July Shameless Self Promotion

A poem I wrote several years ago found a home in River Poets Journal  Spring-Summer 2012. At this link you will find a a pdf file of the entire publication. My poem titled Night Wish can be found if you will scroll to page 7- bottom right column. 

Realizing Our Bearings

It's seems to me that times like these often become a compass  for us.  The tragic Colorado shootings reach beyond victims and family and seem to touch us all. Communities expand and become more inclusive. We all share (perhaps in different ways) the pain and sadness but we also find our bearings. We see with more clarity. We come to understand what exactly our values are and the gray lines become more focused. 


Realizing the fragility of life changes everything and even the little things with loved ones suddenly rises to the top. I'm thankful for our health. I'm thankful for times of laughter. I'm thankful for the poetry I see in everyday life, in nature and on the page.

Brandalism: Street artists hijack billboards

Street artists are targeting advertising billboards in a new movement nicknamed 'brandalism' for a Subvertising Campaign.  And what has this to do with poetry?   [READ THE STORY HERE]

Congratulations to Jeannine Hall Gailey

Jeannine is the new Poet Laureate of Redmond, Washington a city just a stones throw from Seattle, Washington.  Speaking of throwing stones, Jeannine comes from a part of the country that you can't cast a stone without hitting a poet. I think it's especially cool considering how how poetically inclined people in Washington seem to be.

The Washington State Poet Laureate did a blog feature on Jeannine today that can be found here.

Confession Tuesday - Yes, I was Naughty Edition

Well, it's been a week since my last confession. Shall we head to the box?

Dear Reader:

It's been a strange week. Some highs and lows but mostly everything evens out. So that said I will get down to the ntty gritty.

I confess that when I left the office today my desk was in great disarray. My desk reflects far too many projects going on, but my job is crisis driven so that's pretty much what I deal with all the time. Of course I periodically restore some order to it but daily it seems to resist order. I confess it's a constant battle.

I confess that I found a writing fellowship that I felt was perfect for me. That was till I realized how much time I would need to be in the LA area next year. I confess that I scrapped my plans to apply. There may come a time when one such program will be a good fit and all-round and when that happens I hope that I have the ability to apply.

Off and on during this past week I've wondered about the Higgs particles but I must confess having them on my mind has only resulted in mass confusion.

I confess that three times (count them), three times this week I've checked in on Scarlet the rat to make sure she is okay.  Scarlet is my daughter's rat and she has been under the weather. I've never been a fan of rats since as a kid growing up in apartment near Hospital Hill I would see rats big as cats when I too the trash out. Still, I confess that Scarlet is kind of cute. In an rat creepy sort of way. Yes, I want her to get well.

I confess I had a rejection letter for three of my poems this week including one I truly believe in. I confess that I'm confident it will find a home.

I confess to drinking Arbor Mist Peach Chardonnay this week. It's not exactly like drinking quality Chardonnay but it feel kind of naughty like drinking semi-frozen Ripple or Boon's Farm Wine as a teenager. Hey, it goes down smooth. 

Well there, I guess a naughty confession is a good place to stop. Even if it was a bit peachy as well.

Can I get an Amen!?

Love this description of what a word does...

Utility is the dream of every poem, large or small. Does each word carry, embryonically, the intent of the entire poem? Dave Smith, Local Assays, 1995

Picturing a word embryonically carrying intent... how awesome is that!

Insanitry

The Mag: Waiting for the Car

Artwork by Jack Vettriano

Another event-

the compulsory

making an appearance.

When does he dress

for an outing with me;

hang like a doll from my arm?

When do I get to show off

his fake smile?

The Mag

Michael A. Wells

Poetry Mail Bag

What better way to start the weekend then to come home and find something poetry related in the mail. On the basis of a blog post recommendation  by Kelli Agodon I ordered the Poetry In Person on Wednesday and low and behold it arrived today already!

The cover is rather nondescript but I knew from what Kelli relayed about the book it would be something I would likely dig into and enjoy.  Transcripts of poet interviews over twenty five years. I'm a sucker for interviews, biographical material collected notes or correspondence from poets. I'm pretty sure this will keep me out of trouble for a few days. Actually the biggest concern is I have a tight schedule of some projects that require my attention. Still, I will make some time to read this book this weekend. After all, I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to or it would not have arrived till Monday!  ;)

I'll let you know what I think of it.

Van Gogh's Starry Starry Night - Dominoes

 Eleven hours and 7,000 dominoes later

Confession Tuesday - All-Star Edition

Dear Reader,

Another week has come and gone. It's Confession Tuesday and MLB All-Star game night here in Kansas City.


I confess I'm multitasking right now watching the game as I write this post.

I confess that I'm kinda proud of Kansas City this week. I'm a bit of an oddity I suppose because while I do enjoy going to Royals games (I enjoy watching just about any baseball) I am really an avid San Francisco Giants fan. I follow the Giants like they are my home team and have for quite a few years. I've been spoiled by attending games at (what I still call) Pacific Bell Park.  But hey, I even loved Candlestick Park. I have not been a big fan of the stadium here in Kansas City but they have made some significant improvements in the recent renovation.  But I'm proud of the how the city has responded and and represented Major League Baseball here.. We are a small market team but hosted the event in a Major League way.

I confess I appreciate the minuscule lowering of temperatures the last few days. It's still hot but at least tolerable

I confess now that the All-Star game is over I'm so excited - the NL not only rocked they shut out the AL. Great hitting and pitching. The Giants contingency really did their team proud.

I confess that I have a lot of writing related stuff to do this week and after last nights attending Fan Fest and  tonight's distraction of the the game itself on TV, I have to double down over the next couple of nights.

Have a great week.

The Mag 125: The Same Beginning

Chilmark Hay, 1951 by Thomas Hart Benton

Golden goose-bumps rise 

from the sagging country side

awaiting collection.

They are the remnants of harvest.

Cured in the sun - their sweetness

locked in.

Here, everything comes down to earth.
We plant in it, work it, extracting from it

feed it to the livestock.

It's a simple life.

Not an easy one

but it always cycles

back to the same beginning. 

The Mag

Michael A. Wells 

Hot August Nights in July

A few clouds move in and attempt to provide cover from the sun but there are too few and the so has such a bold August like attitude for early July that they are no match. Presently it 96.  A slight improvement over the 100+ degree days we've had.

There is a chance according to the local forecast for some scattered showers after midnight.

The weather patterns these past ten days or so (one forgets how many triple digit days we've had when the brain is this hot this long) have seemed to me  oddly different from most summer heat waves I recall in that the number of states hit all at the same time is insane.  It concerns me that with the relatively quick shrinkage of the polar ice cap the past couple of years and some of the significant weather changes on some of the other continents, that we are in fact seeing some significant global warming.  Yes, I know that one heat wave a global warming does not make. There are however a growing number of factors that are troubling even if they are not conclusive. 

BIKE KC

The Bike Share has come to downtown Kansas City. A program patterned after a concept used in several European cities where people can rent a bike at lone local and drop it off at another station. This location is just behind where I work and as you can see from this picture during the lunch hour that a number of the units are in use. They were refilling the station as I arrived at work, so I know these were checked out since just before 8 AM. They are kind of ugly bikes to be honest but they have 3 speeds and yes that is a basket up front. But these are not sporting bikes, they are intended for functionality so I guess their looks are okay.

It's a really cool concept and I do intend to take one of my two helmets to work and leave it there. If the weather drops below the 3 digit range anytime soon, I'll probably take a spin over a lunch hour.

Kansas City will be getting a lot of national attention during the All-Star break and I'm glad they got these up and running last week.

So if you encountered one of these stations on a visit to Kansas City would you take advantage of the to hop around town?

Sweet Land of Liberty

Hope everyone is having a joyous 4th of July.  Because of the string of extra dry weather we've been having I know some communities have banned or at least discouraged fireworks. Whatever you are doing today, grilling, at the lake, baseball game, looking for 4th of July sales, visiting family of just hanging out at home. Be safe and be mindful of how precious our freedom is.

HAPPY 4TH of JULY AMERICA

And Happy Birthday to my daughter Shannon Wells!  :)

Confession Tuesday - 100's Edition

Tuesday again my friend- temperatures again headed to 100+ for (I can't remember how many) days now. But you're here for the confession, so let's go to the box.

Dear Reader,

It's been 5 days since my last confession (because I was late last week) and I have a few things I can think of to acknowledge here.

First, I confess that I lost my keys last night at a restaurant.  That pretty much was the nail that sealed my evening as non-productive as well as stressful. I confess that I am still hopeful they will turn up.

I confess that this three digit heat need to leave. Right now!  Heat makes Michael cranky. Ask my family or co-workers.

I confess I need the 4th of July to come so that I have a day to rejuvenate. Hopefully.

I confess that I'm having some range of mobility issues with my left shoulder. Not quite as saver as when I had a rotator cuff injury in my opposit shoulder several years back, but similar. I can't recall any singular thing I might have done to elicit the pain. I confess I'm unsure if this is old-age vs. injury.

I confess some days I want to take my laptop to a coffee house and write without interruption and lose all concept of time.

My Web Page Is Down AGAIN! #@&%!

My regular web site michaelawells.com is down again. The first part of the month I discovered it offline and as best I can tell it was down for at least parts of three days. Looking at my stat counter it's had no hits for 12 days so it seems like it's been this way a while. It's being hosted by MyDomain.com. I've been with them for several years now and my renewal is up in July so I'm thinking a change is in order.  I've never moved a site before. Any recommendations as to where to go? How much of a pain is it to move a domain name?

Two Judges Say Go Deep - Don't Play It Safe

I read two blog posts today that touched on poetry contests and I noted a similar view help by two people who have been contest judges and I thought they were worth mentioning.

I have note entered a lot of contests - I maybe average one to two entries a year so I'm one one who has a lot of personal experience with the contest circuit.

One of the two pieces that I'm talking about was an interview in Ploughshares of Mary Biddinger by Victoria Chang. I've met Victoria at a reading in Kansas City I believe in 2008. I've read two of her books Circle and Silivinia Molesta. I enjoyed both but was much impressed by Circle as a first book.  Biddinger I've never met or heard read but I have her book Saint Monica which I was so in love with I I can hardly contain myself in wait for her next book O Holy Insurgency. She is the queen of Catholic poetic culture.

The second piece that I read was a blog post by Susan Rich. I've never met Susan either but have her book The Alchemist's Kitchen. One thing that I've appreciated about Susan is that she is a poet who not only has a strong social consciousness but will on occasion allow it the gently permeate her work.

So insight of interest did I glean from these two sources? Rich pointed out, "...all the poems that were sent on to me were quite competent. However, competent is not enough to win a contest. The poems that startled me, that made me want to read then and re-read them, the poems that could not be nailed to a chair in terms of their meaning."  Her advise specifically was to, "Choose to send your poems that take risks."


Mary Biddinger said  she loves  "Poems with teeth... poems that aren't afraid to use their teeth." For Biddinger, she would rather see "a manuscript that makes a few missteps, but dose so with bravery, versus a highly-polished competent, yet safe collection."


If you take to heart what these two poet/judges have to say on the subject, it comes down to being willing to take the risk.  I suppose this really should come as no surprise because it really is the poem that stands up and dares to be different that gets noticed. I can recall shuffling through pages of work in the past and  pulling from it the pieces that seemed the most polished. I will try to not make that mistake again.

Today In the News Headlines

The court ruling fails to ease doubts
firefighters search door to door for bodies

Consumer confidence declined in June
S & P 500 caps best June since 1999

Tatum puts critics under their spell
Cruse-Holmes divorce

China's first female astronaut returns
earth adds leap second

Hillary Clinton attacking
man plagued by porn-induced headaches