article – I’m curious what people think about the revelation against the backdrop of conventional view of Dickinson?

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Confession Tuesday – Anniversary Edition

   It’s Tuesday again. That means confession time. Come with me to the confessional…











Dear Reader:

Today is the 36th Anniversary for Cathy and I.  While 36 years can seem like a long time, it’s not long enough….

I confess that I wish I could tell Cathy that I won the Power Ball Lottery last night but alas I cannot.  I buy tickets because she asks me to. I’ve never been crazy about state lotteries. I imagine that many people use what is otherwise non-expendable cash to chase a win / dream.  I hear stories about people who win the lottery and their lives are ruined. Cathy works very hard… I know lots of people work hard but she works especially long hours and I confess I would love to say to her look, you don’t have to do this anymore.  She tells me if we were to win, we would not be one of those couples who watch their lives crumble around them. I confess that I believe she is serious about this.

I confess I made a run to the Evil Empire last night. I haven’t been to Wal-mart in a long time. I try not to take my business there. I was a Target earlier but realized we needed something much later at home after Target was closed.

Amid the World Cup hoop-la I confess to being a scrooge.  When I was about 13, I played soccer. My heart wasn’t in it. I wanted to play ice hockey and ultimately did get to for a time but I always found it hard to figure out why people would run around a soccer field for so long, expending so much energy to personally put the ball in play 3 to six times.  The other thing is that there was so much talk about how Soccer was going to take the US by storm. By Storm!?  Ok, that was  44 years ago. Hello!

I confess I’m not really in as sour a mood as this post likely sounds like. Really, this is a happy day!!!  I have the best wife who loves me in spite of my flaws. I confess I am so very fortunate.

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Unconscious Mutterings Week 386

 

 

You Say… I Think:

• Executive ::  decision
• Director ::  conductor
• Dress ::  rehearsal
• Studio :: apartment
• Accountant ::  business
• Unit ::  measure
• Engaged :: couple
• Safety ::  inspection
• Post ::  fence
• Dialogue ::  manuscript

Get your own list here

Technorati Tags: Unconscious Mutterings,words

Father’s Day Post

  It’s always a thrill to hear from my kids (if I can still refer to them as such) so on a day in which I’ve been able to see two and talk with the other two, the day is a blessing. Still, there is a sadness that comes with two of them living in other cities.  In the day of cell phones, text messages it does seem to shorten the distance a little.

As a father’s day gift I received a digital camera. It’s really nice, but I don’t understand why I can’t call or text on it since I can shoot photos on my cell phone.;)

Actually, I’m pretty sure that the fact that I took so many photos on my phone seemed quite pathetic to everyone concerned so it was decided I needed a camera.
I do enjoy taking photos. I think photography is a great tool for poets.  Going out on a photo shoot can be a way of looking for ways to see your surroundings in different ways. Isn’t that what we so often do in poetry? Look for new ways to see things, that we might broaden our minds?

One way I’m looking at things from a different view this father’s day is by thinking about my own father. While that may seem seem odd to most, it is outside the norm for me.

My father and I had no contact during my formative years. It was not until I was around 19 that I recall seeing him. And in the few times we saw each other or corresponded after that it was generally an awkward association. Not something that I think either of us could be faulted for under the circumstances but sad none the less. He passed away in 2005 and I was unaware of it at the time. Our relationship or lack of one actually has profoundly impacted my life. In different times that impact looked quite differently to me.

But I will come back to father’s day now for a moment because it has always been about me (at least since I’ve had children) and prior to that it was just a day. This sadly makes me wonder would it would have been like to have that kind of day where I would have focused on a father.  To be the grateful son.

Technorati Tags: Fathers,Father's Day

Dickinson on love and life

I argue thee that love is life. And life hath immortality.  - Emily Dickinson

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Thought For Friday

"Uniformity, in its motives, its goals, its far-ranging consequences, is the natural enemy of poetry, not to mention the enemy of trees, the soil, the exemplary life therein."  — C.D. Wright

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Sometimes you have to find humor

 

Technorati Tags: BP Coffee Spill,humor,UCBComedy

Confession Tuesday - Indignant Edition

It’s lunch time on Tuesday and I’m off to the confessional. Are you following me?

Dear Reader:

During my years of active involvement in the Democratic Party I was exposed to an elected official who often said we must never lose the capacity to be indignant. I think it was likely a paraphrasing of someone else’s remarks but I thought about it then and again these past few days. At the time I first heard it, I believed it to a wise axiom, for when we become complacent with actions that are reprehensible we do ourselves a disservice.

I do confess that I have become tired of the bitter and hateful discourse that has come to pollute our daily lives. And it would be easy to say that enough is enough! Lighten up a little. But this axiom has come back to me recently and I confess that in particular that I am incensed by the recent remarks by Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) about the oil spilling (still) in the gulf. It seems Representative Young believes (and I quote) "This is not an environmental disaster, and I will say that again and again because it is a natural phenomenon." Perhaps Rep. Young believes this but drilling a deep sea well from a platform in the Gulf and suddenly after an explosion, the gushing of some 39 million gallons of crude oil into the Gulf (and counting) has nothing natural about it. It is not a part of nature.

I confess that I'm also incensed by a political ad run by Rick Barber, a candidate for Congress in Alabama’s second district. The ad is a representation of Barber ranting on the Internal Revenue Service, Health Care, etc., and shows an angry Barber pounding his point all the while a pistol lay beside him as he preaches to our founding fathers. In the end, we hear the rather threatening phrase "Gather your armies." Barber’s ad is incites insurrection. He too may be indignant. But I confess that even indignation must be tempered with responsibility. At a time when many openly carry firearms strapped to their side in plain sight, even as drinking their coffee at Starbucks, there is a responsibility that comes with our political system that asks of each of us the civility that makes peaceful political change a desirable end of our democracy.

I confess that I did not intend to sound preachy today, but I stand by everything I’ve said.

I also confess I will not preach next Tuesday. Unless I get indignant again. ;)


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Linking to Another Place or Time

 

 

I love this quote from Merwin… it’s sort of how I see poetry. A poem can be the link between another place or time. It’s a stone.

"The story of each stone leads back to a mountain." — W.S. Merwin

 

Technorati Tags: poetry in theory

Klaus Update

[Klaus on the ride home tonight]

K-man (one of the many names Klaus has picked up over the years) is doing better in his recovery process. In case you missed it, Klaus sustained serious injuries about three weeks ago. We were fearful that he had a spinal cord injury because he suffered paralysis in his legs. He had feeling in them but for the most part was unable to control any movement in them. He is using them now, the front more then the back. He struggles to upright himself and has some range of motion as we do physical therapy with him.  He has his sassy attitude back.  He gets lots of attention because he still requires much help.  It’s so good to see his determination and yes at times his frustration because that tells me that he is pushing his limits. One day he’s going to be able to stand again all on his own.  Soon the cats food dish will not be safe.

Few Journal Bits

I feel like we’ve already had more rain this year than all of last. I wake up mornings and I wring out my water logged brain and reinsert it in my head cavity and start the round all over. It has become insane!

At the left is a shot of the evening sky – the view westward from our neighboring Target. Yes it appears to be clearing. Long term however, we have showers in the forecast again tomorrow and Tuesday.  Who knows beyond that. It’s just like Chinese water torture only on a larger scale.

Some writing success during the past week. Some things I’m happy with as draft starts.

A few journal bits from this past week-

• 6-13-10  “eyes of emerald / a woman’s face / lashes like passengers / lined at the rail of an ocean liner / waving as she departs”
• 6-11-10 “Oh my God Klaus has improved. Last night he was trying to get up on his own. He cannot yet stand on his own but we can actually see this happening in due time.”
• 6-09-10 “I am watching my to-do list grow faster than I can attack it.”  :(
• 6-07-10 “it was well within the probability / you don’t think of / even when the thought occurs / a buzz that you wave off”
• 6-07-10 “that’s where you were— / the wild card I never used / the coupon that stayed on the refrigerator / well past the expiration”
• 6-07-10 “you remained an uncashed coupon / till the day you expired”

Couple of quotes I saw this past week that spoke to me:

"The first task of the poet is to create the person who will write the poems." -  Stanley Kunitz  Thanks to Susan Rich

“The two most engaging powers of an author are, to make new things familiar, and familiar things new.” - Samuel Johnson

 

Technorati Tags: Journal Bits,Stanley Kunitz,Susan Rich,Samual Johnson

Unconscious Mutterings week 385

 

You Say…. I Think:

• Offense :: score
• Bench :: press
• Kissing :: lips
• Timely :: arrival
• Yellow ::  submarine
• Get up and go ::  got up and went
• Beer :: Ale
• Calories :: intake
• Blast :: from past
• Window :: platform

 

Get your own list here

Technorati Tags: Unconscious Mutterings,words

Confession Tuesday - Electronic edition

Sometimes it's not easy pulling together a confession a week. Not because I don't have anything to confess but because the things I have to confess these days are not the stuff tabloids are made of.  So if you care to, come along with me to the confessional.

Dear Reader-

I confess that after about a month, I love my Blackberry Tour. It was hard moving from a palm platform because I liked the platform. I also liked having a touch screen and I confess that up until about 10 days ago I would still try touching my screen which makes me feel a little goofy but I think I'm finally over that.

I like that it loads the Internet with greater speed than my previous phone. I like the assortment of applications available to me. Sprint Navigation is awesome! 

I confess there are some aspects of electronic things today that I am becoming more ambivalent about. I have been able to weed out a lot of my email with my phone before I ever get home to my laptop and I like that. But last Sunday I had a work related email that came in and I wanted to respond to it and at the same time I didn't. As a result I decided I'm not sure that I like getting my office email available to me 24/7.

I confess that in our family, I'm the text messaging weakling.  Each of my family member probably way out text me.  Two I know for a fact because I see their message counts on the bill. I don't even come close.

There have been multiple days that I have come home an not turned on my laptop during the past two months. That would have been unheard of not long ago.  I think three days in a row is my longest abstinence.

I confess that my blogging posts are down.  I also confess that I am less enamored by Facebook these days. It is mostly the privacy thing. I think their policy changes have been disingenuous and this really irks me. But there are other things as well. Still, I do appreciate the contact if even limited from many other artists and poets. So I'm not quite ready to pull the plug yet.

I think it is the Capricorn in me that likes electronic trinkets and phone applications. But I am somewhat restrained compared to some people I know.  As for my Blackberry, I can justify it by the functionality of its many features. The calender, camera, task lists besides phone itself are just a few of those things that provide value to me.

As we become more electronically conditioned as a society, I'm trying to pick and choose for what it's worth.

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It seems the train has pulled out... where are we going?

For several weeks now I have been thinking about the future of the printed word as we know it.  As the weeks have gone by I have collected in my mind a spider web of sorts of related thoughts that have attached themselves or become caught-up in in my flow of thought. Some of these thoughts have been fueled by things I've heard on NPR or read elsewhere but they all seem to collide with the issue of where the electronic age we are in is taking publication of creative material.

It stared with feeling that perhaps this latest wave of ebook apparatus has perhaps been gaining traction.  I've watched with interest the pricing of electronic books themselves seem to hover for the most part at the $10 mark. Given materials for electronic books are (paper, ink binding) are non-existent, this leaves a larger profit margin to work with up front. So a traditional publisher who has the electronic rights has nearly no production costs.  You put together the artwork and set up the file and zing!  Oh, right, it still has to be marketed. They won't be seen on traditional bookshelves in stores unless they have a companion print edition.  They will need to be marketed  (thought pause) electronically! It seems that there really is little expenditure needed in this process, so my question is, "will this be a better deal financially for the writers or the publishers/distributors?"

The ultimate cost that these books settle into like anything else will adjust themselves based upon the market demand.If ebooks become the norm of future publishing this really could change the scope of the economics associated with earning a living as a writer. It could vastly improve it, but I tend to think that will not be universal. Certainly those who've made a name for themselves could adequately market their product without a distributor and many others will have to accept what margins publishers offer or battle for attention amid what is clearly going to be an abundance material as anyone will be able to publish.

Yet where this is leading economically, epubishing that is, is not the only aspect of this that is on my mind. A recent NPR piece called to question what impact the Internet and utilizing  electronic devices is having on our reading abilities. The Shallows': This is your brain Online offers some interesting questions about our  reading habits and comprehension. Are we so accustomed to the Internet with pop ups and scrolling, throw in e-mail and searches; that we are dumbing up our reading skills and comprehension. Because we can say something in 140 words or less doesn't mean it is the best way to communicate ideas.

I have a lot of questions and concerns about the future of print in our society. Answers I'm lacking.



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Counting

What's going on
in his miniature mind
another day of rehab
by 10 pm he is as worn
as any of us

His eyes will acknowledge me
but they'd rather close
in fact were part way there
but grew bigger on my account

His front right leg is jittery
a nervousness pent up
in legs that have done little
since a brute attack

We hear estimates
two weeks - a month
he sighs and I do as well
it seems long
longer if counting
in dog years


Michael A. Wells © 2010 - All Rights Reserved

Saturday Morning - through a dog's ear

This morning I made a Diet Coke run to Quick Trip and then drove own down the way to a little lake area close by and shot a couple pictures just because the spirit moved me to do so. ( the phote left is one)

Back home, as I do his blog post, Klaus is near by - his recovery is coming along though slowly. We put on a CD of classical music (through a Dog's Ear) which he seems to be enjoying and and is kinda of funny because no one else in the household  (people wise) likes the music except me.  I'm not certain what that says about them or me but we'll leave it at that.

Some work to do now-  but I do have writing on my radar for today as well.



                                                       

Gone

I saw this AP photo on Suzanne Frischkorn's blog and was struck by the simplicity of the message about what has become quite likely the greatest ecological disaster in our history. 

Sadly there is nothing simple about stopping the gulf spill. It continues to spew oil into the gulf creating a growing ecological dead zone.  If the spill were stopped today (which won't happen) the damage to the coastal areas are already beyond the imaginable.  No one knows when this will end and this is precisely because we have no fail safe remedy. The oil industry is unable to manage their own disaster.  Government agencies charged with regulating the industry for decades have been beholden to the industry. This should come as no surprise.  And all this time, there are people in this country who have argued in favor of more aggressive offshore drilling. Not only stated their case for it, but held rallies carrying signs and chanting, "drill baby drill."  What do these people have to say now? Perhaps they can put into words their justification in such a way that people along the coast that make their living off the region can understand. This is not going to be like a bad growing season to a farmer. This is not a year of drought. This is destruction. This is uncharted waters and indeterminable death to an ecosystem. Sometimes man sees himself separate from the ecosystem and thinks he is without repercussions. I'm not sure which is the greater ill, short sightedness or greed. They both seem to be are Achilles heel.

Confession Tuesday - Miracle Edition

It’s Tuesday though it really doesn’t feel like it to me so before it turns Wednesday already, let go the Confessional.


Dear reader…

I confess that for the first time in I don’t know, like almost forever I did not watch the Indy 500 this weekend. I love the Indy 500. I don’t care for NASCAR racing but I love the open wheel Indy cars. So how did this happen? I was pretty much overcome by an incident this weekend. I didn’t intentionally not watch it, it just completely fell off my radar till after it was over.

What was a horrific injury to one of our dogs that left him injured and unable to move his legs left a cloud over the entire household. He spent the weekend and right up till this morning in an animal hospital. The fear and I would add assumption was that he suffered a spinal cord injury. Diagnostics and treatment of such would be enormously costly and with guarded prognosis. This morning he came off the intense steroid treatment and pain killer IV and was transferred to a neurologist.

I confess that this weekend I pretty much lived on prayers that somehow there was a bit of hope for Klaus.

Around 10:30 this morning the news came that the neurologist felt he did not have a spinal cord injury but that he would make a recovery. Even two ribs that the animal hospital believed were broken did not appear to him to be broken. He has sent Klaus home to us with instructions for him to be allowed to move as much as he wants and if after two weeks he is not up and walking – he will talk with us about physical therapy.

I confess that I do believe in miracles.