Thursday ramblings

February is being less kind to us than January was. It got down into the teens last night. Just a week ago I noticed we had Tulip bulbs coming up already - this can't be good.

I suppose all the warm weather we have been having has only intensified my lust for baseball season. I have actually paid far less attention to off-season deals this year than normal. I'm not sure why, it isn't for any loss of interest in the game.

Baseball and poetry have a lot in common. There is this saying in baseball that the season is too long to let the win get you too high or the loses take you too low. I think the same advise is good for writers, especially poets. You can easily ride the crest of a wave with a success one day and find yourself swallowed by the surf the next. As a result, it's best to try to stay on a more even keel with you emotions as they relate to your work. Besides, what didn't work last week can become the cornerstone for something different this week. That is just the way it seems to work.

Turning colder should put me in the mood for the Winter Olympics. The winter games are far more interesting to me than the summer games. The sking and figure skating are my favorites. I love the alpine jumps. It just looks so utterly awesome when they are mid-air and leaning way forward. I remember many years ago at one of the Winter Games, perhaps Lake Placid, there was a guy who represented England that they dubbed "Eddie the Eagle" that came to the Olympics as a novice. It was such a trip to watch him. I think I and a million other men must have been living vicariously through him on every attempt.

I was thinking this morning about the relationship between poetry and other things in terms of a scale of importance. I'm guessing most put it pretty low. I'm not speaking specifically in terms of education, but let's take that as an example. You are going to budget for your overall curriculum. I'm going to give you $100 to represent that portion that is the total education budget. (I know it is low, but play along with me. Remember Bush is president and we are spending $8 billion a month on Iraq so we don't have much to spend.)

So we have to fund the following with our $100:

• Math department
• English Department (reading, grammar, language usage)
• Social Studies - History / Civics / Contemporary Issues, etc.
• Physical Education (non- sports team)
• Poetry
• Music
• Art ( painting, Photography, Sculpture, etc)
• High School Sports (team and individual sports program / after school. Football, baseball, basketball, track, tennis, golf, swimming, etc)
• Foreign Language
• Shop / Home making, etc.

There you have what needs to be funded. I'd like to hear from some of you how you'd divide up your $100 budget and use your best argument to make your case - or none at all if you just want to do the math and let it stand on the merit of your priority itself.

Go to it - this should be interesting.

Poet Lineage

I was thinking the other night of sketching out a "family tree" of sorts of poets influence. Perhaps it would look more like a corporate flow chart. The idea would be to start connecting major poets by influence. I imagine this is not at all an original idea and I am sure somewhere, someone else has undertaken such a project. None the less, embarking on this could be quite educational.

I've read several biographical accounts of Sylvia Plath over the past few years and I am reading yet another one presently. It is interesting to see some of the long and deep lineage of close friendships and influences that even span generations. In the case of Plath, there is even a significant American-Euro connection of poets.

Certainly such connections bring with them at times some influence upon the individual work of a writer. Just as what we read (since for the most part, we read what we like) tends to give us some influence that creeps into our work at times.


Tag: Poetry

What number are you?

The U.S. Department of Labor assigns a 9 digit code to identify most professions. The number131067042 is the number assigned to designate Poets.

ClickPress | EPIPHANIES OF THE SOUL: EMPOWER YOURSELF WITH THERAPEUTIC POETRY by Rena Johnson

ClickPress EPIPHANIES OF THE SOUL: EMPOWER YOURSELF WITH THERAPEUTIC POETRY by Rena Johnson


Tag: Poetry

Progress

"What progress we are making. In the Middle Ages they would have burned me. Now they are content with burning my books." ~Sigmund Freud, 1933

This is almost funny. However, I don't suppose we've come much further since 1933.

Midwest Poet Series Review

On Thursday, I attended a reading at Rockhurst University by Laura Kasichke. This was one of the Midwest Poets Series readings that have over the years attracted the likes of Billy Collins, W.S. Merwin, C.D. Wright, Sharon Olds, Li-Young Lee, among others.

I read a short novel last fall written by Kasischke when I was unable to turn up one of her poetry books at the Library. The remarkable thing about the book was not so much the plot as it was the language she used. He writing was so vivid with imagery that I know that her poetry just had to be awesome. I was not disappointed.

Kasischke has published six books of poetry in addition to three novels. She is a Pushcart Prize winner as well as the Elmer Holmes Bobst Award for Emerging Writers, the Alice Fay DiCastagnola Award, and has earned fellowships by the Ragdale Foundation, McDowell Colony, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Presently she teaches at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

What draws me to her poetry is the manner in which she transforms the common everydayness of events and things into mystical imagery to tell a story. Her words, even in the throngs of commonality are strong enough to pry your attention away from your own everyday life.

All of my selves tend to agree...

"Writing is a socially acceptable form of schizophrenia." ~E.L. Doctorow

The Council finance director resorts to poetry to reject a parking fine appeal

News & Star

You got to love this...

Last night...

Poetry Society meeting (KC Metro Verse) went well last night in spite of my last minute planning. I did some handouts and we discussed David Groff's essay The Peril of the Poetry Reading: The Page Versus the Performance which made for a lively discussion. Groff presents some excellent food for though both favorable and unfavorable to poetry readings.
We also did read-arounds. Some personal work as well as poems by others. When all was said and done, no one suggested impeaching me. Not openly anyway.

Speaking of impeachment, I caught the President's State of the Union address on the drive home last night. Amazing to say the least. At one point, he said:

"So to prevent another attack -- based on authority given to me by the
Constitution [I have yet to hear which specific article references this authority] and by statute [again, what statute?] -- I have authorized a terrorist surveillance
program to aggressively pursue the international communications of suspected Al
Qaida operatives and affiliates to and from America.

Previous presidents have used the same constitutional authority [Really? Because I really am only aware of Nixon using wiretaps that were illegal ]I have and federal courts [Which court? This is really funny because what he is doing is
circumventing the very court (FISA) which was established to deal with warrants
for the very activity he is undertaking without warrants] have approved the use of that authority. Appropriate members of Congress [Interesting in that many including members of his own party have expressed concern when this became public knowledge] have been kept informed.

The terrorist surveillance program has helped prevent terrorist
attacks. It remains essential to the security of America. If there are people
inside our country who are talking with Al Qaida, we want to know about it,
because we will not sit back and wait to be hit again."

*red type and brackets are my comments

Ok, he keeps framing this issue like Al Qaida picks up the phone or types an e-mail to someone in the U.S. or vice versa and we know they are doing it, so we listen in or intercept their e-mail. He is suggesting no one else is impacted, no one else but the "bad guys" are being spied on. How damn stupid is the President thinking the American people are? You can't automatically know who's phone calls and e-mail to intercept - this is broader than that and THAT is the reason he isn't going to FISA is because FISA is not going to grant an open season of spying on the American people just to see what we can find.

Bush can travel from city to city and give this speech a million times. He may even be beginning to believe himself that he has the legal authority to do this, just as he convinced himself of the WMDs, but he is wrong on his executive authority and he is breaking the law.

I recommend reading Palace Revolt if you happen to think what I have just said is nothing but liberal bullshit because there are plenty of conservatives who understand what the President is doing is wrong and some of them worked for the President and tried to convince him otherwise.

Enough of that...

Any Adreienne Rich fans out there? I was reading some of her poems this week. She is an interesting read.

What to do...

I learned late yesterday that I would be responsible for the program tonight at KC Metro Verse. This because our chapter president (who had this whole big thing on Dickinson planned) cannot be there. So being the person in charge of "Vice" - it falls upon me to conduct the meeting.

Ok, it is true I had last night to pull something together. But as it was, I had planned doing our taxes (which I did) and then I was too drained to think about it. I joined my wife (already in bed) past the point of meaningful dialogue, (meaningful being defined as anything she could be held accountable for recalling later) so I grabbed the book I am currently reading (Bitter Fame - A life of Sylvia Plath by Anne Stevenson) and read till I could finally fall asleep.

So here I am... still with what to do.

Now it is common that whatever the plan for the evening is - we will do a read around. Our own work or that of another poet... sometimes both. So we can do that. But on my lunch hour today, I still have to decide what direction to take the meeting tonight in terms of discussion or program. Being in Vice President can be such a bitch at times.

The poet said...

As the poet said, "Only God can make a tree" - probably because it's so hard to figure out how to get the bark on. ~Woody Allen

Billy Collins seen as people's poet

The Post and Courier Charleston.net News Charleston, SC


Collins - The people's poet
by: Marjory Wentworth - South Carolina's poet laureate

Brain Lateralization Test

Brain Lateralization Test Results

Right Brain (59.6%) The right hemisphere is the visual, figurative, artistic, and intuitive side of the brain. Left Brain (40.4%) The left hemisphere is the logical, articulate, assertive, and practical side of the brain

Are You Right or Left Brained?(word pair test)
personality tests by similarminds.com

Writers & Vanity

"Every author, however modest, keeps a most outrageous vanity chained like a madman in the padded cell of his breast." ~Logan Pearsall Smith

Vermont - Nationally Acclaimed Poet Sells 297 Acres to Nature Conservancy

Vermont - Nationally Acclaimed Poet Sells 297 Acres to Nature Conservancy

Ruth Stone is a remarkable human being as well as poet. Knowing what this land
has meant to her, I was especially touched to read this.

People Having Their Say

I believe the principal of freedom of speech must universally reside deep within the soul of writers. Perhaps it is more latent with some, but when pressed to the point, I think we all must agree it is an important core belief.

Freedom of expression is of course an important components of human dignity itself. We hear about abusive people who hit or in some other way physically harm another. But silencing someone is abuse as well. It make no difference if it's individuals within a family unit or if it is a whole group of people within a nation. It is an abusive action.

Repression of the expression of ideas is the kiss of death to art. But it is in a larger way the undoing of the human spirit. Americans I think very closely and culturally link such freedoms with the right to dissent. I believe that having the avenue of dissent open to all people is one of the greatest protections we have within our democracy. It is a safety valve that allows us to keep the government from isolation to the will of the people. It is critical in any democracy.

We have heard much about exporting democracy by the Bush administration. Stressing the belief that the whole world should mirror our image of democracy. A laudable objective on one hand, but even as the President has pushed for elections in Iraq and suggested that such examples of democracy would bloom and flourish in the middle east and that this would be a good thing.

We've seen a series of elections in Iraq and the final outcome as to the impact these have had or will have on this country and indeed the region remain to be written in history books. But we know this, the people in Iraq with all their regional differences have failed to support persons most closely alined and believed to be favored by our government.

This week, we have seen another exercise of democracy in the middle-east. This is the election of new leaders for the Palestinians. Perhaps to the surprise of many, the Hamas faction was the big winner over the ruling Fatah party. Since many Hamas leaders have openly stated that they favor the distraction of Israel, and Hamas has been linked to many suicide bombings, this is seen by many as a unsettling development. One that challenges any headway towards peace in the middle-east.

So the President has now seen some examples of democracy in the middle-east and I don't think he is liking the outcome. I certainly don't pretend to speak for Hamas or the Palestinians but I can perhaps understand why many of these people may feel motivated to such extreme. It revolves around a long history by the U.S. of involvement in the middle-east that is more heavy handed than not.

There is more than enough blame to spread between the Palestinian and Israelis for the current plight which would be an understatement to refer to as pretentious. But it is easy for me to see how many in this part of the world must constantly be looking over their shoulders to see exactly where the U.S. is now, and what we are doing. We are not especially trusted in this region.

So we are seeing people in these countries begin to express themselves with the ballot box. They are expressing for the most part fears and distrust and frustration. Israel will soon likely be reshaping their government. The people, and their decisions will likely be governed by the same emotions. It would perhaps be a good time for everyone, ourselves included to listen more when these parties express themselves. There are common fears driving all parties. Everyone needs to hear what the other one is saying. Let them speak. Let them have their dignity. Let them be heard. One can only find common ground when you understand what it is you have in common.

Another World is Possible: The Ceramics of Zanon

By Raúl Zibechi - 1/26/2006

On some occasions, rare though they are, the slogan “Another world is possible,” becomes reality.

Tags: Poetry

Al-Babtain, first library dedicated to Arabic poetry

Middle East Online


Arab poets get their dream of a library that archives their works for reference, future generations.
By Asmaa J. Yaqoub - KUWAIT

tag: Poetry

Water and poetry

Naples Sun Times - Local News - 01/25/2006 - Water and poetry



tag: Poetry

Childlike

"Every child is an artist. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up." ~Pablo Picasso

What is it that happens as we grow up (or old) that detracts from the creative process? Is it cynicism that holds us back? Do we come to place so much stock in the prevailing trends and come to fear anything that might establish ourselves as contrary to the public norm? Maybe it is a combination of things but I do agree that there is something that indeed seems to hinder the natural order of creativity in adults. I suppose it could simply be that all our worldly worries tend to cloud up the brain and make it difficult to freely engage in exploring the imagination without extra effort, forcing if you will. Sometime I find myself trying to force something into words and it rarely ever produces results worthy of saving.

I think taking a walk or drive, viewing other art, listening to music, reading other poetry- all can be positive in breaking down whatever invisible barriers we haul around in our heads. I then to lean more to the distractions of everyday life as the root cause. That is why I think these other activities help. They tend to say, "excuse me" and just push aside a few of those distractions in a cleansing way. That's my take, anyway.

On another note - the person who googled: michael wells nude. Nice try, but sorry.

Overused Words

What do you suppose are the five most overused words in poetry today?

My Demon Has A Name I Won't Say

For the most part
It’s the two of us

Myself and a demon
Whose name I won’t say

He’s not good company
In fact none at all

Absent is dialogue
Meaningful or otherwise

He has never been consoling
Not in the slightest

His body language
That of omission

Nothing physical
Only metaphysical

No tenderness
Only harsh neglect

Sometimes my demon
Invades a gathering

I won’t introduce him
I never say his name

The Nucleus of a Poem

"A poem should not mean

But be." ~Archibald MacLeish, Ars Poetica, 1926

~

And the funny thing about advocates of only "accessible poetry" is they are forever hung up on the meaning.

New January 2006 Poll Shows Majority of Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping

New January 2006 Poll Shows Majority of Americans Support Impeaching Bush for Wiretapping

In Summation:
The poll found that 52% agreed with the statement:"If President Bush wiretapped American citizens without the approval of a judge, do you agree or disagree that Congress should consider holding him accountable through impeachment."

tags: Bush impeachment

Fridge magnets tinker with poetry. 20/01/2006. ABC News Online

Fridge magnets tinker with poetry. 20/01/2006. ABC News Online


The idea if intelligent fridge magnets is interesting, but what about the art of it all?


tag: Poetry Art language technology

You Just Know it is Going to Be Good

The blurbs are all in and have had time to settle. So it is only natural that the writer would now begin to create the masterpiece that was responsible for so many blurbs. We are all waiting patiently.

Rights Group Says U.S. Abuses Terror Suspects

Rights Group Says U.S. Abuses Terror Suspects

Human Rights Watch yesterday released it's annual report on the treatment of people in more than 70 countries. The report is critical of the U.S. Government.

tag: Human Right

Stickpoet Trivia

Ten Top Trivia Tips about Stickpoet!

1. Stickpoet kept at the window will keep vampires at bay!
2. Reindeer like to eat stickpoet!
3. The original nineteenth-century Coca-Cola formula contained stickpoet.
4. The word 'samba' means 'to rub stickpoet'.
5. In the Spanish edition of Cluedo, stickpoet is the victim.
6. Stickpoetocracy is government by stickpoet.
7. A rhinoceros horn is made from compacted stickpoet.
8. All of the roles in Shakespeare's plays - including the female roles - were originally played by stickpoet.
9. If you blow out all the candles on stickpoet with one breath, your wish will come true!
10. Olympic badminton rules say that stickpoet must have exactly fourteen feathers.

I am interested in - do tell me aboutherhimitthem

UNfortune-it-LY

WO(e)RK has been Xaustive

IS me

January Submissions & Misc.

I sent off three submissions yesterday bringing my total sent out for the month to eight.

Most unique word search used recently to access my site by someone was "make me into a superhero" - Ok, poof you are a superhero. See, we aim to please. :)

Out of the recent unique visitors, Maryland and Missouri tied and California was third. A little regional strength starting to show up.

Internationally, visitors from United Kingdom, Canada, Poland, Australia, and the Philippines.

Good news is that I have a Poetry Society Meeting tonight. The bad news is my sweetie will likely be in bed by the time I get home.

Rights groups prepare suits over domestic spying

Top News Article Reuters.com


President George W. Bush's domestic spying program faces legal challenges by two U.S. civil liberties groups who said on Tuesday they will seek court orders to stop it immediately and permanently. Both Bush and NSA Director Army Lt. Gen. Keith Alexander are named as defendants in the action.


tags:Privacy Bush Wiretaps liberties

Guardian Unlimited | Arts news | Duffy wins TS Eliot poetry prize

Guardian Unlimited Arts news Duffy wins TS Eliot poetry prize

Carol Ann Duffy, whose new collection Rapture is one of the top-selling poetry collections in the UK, last night won the £10,000 TS Eliot poetry prize.

The Poetry Book Society, which awards the prize, said: "This year's TS Eliot prize highlights a (some would say) rare moment of agreement between the critics and the booksellers as to what constitutes great poetry." (Guardian Unlimited)

Interview with Duffy

After Anna Akhmatova by Carol Duffy

Land by Carol Duffy

Tag: Poetry

Courage & Dissent

“Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.”   ~Ambrose Redmoon

I would say that at the time that Walter Cronkite made his famous remarks about the need for America to end the military action in Vietnam, he stood a great deal to lose.  It was a noble and courageous act on his part putting his reputation and career on the front line because of something he saw that was more important.

Perhaps today, in his years of retirement, he has less to lose in terms of economics. His livelihood is not at stake. Still, he has placed his reputation out on the line once again for what he sees as a greater good.

Cronkite has been a war correspondent. He’s seen a lot in his lifetime.  His words on the war in Iraq bear consideration by every American.

No doubt in the next few days, we well see White House officials questioning not only the wisdom of his remarks, but likely his loyalty and devotion to this country.  Courage comes in many colors.  Sometimes it is on the battlefield. Sometimes it is dissent. There are good reasons for dissent. It is not a sign of weakness or disrespect or disloyalty no matter what those bent on propagating this war say. Truths do count for something.

Cronkite: Time for U.S. to Leave Iraq

Walter Cronkite, a voice from the past, echoes a message from the past. Cronkite, who urged American after a CBS newscast on Feb. 27, 1968 - following the bloody Tet Offensive in Vietnam, to end the military mission also said that America should withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.

Source

Pale as my pants

The new morning brought with it a desire to feel better. Though I was out an about yesterday, my wife thought I was as pale as the khaki white slacks I had on. I am better today, but knowing I have tomorrow off, I will to take it easy and hopefully by Tuesday I'll be at or near 100%.

That hasn't kept me from writing and this morning I have toyed with a draft of a poem I did last night. It is coming along but still needs work. I've stopped to blog this bit and perhaps take a short break from it. If I can craft this into something this week, I'll be quite happy as I look back on the weekend from which it started.

State of Poetry

Charles Mudede and James Latteier recently penned a bizarre piece in The Stranger that you may well have read. In short it was a diatribe about what is wrong with poetry today. I was amazed at their definition of poetry. Let's see, they said, "Poetry is the continued practice of poetry." You heard me right. It's one of those definitions from like a buck and a quarter notebook- insert dictionary. A self defining word. To this sentence they added, "This circular definition simply says that you can't start afresh." Start what afresh? What the fuck are they saying? New form? Good lord, poetry has been evolving since inception.

If we were going to have a "State of The Art of Poetry" address and discuss the current status of the art, I'm sure we could find plenty to bitch about. On the other hand I believe there is so much innovative writing being done today that is not even recognized.

Evidently Charles and James have an aversion to confessional poetry. That's fine. But they must surly realize that the confessional scene is not all that is out there. And some people still find well written confessional poetry to suit our taste.

What exactly are these two saying? Poetry is the practice of poetry? Good poems beget good poems? We should all mimic their concept of great poetry? There is nothing new under the sun that is good?

Given the negative tirade they have made on poetry in general, I believe they owe us a better description as to what poetry is to them.

Fighting The Sinus Thing

My head feels like a part of my brain is encased in concrete and the core is trying to throb inside the encasement. My throat is raw from sinus drainage. If you can't tell, I'm not feeling well.

For me feeling well is an absolute. Whereas being sick is all relative. That is because like so many males (if I may stereotype for a moment) I tend to resist the inevitable. There are degrees of sick. I may be sick, there is a chance I could be coming down with something but I am not there yet. I may be getting sick. I'm probably sick. I'm a wee bit sick. I'm sick. There are just so many degrees you can be before you are there. In the final analysis, I may damn well be on death's doorstep before I am actually "just plain sick."

So it is that I am going into work this morning but I will likely leave early. There are some important things that need to be done first. Then I'll check for a pulse and if I fine one, I'll go home. Maybe.

All This

You
are my ribbon
that ties the lose ends

The bounce
that makes all
my hurdles

The
sound that
soothes and moves
my soul

You are the gentle mist
the succulent kiss
and the whimper of bliss

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Edinburgh - Line of poetry to let tourists dial up facts on Fergusson

Scotsman.com News - Scotland - Edinburgh - Line of poetry to let tourists dial up facts on Fergusson


MOBILE phone technology is being used to beat planning restrictions on a plaque to Scotland's "forgotten poet" Robert Fergusson.

City will have own poet laureate

St. Paul Pioneer Press 01/10/2006 City will have own poet laureate


The Minnesota governor vetoed a measure which would have created a state poet laureate. That didn't stop the people in Duluth, Minnesota. They will have their own poet laureate.

On Poets Being Relevant

My birthday now past, safely tucked away in slumber, not to be awakened for another year. Thanks to all well wishers.

Birthdays are a strange commodity. When young, we can't wait till the next one. Somewhere along the line that of course changes and we (or at least I) would be happy if they seemed not so frequent. The alternative is guess is not particularly appealing and I suppose it would be good to temper whatever negative attachments we (or I) have to them with the obvious reality. Having another birthday requires living. So, here's to living with all the joys and sorrows it brings and hope for more of the first and less of the latter.

Living it seems is a critical part of poetry. We hear so much about dead poets but they had to be alive at one point to be poets. And I do think that many poets have a more than casual focus on mortality. I know I do. But I don't think that is so much because I have a fixation on death, but a lust for life and I understand that the absence of one is the other. Further, reality is that we will all at some point be dead. So it is, that I measure much of life in the context of these two extremes.

I cannot offer any scientific evidence, but I have a gut feeling that on the average, poets are much more highly charged with emotion than the rest of the population. We see colors more vividly; we hear things that others miss. We witness both higher and lower realms of emotion with greater intensity. These of course are generalizations on my part, but they are opinions, which I hold. I try to accept that these are gifts. Yes, at times some of this may seem like a curse but on the whole it gives us a richer experience with which to share our world view, whether we are talking about the beauty of a trickle of water across the rockbed of a brook or the horrors of war.

There's a quote that I'd like to share which I believe deeply reflect my view of the poet and his or her duty. Salman Rushdi once said, "A poet's work: To name the unnamable, to point at frauds, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep." When I think about that quote several things happen. One is that it is good that most poets seem to experience the intensities of life. Another is that because of this gift we have an obligation or duty to share with the world. And to that end, the final thought is that poetry really does matter.

tag: Poetry

NPR : When Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things

NPR : When Ordinary People Achieve Extraordinary Things

Jody Williams is the founding coordinator of the International Campaign to Ban Landmines. For her efforts, she shared the 1997 Nobel Peace Prize with the Campaign. Williams previously worked to build awareness about U.S. policy toward Central America.

Inspiring story!

Birthday

So it's my birthday and my horoscope is as follows:

Doing a job properly takes more than hard work and concentration now, for you could also be required to juggle several balls in the air. Flexibility doesn't always come easily to you, but now it's the thing that will do you the most good. You may have to alter your plans and adapt to unexpected conditions on the job. Keep in mind that any task you start is likely to take more time than you planned. Smart thinking will get you further than extra effort.

And after reading this, I'm thinking.... what makes this different than any other day?

Growing old is mandatory; growing up is optional. ~Chili Davis

~

Thanks to modern medical advances such as antibiotics, nasal spray, and Diet Coke, it has become routine for people in the civilized world to pass the age of 40, sometimes more than once. ~Dave Barry, "Your Disintegrating Body," Dave Barry Turns 40, 1990

Writers Contest for Kansas Writers

El Dorado Times


17th annual Kansas Voices Writing Contest. Check link for details

Possible

Stark white


opens

possibilities

we might
Never Understand

Love in a Bottle

If it were that simple.

Still one company is sporting love poems in a bottle for Valentines Day. The going price is $39.95 but a trial offer is $24.99 plus shipping and handling.

They offer dozens of both classic and modern poems - including the romantic verse of Shakespeare's Top Ten Love Poems along with the Top Ten Classic Love Poems for Men & the Top Ten Classic Love Poems for Women. Additionally there are modern poems by award-winning poets as well as short love poems and sad love poems in case you need to tell someone they broke your heart.

I suppose this must say something about the state of poetry in today's culture.


poetry

On Journaling & Blogging

Thanks Cindy for getting the discussion going!

Saturday

A mixture of laziness and urgency makes for strange bed fellows. I feel urgency will win out and I suppose this is for the best. It is the more positive of the two virtues.

It must be my dry wit and the ear ring

You are Sharon Olds, master of the everyday,
explorer of the female body and family.

Which 20th Century Poet Are You?
brought to you by

Belonging

I got up this morning
Dressed the part for work
But beyond that point
I was a crippled man
With a low depression
Which moved in from the west
To a stationary pattern overhead.
Beyond the rank and file
Masses of Herculean will
That do the work of necessity,
The golden men and women
Which made this country whatever it is,
I sit estranged from the social climate,
Lost between being unable and uncaring
That the only thing that keeps me going
Is the bottle of Prozac with the orange lid
So the rest of the family knows
It belongs to me, or I to it.


tag: poem

The Red Room Company | Project | Toilet Doors

The Red Room Company Project Toilet Doors


Calling All Poets! Your Poems needed for the back of Toilet Doors.

Adding to the Sum of the Universe

"A good poem is a contribution to reality. The world is never the same once a good poem has been added to it. A good poem helps to change the shape of the universe, helps to extend everyone's knowledge of himself and the world around him." ~ Dylan Thomas


tags: Dylan Thomas poets

We Missed

An ivory cup,
With remnants of black coffee
And a rich brown ring,
Sat alone,
Stone cold,
To say
You came,
Stayed,
Then left.
I’m sorry.



tag: Poems

Friends Of The CU Libraries To Host Information Day Jan. 12 | News Center | University of Colorado at Boulder

Friends Of The CU Libraries To Host Information Day Jan. 12 News Center University of Colorado at Boulder


Among other things - participents at this free event will get to see letters written by Anne Sexton, Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Langston Hughes that are housed there.


poets Anne Sexton Langston Hughes Emily Dickinson

Add a cup of imagination

Not all of what Emily Dickinson wrote was exactly straight forward. But how much more straight forward could you get then the:

"The Possible's slow fuse is lit

By the Imagination."~Emily Dickinson

This has to speak to the heart of every artist - not just poets or writers. Starting with a blank page staring back at you or a canvas... It is truly the imagination that lights that fuse of the possible. It is a necessary ingredient in the recipe of success for artists.

I am becoming more aware that my imagination has to be nurtured along and fed. It helps to be opened up to an environment that invites it to flourish. A scenic walk or drive, the right music, sometimes a quiet spot but other times not. Busy people on a crowded street can just a s well spark the fuse. My mind can be receptive even in a hectic environment if I allow myself to get into the mood. Free of a lot of the other mental process that normally goes on.

Imagination and persistence, I believe, are perhaps the two biggest ingredients of creative successes.

Choices

Approaching the cashier I’m asked, "paper or plastic?"
I’m a baby boomer- I’ve grown up liking choices.
I love Baskin-Robbins, the whole 31-flavor thing
Though I always get the same thing. I just like the choice.
Choices are good. Though sometimes confusing.
I struggle weighing the loss of trees with the use of synthetics.
When all the consternation is over, I’m a paper person
And say so. I’m careful to recycle and if worst happens
I can always write poems on the paper bags.
But what I don’t understand is what part of "paper please"
Says put everything in paper but the eggs. Or the milk.
It’s like they offer me a choice just so they can only partially
Grant my wish. Nine paper sacks later the guy asks,
"Did you want your eggs in plastic?"
You offer me a choice, I’m gonna be a man about it
And let you know what I want. I can handle it.
Don’t wimp out on me.

Independent Online Edition > Media

Independent Online Edition > Media

Good Lord do I need to learn some patience. This guy spends more than 40 years working on this piece of epic poetry work.

Journaling & Blogging

As I was journaling very early this morning I suddenly thought about journaling verses blogging. It occurred to me in the first instance that my journal could likely be the cause of death by boredom. Sometimes I suspect there are tid-bits that someone might find interesting. And I do these days, mix my journaling with many of my poetry first drafts, but it is likely the boredom would set in long before one found an interesting tid-bit.

Granted, I don't journal for the benefit of others. But blogging on the other hand has to be interesting or no one comes back a second or third or fourth time.

There are occasions when I may have a parallel theme running from a blog post and a journal entry but that is more often than not, the exception. So I am wondering about others who both blog and journal - and how they feel the two differ or not, as the case may be. Do you specifically have a different approach to your journaling and blogging? And what other characteristics are found in your journaling? Do you journal in first person? Always? How much self discovery do you find in journaling?

I know, I'm just about as bad as a toddler with all the questions today, but this is really bugging me.

Official Stick Poet - T now in "Poet Black"

The "Poet Black" official Stick Poet Superhero T

click here to order

The Woman

Sometimes the hush
Says so much more.
To see her in quiet
Is to hold her in awe

Of all that she is,
She need say nothing;
But when she speaks
This too opens up

A whole new realm
Of beauty. Still-
Sometimes the hush.
Hush!

Out with the old....

"For last year's words belong to last year's language

And next year's words await another voice.

And to make an end is to make a beginning."

~ T.S. Eliot, "Little Gidding"

Missoulian: Global warming group turns to poetry

Missoulian: Global warming group turns to poetry

Here is an example of the use of poetry as a means of social change.


Poetry Global Warming

Happy New Year! A wee bit belatedly

I read Christine Hamm's blog and was so impressed with the quantity of her post it shamed me into posting today. I am not suggesting the quality of her post is lacking, I always enjoy it...

So here I am. Having been off work for three days and I am finally posting!.

And a Happy New Year to everyone!

I ventured out into the public last night to read at the 2nd Annual Writers Place New Years Day Poetry Celebration. It was good to get out an read and among the six poems I read - three were new material.

I came home a brain stormed on subject matter last night and came up with some writing ideas that should keep me busy, off the streets and out of trouble for a week or two maybe more. Evidently the combination of the reading and the brain storm kicked me into gear because I went on to write last night and again this morning.

I was sad to learn last night that Joe Cecil, director of The Writers Place for the past two years is stepping down. The visibility of the organization has blossomed under his guidance.

Stepping into Joe's shoes is Will Leathem who is certainly not a new name in the local literary arena. I expect Will to bring a lot of energy to the organization as energy seems to follow him.

I heard the other day that the Northern California area was hit hard with rain and the Russian River was likely to flood. This of course caused me to think of Eileen and wonder if she was impacted by this. How could I have forgotten that she live high on a mountain? [whacking myself on the head] Even so, I picture her with reams of paper and cases of wine writing with the mania of Plath as the waters rise around the mountain... hee he.

Oh, thanks Jilly for letting us know that the Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel is out!

US wiretap leak inquiry launched - Financial Times - MSNBC.com

US wiretap leak inquiry launched - Financial Times - MSNBC.com

The arrogance of power in this administration continues. There are serious constitutional questions about the authority the President has to undertake domestic spying and yet the Justice Department is looking for a whistleblowers?

Second Annual New Year's Day Readings

THE WRITERS PLACE will sponsor the Second Annual New Year's Day Reading with hostess SHARON EIKER on NEW YEAR'S DAY (not New Year's Eve) January 1, 2006.

Below is a partial schedule of what will happen throughout the day. If you're interested in reading, and have not been given a time to read please join us, as after 9pm the mic is open to all that would like to read their work (please limit your reading to a 3-5 minute duration.

Noon -1:00pm Social Hour
1:00 - 2:00pm TWP Board Members and Friends
2:00 - 2:45pm DJ Sweeney Trio
2:45 - 3:00pm Break
3:00 - 4:00pm KC Writer's Group hosted by Judith
4:00 - 5:00pm Collaborators hosted by Phyllis Becker
5:00 - 6:00pm KC Poetry Society hosted by Missy Rassmussen and MichaelWells
7:00 - 8:00pm Latino Writers Collective hosted by Angela Cervantes
8:00 - 9:00pm Open Mic Regulars including Music by Joe Schnebelen
9:00 - Mid-Night -- OPEN MIC anyone is welcome

Attendance cost is on a donation basis, suggested donations being $3 for members and $5 for non-members.

Chili supper on going. $5.00 for bowl that can be refilled.Soft drinks, Beer, Red and White Wine will be available for a donation of $1 to defray costs.

The Writers Place is located at 3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO 64111

Christmas Gift from Wife

For Christmas my wife Cathy, gave me a beautiful leather journal by Oberon Design of Santa Rosa, California. The one she selected was the forest pattern.

Cathy said one of the reasons she selected this one was that she liked the historical note on the significance of the forest:

Forest - The forest is a refuge. In this realm of green half light one cannot define distance, only the mystery of the moment, the discovery of what is near but hidden. In human history the forest has always represented the psyche, a place of unknown dangers or initiations. It is a safe and beautiful place for those at ease with solitude and quiet, the hermit or forest dwellers, friends of creatures great and small.

I too found this this interesting. Certainly writing poetry often is about discovery and finding the hidden inner voice. At any rate, it is indeed a gift I will get much use out of as well as treasure. The journal allows for inserts so once it is full, I can simply pull the old one and replace it with the new one. I have found in recent times I am starting more of my first drafts with pen and paper as opposed to on beginning them on the computer. This of course lends itself well to that practice.

This causes me to wonder how many poets still utilize pen and paper for early drafts as opposed to computer. What are some of of the favorite utensils of poets for creating their work?

On the Page

The fibers of the paper contain but a stain of my thought.

The afternoon of the night before Christmas

It's a quiet moment... well, nearly. Wife is on the tread mill behind me and hast the TV on the food channel, but I am relaxed and feel apart from the recent frenzy. Sipping my diet coke, the shopping done the rat race over. We'll go to my son's house this afternoon to celebrate the Christmas holiday with him.

There were Cardinals visiting the bird feeder this morning. It has been rainy here. It is like a stationary front just stopped over Kansas City. I guess that is what stationary fronts do. The sky looks like it could just hang here like it is for days. The rain is like big splotches of water. If this were to turn to snow, I believe we'd get tons of it.

I haven't written since Thursday, and that was just to journal. . But I'd like to. Just haven't had the time, so this is sort of my journal substitution today.

Read a couple of blogs today.... Ivy, Eileen, Christine. By the way - Christine's The Salt Daughter is out. You can buy it here. I've read it and if you enjoy Christine's unique voice, you'll love this book. It is so classically Christine!

In the news, more on the Bush Spy machine here where U.S. companies were helping cultivate data. A San Francisco Chronicle editorial is sharply critical of the Bush administration on the point of domestic spying.

Well that's it for the afternoon.

Here's wishing all the Stick Poet readers a very enjoyable and safe holiday!

Ah, but you can...

"You can't write poetry on the computer." ~Quentin Tarantino

True Poets

"The true poet is all the time a visionary and whether with friends or not, as much alone as a man on his death bed." ~W.B. Yeats

Ivy Responds

Ivy responds to the five random facts.

And here's my though about the earthquakes. She is such a world traveler - she's like a moving target! Still, two! Wow, that is incredible? Were they in different cities - I wonder?

Good Poetry

Good poetry is like a good woman. Mysterious, deep with emotion, brilliant in color and self empowering.


tag: Poetry

Mostly journaling and tinkering...

I did a little writing on the weekend - but not much. Mostly journaling and tinkering with some previously written poems. Sunday evening did family stuff and addressed Christmas cards. Oh, yeah... I squeezed some shopping around all that.

In this rat-race time of year I thought this my be a good quote to share....


"To be nobody but yourself in a world which is doing its best, night and day, to make you everybody else means to fight the hardest battle which any human being can fight; and never stop fighting." ~e.e. cummings, 1955

Howl at 50 - dublin - dublin life

Howl at 50 - dublin - dublin life

An Irish Celebration of Howl - January 5th in Dublin

Bush says leaking spy program a �shameful act� - Politics - MSNBC.com

Bush says leaking spy program a shameful act - Politics - MSNBC.com

Excuse me? The violation is shameful!

Benjamin Franklin once wrote, “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
This is inscribed on the steps to the Statute of Liberty. Words of one much wiser than this President.

Proper Irish wake toasts McCarthy twice

Robert Bly read poetry. McCarthy's longtime friend Louise Klas told a story. A woman who had had dinner with McCarthy and Jesse Ventura -- at the same time -- shared what it was like to sit in a room with two larger-than-life characters. And a Catholic nun who has never stopped preaching against war sang a song of peace.

A spark of madness!

"You're only given a little spark of madness. You mustn't lose it." ~Robin Williams

I actually think you have to exercise that madness to keep it in shape. Sort of a use it or lose it philosophy.

Maybe I Should Be Reading

The winter chill returned and brought with it more white power today. Not a lot, but enough to require extra care for the many shoppers out and about. I spent the better part of the day out. I have to may yet another trip out tonight.

Juggling some words earlier but I am only half heartedly into it. I want to be more serious, but that is a battle that pits will and mind against each other. That struggle is not often a pretty sight.

Perhaps I should be reading instead.

Oh, I see Cindy posted her random facts. I'm not sure if I am more impressed by no. 2 or no. 5.

You Get To Me

Under my skin you crawl
In a full body takeover
Within the streams of conscious
Even to the tributaries of subconscious
Down to my very nuclear core

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

Bush Authorized Domestic Spying

The New York Times is reporting President Bush signed a secret order in 2002 authorizing the National Security Agency to eavesdrop on U.S. citizens despite previous legal prohibitions against such domestic spying.

The news comes as the debate over the reauthorization of the Patriots Act come to a critical point today in the U.S. Senate.

Further indication that Congress MUST have more transparency availability to it where government surveillance is concerned. There has to be oversight to protect the civil liberties of American citizens.

Quoting from the Washington Post story:

Kate Martin, director of the Center for National Security Studies at George Washington University, said the secret order may amount to the president authorizing criminal activity.

"This is as shocking a revelation as we have ever seen from the Bush administration. It is, I believe, the first time a president has authorized government agencies to violate a specific criminal prohibition and eavesdrop on Americans."



Tags: Bush Spying Patriot Act Privacy Civil Liberties

Five Random Facts

I've been tagged by James

Here are five random facts about me:

1. My Junior and Senior year of high school I would sometimes wear a Suziphone home from school.

2. Since registering to vote at age 18 I have only missed one election and it was a minor municipal bond issue.

3. I married my high school sweetheart.

4. My left ear is pierced.

5. Prefer white wines to red - especially Chardonnay


The assignment is to record five random facts, then tag five people. I made it a little harder by trying to think of things you might not know about me from reading my web-log. The remainder is to tag five additional folk. I nominate: Ivy - Christine - Deborah - Amy - Cindy

Achieving Success at Life

So I get this e-mail from a friend who has picked up a copy of the Park University Scribe and tells me I have four poems in the new issue. Then proceeds to add: "Damn Michael, overachiever."

I found the whole thing humorous. Still, I wish I could plead guilty as charged. My writing and especially my submission of work is just about as disorganized as the rest of my life. I've seen worse, but that is of little consolation. I only acknowledge the fact as a basis for those who don't know me to have some point of reference. I fall somewhere between points A and C.

Looking at my submissions during the past year, they have not been substantially up from the year before. I go in spurts. I do believe my writing overall has become more focused this year and you would think that lends itself to more material to submit.

Much of my life is disorganized. It is easy to get into a mode of accepting disorganized. I think there are two reasons. One is my ADD and the other is spending nineteen years in a job that is pretty much crisis driven. I can plan and I do, but I know just as sure as I come to work that a crisis will arrive too. In fact, if I don't come to the office that crisis is still going to arrive. So it is not uncommon for me to lumber through each day just moving from one crisis to the next. It means that circumstances dictate my work habits and being already handicapped by ADD I sort of just get carried through life's stream. Only some days it is more like a river current.
In almost every area of my life I realize I need to find more consistency. I am trying to achieve that little by little.

Maybe I don't really want to be an overachiever. Still, it would be nice to look at my writing, what has been published, the quality of it. The quality of my family life and work overall a year from now and be able to say that I can see an improvement in all of these areas because I found I could be consistent in my efforts and over the long haul, it paid off.

Pentagon accused of spying on Americans | csmonitor.com

Pentagon accused of spying on Americans | csmonitor.com


Let's see... we went through crap this with Nixon.

This is a classic example of why Congress needs to overhaul the Patriots Act. It should NEVER be made permanent and should "often" be subject to review and scrutiny.

The President Speaks - Anyone Care Anymore?

I sat this morning in the doctor's office awaiting an appointment. A television mounted on the wall was on, and the President was giving his fourth in a series of speeches on the war. I looked at those seated in the room. Not a one of them seemed the least bit interested in what he had to say. There were three women, one other man, besides myself as well as some younger children, at the point in time in which I took note.

As I listened to him, I heard really nothing new. Except he mentioned that our pre-war intelligence had been wrong. I don't believe I've ever heard him admit that as plainly as he did today. Still, he said under the same circumstances he'd do it again and the actions were still justified. As I heard those words a chill went up my spine. Then I thought, I wonder how many members of Congress allow him the latitude to do so... again, under the same circumstances?

SIENNA MILLER - MILLERS DRUNKEN POETRY FUN

SIENNA MILLER - MILLERS DRUNKEN POETRY FUN

"I've got this group of friends that are quite bohemian and we get drunk, get the poetry books out and read. It sounds so pretentious but it's one of my favourite things." ~ Sienna Miller

Essay and poetry collections leave lasting impressions

QCTimes.com - The Quad-City Times Newspaper


Susan Flansburg recommends:
Whether the folks on your Christmas gift list fancy humor or sobriety, academia or spirituality, books make thoughtful gifts. Indeed, books of poetry and essays — which bear repeated reading — make lasting and intimate choices that will please both giver and receiver for years.

Emotions On the Page

"How much has to be explored and discarded before reaching the naked flesh of feeling." ~Claude Debussy

Writing when in a particularly emotional ebb, at least from my own experience, tends to produce one of two results, both which are extremes. Vividly succinct images that can take you quickly to a place and time. Or just plain crap. Flat, rambling that seems like a wasted exercise in futility. It seems rarely there is anything that falls in that cavern between these two points.


tags: Poetry Writing emotions

This and That on Monday

Saturday morning, while shoveled snow from our walk and drive I was struck by the starkness of the sky and the sun trying in desperation to break through a tiny perforation in the cloud cover. The image was so striking that I took my camera-phone and shot a photo of it. The result seen here is very strange.

Last night, I journaled and watched my wife as she sat at the desk beading. She had an assortment of mixed beads and a long metal tool which she used to move beads into smaller groupings based upon the color. It was so cool to watch her because it struck me as through she was a paint artist making very distinctive strokes this way and that. The end result too was interesting because the groupings then resembled a painters pallet.

I am struck by how we respond to things - external stimuli. Each of our senses. Pictures, sights, or even just colors themselves. Smells - there are so many of them during the holiday season that we become accustomed to. And sounds particularly intrigue me. How some music excites us and other we just want away from.

On the drive in this morning, my wife had an Anne Murray CD on. I'm not big on country but Murray is one of those artists that has a style that I think hangs just on the edge of country but is still different. I enjoy her music. One of the songs I especially enjoy is Daydream Believer, first done by the Monkees - and I think that is one of the reasons I like it. It takes me back to "The Time" - and it has always kind of reminded me of my wife anyway. Her middle name is Jean and we were high school sweethearts. Married young, not much money. I identify with the song.

After I dropped my wife off at work - I did change the tempo a bit. Sometimes I listen to NPR when driving alone (a practice that is not sanctioned by the family as a whole) but I popped in a cheap version of The Messiah by the London Symphony Orchestra and some choir. I picked it up for a whole "buck" at Target. Handel had to be just absolutely brilliant. I love the majestic flow of this oratorio - but especially For Unto Us a Child is Born and of course most of all Hallelujah! For the Lord God Omnipoent Reigneth, otherwise known as the Hallelujah Chorus.

The Messiah was first performed in Dublin in 1742, around Easter before a more-than-capacity audience. In London, the next year the clergy attempted to close the theater because such music about God should never be performed in a playhouse. Still, the performance did occur. King George II, attending the London premiere and was so moved by the Hallelujah Chorus that he rose and remained standing until its end. This of course prompted the rest of the audience to rise to their feet (it was common that when the King stood, everyone stood as well) and so the tradition carries over to this day when this magnificent piece is played. I indeed get goose bumps and tingles up my spine when I hear this in a large group.

In a final note - I was saddened to learn today of the passing of Eugene McCarthy. He was 89, which hardly seems possible. To many I suspect Gene is simply an asterisk at the bottom of a page in a history book. But it could be argued that McCarthy had a significant impact upon this country. His 1968 campaign for President helped frame a changing view of the Vietnam War into something many came to see as "morally indefensible" (God, the more things change the more they stay the same).

McCarthy's entry into the '68 campaign stunned President Johnson when he finished second in New Hampshire with 42 % to Johnson's 49%. It was such a shock that to this day, many believe McCarthy won New Hampshire.

In his later life - McCarthy turned to poetry. He has already written and published books and essays but became a quite serious poet. The poet Robert Lowell and he became close.
Having been asked at one point to assess former President Carter's poetry, McCarthy said it could only be compared with that of other presidents: not as good as Lincoln's and shorter than John Quincy Adams. He could be brutally honest and of course that with his Irish wit was something to behold.

McCarthy authored a number of books... I recall reading The Limits of Power: America's Role in the World when I was in high school. Funny how much that book seems to make sense today.


A few McCarthy Quotes:

"The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is inefficiency. An efficient bureaucracy is the greatest threat to liberty."

"Nixon is the kind of guy who, if you were drowning twenty feet from shore, would throw you a fifteen-foot rope."

"As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences."

Creativity Well

Our first winter snow storm hit Wednesday. Thursday was so bad - our office closed. Friday was one of those days you just never want to do because it just shouldn't be allowed to have to go back into the office when you already feel the weekend in you bones. But I did go in and it was a day that was crisis driven. Everyone's crisis was on my desk or the next call ringing. I took an hour and a half vacation time just to get the hell out of Dodge early.

The streets are mostly clear of the snow. Yards are still heaped in dirty mashed potatoes. God, remember the days when you could make snow ice cream without fear of toxic waste.

I've ventured out into the shopping crowds some yesterday with my wife and daughter. We planned well and for the most part avoided the worst of the crowds. Tonight is grocery shopping. Otherwise I've stuck close to home and done chores around the house and little of no writing other than journaling and some crappy attempts at a few things that have popped into my head.

I have some more cleaning to do... I'd like to find our Christmas lights for the bush out front. I have located some of our lights but not the ones I really want for what I plan to do this year.
Perhaps later this evening I can get some reading done or watch Law & Order. That is something we often watch together. Cathy will often watch that while she is working on a beading project.

My creativity well is feeling low at this point and I suppose it will take some priming to get it to flow. Not that I need any pressure but I did want to have six new poems to submit mid- January to an annual lit review magazine. I do have a couple of items I could pull from but I want some new material anyway so there is no point in waiting.

On that note I'll end this post with a quote from Robert Byrne who said, "Winter is nature's way of saying, "Up yours."

Poetry & Mortality

Recently I discovered an richly rewarding poetry journal online that I wanted to share here. In a day or two when I have more time I must add it to my sidebar links. The Journal Kritya is edited by Dr Rati Saxena a Hindi poet, translator and Sanskrit scholar.

I especially found an interview with poet laureate Billy Collins that was in the most recent issue fascinating reading. In response to a question posed by the interviewer Collins hit upon something that I found a great deal of identity with. I have often talked of the connection between mortality and poetry and the following discourse by Collins I felt was putting the subject in profoundly simple but beautiful terms.

"The underlying theme of Western poetry is mortality. The theme of carpe diem asks us to seize the day because we have only a limited number of them. To see life through the lens of death is to approach the condition of gratitude for the gift (or simply the fact) of our existence. And as Wallace Stevens said, Death is the mother of beauty. Only the perishable can be beautiful, which is why we are unmoved by artificial flowers." ~ Billy Collins in an interview by the Iranian poet and translator Farideh Hassanzadeh [source]

Great Meeting Last Night at WriterHouse

KC METRO VERSE meeting last night was among our best. There was so much discussion and the elevation of ideas was so refreshing.

Accessibility in poetry and in fact the meaning of art itself was widely discussed.
In addition, we had time for some great poems. I have to say that I only hope that we can continue to have meetings that are this enlightening.

The fact that the members served a German chocolate cake in my honor or that they presented me with a congratulatory card and a framed copy of my poem Coming Out has nothing to do with the how good the meeting was. This was just the icing on the cake.

Tomorrow night is an open-mic at the Plaza Library - a whole new venue. It's sponsored by three organizations and will be an opportunity to present material to hopefully a whole new crowd.

Quote of the day...

"Nations grown corrupt

Love bondage more than liberty;

Bondage with ease than strenuous liberty." ~John Milton

afrol News - CIA prisoners "taken to North Africa"

afrol News - CIA prisoners "taken to North Africa"

Following the uproar in Europe over the alleged torture of CIA prisoners in prisons on European soil, Washington is reported to have moved the prisoners to "somewhere in North Africa" well ahead of US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's trip to Berlin and Brussels. While no concrete country is named, it expected that the CIA torture victims are now held in Egypt and/or Morocco.

AP Wire | 12/06/2005 | Romania, Poland scrutinized over prisons

AP Wire | 12/06/2005 | Romania, Poland scrutinized over prisons

Romania and Poland, came under increasing fire Tuesday amid widening reports that they hosted secret CIA prisons for the United States renditions.

Bush poem spells trouble for Pakistani leader - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com

Bush poem spells trouble for Pakistani leader - South and Central Asia - MSNBC.com


Patient and steady with all he must bear,
Ready to meet every challenge with care,
Easy in manner, yet solid as steel,
Strong in his faith, refreshingly real.
Isn't afraid to propose what is bold,
Doesn't conform to the usual mold,
Eyes that have foresight, for hindsight wont do,
Never back down when he sees what is true,
Tell it all straight, and means it all too.

Going forward and knowing he's right,
Even when doubted for why he would fight,
Over and over he makes his case clear
Reaching to touch the ones who won't hear.

Growing in strength, he won't be unnerved
Ever assuring he'll stand by his word.

Wanting the world to join his firm stand,
Bracing for war, but praying for peace,
Using his power so evil cease,
So much a leader and worthy of trust,
Here stands a man who will do what he must.

Source

Guardian Unlimited Politics | Special Reports | Rice defends US treatment of terror suspects

Guardian Unlimited Politics Special Reports Rice defends US treatment of terror suspects

RICE - BUSH - CHENEY - RUMSFELD CONTINUE THE CHARADE

MOCK INTERNATIONAL LAW ON TORTURE

Klausdeer

"I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living, it's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities." ~Dr. Theodore Geisel, a.k.a. Dr. Seuss

Making The Most of It

Sorting out the allegory,
Dividing up the spoils
To which we are entitled
According to some archaic law
Of our own.

These times are not the norm
And we can’t quite recall normalcy
Aside from the time the catfish jumped
A good three feet above the water,
The summer the moon froze in full mode
For two straight months.

I remember old folks telling of strange sightings
In the northern sky, and they claim the winter was harsh
That year and the women all spoke in language
That would have mortified their own sensibilities
Any other time.

It seems we all adjust to these changes sooner or later.
The wind is always shifting and desires are nothing more
Than wants- not needs.

Graphite is a smooth remedy
And taken under strict orders from doctors
It can ease the entry to even the most mysterious
Openings in life.

We all look for our chances.
Opportunity comes and goes
But mostly hangs out
In Jackson Hole.

Duhamel & Carbo - At Butler University Feb 16

Visiting Writers Series

• Poets Denise Duhamel and Nick Carbó, 7:30 p.m. Feb. 16, Robertson Hall Johnson Room. Duhamel's books of poetry include, most recently, "Two and Two," which features a long poem about 9/11 constructed from words people posted on the Internet immediately afterward. Carbó, her husband, most recently published "Andalusian Dawn," a book of poems, and edited "PinoyPoetics: A Collection of Autobiographical and Critical Essays on Filipino and Filipino American Poetics."

For more information, call (317) 232-1878

Butler University . 4600 Sunset Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46208

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