Happy Birthday Sylvia

Sigh….  I’m often tuned in enough to think this time of year that the 27th is Sylvia Plath’s birthday but I almost missed it this year. She remains a strong influence in my poetry tastes so I am often thinking about her on the anniversary of both her birth and death. Kudos to IVY for keeping the memory alive!
If you are headed soon to a Halloween party and want a costume idea with a literary theme go here.  What a fun bonus for those in Emily Dickinson costumes…. Hand out plastic flies while reciting the immortal line: "I heard a Fly buzz—when I died..."
Yesterday, Poet Kelli Russell Agodon opened up and shared a lot of information about the making of her latest book that will be out next fall.  Her blog post, The History of a Manuscript, details the path to publication of her manuscript titled Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room.  If you are thinking in terms of working towards publication of a manuscript, read this post. This recommendation is not meant to discourage anyone, but introduce a bit of reality to the process. As I’ve said here before, Kelli’s first book, Small Knots is among my favorite poetry books. Her work inspires me and her talents establish her as a poet whose advise I take seriously. 

Technorati Tags: Literary costumes,Kelli Russell Agodon,Sylvia Plath,Ivy Alvarez

Journal Bits

It's that time again...

• the paper absorbed everything and said nothing
• the night is an unsettled dog
• Mary Oliver quote - “Do you think the wren ever dreams of a better house?"
• the exit signs determined in their request
• it's a casual uncaring / not rooted in any harsh disinterest / more maladaptive to the day at hand
• losing myself in the moments of a hair cut / or the making of a spare key / that light headed tingling that forgets everything / suspends all thought in mid air

You Don’t Say….

I think the most un-American thing you can say is, 'You can't say that.' ~ Garrison Keillor

Actually, I think this is a splendid quote.

 

Technorati Tags: censorship

It was an Apple Betty Kind of Sunday

 

The cooler weather, the fall leaves, I don’t know it was just calling me. Besides I bought some Honey Crisp Apples yesterday at Target… it just seemed the right thing to do. I got no complaints.

It has been dark here all day. We had thunder earlier that sounded like war planes had hit the field by us. Was very unnerving to the dogs.

 

I was thinking yesterday and this morning both about what seems to be a difference of late on how distraction affects me when writing. For the longest time I never seemed bothered by conversation in the same room. Television, or any excessive movement around me, I just took in stride and kept on writing. This has however become increasingly annoying to me and I’m not sure why.

It could be that I am trying to be more attentive to what people around me are saying. However this would not explain why the TV was not annoying to me before when I wrote but can be not at times. There definitely seems something has changed; but what? Before this mysterious development, I always prided myself in the fact that I could pull out my journal and pen and write anywhere, anytime. I just know some smartass out there is thinking I’m going through the writers change in life.

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Robert Pinsky at Midwest Poet Series

The Midwest Poet Series has hosted some wonderful poets over the years and yet last nights reading by Robert Pinsky is a standout among the many readings I’ve witnessed there myself. This is my first personal encounter with Pinsky, who by the way turned 69 this week and doesn’t look it.

His reading or let me call it an interaction with the audience was a lot different then most poetry readings in that he was very laid back and mingled stories with his poems and mid way through took questions and requests for poems to read. Yes, requests. This was particularly impressive because it implied on one hand, that he was confident there would be people in the audience well enough read on Pinsky, that they would have poems in mind that they wanted to hear; and that he would be able to produce those poems from his volumes of work quickly without fumbling through said work. It went perfect!

According to Pinsky, he would be a musician rather than a poet were it not for one thing; his lack of talent. Still, he is more than a casual musician and his love is the Sax is evident. I think the lyrical aspect of his poetry suggests that he is very tuned into sound.

Another strong component of his writing is the way he threads history through his poetry. He suggests that he writes for the dead, and quotes a mantra, “We do not worship our ancestors, we consult them.” He is big on the past, big on culture and the mingling of them together.

His presence is on of reassurance. He’s a very peaceful man. Even when he talked of his anger of the things he saw during the Bush years, he was even tempered and never raised his voice, but you knew he was indignant.

A few of the poems he read, Poem of Disconnected Parts, Shirt and The Night Game.

Poem of Disconnected Parts is such a terrific example of his pull of history and culture together to inform his poetics. Shirt is such a moving poem. Again history meets the art of poetry.

It’s no wonder Pinsky was Poet Laureate for three years- he is the perfect ambassador for the art. After a brilliant reading, he was most humble to the audience as he left the stage. You felt it was he, who was honored to be in our presence.


Hear and Read Shirt

Read Poem of Disconnected Parts

Idle Hands...

Finish this sentence: Idle hands are ___________. Did you answer the devil’s tools or devil’s plaything?

How long can you sit with idle hands? Do you ever? Is this how you start to write?

In the most recent issue of Poets and Writers magazine there is an article about a writer who talks about stillness as he writes. “I’m very tolerant of stillness. I don’t mind sitting there for half an hour. I’d rather not move my hands just to move them; I’ll wait for the right thing.” Jonathan Lethem is a novelist not a poet, but his approach to initiating work on a page is maybe not a bad one even for poets. I sometimes will start with a line of something that comes to me. Maybe two or three different lines till something I feel something take hold. But when I think about my blog post on Monday and the Anne Sexton quote that I committed to thinking about all this week I’m thinking a lot more about the idle hands approach. The wisdom in the Sexton quote suggests listening hard. “Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard,” Sexton says.

It’s easy when you have a routine that says your take thirty minutes and write that you want to start writing as you sit down. The clock is on. Go! Such routine can probably create bad habits just as well as it can create good ones. But just as silence can be useful on a page, maybe it’s not a bad place to start to center yourself / your writing. In “The Artists’ Way” I think the morning pages are meant to drain out of your system all the residual sludge that can otherwise stain your work if you can’t get your mind off it. So maybe to start with, we should pause. A nice pregnant pause of sorts and then begin to create on the page as something surfaces.

Thought for the Week from Sexton

I saw where Cecilia Woloch celebrated the launch of her new collection of poetry titled Carpathia on Sunday.  I’ve read Woloch’s book Late which was outstanding and will be interested to read Carpathia at some point and see how it compares. If anyone gets an opportunity to read it soon, I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Robert Pinsky is in town Thursday for the Mid-West Poet’s series at Rockhurst University. I’ve got his reading on my calendar and looking forward to it.
Thought for the week from Annie Sexton - “Put your ear down close to your soul and listen hard.”

Calling it a night – or whatever

Is the weekend coming to an end? Where did it go. I’m not rejuvenated yet.  As my wife would say, if I go to sleep morning will come and another day (workday)… sigh!

I did get a new rough draft of a poem together today. Read some Sexton… it (she) was speaking to me.

Submission -  yes I forced myself to get one out tonight. 

Squeezed in an Open Mic. I didn’t read tonight, just wanted to be a listener. A critical ear.

My daughter texted me yesterday to tell me she saw Where the Wild Things Are. I was so jealous.  Loved this book!  The movie looks really good.

The winner is...

I’m excited for Kelli Agodon - winner of the White Pine Poetry Book Prize! The judge for this year was Carl Dennis, poet who wrote Practical Gods, which won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry in 2002.




Kelli’s winning manuscript Letters from the Emily Dickinson Room will be published in fall 2010.  Her book Small Knots, published 2004 is already among my favorite poetry books. I can't wait to read Letters. Congratulations Kelli!

Tides

There is a real tidal wave that has come over me and is pulling me back into the sea of writing. I feel I need to write to stay afloat.

Just Wondering

Do you ever wonder what the worst writing of the best writers looks like? Those poems and scratching that never make it. Aborted poems.

A year ago or so there was a book published with some of Elizabeth Bishops unpublished work. "Edgar Allan Poe & the Juke-Box: Uncollected Poems, Drafts and Fragments," by Elizabeth Bishop a collection of her material which drew a lot of criticism because it is presumed she would not have wanted to see it in print. Anyway, when I’m having a bad day or string of them with writing, I wonder what a string of bad day writing might look like to a W.S. Merwin or Sharon Olds or maybe Mary Oliver.

 

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Thought for the day

The word "happiness" would lose its meaning if it were not balanced by sadness. ~ Carl Jung

 

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Journal Bits

I haven’t done any journal bits for a while so here we go…  Just a glimpse of some of my journal writings. Some of these are from free writes, some from drafts, some simple observations an occasional quote that strikes my fancy.

• 10-12 Forty is still this side / of the curvature of the earth / I see it but I can’t touch it.
• 10-11 The ash tray is dormant. / It occupies space / on the end table / to grandma’s old lamp. / Its empty nest stopped begging / for attention it never gets / about seven years ago.
• 10-09 I saw the winter / slip and slide / nearly out from under you / and the plans you alone held to. / My hands were afraid. / They wanted only to hold / your hands tight / as physically possible
• 10-07 The price for this hunger / a layover of hollow thoughts
• 10-07 If there is a purpose for writing poetry, to me personally it is part personal discovery and part a feeling of some immortality.
• 10-04 When baseball ends  / for the year  and the night /  creeps into the morning hour / the dark will eat you.
• 10-02 “I am not alone / and never will be /  your absence is my company.”  Claribel Alegria – translated by Carolyn Forche’

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What I’ve been Up To This Weekend

 

Finished the off a poem draft – at least as far as I feel I can go today. At  that point when you’ve nothing more to add and can think of any more to cut, so it will sit a while and I’ll revisit it at another time.

Picked up a copy of The Complete Poems of anne sexton yesterday at Boarders. When you have a 40% off coupon it’s time to go buy a book.

I got an email telling me that Autumn Sky Poetry No 15 is out.  I always enjoy reading what the editor - Christine Klocek-Lim has selected for each issue, so of course I had to check it out.  This issue has some outstanding work in it.  A few if the poems that really impressed me:

• The Trouble with Hope  by Cheryl Snell
• Two Voices:  Frida’s Heart by Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda
• Prototype of a Dream Machine by Kristine Ong Muslim
• We Leave the Beaches for the Tourists by Ira Sukrungruang
• After the Tsunami by Katherine Riegel

 

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Don’t Pass This Up…. Two short minutes & 13 Sec.

 

I’m not glued to twitter.  I was a long time in coming around to it. There are a lot of things on twitter I don’t care about. Gretchen Rubin  I discovered by way of twitter. The 2 minute and 13 second video is what Gretchen Rubin is all about. Enjoy it. I did.

 

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The Hunger of a Child

The price for this hunger

a layover of hollow thoughts;

a weakening distraction.

Eyes roll back

in unlevel sockets

to canvass the heavens

for some bright hope

that signals the stomach

to squelch the pangs.

What is your poetry supposed to do?

So you write poetry…  and you do this with what objective in mind?  I’m curious about what writers most hope to achieve when their poetry is read by someone. I know there are probably more then one answer for most writers, but I’m asking you to think about the majority of your poetry.

In considering my own I’ve realized sadly that I don’t often give this a lot of thought. There are times when I hope my poetry will inform. When writing something with a social of political flavor to it, informing can be a big part of it.  But sometimes there is no underlying message, just an attempt to provide a different way to view something. Stepping outside the box to show something outrageously different.  How a person might look to a catfish on their plate…

I read an interview of a poet recently and there was some discussion of poetry entertaining. Strange as it might seen,  I never really considered poetry to be about entertaining readers, though I suppose it is safe to say that I have myself felt entertained by poetry that I have read.

Do you set out to entertain when you write? What do you generally see as the best value of your finished poem?

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Monday Matters

Wanted to take a few moments to call a couple of things to your attention.

REPUBLICANS  are threatening  Net-neutrality.

As federal regulators prepare to vote this month on  "network neutrality,”, twenty House Republicans — including most of the Republicans on the House Energy and Commerce Committee — sent a letter to Federal Communications Chairman Julius Genachowski today urging him to delay the Oct. 22 vote on his plan.  The neutrality plan would prohibit broadband providers from favoring or discriminating against certain types of Internet traffic. Broadband providers would like to regulate the speed at which sites load for customers. They would for instance like give preference to their own site and perhaps create premium commercial sites that would have speed preferences.

On the  Senate side, , Kay Bailey Hutchinson of Texas, is considering legislation that would prohibit the FCC from developing Net neutrality.

What is it with these people that they want to stick it to consumers and provide another windfall for corporations?

A LITTLE GOOD NEWS FOR POETRY IN A BAD ECONOMY

The Dodge Poetry Festival started in 1986 as an initiative funded by the Arts and Education Programs of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation.  The biennial even easily has attracted close to 20,000 participants to each of the 12 events.  But the economic downturn brought news that the festival would be cancelled for 2010.  In what may be the best Arts related  economic news so for this year, Dodge decided to resurrect the popular event -- the largest poetry gathering in the country.  The 2010 event will move to a more urban setting as it was announced that the festival will encompass the performance spaces at the New Jersey Performing Arts Center as well as at least two local churches, the New Jersey Historical Society and parts of Military Park.

The good news come just a year before the event is to occur. It was January when the word came that the 2010 event would be put in ice. The 2008 event cost about $1.3 million to produce. The Foundation had lost considerable equity in investments, nearly 30% during the recession last fall and winter and the latest development is exciting news.

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Thought For the Day

"I postpone death by living, by suffering, by error, by risking, by giving, by losing." ~ Anais Nin

Technorati Tags: Anais Nin quote + postpone death

Anne Sexton Letters Part I

I can’t recall the last time I received a personal letter from someone.  By letter I mean one of those things that came via the U.S. postal service and landed in my mail box and waited patiently for me to arrive home.  E-mail, I have plenty of.

So there is a real novelty to letters. As I mentioned in and earlier blog post I am reading Anne Sexton A Self Portrait in Letters. I’ve read the published letters of numerous poets over the last few years. Plath, Ginsberg to name a couple. Plath’s Letters Home are remarkable in that they provide a rather contrived communication with her mother.  If you read any of her biographies (I’ve read countless) and or her published journals you will quickly see two Plaths. The one she wanted her mother to see and an altogether different one. It is against that strange paradox that I find Sexton’s letters refreshingly genuine.  She seems to say what she wants and there is little evidence that she tries to control her message. In fact, it is not uncommon for her to follow up one letter with another one with an apology or some sort of disclaimer for something in an earlier note.

Many poets in the 50’s through at least the 70’s were quite prolific writers between friends and peers. One amazing thing I noted about Sexton is how quickly she managed to correspond with significant poets of her time. With barely a year of writing under her belt, Sexton was corresponding with W.D. Snodgrass, Carolyn Kizer, Nolan Miller, John Holmes, etc.  With Snodgrass she corresponded quite frequently and her letters suggest he returned the favor.  Sexton in fact used nick names in her communication with Snodgrass that suggest they developed a significant friendship. “Dearest Snodsy, Dearest De, My dear night clerk".”

With Snodgrass Sexton would discuss poems, things going on in a Masters Class with Robert Lowell, the progress of her manuscript, etc. I suppose it is not surprising that her work was well received  so quickly because she was able to get it in front of people in position to help her very early on.

In her letters she refers numerous times to the fact that she in not a strong speller.  Sometimes her letters meander around. “Christ. I’m off again.” Anne writes to Snodgrass, “Talking in circles. My darling, the peanut butter calls.”  These early letters also detail the toll that the decline of the health of her parents is having on her and reference her therapy as well and Dr. Sidney Martin’s encouragement that she write for it’s therapeutic value.

I loved the bluntness with which she wrote Robert Lowell in September of 1958 about her efforts and desire to enroll in his Masters class and her assessment of how this was viewed by the registrar’s perception of this. “Today, with 90 dollars in my fist,  I called the registrar’s office. However, it seems they are not bouncing with joy at the thought of a “special student” with no particular degrees. A Mr. Wilder said that I would have to wait until after registration and see if there are too many students in the class.”

As I plow onward though this book I will stop from time to time to share things I believe to be of particular significance.

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What if Life Really is a Musical?

Today I ran down the street to the Federal building to visit their cafeteria over the lunch hour. Exiting with my purchase, I headed back up the street to my office.  The wind was wicked crazy and it brought with it chimes from the carillons at St. Mary's Episcopal Church across the way. The music from this red brick church daily fills the downtown air. Today it was playing a tune from the Sound of Music… “i simply remember my favorite things and then I don’t feel so baaaad.”  Suddenly I felt like clicking my heels and dancing. This prompted me to wonder, “what if life is really a musical?”

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Local Kansas City Poetry & Arts Scene

• Friday, October 2, 2009 - 7 pm - Poet Richard Newman will read from his new book Domestic Fugues (Steel Toe Books, 2009). The reading at  the Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania -Kansas City, Missouri.
• Saturday, October 3, 2009 – 1pm -  African American poet Kimberly Britton reads from newly published work.  Kansas City Public Library, Southeast Branch, 6242 Swope Parkway, Kansas City, Missouri.
• Wednesday October 7, 2009 – Noon - WORKSHOP @ THE LANDON CENTER ON AGING -3599 Rainbow Blvd, Kansas City, Kansas. Free to those 55 and older. "Improve Your Mental Health Through Writing" will be taught by Maril Crabtree.  Call 913-588-3094 to register.
• Friday, October 9, 2009 – 8 pm - Pamela Garvey and Carl Bettis  Riverfront reading series at the Writers Place, 3607 Pennsylvania, Kansas City, Missouri
• Friday, October 9, 2009 –6:30 – 8:00 pm - Art Walk Poetry featuring Glenn North at the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Library, 625 Minnesota, Kansas City, Kansas.
• Wednesday, October 12, 2009 5:30 pm - Billy Collins, Former United States Poet Laureate Billy Collins reads at Kansas State University, K-State Alumni Center Ballroom, Manhattan, Kansas.  Contact Elizabeth Dodd, Department of English for details. Tele:785-532-6716.
• Friday, October 16, 2009 – 7 pm - Caryn Mirriam Goldberg, Kansas Poet Laureate -  reads at Border's Books, 91st & Metcalf, Overland Park, Kansas – contact Border's  @ 913-642-3642.
• Sunday, October 18, 2009 8 pm - MAIN STREET RAG
  Hosted by Shawn Pavey with poet Christina Pacosz reading. Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania -Kansas City, Missouri.
• Tuesday, October 20, 2009 7 pm - Poets Brian Daldorph and Bill Bauer at  Writers Place Poetry Reading Series @ THE JOHNSON COUNTY LIBRARY - 9875 W. 87th, Overland Park, Kansas.
• Thursday, October 22, 2009 Reception 6 pm & reading 7 pm - Robert Pinsky  guest of the Midwest Poets Series. Poet laureate of the United States from 1997-2000; Rockhurst University, 54th Street and Troost, Kansas City, Mo.  Admission to Midwest Poets Series is $3.  No one will be turned away for lack of funds.
• Monday, October 26, 2009 - 8:00 pm Wriiters Place Open Mic
  Hosted by Sharon Eiker - Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania -Kansas City, Missouri.
• Saturday, October 31, 2009 - 10:00 am- 1:00 pm
  The Art of Poetry - This workshop is intended for beginners and others interested in hearing, writing, talking about, and understanding the beauty of poetry. Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania -Kansas City, Missouri.

Special Exhibits -  Keltie Ferris: Man Eaters  At Kemper Museum of Contemporary Art- October 23, 2009–February 13, 2010

Keltie Ferris is a post digital painter, employing formalist strategies and materials—oil, acrylic, sprayed paint, and oil pastel—to create enigmatic and visually seductive abstractions.

The Nelson Atkins Museum of Art -   American Art on Paper: Impressions of the Southwest and Mexico  October 14, 2009— April 11, 2010

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Thought for the Day

Saints have no moderation, nor do poets, just exuberance. ~ Anne Sexton

 

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Around the Net This Week

A few things that I found on the internet this week. Some are in the humorous category. Others I found interesting in a variety of ways.  Things I liked, things I learned from, etc.  Anyway, if you missed any of these, then you might want to check them out.

• Death by Bananas.  I found this nifty piece of work by Daniela Edburg on The Big Window. This falls mostly under my Humor Department.  You’ll find a link on The Big Window to a host of other photos by Edburg in a whole “Death By” series.  I was struck by these because they remanded me of some interesting photo shoots that one of my daughters did in college.
• Maya Ganesan it seems, is no average 12 year old writer. Her book Apologies to an Apple (actually written at age 11) is highlighted in a virtual book/blog tour by poet Kelli Russell Agodon, author of Small Knots on her blog Book of Kells.  While I’ve not read Maya’s book yet I hope to. Small Knots I have read, and reread and count among my favorites.
• Joannie Stangeland offers an interest pictorial of fall grape harvest for those like me who enjoy wine. Check out Crushed. Umm…  I’ll have a glass of Chardonnay, thank you!
• Pigs in JPs!!!!  Yes.  This clip is adorable. Thanks Aimee Nezhukumatathil

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I did the “S” word!

It’s cool here today. Not unpleasantly so, but it is a sign of things to come.

I made a pot of chili for lunch. It seemed like a good day for it.

I’ve read today, written, and yes, the “S” word.  That would be submitted material least you think it is something more adventuresome.  Over the past year, I’ve taken to considering it a burdensome task. It wasn’t that way always, but it has become my least favorite part of writing poetry.

In looking through my material I realized I need to better organize it. By that I mostly mean review my material and decide it some of it perhaps needs to go back into the work folder. I do have a few things that I’ve been sitting on that perhaps are really ready.  I just don’t like to rush them off.

I brought some work home from the office as well this weekend and I really ought to tackle on of those projects tonight… then I won’t have so much to do tomorrow.

I got eaten up on the deck this afternoon, sitting with the dogs. I fear tonight will be a Benadryl night.

Off to make espresso!   My earlier one got pitched while it was cooling down.

Anne Sexton – Early Writing Success

Anne Sexton’s public persona was not unlike that of Sylvia Plath’s. Both were women who seemed to be transfixed by 1950’s mores. Both had histories of mental instability. Both were poets. Both ultimately took their own lives. The final writings of both might well have foretold their suicides.

Plath’s mother saw to it that Sylvia had an academic background.  This is where the two differ. Anne was not interested in pursuing an academic path, she did attend finishing school and for a short period of time was a fashion model.

Sexton married at the age of 19 and following the birth of her first daughter required hospitalization for postpartum depression.  The birth of her second daughter heightened her depression and it was at the nudging of her therapist that she began to write.

What I find particularly impressive about Anne Sexton is that in 1956 Anne saw a program on educational television, “How to Write a Sonnet.” After Christmas Anne unveiled her first sonnet to her mother, knowing her mother had suffered an unfulfilled literary dream and would likely be a fierce critic.

In September of 1957, she enrolled in a poetry workshop at a Boston adult education center. She met the poet Maxine Kumin there. She would forge a lifelong relationship with Kumin that resulted in routine workshopping of poems by both as well as a deeply personal friendship.

By Christmas of 1957 Anne presented he mother with a stack of poems written and rewritten over the previous year. During 1959 she submitted poems with tremendous success to top flight lit magazines. Poems were taken by The Hudson Review, The New Yorker, The Christian Science Monitor, and in April of 1959, signed a contract to publish her first book, To Bedlam and Part Way Back.

According to Anne Sexton a Self-Portrait in Letters, I learned that on her 1960 Joint Income Tax forms with her husband, she listed herself as “Poet” and it would clearly seem that she had earned the right do so, taking an incredible and unconventional path to success as a poet. 

Technorati Tags: Anne Sexton,Maxine Kumin,Sylvia Plath

National Punctuation Day

My wife called to my attention that today is National Punctuation Day.

It was created in 2004 by writer "Jeff Rubin"-- after he was annoyed by improper use of punctuation. This morning-- we've got three pieces of punctuation you might not have heard of. First -- this mark -- the asterism. It is used to call attention to a passage or to separate subchapters in a book. Next is the "irony mark". It looks like a backwards question mark -- it was supposed to be used to indicate when something should be taken ironically-- but it never really caught on. Last up -- the "interrobang". It's intended to combine the question mark and the exclamation mark. By the way -- we have more on national punctuation day -- including a recipe contest to celebrate -- at kmbc.Com -- under news links.  Or just click here –> National Punctuation Day

 

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Tug of Time

The week is knotted,
the ends pulling each
against the other.

Time stops to watch.

What I’ve Learned

This past weekend I finished a six week project mentoring under another poet. It’s been a great way to stretch myself beyond that point of complacency that sometimes creeps into our routines. The were a number of things that I learned or relearned in come cases.  Just off the top of my head, a few of them that readily come to mind:

• I have a lot yet to learn.

• Political poetry is best pulled off with subtle political tone and greater narrative.

• I can look to other poetry for ideas and examples as to how others have used poetic devise.

• Cut, cut and cut again if you can.

• Look for fresh & unique ways to show with my writing.

• It's all right to write about simple things.

• Beginnings and endings should both be strong.

• The middle of the poem still has a job to do... remain interesting enough to hold the beginning and the end together.

• Manuscripts are pieces of art in themselves.  Not just a collection of 30 to 50 poems...  they need a connective thread to establish some relevance, one to another.

• Write daily.

• Write daily even if what you are writing sucks.  It won't improve by not writing. 

• Read lots of poetry.  Learn from other's mistakes and successes.

• Improve my work ethic, but don't take myself so seriously that I don't enjoy what I'm doing.  Even if it gets frustrating at times.

• Even dead poets speak wisdom. 

• Look for the musicality in your verse. Work to improve this. 

During this period of time I’ve had exposure to a lot of poems from six different poets. A wide spectrum of topics. Many ways of approaching the art.  Fresh ideas.

I feel like I’ve had my battery recharged!

Technorati Tags: reinforcing the writer in me

Please Be Advised

In case there is any question, this blog is a weapons free zone.  Please check your side arms before entering.

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The attack of ideas….

“When we are tired, we are attacked by ideas we conquered long ago”~ Friedrich Nietzsche

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Loose Women

This morning I rolled over and looked at the clock and discovered it was 5:40 a.m. and my mind on weekend mode thought that at 6:00 a.m. I could listen to New Letters on the Air. That was pretty good for that hour of the morning. However, my eyes pulled their shades and I next looked at the clock at a quarter past six.

Lucky for me, my Zune was close at hand and I switched it over to fm radio mode and it was already on KCUR 89.3 FM.  I was able to catch Angela Elam and her guest for the show this morning, Sandra Cisneros.  The fifteen minutes of programming that I heard did manage to hear was a really insightful look at Cisneros and how she views her own creative process. These programs are ultimately available in podcast form and when this one is posted I’m making a mental note to myself to make mention of it again and post the podcast link for others that may want to listen to it.  If interested, you could check with your own NPR station and see when they air it, because not everyone gets them at the same time.

On thing I was fascinated about was a series of poems that she wrote and were ultimately published under the title Loose Woman. What was of interest to me was that these poems were never written with the intention of publication in mind. She talks a little about the freedom that gave her in writing them.  She did, over a period of time read a few of them in public readings and people were coming up to her afterwards and asking what Book or Journal had they appeared in, where could they get a copy. She would tell them she’d be happy to mail them a photocopy of the poems but they were not available in print anywhere. After this persisted for a while, she decided perhaps she should give them to her agent and see what they could do. Hence, Loose Women.

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Warm Apple with Crispy Oatmeal & Brown Sugar, a sprinkle of Cinnamon – and Vanilla Ice-cream

When I walked out of the building Friday afternoon at the end of the work day it was just gorgeous. It was the kind of weather you just want to Xerox so you can enjoy it every day.  I appreciate these kind of days. It was bight and mostly sunny but the air was cool – a perfect pre-fall day.  It put me in the mood for Apple Betty a-la-mode.  Of course It didn’t hurt that earlier in the day I read a blog post about it.  I knew I’d think about it all weekend, so when Kelli posted three “Apple Brown Betty” recipes today, I had to get domestic and make some. Cathy had gone into her office today and so when she came home, Walla!  I made the second recipe which worked really well. I do think it could use a little more of the batter, but the flavor was perfecto!

Off to do a writing session. The night isn’t getting any younger you know.

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Bright Star puts Sexy back into Poetry

I know it’s a period piece, but the reviews circulating in print this week are calling Bright Star a hit…  it lets us rediscover the thrills of poetry, played with mesmerizing vitality and heart-stopping grace by Abbie Cornish and exhilarating, and deeply pleasurable.

Bright Star is the story of the intense love affair between the young poet John Keats and his younger neighbor, Fanny Brawne.  Their story is a love story of non-traditional sorts. Keats after all, is an impoverished writer who has contracted tuberculosis. Their love is never consummated, and Keats will ultimately die at the young age of twenty-five. His love for Brawne inspires some of his greatest poetry.

You can check out the official movie site here.  I’m anxious to see this movie.

Technorati Tags: Bright Star,John Keats,Fanny Brawne

Off the beaten path..

As I sat down to write last night, I went to an epigraph I lifted from another poem that I had thought about for a while and started to write. Beyond the fist line of my own (not the epigraph) it stopped working. I tried forcing it. The old I’m going to pound this square peg into the round hole if it’s the end of me method of writing. Well, it was the end of me writing anything worthwhile for the evening. It ended badly as these things usually do when I’m in that mode of operation. I become a poet wondering in the desert. Lost.




Perhaps the poet will find his way back onto the page today.

This is so Incredible

I heard about this on our local NPR station today.  KCUR 89.3 FM
Isn’t the human creative capacity awesome…

Birds on the Wires from Jarbas Agnelli on Vimeo.

Perhaps only a musician could see this photograph of birds on wires as notes on a musical staff. 
Brazilian composer Jarbas Agnelli saw a photo in a newspaper of birds sitting on five parallel wires, and was inspired to treat their positions as avian sheet music. He interpreted what he saw as music and orchestrated the tune.     [Source]

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Wasn’t the smartest thing to do…

 

This morning I sent an e-mail from my smart phone to another poet.  Later in the day I received a reply. The response was concise and indicated the sender understood what I had sent.  Of course along with the reply was my original message embedded in the text.  Seeing the message I had sent I was horrified. It contained a significant number of errors. I was both embarrassed and amazed that the recipient could even understand what I said.  I felt compelled to sent another e-mail with explanation and I did as follows:   

Oh My God!  Seeing this ( my original note) underscores why I should never be allowed to type e-mails on my smart phone.  No matter how smart the phone is, if my big fat fingers don't hit the right key I'm going to look pretty dumb.

How did you ever read it?

So totally embarrassed!

The reply that came back read in part:

The brain is a magical thing, it makes meaning where there is none.  ;-)

Technorati Tags: smart phone,e-mail

Two You Don’t Want to Miss

It’s late, but I wanted to call attention to a couple of notable blog posts on Friday. Brian Brodeur’s blog. How A Poem Happens is a great read.  It features various poets discussing the development of a particular poem and thus gives some insight into what goes on in a poet’s head as he or she uses their creative prowess to write a poem.

Today a new post is up and it features Idra Novey discussing her poem Trans. Novey  is the winner of the 2007 Kinereth Gensler Award as well as awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Poetry Society of America, and the PEN Translation Fund. 

Of course you can still find older posts where many other poets have  done the same with their own work. You can find Brian’s blog by clicking here.

Another blog post worth reading is Kelli Russell Agodon’s post on the subject of Creative Clusters.

I’m calling it a night! Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Technorati Tags: Brian Brodeur,How a Poem Happens,Idra Novey,Kelli Russell Agodon,Creative Clusters

Local Poet Highlighted in The Examiner

Robert Fisher’s voice is deep and husky. I’ve heard him read at various venues in the Kansas City metropolitan area in recent years. If he isn’t reading, it’s not uncommon to see him at readings by others at the Writers place or any of a number of other open mics. It was nice to see Adrianne DeWeese’s article in the local Examiner newspaper on him.  article link

Technorati Tags: Independence,Missouri poet,Robert Fisher

Civility Lacking During President’s Message to Congress a Sad Sign of the Times

You lie!" Rep. Joe Wilson, R-S.C., shouted from his seat, jabbing a finger in the air. This in response to the President remarks in his speech, "The reforms I'm proposing would not apply to those who are here illegally."

Sen. John McCain, (R- Arizona)  called Wilson's actions "totally disrespectful.”

I can recall a day when civility was a part of congressional code and while on the House and Senate floor this would not be tolerated between members much less the president. 

Digressing from the issue of civility it should be noted if Mr. Wilson would read the bills presently before House committees there is in fact specific language that excludes those who are in this country illegally. But I doubt that the Congressman is really unaware of this. I suspect that he has chosen to propagate this information, for what reason, I can only guess.

All I can say is that this is sad that the level of discussion about something as significant as reforming our health care delivery system is reduced to this level.  With 12,000 people losing their health insurance daily, our representatives owe us more than this.

Technorati Tags: Republican Congressman Joe Wilson,health care reform,President Obama speaks to Joint Session of Congress

Hubble Just Keeps Giving

 

 

The Hubble telescope has been refurbished and is already giving us new breathtaking looks beyond our galaxy. Ah! The poetry of these views!

Technorati Tags: Hubble telescope,poetry on space

Barack Obama faces 30 death threats a day, stretching US Secret Service

US President Barack Obama is the target of more than 30 potential death threats a day and is being protected by an increasingly over-stretched and under-resourced Secret Service, according to a new book.




Since Mr Obama took office, the rate of threats against the president has increased 400 per cent from the 3,000 a year or so under President George W. Bush, according to Ronald Kessler, author of In the President's Secret Service.





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British ReInvasion

So iTunes has finally decided to make Beatles fans happy. About time!

Speaking of time, I need to do at least thirty minutes of writing before it gets any later.

Couple of fun poems by Kim Addonizio in today’s Daily Poems.

 

Technorati Tags: British ReInvasion,Beatles,Kim Addonizio

Math & The Arts

I’ve often heard it said that math and art are a lot alike. Never being one who really got into math I have failed to see the similarities, but I ran across this quote from a mathematician.  I’m open to the possibilities.

“When I have clarified and exhausted a subject, then I turn away from it, in order to go into darkness again.” ~Carl Friedrich Gauss

I’m thinking he may have been a closet poet.

Technorati Tags: Carl Friedrick Gauss,math,arts,poetry

Sudanese Journalist Lubna Hussein Escapes Flogging

Courageous public stand by this woman to incredible Sudanese government position concerning women’s dress. Evidently the government realized the public view internationally for flogging this woman would be a harshly judged. Hopefully they will come to realize soon that the international view of the law itself is equally as negative.

Sudanese Journalist Lubna Hussein Escapes Flogging

Technorati Tags: Sudanese injustice,Lubna Hussein,women's dress

Dead Poet Mentor

I was thinking tonight the way I’ve been zipping through poetry books these past few weeks, (Just finished WILD IRIS by Louise Gluck) one a week for the past four months that I’m going to have to be thinking about what next soon. I’ve actually got the next two weeks covered.

Two books on my list to acquire and read are The Shadow of Sirius by W.S. Merwin. and The Complete Poems: Anne Sexton. I’ve already developed a taste for Merwin’s work. Migration is a wonderful collection of work that I often get lost in.

Sexton’s Complete Poems: I’ve often started to purchase but ultimately arrived at the checkout with something else. I’ve decided recently with the help of another poet to make Sexton my dead poet mentor.  You ask, “How’s a dead poet going to mentor me?” That’s what her book is for. A source of inspiration. A place to go for ideas. A place to search for answers when I am stumped… WWAD? (What would Annie Do)

I admit the idea seemed a little far fetched to me at first.  I mean there were several things that seemed odd. She’s dead for one. She’s female. There are however advantages to selecting her for this role. The difference in gender actually could work as a plus, providing a clue to the female persona for poems. She has a significant collection so there is plenty to learn from. Anne was not timid about subject matter. She wrote quite freely about topics. Something I could learn to do better.

I had actually thought of Sexton as sort of the Patron Saint of those who came to poetry through a less traditional (non-academic) route.  Sexton was not a product of academia though she achieved sufficient recognition for her work that she went on to teach at Boston University as well several other Colleges.   At any rate, I’ll soon be putting her to work mentoring me from the grave.

 

Technorati Tags: Anne Sexton,W.S. Merwin,Mentoring,The Shadow Of Sirius

Poems & Bread

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

Technorati Tags: Pablo Neruda,peace in the making of a poem

Baseball, Poetry and Life

Throughout my adult life if held to the premise that baseball mimics life. Quite frankly I believe baseball is the ultimate metaphor for life, where fairness has little to do with how life is lived.

An example of what I mean is often played out each game on the field. A real dynamo hitter comes to the plate, chooses his pitches carefully, maybe fouls off a pitch or two and the drills one back-back-back to the wall where a fielder leaps, his arm extended high above the wall and robs the hitter of a home run. The next batter, a .223 hitter,  struggles to stay ahead in the count until he finally gets a little bit of wood on the bat and it creeps through the infield and finds a hole. We call this a seeing single.  It hardly seems fair, but that’s how baseball sometimes is; a mirror of life itself.

Poetry is very much the same. It brings the common to life and makes it interesting. It reminds us of things we almost forgot by triggering a taste, a sound, some feel… texture of something. Poetry can transport us, much the same way a night at the ballpark takes us away from our work, our troubles. Even now as I sit at my laptop, I can smell the fresh cut grass of the field of sunny afternoon game or the smell of hot dogs and cotton candy in the evening breeze at a night game.  The sound of the crack of the bat…  Sorry, my mind was drifting away.

Above is Fernando Perez, who plays outfielder for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has his own perspective on the parallels of baseball and poetry.  Perez is one of six Ivy Leaguers in the major league at the start of this season. He also is a serious student of poetry and completed the creative writing program at Columbia University in New York City, where he lives in the offseason. . You can find an essay by Perez that appears in the September issue of Poetry Magazine. 

Technorati Tags: Fernando Perez poetry essay,Baseball and Poetry

Surprising Parity in Arab Anthology of American Poets

I read an article about a project to translate a number of poems into Arabic as part of a project to widen the Arabic world's access to foreign literature. Over a thousand titles are being translated for the anthology project including many by American poets. I was intrigued by the selection the and thought others might be as well. Check out these selections:

• Langston Hughes
• Charles Simic
• Sylvia Plath
• Anne Sexton
• Charles Bukowski
• Robert Bly
• Ted Kooser
• Billy Collins
• Denise Levertov
• Louise Gluck
• Kim Addonizio,
• AR Ammons
• Florence Anthony
• Theodore Roethke
• Dorianne Laux

If anything, I am amazed that this project based in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates has a very close parity between men and women selected. Seven women out of fifteen total! 

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Sixth Anniversary Blog Post

Just a quick note to extend my thanks for those who from time to time stop by here, read and even offer some interaction. Interaction is good. I like to think of blogs at their best when they become interactive.

On the left is the cover of my read for last week. Carolyn Forche’s The Country Between Us. This entire book of poetry is laden with political undertones that are woven through narratives that would not disappoint even the apolitical type. I’m a firm believer that writing good political poetry is at least as difficult are writing love poems that work. Carolyn Forche gets this and rises to the occasion. One of the poems from this collection, Selective Service can be read  can be read here. 

I love the way Forche uses the image of children on their backs in snow making snow angels and powerfully closes with “We lie down in the fields and leave behind / the corpses of angels.” Go take a look at the whole poem and how it unfolds. Better still, get a copy of this book and read them all!

 

Technorati Tags: Sixth annivesary for Stickpoet Super Hero,Carolyn Forche,Selective Service,political poetry

World View

“We look at the world once, in childhood. The rest is memory." — Louise Gluck

Giants Have Life As September Starts…

I was so excited yesterday – the Giants had a really tough 10 games with injuries-  they finished up 4-6 and found themselves 3 games behind the Rockies for the NL Wild Card. Then they hosted  the Rockies at home three games – sweeping them. With a day off today they are now tied for the Wild Card with the Rockies. Tomorrow the Giants will go up against the Phillies.

Well, I need to write for a while yet and then it’s off the bed.

 

Technorati Tags: San Francisco Giants,wild card

Charles Bukowski - “The Man With The Beautiful Eyes”

 

 

Technorati Tags: Charles Bukowski,poem

"In the future everyone will be famous for fifteen minutes." Andy Warhol

Yes, even you can be immortalized in Warhol pop art!

Come Tuesday, this blog will turn 6 years old. There are times, even recent, in which I have considered putting this blog to rest. I know some bloggers will write for a while and finish a blog then take up another as though to start a new chapter in life.  I have considered what would perhaps be the advantages and disadvantages of this and I won’t bore you with the lists as I see them on both sides, but only say that in the end I have elected to carry on, not because there were more reasons for it than against it, or because there are better reasons to continue then not, but because for better or worse, that is not my style to quit.

Anyone who has blogged for any length of time has likely had posts that were perhaps not of any significant value to others, but none the less needed to be spoken by the blogger if only for their own benefit.  This is probably most especially true when the blogger is a writer in general. Not someone blogging because of an interest in a sport or hobby, but those who come to blogging as writers in general. Those who write because it is as fundamental to their survival as breathing.

I hope to go back over these past six years, and reflect on some of what I believe are a few of the more significant blog posts. I will do this throughout the next week. I hope that you find something of interest.

Technorati Tags: Stickpoet Super Hero,Andy Warhol pop art,blog anniversary

Some Days I’m Lucky if I Use Three Gears

 

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle.  Most of us have gears we never use.  ~Charles Schulz

 

Technorati Tags: Charles Schulz,quote on life