Poets Do This Nation Proud

As many of you are likely aware, First Lady Laura Bush invited a number of Poets from around the country to participate in a celebration of "Poetry and the American Voice" in 2003. As timing would have it, the President's plan for a unilateral attack on Iraq got in the way.

One by one, poets from around the country expressed their concern about the course the President was setting the nation on. So many, that the White House was faced with two unpleasant facts. One, that many very well recognized poets in this country had, as a matter of conscience, declined the invitations. In addition, one such poet, Sam Hamill both declined his invitation and asked about fifty fellow poets to reconstitute a Poets Against the War like one that had been such a powerful voice of reason during the war in Vietnam. Over 1500 poets not fifty responded. This led to a second fact that created discomfort for the White House. In a matter of days, poets all over this nation were using the power of word to take issue with the military attack by this nation on the people of Iraq. As such, the First Lady feared that the planned symposium, if carried out, could well become the catalyst for public airing of powerful words of opposition to war. She could not allow that. The event was cancelled altogether.

In spite of this, today, Poets Against the War have a web site with more than 20,000 poems that speak to the insanity of war. It is the largest poetry anthology ever published.

Such action by poets to confront American foreign policy issues is not new. The Letters of Robert Lowell - published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux 2005 contains an interesting correspondence by Robert Lowell of May 30, 1965 to President Lyndon B Johnson. In it Mr. Lowell recants an invitation he earlier accepted to read at the White House Festival of the Arts the following month. Lowell writes, "When I was telephoned last week and asked to read... I am afraid I accepted somewhat rapidly and greedily. I thought of such an occasions a purely artistic flourish, even though every serious artist knows that he cannot enjoy public celebration without making subtle public commitments. After a week's wondering, I have decided that I am conscience-bound to refuse your courteous invitation." Lowell goes on to explain that he is very enthusiastic about most of [Johnson's] domestic legislation he could only follow the nation's present foreign policy with "the greatest dismay and distrust."

I'm sure that Robert Lowell was by no means the first example of a poet of conscience that felt a higher calling of responsibility with respect to a bankrupt national policy. I am even more confident in saying those who have stood up and spoken out from the depths of their core beliefs about the present American actions in Iraq will not be the last.

I take comfort in knowing that American poets of all walks of life have a history of taking a strong stand in defense of reason and justice when it comes to matters of how this nation behaves in the larger context of the world community.


Visit the web site of Poets Against the War [here]

I also recommend reading the letter by poet Sharon Olds to Laura Bush [here]


Poets Against The War Iraq War Bush Administration

End The War

"LET AMERICA BE AMERICA AGAIN" ~ LANGSTON HUGHES

More Reading Material

Lowell
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

Picked up new reading material - a copy of The Letters of Robert Lowell
as well as Anne Sexton - A Self Portrait in Letters.

I've already dug into them. Look for some of my observations soon.

DC Rally Site of Poets Against the War Changed!

I just received this information this morning via e-mail from Sam Hamill:

The original meeting location for the DC Poets Against the War
contingent
marching on Saturday will be closed that morning.

So, please join us at our NEW LOCATION (Apologies and please help us
get
the word out!):

Poets Contingent
Saturday, September 24, 11 AM
Sherman Square Park, next to the White House gate on the west side of
15th
Street NW (at Alexander Hamilton Place.)
Closest Metro: McPherson Square (Orange & Blue) or Metro Center (Red,
Orange & Blue)


And don't forget:

Bring your poems of hope and outrage to the:
Open Mic for Peace & Justice
Sunday, September 25, 3-5 PM
Busboys & Poets, 14th & V St., NW, Washington, DC
www.busboysandpoets.com
U Street/Cardozo Green Line Metro
Wheelchair accessible.
Free and open to the public. A special welcome to those in town for
Saturday's rally and march.

More info: 202-577-6596, browning@womenarts.org


Namaste,
Sam Hamill & the PAW Board
http://www.poetsagainstwar.net

The Bush Administration On Iraq vs. Reality

"We do know that [Saddam] is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon" ~ Condoleezza Rice 9/10/02

"We believe [Saddam] has, reconstituted nuclear weapons" ~ Dick Cheney 3/16/03

"There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties." ~ George W. Bush 9/17/03

"We know where [the WMDs] are." ~ Donald Rumsfeld 3/30/03

"We found the weapons of mass destruction." ~ George W. Bush 5/29/03

We will in fact, be greeted as liberators... I think it will go relatively quickly...
[in] weeks rather than months." ~ Dick Cheney 3/16/06

FACTOIDS -

* Nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers are dead

* The war is costing Americans $5 billion a month.

* Just this last week, more than 150 people were killed in suicide bombings in the deadliest day in Baghdad since the March 2003 invasion.

* The 9-11 Commission concluded there was not a direct Iraq - al Qaeda link.

* The WMDs are where?

* Nuclear program had never been restarted since the first Iraq war.

Iraq War Bush Administration

The Company You Keep

A candle without a wick
No fire burns
The air is sullen
The sky opaque
The Moon truant

Ambiguity seeps
Through my Pores
A ponderous burden

So I keep company with doubt
Or he with me- we are inseparable
We huddle in the very darkness
That becomes us- this night

Leave My Child Alone

In June of this year I blogged on a little known aspect of Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND Act. This is a provision that requires school districts to furnish the government personal information on your minor child for the purpose of military recruiting.

This despicable provision at least has an opt-out option. This option is little known and no doubt the government was hopeful that it would continued to be just as obscure as the provision itself that requires school districts to turn over this information to them... Including their social security number. This information then is maintained by a private vendor hired by the department of defense to retain this data.

I am happy to report that LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE DOT ORG has made it relatively simple to opt-out and give proper notification of your child's school district as well as the vendor. ODDS ARE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN THE INFORMATION DURING THE PAST YEAR. From this site you can very easily with a limited amount of keystrokes, construct two letters - one to your school district superintendent opting-out, and the other to the vendor instructing them to purge your child's information.


Using the link below, you can access the site to help you with this process. I encourage you to not only do this, but help publicize the site so that more people are informed of this. I already opted-out for my school age child.


The Pentagon has been compiling sensitive data on 30 million youth ages 16-to-25 using a private marketing firm, without the knowledge or consent of individuals or their families. You can opt-out of this database by following instructions at www.LeaveMyChildAlone.org.


No Child Left Behind

United for Peace and Justice - Saturday, September 24 Massive March, Rally & Festival

United for Peace & Justice - Saturday, September 24 Massive March, Rally & Festival


I wanted to share this information with Stick Poet readers. Any of you that are within the proximity of D.C. - this is your opportunity to make a statement to the Administration and Congress that enough is enough!

Sam Hamill of Poets
Against the War has put out a call for support from the poetry community.

While I can't physically be there this weekend, I am there in spirit.

Iraq War Bush Administration Poets Against The War

Yet Another Poetry Send Off

Another six poems off this afternoon for consideration. This is a good thing!

Connecting the Dots

The mind is such an incredible device. You are reading along in some other poet’s work and all of a sudden, hum…. You wonder what was going on in the poet’s mind. Well, very likely what was going on in his or her mind is the same thing working in your own mind, logic.

Of course you’ll argue that you certainly don’t see the logic of what you just read, but the fact is, the writer used his mental process and came up with what he did. So your life experiences are different and these two minds take the same things and end up at different points of conclusion. So what! That in fact is one of the very reasons I find poetry so utterly fascinating.

If I say “clock” and you immediately think of your daughter, I might not immediately see how you got daughter out of that. None the less you arrived at point C from point A. There was to you a logical progression. For you, perhaps the word clock reminded you of an appointment time. Those in turn triggered A thought that you were supposed to be somewhere 45 minutes ago. Where? Ah, your daughter’s school to pick her up and take her to the Doctor. So while I am thinking of wristwatch, quitting time at work, going home, etc., I just don’t see your daughter. Still the connection to you was quite logical.

I recall someone once saying ( I think it was Pinsky but don’t hold me to it) that when he reads a poem and is not getting it, he refuses to dismiss it, thinking what a poor job the poet has done. Instead, he figures the problem lies with himself, the reader and that he has to read it again, and again , again until he gets it.

The is the challenge of reading poetry that inspires me. Yes, I too sometimes wonder, “where did that come from?” The fact however, is that it was the product of the logic of another’s mind. There is always a reason, it simply may not be an obvious reason to you. And so with poetry, we get a tiny glimpse inside the workings of another’s mind.


Poetics

Even Nixon & Bush Would Admire NYPD Gestapo Tatics

Yesterday, Cindy Sheehan, the anti-war activist who's son was killed in Iraq and who camped outside Bush's ranch for most of the president's vacation spoke in New York's Union Square. She had nearly finished when police intervened.

She was ushered away from the Union Square rally by supporters as onlookers yelled at police and chanted "let her speak". Some upset onlookers likened the police response with the arrests of more than 1,800 protesters last year during the Republican National Convention. Organisms Paul Zulkowitz was arrested for using a sound devise and disorderly conduct.

NYPD Detective Kevin Czartoryski called the arrest "appropriate action" after the department received numerous complaints. Daniel Starling, Green Party's Manhattan chapter co-chair who attended the rally said, "This is what's been happening for the last couple of years, every time we hold a demonstration they arrest us."

Ah yes, shades of Richard Nixon at the height of Vietnam.

Iraq War Cindy Sheehan NYPD

The Ever Fashionable Barry has his Beauty Day Out

My dog Barry - who has previously graced the pages of this blog with pictures of him teething on his George W. Bush doll, among other poses, can be seen here sporting the "wet look" when he was taken to the Brookside Barkery for a shampoo and blow dry. Obviously this is a pre-dry shot.

Barry is a very hip - dog with real culture. He has been know to set on the bed and listen to me read poetry aloud. My wife will tell you he has no choice in the matter, but I can tell he enjoys the likes of Sylvia Plath, Robert Frost, Sharon Olds, and Billy Collins. He even is kind enough to listen to some of my own.

Released Into The Wild

Do you ever mail submissions and feel like you've just released doves into the air or something?

Packet with six poems off in the mail this afternoon.

Stickpoet Writing Journal

Stickpoet Writing Journal
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

What... You don't have a Stick Poet Superhero Journal?

Why Not?


To See Official Stick Poet Gear - [CLICK HERE]

For Animals Left Behind - Time is Running Out

Katrina has separated children from parents and many senior citizens from their children and grandchildren. Many of these people are slowly being reunited now that they have been safely relocated.

The story is much different from the animals left behind. Those persons who had to be evacuated were not allowed to bring pets with them. In many instances these pets have been shut off from the rest of the world in structures that in some cases remain flooded. Their food supply by now has surely been long ago depleted.

The Humane Society and many other volunteers have been working to rescue many family pets. Thousands have been safely rescued. Sadly, thousands remain out there and for these pets, time is their worst enemy.

The Humane Society of the United States is asking your help.


Presently the only way these workers are able to get the vast numbers of pets left behind, is if National Guardsmen take pity on the rescue workers that are pleading for the lives of the animals.

Over the weekend Human Society workers found an adult St. Bernard that was miraculously alive in spite of the fact that his weight was reduced to a measly 40 lbs from weeks of starvation. It is a miracle he was still alive and an even greater miracle that he was able to be rescued without a federal rescue plan for animals in place.

Many rescue workers are and have been ready to do the work but are not officially allowed to go and get the animals they know are out there still, barely hanging on.

Time is critical. These pets were essentially dependents that in many cases were confined to homes the families left behind. Some have found ways to free themselves from the homes but many remain trapped and their only way to survive requires human intervention. There must be better cooperation with National Guardsmen and rescue workers. I urge you to help with this matter by bringing the issue to the forefront and addressing it before it is too late.

Go to this link to the Human Society and write a short note to public officials bringing this matter to their attention.

New Reading Material

A mid day trip to the library - brought home the following new reading material:

Delusions, Etc - John Berryman

2004 Pushcart Prize XXVIII Best of the Small Presses


Missing Measures - Modern Poetry and The Revolt Against Meter - Timothy Steele

Kansas City - Outloud II - 32 Contemporary Area Poets - Edited by Dan Jaffe

A First Draft is Always a Critic

In the beginning, you were
A very private matter
Between me and the blank page.

We struggled a bit.
I would take you by the shoulder
Pulling out of a line

Then sometimes forcing you
Into another. You stubbornly
Slapped my face in rebuke

Forever telling me why
Something wasn't working
But never offering alternatives.

It is always left to me to make it work-
You are the critic- always a critic.
You never have anything nice to say.

Neighborhood Bully

The boy down the street stole my truck.
I said I didn't care but I did.

He had hedgehog green teeth.
His eyes never blinked.

All the other kids grew weary of him.
He took what he wanted from them as well.

Bobby's marbles, Sam's ball glove.
It was made of real leather too.

He took Hank's dad's hammer
And Hank caught hell for losing it.

He snatched Jan's rag doll.
The one with the patch on its elbow.

He took Helen's virginity.
That's what I heard. Some kids watched.

But when he choked old lady Horton's cat
Well that was it. We all had enough.

We have to laugh when we see him now.
You just can't help yourself.

Stuck Up There

Moon
Post-it Note
On carbon sky

Is It Just Me?

I know I'm not exactly a spring chicken - err rooster, but I think I am relatively open minded. Perhaps I'd draw the line at being hip. I mean that would be ok if you thought I was hip, but I'm not really trying to fool anyone here.

As I read other blogs, something I see, has sort of hung in the back of my mind... In the little space where annoying things seem to go and set up shop and just hang out till you evict them or something.

Understand, I'm not trying to be judgmental. That is NOT my reason for this post and I certainly am not going to point fingers. Still, something is gnawing at me and I am starting to wonder if it is just me.

I see from time to time other bloggers who will post another's poem in its entirety. The interesting thing is, people don't seem very often to post some other blogger poet's work, though I have seen it done on very rare occasion. What I do see is people posting the complete text of the works of very established poets. Often deceased, but not always.

Myself, I would never think of posting another bloggers poem without first getting permission. And that seems to be a prevailing view of almost everyone else out there. Am I being totally old fashioned by applying that same standard to say the works of Robert Frost or Sharon Olds? I know some works are in the public domain. But for those that aren't, if I am going to reference them in a post, I may use a line or two or a stanza to illustrate a point, or often link the entire poem from somewhere else on the internet. But without permission of the poet or copyright holder, I would not feel right reposting it in my blog.

Someone is probably going to say, "Michael, get with the times." File sharing is rampant, etc, but as artists, as poets, as writers, should not we respect the work of others to the same degree we would expect them to treat our work?

What say you?

poetry copyright
ethics

Happy for a Little Rest

I wouldn't say I slept like a baby last night but I was able to sleep better at least part of the night.

KC Metro Verse meeting last night - a very sparse attendance - unlike the previous.

I was introduced to the work of Raymond Carver. His bio can be found here. One of the poems read was Happiness.

The last two stanzas of this poem strike me fascinating because he sets this stage for happiness in a moment of beauty that is not defined by death, ambition or as he says, "even love". An abstract, defined in this instance by the absence of two abstracts and death playing any role. It is a peculiar approach, but I like it because it has in a way, brought simplicity to what happiness can be.

Such beauty that for a minute / death and ambition, even love, / doesn't enter into this.// Happiness. It comes on / unexpectedly. And goes beyond, really, / any early morning talk about it.//

Elusive Sleep

"Life is something that happens when you can't get to sleep." ~ Fran Lebowitz

As the song goes, "Last night, I couldn't get to sleep at all..." And this would be several days now. I attribute it largely to new medication so I don't see this ending anytime soon. I think I have actually had one good night of sleep since I started it. Now, I suppose if I felt life was actually happening while the sleep isn't, I could at least feel there was a reasonable trade off. Fortunately it has not been a problematic during the day.

Meanwhile, I feel my creativity is less impacted by my new medication then the previous.

If you've followed my blog for any length of time, you likely know that one of the blogs I try to routinely read is - Ivy Is Here.

I enjoyed her most recent post with a heart warming story about her mother's reaction to her poetry. It's a great story, go over and read it if you haven't already.

I was already aware that Ivy Alvarez has extensively researched and written of Sylvia Plath. Should she find a publisher for her manuscript she has a customer here!

Thanks Peeps!

Oh, I forgot...

I wanted to thank the readers of Stick Poet because I see over the weekend we passed 16000 unique hits! Thank you all!


Michael Wells

Plath Discovery

For some reason I find the literary remains of writers to be fascinating stuff. I believe we often get to see a different picture of a writer by material that surfaces postmortem and has otherwise been out of the view of the vast public. Sometimes it is a early draft of a published work and we get to see some progression and by that can visualize the mental progression of the writer. Or it may take the form of letters between peers or family or other significant people in their life. And then there is always the possibility of that lost or unknown piece of work that we get a view of for the first time. I find all of these possibilities utterly fascinating. It is almost like studying their DNA. You learn more about who they were.

So last night I was like a giddy kid in a candy store upon reading that pages and notes from an unpublished novel by Sylvia Plath have been discovered among documents left by the Ted Hughes estate to Emory University in Atlanta. [source]

The papers evidently comprise some notes and I believe two chapters of a work that was to be a fictionalization of an American girl who moves to London and marries her poet lover. The title of the book novel was Falcon Yard which was the place in Cambridge where Plath met Hughes, her future husband and bit him.

It was a known fact that such a novel was written by Plath as it is mentioned in her journals. Falcon Yard was meant to be a gift to her husband. A bestselling romantic comedy that would be successful enough for them to be able to get on with writing poetry. It was generally assumed that the manuscript had been destroyed.

Some of the material will be on display starting Wednesday at the Grolier Club in New York, starting Wednesday in an exhibit of Plath and Hughes material.

The archives at Emory University of the Hughes estate which contain Plath's material as well total two and a half tons of letters, poems, drafts, proofs, etc. God, I'd love to be able to sift through it.

Sylvia Plath Poetry Literature

Saving the Weekend

This morning is flush with the sun's welcome and I sit here with a cup of coffee (God, I actually had no caffeine yesterday) and attempt to establish a foothold on today's opportunity.

I did not sleep well last night but I am willing to forgive and forget that for the day. The weekend teeters on the brink of exhaustion and I must save it from itself while there is time. This will of course take magic. The magic of words. The right words and in their appropriate order. Let it Begin.

Web stat sheet rates literary heavyweights - Los Angeles Times

Judging a book by cost per word or cost per ounce. Amazon.com has the stats.

On the Written Word

"The palest ink is better than the best memory." ~ Chinese Proverb

Ah yes, the written word certainly has this advantage going for it.

I know we all write for different reasons. And sometimes we change why we write or may incorporate multiple motivations.

Do you write for yourself? For the future? For Profit? For relaxation? For Self discovery? For fame? For self expression? What motivates you the most in your writing? I'd love to hear from others on this.


Poetry Writing

Dignity

In light of what the people from the gulf coastal area have been through I thought the following quotation was worth repeating...


"The only kind of dignity which is genuine is that which is not diminished by the indifference of others." ~ Dag Hammarskjold

Always My Luck

It happened.
Just like that.
One moment and a
Jolt.

I tried to restart the damned thing.
The noise was not optimistic in the least.
There was a clicking sound
Like you kept punching
A single key
On the keyboard
Real
Fast.

Clickckickclickclickclickclickclickclick…

It was hot,
I had the window down.
Some man came by
Asked if I had a problem.

Told him the car died,
Wouldn’t restart.
He asked what it did.
I showed him.

Clickckickclickclickclickclickclickclick…

He said, “Yep, you got a problem
With the starter” and walked off.
Damn it’s hot today.

September Events - KC Area

September 9th at 8pm - Friday - Riverfront Reading Series: The Writer’s Place, 3607 Pennsylvania, KCMO

Guest Poet Readers - John Mark Eberhart & Phillip Stephens

Eberhart is the book critic for the KC Star and the author of a poetry book released in June titled Night Watch

Stephens first book of poetry, The Determined Days was released in 2000. He has been published in several journals and anthologies and is A resident of Kansas City, Missouri, he teaches in the low- residency M.F.A. program at Murray State University in Murray, Kentucky.

September 26th - Monday at 8 pm - Writers Place Open Mic
3607 Pennsylvania, KCMO

Thought for the Day

"A liberal is a man too broadminded to take his own side in a quarrel." ~ Robert Frost

The "Why Not?" Woman

A couple of years back I met the poet Naomi Shihiab Nye at a reading she did here in Kansas City. She is a remarkable woman, even beyond her writing which has such a strong original voice.

Nye is a non-conformist, but you don't realize that so much at first glance. She embraces her Arab heritage in a firm but soft spoken way that makes her ideal for knocking down barriers that exist in America today.

In both her writing and public appearances she seems to me to be the "why not" woman.
Why not just learn something about each other? Why not just listen to what each other as opposed to trying to change everyone to be like yourself?

The daughter of a Palestinian father and an America mother, Nye's background allows her to open doors to communication that others may find difficult. But is seems to be as much about where her heart is, as the place of her heritage. And for poets, place is so important to their work.

The Sept/Oct edition of Poets & Writers magazine contains of her poems from a new book, You & Yours. The Poem, For Mohammed Zeid of Gaza, Age 15 questions the soft metaphorical use of words in relationship to violence. There is no stray bullet, sirs / No bullet like a worried cat / crouching under a bush / - A poem that is timely and poignant. This bullet had no secret happy hopes, / it was not singing to itself with eyes closed / under the bridge.

This is someone I'd love to a day just talking to about writing, about stories, and how she stays so positive about the future.


poets

Venting

This week seems sorrel. In some respects, I could imagine awaking and discovering that it has all been a dream. On the other hand, such a dream would require a great deal more creativity and embellishment then I would give myself credit for. Oh, I could dream of a catastrophic event. One that is devastating. Requiring extraordinary efforts and the whole nine yards. I just don't think I could have factored enough reality into the picture.

Reality in this case is that a major American city faced ruination in a matter of hours. The vibrant city that hosts each year a major Mardi Gras celebration became like unto a third world nation over night.

A few observations that have come into clarity by what I have been seeing:

1. Just how fragile major segments of our society are. The poor and elderly and those with major medical issues in particular. I don't doubt that there are many wealthy and even middle income families who have lost their homes, their jobs, personal possessions. Still, it seems those who had the least earthly possessions to lose, are the ones who really have felt the brunt of this devastation.

No auto, not credit card to rent a car to get out. But according to Michael Brown of FEMA, these people have to take some of the blame for not evacuating. So what, blame is perhaps the one possession they have left? Please... FEMA had demographics and had planned mock hurricane disasters for New Orleans. These people were to leave how?

2. We are the most advanced nation on the planet. Our leaders have planned for the inevitable since 9-11. They have reshaped FEMA and a gazillion other federal agencies under Homeland Security to create the biggest bureaucracy in the history of this country. All with the idea in mind that these agencies would work better together knowing what each other is doing. The President supported this reorganization. He put his own people in charge. He told us he was making it better.
So the day after Katrina the President is in Arizona doing a photo-op with seniors when the biggest issue that day was what Katrina had left behind.

Imagine if Bush had gone to Arizona the day after 9-11 to do a photo-op... I dare say the death toll from Katrina will pass 9-11. The economic impact on the nation clearly will. Still, the President chose a business-as-usual approach. FEMA, national guardsman, all legged way behind. In fact it is only now that they are really on the scene in any kind of numbers. Why? What happened to the revamped Homeland Security?

3. Our nations priorities are sadly out of place. Nearly $192 billion has been spent on the war in Iraq. A war that was a gross lie in purpose. Yet every year since 9-11 the President slashed the budget for U.S. Army Corp of Engineers projects to maintain the levies that compromised in New Orleans from the Hurricane. So in reality, this basic issue of security for New Orleans, was never high on the list of priorities.

People in New Orleans have no homes. They lack basic services like water, electricity, fuel, protection (till the national guard arrived) and food. They have lost their jobs, been separated from and in many cases lost family and friends. Their future looks pretty bleak right now. Except for being flooded, it is a picture not unlike that of the people of Baghdad after the United States invasion. We still have not rebuilt Iraq.

4. After 9-11 the government and the American people felt violated. The President said we would hunt down the people responsible and make them pay. We would not stand for this and of course we set about to avenge the attack. Certainly some response was warranted. But the government was misleading about Iraq.

So here we are today. Katrina's devastation is massive. The human toll has not yet fully been realized but the loss of life will surely pass 9-11. We were not prepared for this crisis. In spite of a staggering Homeland Security budget, lives are being lost as the hours tick by for want of relief efforts that were too little and much too late.

This time there is no enemy to point our finger at and avenge. Nothing for the President to rally around. Only the disgraceful administration of relief efforts that we all believed would have been better orchestrated.

So here I am. If I sound angry, I am. I'm angry this was not just a dream. I'm angry that the policies of this Administration have put our tax dollars into a war that was a lie and took money from badly needed areas that were more important to American lives.


Katrina

The Words Are the Same Only The Meaning Has Changed

President Bush: 'One of the Worst Natural Disasters in our Nation's History.' - headline

"President Bush: One of the Worst Natural Disasters in our Nation's History" - Michael Wells

Naropa University - Audio Archive Project

Naropa University - Audio Archive Project




The Naropa University Archive Project enters 2005 with over one thousand hours of recordings digitized. Access to three hundred hours of the collection is available online via the Internet Archive at www.archive.org. The archive project's partnership with the Internet Archive marks a significant step toward realizing its mission of enhancing appreciation of post-World War Two literature and its role in cultural criticism and social change.

Among the recordings recently released online are historic lectures and performances addressing peace activism, gender issues, environmentalism, spirituality and freedom of speech. You'll hear Samuel Charters lecturing on Jack Kerouac and jazz, Peter Lamborn Wilson discussing the Temporary Autonomous Zone, Bernadette Mayer teaching experimental writing techniques and Allen Ginsberg and Art Lande performing the anti-war poem "Hum Bomb."

Since its founding in 1974 by poets Anne Waldman and Allen Ginsberg, the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics, which includes the Department of Writing and Poetics and the Summer Writing Program, has recorded approximately six thousand hours of audio tapes documenting performances, seminars and discussions conducted at Naropa by many of the leading figures of the U.S. literary avant-garde. The collection represents several generations of artists who have contributed to aesthetic and cultural change in the postmodern era.

With continuing support from the NEA, NEH, Save America's Treasures and the GRAMMY Foundation, the Naropa University Archive Project is preserving, cataloging and providing library and Internet access to this collection. The archive project has recently released its first commercial CD, "First Thought, Best Thought," and has developed audio support for university literature courses. It is developing a national radio documentary series on literature, the arts and social change and is also supporting other audio archives by providing training. I presented the project to the Society of American Archivists in Boston last year, and archive staff is presenting at the Association of Recorded Sound Collections in Austin, Texas, as well as at the Western Region Archives conference in Las Vegas. This summer audio technicians from the Naropa University Archive Project will travel to Dharamsala, India, to assist the Tibetan Library and Archive in digitizing unique recordings of His Holiness the Dalai Lama.

The Naropa University Archive Project is asking for your assistance in 2005 in the ongoing preservation and access work of the audio archive. It needs matching funds from private donors to continue making this living literature available to the public.

Since the founding of the collection in the early 1970s, many issues addressed by contributing artists and scholars have come increasingly to the fore in the larger public arena. For thirty years artists, scientists and spiritual leaders have been addressing issues in environmental preservation, gender and sexuality, multiculturalism and the rights of indigenous people. In such times as these, it is a great pleasure to make this collection available to scholars and lovers of literature and people of conscience worldwide. Thanks for visiting with us.

Steven Taylor
Director, Naropa University Archive Project

Katrina Resources

Here are a few resources to assist victims of Hurricane Katrina:

Catholic Charities, USA

America's Second Harvest

Convoy of Hope

Humane Society of the United States

All of these organizations are providing relief assistance directly to the Katrina affected areas.
Katrina

KC Metro Verse meeting At WriterHouse

writerhouse1
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

KC Metro Verse met last night at the new WriterHouse in Kansas City.

WriterHouse was opened by Pat Berge, a creative writing instructor at Maple Woods Community College, Kansas City, Missouri. Pat has taught fiction writing at Columbia College Chicago.
She also conducts writing workshops.

Seated left to right is Missi Rasmussen - Metro Verse President, Amy Davis and Pat Berge.

Roles

The struggle isn’t quite so perilous
A sort of foreplay choreographed
To uninhibited pandemonium.

Your heavy sighs a concerto.
It is like you always want to lose
And only play along for the sport.

I wonder myself what it would be like to
Succumb to subjugation under your coercion
And watch how you deal with conquest.

Deep in the Heart of Crawford - A Must Read

Let me recommend Deep In The Heart Of Crawford over at Love During Wartime. Thanks James, for pointing us to the Wallace piece. His message is definitely thought provoking especially being of the Vietnam generation.

Special Delivery

Congratulations are in order to Deborah Ager of 32 poems on the arrival of Olive Cameron Ager Beverly!

What is the point of worry...

"For Christ sake write and don't worry about what the boys will say nor whether it will be a masterpiece or what. I write one page of masterpiece to ninety-one pages of shit."
~ Ernest Hemingway

Chardonnay

Hint
Of ripe
Pear and toasted

Oak
Blended to
Rich textured finish

Self Death

Brick and mortar of life
Sometimes held strong
Other times weak
And crumbling before
Our eyes – sometimes blurred
And not grounded in soil
of reality. Sometimes floating
On the waters of aqua-culture,
A modernists vision of farming
Where crops may not have
Traditional stability and the whole
Outcome is called into question
By the skeptics who never
Look beyond the box for
Anything for fear the
Confrontation of a new idea
Could lead to questions
They are not prepared to answer;
Leaving them striped- naked of
Security by their transparency
To become a product
Of their own obsolescence.

A Primer of Iraqi Liberation

O the nights of lightening bursts
Over the skies of Baghdad fade
But the percussion sounds still
Rattle the streets- the shelf life
For ordinary folks smudged out
With an eraser. Water runs

Or not, the only consistent power
Has no switch for control.
Life And death seem so closely tied;
A knot that one moment can be
Pulled too tight and snaps.
People strain to remember who

Asked for liberation, their mind draws
Blank, the birth pain of democracy
All the more unbearable when some
Resist the contractions and want
Only to abort and are willing to take
Vengeance upon their own to squelch

The unwanted. Still, mercenaries
Prosecute a bold faced lie to the world
With the levy of working men and women
At home who have no choice, while others
Are sacrificial lambs for the sake of
A dignified way out of one man's perjury.

Today is Women's Equality Day

August 26 in 1920 - the right to vote was extended to women. Just a small step in the equality process.

On another note - I wanted to share this quote from Horace Mann -

"Be ashamed to die until you have won some victory for humanity."

Library Challenges FBI Request

Library Challenges FBI Request


This Washington Post article is recommended reading with respect to the current debate over infringement of civil liberties vis-a-vis Patriot Act.



civil liberties Privacy

Famous Poet: by Ted Hughes

I believe the first book of poems by Ted Hughes to be published was a small book titled The Hawk in the Rain. I picked up a copy of this at a book store a few weeks back and was reading through it this week and came upon a poem that I believe has to be one of my favorite Ted Hughes poems. It is titled Famous Poet.

I especially am fond of the third stanza:

First scrutinize those eyes / For the spark, the effulgence: nothing. Nothing there / But the haggard stony exhaustion of a near- / Finished variety artist. He slumps in his chair / Like a badly hurt man, half life-size. //

This poet, though famous it appears has seen better days. Effulgence is such great word here. We know a bit of what perhaps has been, but is now lost in this man who has sunken to something less by half of life-size.

The final stanza too is a powerful image:

And monstrous, so / As a Stegosaurus, a lumbering obsolete / Arsenal of gigantic horn and plate / From a time when half the world still burned, set / To blink behind bars at the zoo. //

So in the earlier verse Hughes uses the half life-size man - Shrinking the Famous poet down to something less then his once perceived stature. In the end, this same poet is the monstrous Stegosaurus - albeit beyond his better days - for public viewing behind the bars at the zoo. Both images work equally well.

The Hawk in the Rain was fist published by Faber and Faber in 1957. It won the New York Poetry Centre First Publication Award. The judges were W.H. Auden, Stephen Spender and Marianne Moore.

Park University Scribe

Just learned that I have four poems in the Park University Literary publication. Haven't seen them yet and it was quite a while ago that I submitted them - I'm stretching to remember which ones they were. If I was at home, I have it on my manuscript tracking system, but for now I'm too shocked. Actually this is the second time they have published my work.

Shark

Shark
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

In the deep night waters/
Sleek silent watercraft / Self-reliant incessant predator / Swift to carve circles / Stalking in his own circuit

Pat Robertson Got that Right

Republican, Christian Evangelist and 700 Club icon Pat Robertson has lamented on his website the direction society is going. "Life has become more and more cheap in the society we live in. But God says you shall not murder." I would agree with Pat. There is plenty of evidence that supports the contention that many simply do not hold the value of life in particular high esteem. Palestinians blowing up Israelis. Terrorists beheading Americans. Israelis killing Palestinians. Iraqis killing other Iraqi citizens. Students shooting other students and teachers. You get the picture.

So imagine my dismay this morning when I learned that Pat Robertson called for a hit on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. This was not some sort of vague reference to Chavez simply turning up missing. It wasn't some off the cuff comment that we'd all be better off without him. Yesterday, on the 700 Club broadcast, Robertson said, "We have the ability to take him out, and I think the time has come that we exercise that ability." "We don't need another $200 billion war to get rid of one, you know, strong-arm dictator," he continued. "It's a whole lot easier to have some of the covert operatives do the job and then get it over with."

Such incendiary remarks are hardly helpful to U.S. interest in South and Central America. Oil rich Venezuela is certainly a country that has felt itself a stepchild of American Imperialism in the past. Hugo Chaves is after all a democratically elected head of state. While his leftist views may not be popular with many in the U.S. government, such statements by someone as widely known as Pat Robertson only increase the tensions that exist between the Unites States, Chavez and his many allies throughout South and Central America.

One has to wonder what ever was even going through Pat Robertson's mind? His fascist remarks have no doubt hurt Robertson as a future spokesperson for the Christian community. It has increased Chaves's value and standing among anti-Americans. Put Robertson on the same page as a terrorist and made the Bush Administration which normally has enough trouble staying out of this kind of trouble on the defensive with Venezuela. It seems the only party that has gained here is Chaves and his allies. Remembering the phrase, "The enemy of my enemy is my friend" - well Chaves just made a whole lot of friends.

pat robertson Hugo Chavez

Something Clicked

Over the weekend I was able to put a few words on the page that seemed to actually morph into something reasonably connected. I didn't sweat it... just plugged along.

Last night I ran out to the library to retrieve some books for my wife. Picked up something for myself as well, came home and read some pretty opinionated critical reviews of some of Robert Lowell's work. It was at this point I was thankful that my writing was not subjected to such clinical dissection in view of the world. For a moment anyway. Then of course I thought what the hell. When you reach the level that Lowell had achieved, you don't much care what some academic thinks thirty to forty years later.

Of course the reality is, I'm not a Robert Lowell. But putting down what I was reading, I again set in to write for a bit last night. First, just journaling. I was however able to begin a poetic response to another poet's work. Something I had been kicking around in my mind for a while but had not been able to synthesize. Well, alas, it was beginning to work. And I have a new level of excitement about what it is and the possibilities it presents once it is refined and rewritten (however many times it takes).

So this morning, I set here with the knowledge that I will one day, again in the future, hit that brick wall. But I am fresh with the feeling that one gets when they have just powered through one of those walls. These are the moments in writing that you live for.

Peer Group Reception

Yesterday afternoon I met with a group of other writers for the peer group reception at the Writers Place. The experience was interesting. There were about 15 people who showed and they had varying interests that could fit tidy into three genres. Poetry being one.

I would say from the introduction each gave, almost everyone had a clue and seemed to be in the mindset for something that could enrich there writing experience if they just knew what the right vehicle was. E-mail exchanges, face to face discussions, workshopping material in group or meeting individually or combinations of these. It was decided that we would meet in September as a group and brake into three smaller groups and see what people felt was the best fit for there own situation. It was a good start.

Experience level of those in attendance seemed to vary a bit but for the most part I'd say it was a group with real credibility to draw from.

Taking Some Family Time

Tuesday night after work, I had a KC Metro Verse meeting. We read a lot of Charles Bukowski material.

Tuesday was also the end of my work week. I've taken three vacation days and it has been wonderful. My wife has been off this week as well. Thursday we did a family trip to Omaha to visit the zoo. That coupled with taking my daughter fishing the day before, has given me a real taste of nature this week. It has opened up my senses to the whole view of cohabitation of man and nature on this planet. Something we (mankind) are not fairing very well at.

I can envision some impact on my future writing by this realization. It's not that I have been oblivious to this whole thing, but sometimes you see things which deepened your passion or resolve to certain things. An "Ah-ha!" experience.

I may post some pictures from the zoo visit over the weekend if I get them upload into flicker.

My wife and I were both amazed at the Armadillo. They had this tiny one that just ran around all over the place. I had to wonder what sort of food intake was necessary to sustain that amount of energy exertion. The Aardvark was another of my favorites.

How UK's radio station banned, and unbanned, Keillor

How UK's radio station banned, and unbanned, Keillor

THE FCC NEEDS A MAKEOVER

Robert Lowell letters on hold

I was able to get a copy of The Letters of Robert Lowell on hold at the library. They only had one copy in the Mid-Continent system and it was out. I also looked for the newer release, Wild Perfection: Selected Letters of James Wright. I believe this has only been out about a month and they don't as of yet have it. I am anxious to read both of these books in hopes of gaining some greater insight into their individual poetic theory. I know that Robert Bly has had a great deal of influence on Wright - particularly in his latter years.

I worked on two poems yesterday. One was completely new, the other was something I first wrote earlier this year at a Woodbine, Iowa writing weekend workshop. I'm not 100% satisfied with either of them, but overall I believe yesterdays work was successful. It is important to remember that such progress is often incremental and to keep this fact in focus so as not to become discouraged. Lately, discouragement has been battle I fight.

One thing I need to do is broaden my subject matter. So a real brainstorm is in order or I need to look for some writing idea prompts. At times I have exchanged such prompts with other writers from time to time but I haven't done this for a while.

String Quartet

Steps into the wind
Tiptoes
Shuffles
Strung across a bridge
Lively on a wire
An archetype
Plucked out of veneer

SPEAK OUT ON IRAQ!

Support Cindy Sheehan!

MoveOn is taking out an ad in President Bush's local newspaper in support of Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a soldier killed in Iraq who is camped outside Bush's ranch in Texas asking for a meeting with the president.

They'll publish the number of signers and the best comments in a full two-page spread in the newspaper nearest to Crawford (The Waco Tribune Herald) while Cindy holds her vigil.

Sign and spread the word before the 3:00 PM Friday print deadline?

http://political.moveon.org/meetwithcindy/

Cindy Sheehan

Airing Out The Language

Turbulence
Leaves me uncomfortable
Holding tidy verse in my hands.

You will gawk at me-
Out of place. I want

To twist the words
On the page
Wrap some around me
Pull the syllables apart
And hide between them.
Shock you a little bit
So you don't see me.

Across the Poetry Blogisphere

The Beached Fiance by Christine Hamm is so typically fantastic! If you like her work you'll love it. If you don't... it's a pity.

IVY is back! With Notes from the Castle.

Eileen is having a Summer Pleasure contest. Why I'm telling everyone about it, I don't know. That only increases my competition.

James gives us Nagasaki - thanks for giving us pause.

Gila Monster's big announcement.

A thought

"Poetry is man's rebellion against being what he is." ~James Branch Cabell

And what would that be, that man is, which causes such rebellious discourse? I agree with Cabell in principal that poetry wants to rebell. It wants desperately NOT to conform because that is too mundane. Is it that man has the capacity to always be unsettled no matter what his plight? The hungry want food, the King wants more territory.

Is poetry simply a more refined version of an animal instinct?

Angry Sky

Angry Sky
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

I looked out last night and saw the sky as an angry poet swelling up with disdain.

untitled draft

Moist insignificance
Swells collecting droplets
Elongated by weight
To the breaking point
Raining upon the spirit
Quietly I withdraw
From the wetness
Wondering if this will shrink
My stature as a person

PEER PARTNERS

The Writers Place in Kansas City will host a series of writersÂ’ reception where writers can meet each other and identify writing support partners. I think this is amarvelouss idea. Evidently the concept was advanced by David & Judy Ray when they visited The Writers Place last month. The Rays are former Kansas Citians with longstanding ties to the Writers Place.

There is so much emphasiss upon mentoring these days and developing support communities in various fields. Writing among them. But there is little out there that provides a formal intro to such support. I am glad to see the Writers Place involved in this capacity. I plan to to attend.

For those in the Kansas City area that might want to get involved, the first meeting is SUNDAY, AUGUST 21, 2005 at 2pm. The continuation of these receptions will depend on interest. Please call 816-753-1090 if you plan to attend and let them know.

And the pulse was weak...

Stale lines seem to be the order of the morning. Several ideas - execution that sucks. The good news is there is room for improvement. God, I'm becoming an optimist!

Damn It Anyhow

The dusty chalk board
has only white residue
of the words I want so badly.
They were, but are no longer.
Out of my reach.

Writers Place Open Mic

David A. Hughes was among the readers last night at the Writers Place open Mic. David read Fire Eaters and Stained Glass Women which is to be featured in Thorny Locust this year. David is also working on a chap book to be released soon.

I read two poems last night... The Dove and My Dachshund Trumps Your Honor Student.

There were 12 who turned out for the readings. The summer months have been tough on turnout.

Currently on the walls at The Writers Place are an exhibit titled Portraits and Poems: A Photographic Testimony. The photographs were taken by Dennis Lowden and accompanying the photos are poems written by Vietnamese poets. The photos and poems tell the story of lives in transition as tens of thousands of Vietnamese citizens pass through Wake Island processing center as they flea their homeland at the end of a tragic war.

Meaningful Escapes Me

I'm hot - sweaty and nearly speechless. Just got off the tread mill - did 30 minutes and I had hoped to blog a bit about some thoughts on something I read earlier today but I haven't the capacity to pull my thoughts together in some meaningful fashion.

Still reading in the Sari Solden book on Adult ADD and trying to process a lot of that... but it was actually thoughts off some material I read by Amy Lowell that had me thinking and I wanted to discuss. I suppose it will have to wait till later.

I did write this weekend. Have a poem that I need to rewrite and maybe workshop with a couple of my writing friends. It is a little different. Doing stuff that is different or I suppose "experimental" always seems to be difficult to reach that level of gut feeling about on your own.

Anyway, it's 10pm and I'm calling it a night.

Boxed In Amy Gets Linked

Ah... see what you get for commenting on one of my posts! I'm adding Living Poetry to my sidebar links. Not because Amy commented, but because she commented and has an interesting blog herself. Check it out!

Last Monday she had a post about Knowing When It Works. Boy could I identify with that post having worked last night on something that seemed to be working and after I shut everything down and came up stairs looking at it again, reading it out loud, I thought not. Now it has some possibility but clearly needs to go through the rewrite process. Likely repeatedly. But it is interesting, the question Amy asks. How do you know when it is right? How does truth hit you? I can't say... but it is funny that we seem to come to realize it. More often than not. Thank God!

OPEN MIC MONDAY - WRITERS PLACE

The Writers Place in Kansas City will host the July Open Mic on Monday July 25th at 8pm.

Writers Place

is located at

3607 Pennsylvania

Kansas City, MO 64111

Local writers will find this venue a pleasing experience. Sometimes the crowd is large and other times it becomes a little more intimate. There is always some quality work presented and the readers vary from quite experienced to first timers. Even if you are not into reading, it is an excellent place because of the exposure to quality work and just to get to know more about the center. It provides a variety of other excellent activities from readings to workshops and exhibits.

The Stick Poet Superhero Coffee Mug

The Stick Poet Superhero Coffee Mug
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

Have You had your morning coffee in your Stick Poet Superhero mug?

Latent Inhibition & Creativity

In my post on Tuesday - I promised to blog on the creative thought process later in the week. I had been reading of a study published in September of 2003 by Psychologists at the University of Toronto and Harvard University, so this is of course not new material... simply new to me.

According to the published report, the researchers evidently identified at least one of the biological bases of creativity. It finds that the brains of creative people seem to be more open to incoming stimuli from surrounding environment while other people might shut out this same information by what is called "latent inhibition." That process was defined as an animal's unconscious capacity to ignore stimuli that experience has shown to be irrelevant to its needs. Through testing, it was found that creative people seemed to have low levels of latent inhabitation and left them in contact with extra information constantly streaming from their environment. Jordan Peterson a professor at the University of Toronto explained, "The normal person classifies an object, and then forgets about it, even though the object is much more complex and interesting the he or she thinks. The creative person, by contrast, is always open to new possibilities."

Tests administered to Harvard undergraduate students classified as eminent creative achievers with a single area of creative achievement were found to be seven times more likely to have low latent inhabitation scores.

So low levels of latent inhabitation are a good thing? The report suggests that with high intellectual functioning and good working memory it may be a positive thing. The capacity to think about many things at once is good if it can be achieved - but negative otherwise. Professor Patterson put it this way- "If you are open to new information, new ideas, you better be able to intelligently and carefully edit and choose. If you have 50 ideas, only two or three are likely to be good. You have to discriminate or you'll get swamped."

That swamped description that Patterson described is something that I can associate with. I'm sure everyone feels swamped at times. I believe doing so is specifically a denotation of ADD or AD/HD. However, it seems that many of the times that I feel "swamped" there seem to be an abundance of external stimuli. So, from a very personal perspective, I can identify with the aspects of this study.

At the moment I am not on any medication for ADD treatment - though I have previously had limited experience with two medications and I am reassessing medication options. While creativity as it relates to my writing is only a portion of my life, I do think about the impact of medication on my creative thought process. I also have to think about the impact of medication or non-medication on the other aspects of my life, such as family, work, etc.


creativity mental health writing


Source:
Biological basis for creativity linked to mental illness.

Hello ~ Black Hole... I'm Alive!

I've had two incredibly busy days at the office and I am going to go do some reading shortly, but I have not posted since Saturday and because I have not fallen off the face of the earth, I thought I should at least acknowledge my existence. Of course, having read Eileen's post about conversation with hubby, I have to wonder if my blog is a black hole? Thankfully, my stats suggest people are still coming. I just hope that that they aren't sucked along with the blog into a black hole. Eileen dear... Tell Tom (that is his name isn't it?) "If you blog it, they will come!"

So Saturday, I go to the library to check out some books on Adult ADD. The one I am currently reading is Journeys Through ADDulthood by Sari Solden, M.S., LMFT. It has been thought provoking thus far. I do have to admit I am humored by the part where she recomrnds embracing your differences. Wow, I'm supposed to embrace disorganization?

I've also been reading some interesting research material on creative thought processes. I really don't have time to do it justice tonight but will perhaps post on it tomorrow or Thursday.

I'm not sure how long Ivy is supposed to be at Hawthornden Castle but it is strange with her blog being quiet for days now. Especially since the blog title is Ivy Is Here and everyone knows damn well she isn't. I trust she is writing wonderfully exciting things. I'm trying to imagine... it must be all musty and simply dreadful to be sentenced there to write. :)

I love what Katey Nicosia did with here piece Tallest Tree. The bird & the nest is cool. Well, I'm tired and need to settle in and read. See if the Giants game is on. Relax a wee bit and see how my wife is doing. Tomorrow I need to schedule some writing time. But tonight I read.

July Pantoum

The cat stretched across the floor
The heat seemed unbearable
Overhead the ceiling fan whined
Hot air moved about freely

The heat seemed unbearable
It was only the 6th of July
Hot air moved about freely
I envied the cat’s relaxation

It was only the 6th of July
According to the flower calendar
I envied the cat’s relaxation
Summer seems so long

It hope it rains soon
According to the flower calendar
Summer seems so long
The ground is parched

Company is coming
The ceiling fan whined
I heard the car door
The cat stretched across the floor

The Clash of American Culture and Religious-Right

Unites States Senator Rick Santorum of Pennsylvania is third-ranking Republican in that body. A 47 year old, attractive fellow that one might otherwise see as an up-and-coming person within his party. Unquestionably conservative, but more poignantly an example of the extreme nature of the religious right in this country. He scored 100 in the 2004 Christian Coalition scorecard and has been courted by the religious-right and visa-versa. It is no secret that he is interested in the GOP nomination for President in 2008.

If the two - extreme religious fundamentalists and Santorum are a cozy fit for each other, and they certainly appear to be, then many of Santorum's recent public statements clearly spell out what is wrong with the mentality of the of these religious zealots.

Tuesday, Santorum refused back off on his earlier claims connecting Boston's ''liberalism" with the Roman Catholic Church pedophile scandal, saying that the city's ''sexual license" and ''sexual freedom" nurtured an environment where sexual abuse would occur. ''The basic liberal attitude in that area (Boston) . . . has an impact on people's behavior," Santorum maintained. Three years ago on a website called Catholic Online, Santorum said, ''It is no surprise that Boston, a seat of academic, political, and cultural liberalism in America, lies at the center of the storm" of the clergy sexual abuse scandal.

Santorum seems particularly blind to the fact that the "pedophile scandal" is not a "Boston" thing and for that matter is not a "Catholic thing". Just two days ago there were two separate local (Kansas City area) church leaders that were not of Catholic denomination that were embroiled in current "sex sandals" with young people.

Santorum has a book coming out later this month titled ''It Takes a Family." I suppose in response to Hillary Clinton's book many moons ago titled "It Take a Village." Santorum in this book will continue to beat the drum with conservative "buzz word issues" to satisfy his hungry political base. Those themes that he will blast, two-income families, divorce, cohabitation before marriage, all things that he considers liberal ills. For example, he blames ''radical feminism" for encouraging women to work outside the home. ''In far too many families with young children, both parents are working, when, if they really took an honest look at the budget, they might confess that both of them don't really need to or at least may not need to work as much as they do," Santorum writes.

I don't think Rick Santorum is disingenuous when he says these things. I'm relatively certain he believes them. I don't think he is simply pandering to the conservative Christian movement. The problem with these positions and the problem with the movement itself, is that it this is divisive, highly judgmental and seeks to culturally shape everyone else into a singular role the has been predetermined as the perfect fit.

I am not anti-religious. I am not anti-Christian. In fact, believe there are two very good reasons here why the approach of Christian conservative activists here is wrong.

The first speaks to the role of church and state. Efforts to continually commingle the two of these spell problems for the future of this nation. It was religious freedom that brought this experiment in democracy into existence to start with. The founding fathers had suffered the tyranny of religious oppression on several fronts. The religious right seems to have forgotten this. We are a nation of rich diversity. Our strength is in the bonds of that diversity and not diffusion. Any attempts to shape this nation into a "church sanctioned state" will only divide the various religious and denominational entities.

The second reason the Christian conservatives are wrong is that if you believe in the fundamental teachings of the Church you must accept the premise that belief in Christian teachings is centered of the free will of people to accept these teachings of faith. To do otherwise is counter to biblical principal. It is one thing to witness. To lead a life of example. It is quite another to dictate who and how people will come to worship and structure your governmental and cultural infrastructures to support "one way" all else be damned!

Christian zealots spend too much time on the "soul" of government or the people as a whole and would better turn there efforts inward ministering to themselves and there own communities / congregations.

Similarly, as a part of government, if Senator Santorum is concerned about impacts of two income families on their children, then he should dedicate himself to working for policies that benefit the financial impact of today's economy on them. Health care issues, minimum-wage legislation, fair credit reform and not pro-business changes in the bankruptcy act.

We cannot unite as a nation if we are going to constantly judge one another on religious, cultural, and sexual, ethic and economic basis. Right now, the religious right is perhaps one of the biggest offenders of this. In response to some of Santorum's remarks, fellow Republican Senator John McCain quipped, ''I think he probably has written off Massachusetts." What Santorum needs to know is that Massachusetts is not an isolated island apart from the rest of the country. It is he and the religious-right that are isolated from reality.

Rick Santorum Religious Right John McCain Anti-Discrimination

Pop Star Poetry

God, I really hate to put this in such syrupy words this but piece is a charming little read.

Mindless Middle of the Week Musings

Mandy Muldoon bought a copy of the latest Harry Potter book last Thursday in advance of it's release date. The sale of the book was a mistake... and wouldn't you know it.. her son has admitted to reading the first two pages of it. Evidently a total of 14 books were accidentally sold. A Canadian judge has ordered the customers not to talk about the book, copy it, sell it or even read it before its official release. Now that is just going to make it that much harder! [source]

Jonathan Bate, Professor of Literature at the University of Warwick reviews Anna of All the Russias by Elaine Feinstein. The book is about soviet poet Anna Akhmatova and his review is best described as unflattering. I know Jilly is a big fan of Akhmatova - I wonder if she is familiar with this work?

On the Political front:
The White House has said that U.S. President George W. Bush continues to have confidence in Karl Rove, the presidential adviser at the centre of the investigation into the leak identifying a female CIA officer. What else are they going to say... Rove has been his brain.

Pandaemonium Reviewed by Alexa Moses. The movie is a story about the relationship between the 18th-century British poets Samuel Taylor Coleridge and William Wordsworth.

All-Star Game

If there is anything in baseball that I am sick of more then the AL wins in All-Star games, it would be Bud Selig. Well, there is always next year. But really, it is incredible how resilient the game is... he just keep trying to kill it with brain-farts and it just keeps going.

Still an ENFP

After seeing Laurel's post I decided to take the Myers-Briggs personality test. [online version]

I took this test maybe a year or more ago and though I'd do it again. Maybe I'd answer the questions different this time - maybe it was wrong before - whatever. Well, I'm still an ENFPer and I guess I really shouldn't be surprised. More on the history of the MBPT can be found here. A particularly good link on the site is this page: All Types are Equal.

"He's not scary in person"

I am amused at the number of times I have now seen these words by Tomas Alex Tizon of the Los Angeles Times repeated in newspaper after newspaper as his byline on Alan Cordle makes it around the country.

Tizon describes Cordle this way... "He's not scary in person. Alan Cordle is 36, pale and round with thick glasses and soft fleshy cheeks. He smiles often and speaks in a wispy voice, which suits his day job as a librarian at Portland Community College." He goes on to suggest that, "Cordle also happens to be the most despised -- some would say most feared -- man in American poetry."

Tizon's article, which has certainly gotten a lot of play in the press may well be behind the curve. At least in my circles, I don't find all that many poets even talking about him anymore. I for one have never considered him scary. Perhaps rude, arrogant and even obnoxious but not really scary.

Score!

Finally - after far too many frustrating days with little success, I put one together today that works!!! Took it to writers group this afternoon. Reaction positive.

Snoopy Dance!

Women Accused of Scamming Aspiring Writers - Yahoo! News

Women Accused of Scamming Aspiring Writers - Yahoo! News

Priceless!

First Draft

first_draft
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

Sometimes it is a bitch just to get something down on paper... other times it flows like a river.

Last night I felt so vexed with my writing. I hate it when you just have to focre it out. I know everyone deals with this - but when it goes on for days it really exacerbates the whole issue, notching it up another level.

I think it is time I went through my journal and pull some old material out to work on and see if I can move forward that way.

Most Popular Poets et al.

I see that Garrison Keillor is at it again he's compiled another poetry anthology, "Good Poems for Hard Times." His earlier anthology was simply titled "Good Poems". I'm not sure how this fellow finds the time for all he undertakes. Ant any rate, the second anthology is due out this fall. I'm thinking he needs to hurry.... cause hard times are here!

Three Cheers for Emily Lloyd... She just had a poem accepted for Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel.

Interesting tid-bit from the American Acadamy of Poets - Top 10 Most Popular Poets on Poets.org (Popularity based on Poets.org user searches)

1. Langston Hughes
2. Emily Dickinson
3. Robert Frost
4. Walt Whitman
5. Dylan Thomas
6. Sylvia Plath
7. William Carlos Williams
8. Gwendolyn Brooks
9. E.E. Cummings
10. T.S. Eliott

Urban Reflections

urban_reflections
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

Took a walk this afternoon - to crank up the old metabolism... was nice out. Warm, but not unpleasant. A bit of Urban Reflections along the way.

What is it like to live on $1 a day...

MSN Money - Extra: What it's like to live on $1 a day The Africa Plight - as G8 gets underway. live8 poverty

Expressive Aphasia

Touch it with select words
Succulent multi-syllable
Words that get right-to-the-point.
Not two hand phrases that engulf
Far more than we can hold
And dangle like participles
Incapable of modifying
A point-of-view.



poems poetry

Tabios Gift of Poetry better than any Toaster

Well I didn't realize it.... But I guess Eileen Tabios had a bit of an anniversary on June 30th. It was the tenth anniversary of the day she quit her banking career for poetry. Now if that seems trivial to some, I think it is not. After all, what are the odds that I would be reading a blog on banking or any of those gazillion other peeps ( Stick has lost count ) out there. Happy belated Eileen.

Speaking of Eileen, I have been reading in I Take Thee, English, For My Beloved somewhat often lately. It seems ( to me anyway) this book is difficult to just pick up and read through unlike Menage A Trois With the 21st Century. Don't get me wrong, The Brick, as it is often referred to is inspiring on several levels. One, it seems to layer so much into one complete book. Life, culture, politics, relationships, language, art, sex - have I missed anything? Second, it approaches poetry with innovation.

But seriously, lately I have been reading parts of it - some for the first time, some for - Oh I don't know, but certainly the umpteenth time. I keep trying to process this and let it speak to me. I think I'd like to try writing from some portions of it for prompts - like epigraphs.

I really have not blogged much about this book, though I have had a copy of it since I think March. Actually, I really have a lot of questions about it I'd like to pose Eileen. And maybe I will at some point soon.

I guess to go full circle on this post, I should say that I am glad that Eileen traded in here banking career for poetry. I don't know what kind of a banker she was, but she has been electric as a poet. Her energy, thought process as well as expression are all simply amazing. Trust me - I'd take one of her books over a toaster any day!

Meanwhile, I need to get back to The Brick.


poetry

Thoughts on Patriotism

As we go into the 4th of July weekend, here is a link to a short essay that I wrote for USAToday. It appears in their online version and a portion was included in a print copy of the newspaper. You can find the whole essay here, along with others that the newspaper carried. Mine is the first one.

Shakedown

Arms of vast floral range
Gave way to abscission
I too was stripped
Having covered the corkage
After polishing off my shot

BBC NEWS | UK | Scotland | A who's who of the G8 campaigners

BBC News - offers a look at some of the G8 Campaigners in a bit of a Who's Who.


live8 G8

Reuters - Protests planned for Scottish G8 summit

Reuters News service profiles some of the protest & activists events planned for the G8 conference in Edinburgh. If all this goes off as planned - the 8 heads of state at the meeting should feel a little dwarfed with this vast number of activists. Perhaps this will keep in focus that the world is watching.

live8 G8

More LIVE 8 News

Sheryl Crow has reportedly dropped from the Paris LIVE 8 Concert due to what she called "substantial logistical and personal challenges." Her own internet site urges her fans to support the concert and objectives of The ONE Campaign. Meanwhile, Justin Timberlake has been added to the lineup of the Live 8 concert in Philadelphia.

Source

live8 live8 paris live8 philly

It's In The Mail

I've sat here with three poems (for a contest) ready to go in the mail for better than three weeks now and this afternoon, one day before the deadline - the puppies actually made it in the mail. One of the poems I intermittently reworked - but settled upon the draft that I had once before concluded was a wrap. Oh well... what is done is done.

poetry

A child in Africa dies every 30 seconds...

The African continent will be the focus of a great deal of attention during the G8 summit. We've all heard Africa referred to over the years as an emerging continent. Yet all that we have really seen is a continent with unresolved issues and people with dimming hope.

The leaders of the G8 countries have an opportunity to take a bold position that can go a long way towards eradicating poverty in African countries but they will not likely take bold steps without knowing the world is watching and expecting more than token efforts.

Africa needs more than money. For one thing, it needs debt forgiveness. Many nations are unable to move forward because they continue to struggle under the burden of simply repaying interest on money given them years ago from the world bank. Between 1970 and 2002 Africa received $540 billion in loans. Over that same period, African countries paid back $550 or $10 billion more than the original loans--today they still owe another $293 billion. Most African nations spend more repaying these debts then they spend on education and health care. Read more about the issues here

Food and water are in short supply. Much of Africa is in extreme poverty. People living on less than $1 a day.

Every day:

• HIV/AIDS kills 6,300 people
• 8,500 people are infected with the HIV virus
• 1,400 newborn babies are infected during childbirth or by their mothers' milk.

[source]

Corruption in government is always harmful to those under its rule, but those in poverty suffer the most in such situations and are perhaps the least able to do anything about it directly. The issue of government accountability is critical to Africa.

All of these factors are critical to ending extreme poverty in Africa. They are what The One Campaign is about.

The One Campaign isn't asking you for money... it is asking you to stand up and say to our leaders that the time to act ins NOW. The G8 summit offers the perfect opportunity to address Africa's POVERTY and we are watching. We support action and We are watching. We are asking you to become part of the solution and We are watching.

WHAT YOU CAN DO....

STEP ONE:

Sign the ONE Declaration and encourage others to do so too! [sign here]

Wear the white band and learn more about world poverty [here]

STEP TWO:

Raise your voices... Encourage Congress and the president to make overcoming hunger, poverty and decease a priority. Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor the Millennium Development Goals Resolution (H. Con. Res 172) for a sample letter click here .

STEP THREE:

Engage others in discussing these issues. Ideas and resources of sharing ONE with others here

I challenge everyone, but especially poets and writers to get involved. Sign the declaration & encourage others via your blogs your conversations, etc. Link the resources I have provided her or link this post if you wish. I have this belief that poets and writers tend to be more in tune with our world as a whole and those about us. I hope that is not a misconception on my part.

live8 Poetry poets writers

Crack me up...

Shamefully, I admit I have not been over to 32 poems blog for a while. See what happens when you neglect to read a truly worthwhile blog for a few days.... you risk missing good stuff.

Good stuff in this case is Deborah Ager's link to Charles Jensen's Definitive List of Problems with American Poetry. Well, be warned. This is "to-bust-a-gut" material.

Gee, where would I start with the best of this piece. I do like the decoder rings... but you gotta love the Poetry created outside of academia fitting into one of two new genres of writing: greeting cards or word noise.

Follow the link and read the whole thing for yourself. (Did I just encourage people to leave my site?) OK, go read it, but come right back.

poetry

Live 8 Full Coverage on Yahoo! News

Live 8 Full Coverage on Yahoo! News


Moscow has been added to the LIVE8 concert list which kicks off Saturday the efforts to build support to put pressure on world leaders meeting the following week to do more to alleviate extreme poverty.

live8

News of U2: Live 8: U2 and Paul McCartney (Sgt. Pepper's)

Paul McCartney and U2 will be preforming the Beatles Song "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" on Sarurday to open the live8 Concert in London - according to the u2fanlife blog


live8

Last night's reading

Writers Place Open MIC last night was a light turnout - 10 people but it was a warmly supportive group as there were a couple of new readers and I thought although it was perhaps a little less formal ( around tables rather than theater style) it was an enjoyable atmosphere.

I read three poems of mine...

• Beautiful Music
• Freedom Summer Redux
• Doing Circles

Speaking of readings.... I see Christine Hamm is doing one at the Bowery Poetry Club in NYC. Yes, this is me all impressed.

Beyond poetry, (but maybe not) I have been enjoying a good deal of 60's music on my new satellite radio. It has really hit me how much I miss the music of the 60's and 70's for that matter. I am sure this says a lot about me besides age.

The 60's were such a turbulent age and it is quizzical how it seemed to amalgamate both social conscience and at the same time lead so many to sort of drop out of institutional society for a while. There are many differences between the 60's and the past five years, I do feel some of the same undercurrents developing around me. Just an observation.

open mic poetry

Pentagon Is Hoping No Child Is Left Behind

It should come as no surprise that the military is finding it more difficult to recruit young people these days. I think it was just Friday that I blogged on the poll showing declining numbers of parents who would encourage their sons and daughters to enlist.

Part of that "wonderful BUSH law called the NO CHILD LET BEHIND ACT requires schools to provide information on students be given to the military. This information includes names, phone numbers, address, gender, ethnicity, Social Security numbers, academic achievement data and age for students as young as 16 along with e-mail addresses and other personal information. Hey, and you thought No Child Left Behind was an education Act not a military recruiters Act.

But wait, this gets better.... the Pentagon has hired a private marketing firm to keep files on millions of young people. WOW this deserves the Earnie Grahan Award for innovation in trashing privacy rights.

The Pentagon contract for this data is with BeNow - 500 Edgewater Drive Suite 525 Wakefield, MA 01880 781-246-0040.

It seems that there is an "opt-out" option - which few are told of. School districts have reportedly discussed providing such information to parents on cards - but have been pressure from federal education authorities who warned they'd pull funding from their districts. Which again begs to ask the question what exactly are we trying to prevent the "Child" from missing out on?

Two things are running through my head here...

1. Sixteen year olds do not need to be hounded by military recruiters.
2. Private vendors do NOT need involuntary access to social security numbers of anyone, much less minors.

sources:

Washington Post

Santa Cruz Sentinel

Tags: Privacy No Child Left Behind Pentagon