Friday Night & I Remember to Blog

Criminality of poetry made it's way to the California State Supreme Court... outcome being watched closely.


Poems From a Baseball Fan Howard Nobles' first book of poetry find it's way into print.

At First I though Michaela was giving us a little panty humor... but the story of the 33 year old history professor who flashes her panties at political events is, well, on the up and up.

By the way - my yesterday afternoon hokey at the ballpark was lets say a massacre. The Royals allowed Detroit 27 (count them) hits... one shy of the 1928 franchise record for the Detroit Tigers. Needless to say the Royals lost. Anderson's ERA must be approaching that 27 figure. Hey, the weather was nice!

Off To The Ballpark

Day game awaits me.

Last night worked on a poem - The Truth ABout Mushrooms

Got to run....

Finally, Poetry for the Guy & Girl Next Door!

Baltimore writer Joe Fleckenstein is the author of a book titled
POEMS FROM AN AVERAGE JOE: A COLLECTION Some samples of Joe's poetry and more information can be accessed here.

Jilly sighting!

Jilly reports in from her residency program at Queens University of Charlotte. Exciting to hear all about her experience thus far.


Laurel Snyder - the Queen-Of-In-Between chisels out a little spot where she sets quite nicely on the fence. She seems ok with the view both directions.

OK... she says she isn't finished, but I like what she's done - Katey has a new do in the works. Makes me think I need to tinker with mine a bit. **sigh**

"I want to grow moss. " - Cassie Lewis

That cracks me up so bad! The girl seriously wants to settle down, and I can't blame her.

Last Night's Reading

My reading last night at the Writers Place came off against the backdrop of locally severe weather. We ignored it. The drive home was a bit challenging.

The best reception I got (no pun intended) was for my piece The Colorization of Television which for some reason seems to be a favorite. When I read Abstract Father one girl said, "Oh, that was about me!" Ok. I am now clairvoyant. **grin**

None of my Northland Writer friends made it. I understand there was some confusion about the date. Fourth Monday vs. Last Monday thing.

The group wasn't large - fifteen I believe.

Subliminal

1. Finale:: Grand
   
2. Martial arts:: Karate
   
3. Flirt:: sexy
   
4. Energy:: power
   
5. Flavor:: Baskin Robins
   
6. Guess?:: Quiz
   
7. Accomplishment:: Success
   
8. Prom:: Formal
   
9. Diploma:: Degree
   
10. Bloody:: kotex
    

Saturday Night - I drag myself here and blog...

Poet / Blogger Jilly Dybka is off to her 8 day MFA Residency. I know she'll be busy but she says she'll try to blog from her hotel. Hope she has time to update us a bit. At any rate, sending her best wishes. Sounds like an exciting time ahead for her.


I'm delighted to hear Cassie is starting to feel at home somewhere. Dang, the poor girl was beginning to seem like a homeless vagabon.


My thoughts are with Kasey after learning of the loss of his brother.


Robert Bly has a new release: The Insanity of Empire It addresses the current blunder in Iraq.

Tomorrow (Sunday) I will forsake my normal Northland Writer friends to do a family gig. My Aunt is in town from California.
But Monday - I will be a the Writers Place to read.

That's it for now, you'll have to excuse me. I'm hungry and I have writing to do.

Ta-ta!

The Muse In Not Amused

English teacher speaks out on poetry.

Culture In A Nutshell

The very existence suggests it came from some other form - therefore it has a history. That is the essence of culture.

Courtney's Poem

The other day, I blogged on the Rio Rancho High School Principal Gary Tripp that with a heavy hand eliminated the poetry program at his school and terminated a teacher over poetry presented by a student. The student at the eye of the storm was Courtney Butler and a portion of her poem can be found here.

Wear It On Your Sleeves

Cynthia Rowley Designs T-Shirt to Benefit Poetry

1000 Words (rev.)

Photo image projected
Backside of my mind
At cerebral drive-in

Theater of horror.
Subtitled screams of pain,
Humiliation amid

Barked orders from
Military mongrels
Gone mad with power

In this silent movie
That echoes still in
Recesses of my recollection.

Speech is free unless it's critical

Rio Rancho High School in New Mexico it seems is a quite a piece of work. It seems the principal there has a very jaded view of what exactly America is all about.

Check out this story by Bill Hill. I will be most interested to follow this story and keep readers updated.

Wow

While I only wrote a poem about a thousand words, Stephanie after a bit of an absence actually wrote about a thousand words.

1000 Words

Photo image projected
Backside of my head
At cerebral drive-in

Theater of horror.
Subtitled screams of pain,
Humiliation amid

Barked orders from
Military mongrels
Gone mad with power

In this silent movie
That echoes in
Recesses of my mind.

sex-a-ge-na-ri-an

Poetry In a Bottle couldn't help but think of EILEEN after seeing this.

Michaela has a Puritan sighting! Excuse me while I hike my pants up a bit.

Oh, and the post title... I'm not between 60 and 70 and this really is only a lame attempt to see what kind of traffic it draws from google. hee he!

Whose Voice Is It Anyhow?

I read this article about Robert Pinsky's visit to University of California Irvine to discuss poetry. Pinsky of course a past U.S. Poet Laureate. The following struck me with interest:

"Poetry is supposed to be said by the literal or imagined voice of the reader. Poetry is a unique art whose medium is the audience body," Pinsky said. "It isn't the poet's voice, it is the voice of whoever reads the poem."

I like the analogy of the reader being the medium, and I am not adverse to the idea that once a piece of poetry goes public, it is subject to varied and broad interpretation. But what then happens to the concept of a writer "finding his or her voice?" This seems like contrasting views and yet I can visualize both, though with difficulty in the same breath.

Something to think about further tonight I suppose.

Writing Poetry May Be Hazardous to Your Health

Poets die younger than novelists, playwrights, and nonfiction writers. They're also poorer, get beat up more often, and are really tired of seeing people roll their eyes when told how they earn their meager living. And you wonder why they write such depressing stuff. This according to Barry Gottlieb at alternet.org

To Know

What chance have I, if any to see this
through? The wings of a bat to summarize,
tell you nothing that you can't find in books.
You knew that. Paper cuts on your fingers
speak of the pages you turned. DNA
on the pulp itself proves this to be so.

I wonder who you thought you would fool?
Is there any one among us who has
enough dexterity in their pea sized
brain to mark time and wait for the answers?
Hot flashes run tiny fingers all
the way up and down the spine to flutter

the nerves in some holistic way and chill
you to the bone. Shutter and shake till
you wake and realize what has just happened.
Knowledge can be a scary thing. But
don't let this frighten you for one minute.

Your Chance To Win an Autographed Copy of Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece by Debra Hamel

BLOGGERS! Enter for a chance to win a free book! Trying Neaira: The True Story of a Courtesan's Scandalous Life in Ancient Greece by Debra Hamel Neaira (pronounced "neh-EYE-ruh") grew up in a brothel in Corinth in the early fourth century B.C. and became one of the city-state's higher-priced courtesans while still a teenager. Read about her life as a prostitute and about the larger world of fourth-century Athens in which her drama played itself out. A "gripping story of politics, sex and sleaze in ancient Athens...." --The Sunday Telegraph amazon | more information | Bloggers! Enter to win a free book! (drawing 8/1/04)

Hard To Keep a Really Great Poet Laureate Down

It must be hard to keep a really great Poet Laureate down these days. I say that because It seems that Billy Collins gets as much play in the press if not more than the reigning Laureate Louise Gluck.

I am rather fond of Collins' work myself. It perhaps brings more people to the table to indulge in poetry than a good many other contemporary poets. This, I am convinced is one reason that Collins is still so much in demand. I think educators for example find it easier to turn to Collins to supply the material that hooks many young readers to poetry.

While Collins can be quite simple. His work is none the less creative and entertaining. It is more his crazy style than the depth of his work that separates him from many lesser poets. The irony is that Collins often defends the concept of simply enjoying the verse and not trying to beat some sublime meaning from a poem.

His selection as Poet Laureate is still serving the art-form quite well.

Steel, concrete and poetry: the making of a Bay Area landmark