That Again!

It's the age old question that keeps resurfacing like a bad cliche. Alexandra Petri writing in the Washington Post Journal asks, "Is Poetry Dead?"

Ms. Petri writes, "I think the medium might not be loud enough any longer. There are about six people who buy new poetry, but they are not feeling very well."  She says the last time she stumbled upon a poetry reading it was mostly students of the poet who were there hoping to earn extra credit. 

Over the years we've been down this road on this topic more times then there are MFA Writing Programs. The fact that we keep coming back to this same tired old question (can't you think of a more original title?  ... you're a Journalist for Christ's sake!) says to me that the noun in the question is obviously still kicking along. 

It's easy to write these kinds of essays because a good deal of the population gets the joke, just like they laugh about fruit cake jokes. Because it's easy to do because, well everyone else seems to be laughing. And more people the joke then no. But you know what? Companies are still making fruit cakes, selling them, and laughing all the way to the bank. 

The truth is, we are a fractured society. And we are becoming more and more fractured  by the increase in numbers of choices we are offered on a daily basis. What is successful in today's media grabs a smaller share of the market then when people came home from work and could basically turn on the three network TV stations and maybe one or two local independent stations. 

Poetry competes with everything else for it's place in the world. Linda Holmes who maintains the Monkey See blog of pop culture site explained the 2% rule as axiom used in television comedy on a recent NPR program in a discussion centered on the whole impact of our fractured interests on pop culture.  Things that most everyone understood 15 years ago that became the subject of jokes on TV are replaced today by things that maybe 2% of the audience gets.  

Ms. Petri might be surprised to learn that this fall a university level Modern and Contemporary Poetry class was offered on Coursera - that was non-credit,  attracted over 21,000 enrolled.  There are poets such as Mary Oliver, Billy Collins, Sharon Oliver (to name a few) whose books  are selling to broader numbers of people. Poetry continues to get a share of a universal market that is saturated with too many choices and too little time. It's like everything else. 

Is she being too harsh? She asks, hopeful she adds that she is wrong. I think her problem is that she is asking the wrong question. Wrong, because it keeps coming up. The fact that it does, year after year should tell her that  poetry is a survivor.  For poetry to die, language must die, That isn't happening. People are still buying fruit cakes too. I had one over the holiday season. 

Confession Tuesday - One of Those Moods Edition.

It's a Monday/Tuesday so off to the confessional

Dear Reader:

It's been one week, seven morning pages, a new inaugural poem, a 49er Win (yeah) and a three day weekend since my last confession.

The Monday/Tuesday is code word for I had a three day weekend and I'm paying for it. I confess that as days after a three day weekend go, this one I got hammered on. The Tuesday from hell! I could easily be in bed now at 7:00 PM and out for the night. But I'm not! I left work, picked up a prescription refill on the way home, made dinner and here I am tending to bloggerly duties.

I confess that I'm going to brag a bit. I think it's worth mentioning that I made a list of several journals that I plan to systematically submit to over the first three months of the year. By that I mean I spent some time researching them and noting if they were accepting submissions during this period.  Next I will plug these into my calendar and allow ample time to get the submissions off so that I'm not scrambling at 11:30 PM the night before the deadline to put the work together.

I confess that when I have three day weekends I have high expectations for myself about what I am going to so. Like new year resolutions these more often then not fall short. I'm happy to say that while I did not get all done that I had hoped to this past weekend I did remarkably well at tackling my to do list.

Yesterday, I watched the presidential inaugural ceremony. I'm pleased that it went off without a hitch as I must confess that I was concerned about the president's safety. I confess to that I was very impressed with the poem written and delivered by Richard Blanco  for the inauguration. This poem hit home with me more then the inaugural poem 4 years ago.I'm not trying to get into a major comparison of the two here as they both have their merits, I'm just saying this one, at the moment I heard it, I really connected with it. I'm especially glad that our president has seen fit to elevate the arts in such a way that they are seen as a significant part of ordinary life.

I confess that I've found another poet who's work I can recommend reading... Check out Tara Mae Mulroy.  She has a number of pieces of her work that can be found on the Internet but her blog is really interesting too.  It's called Poetry & Effrontery and I especially like reading her own commentary on her working poetry drafts. It's kind of like a play-by-play if I can use a sports analogy. Oh look, I just did.

I confess that every once and a while I get into a mode where I want to explore and find new poets to read. I'm kind of in one of those moods. So if you know someone you'd recommend me checking out, feel free to leave a comment.

I confess I have nothing else to confess.

Sweet Mother of God

Yesterday at the grocery store I purchased some oranges on sale. My wife had one this morning and she called me in to ask about them. The initial tone of her voice lead .me to believe I was in somehow in disfavor. I wasn's however. She was simply curious about the orange that seemed to resemble in some respects a ruby red grapefruit in color. We both tasted the orange and sweet mother of God, it was delicious.  As a result, I went back to the store for more.

For the record these are Cara Cara oranges.

Mark Doty - Kansas City - Jan. 31 Midwest Poets Series.

THURSDAY - JANUARY 31 - 7:00 PM Mabee Theater - Sedgwick Hall at Rockhurst University - Mark Doty

Mark Doty returns to the Midwest Poets Series (only the second poet to make a re-appearance) that has featured some of the most celebrated of poets of our time.  Doty has written 12 books of poetry and 3 memoirs and received numerous awards and prizes for his work including T.S. Eliot Prize for Poetry, a National Book Award as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award.

Admission is $3 at the door.

The address is 54th and Troost, Kansas City, MO

Confession Tuesday - Phone App Edition

It's been one cold January week, a week of morning pages, and Artist's date and a a novel read since my last confession.

To the confessional...

Dear Reader:

I confess I finished reading a novel for no reason other then entertainment. That may seem like an odd thing to confess to but I don't typically read simply for pleasure. I may find for example reading a book of poetry pleasurable but I never really approach such reading as whimsical or strictly good fun.  I'm odd like that I guess. I'm talking about a book that simply was mindless reading. Like going to one of those movies with little redeeming value. I confess I'll probably do it again.

Speaking of reading, I had planned to come home for a bit last night and drive back into the city for an 8 PM reading at an open mic. So many of my work days lately have been long and draining and yesterday was no exception. The mailman delivered a book I ordered, The 6.5 Practices of a Moderately Successful Poet by Jeffrey Skinner. Seeing the book, I made an executive decision to stay home and read. I confess it was not a difficult decision to make and I have no regrets. Sure I need to be reading more, but this was a take care of Michael sort of thing. By the way, this book is interesting and I will likely have more to say about it as I am further into it or finish it.

I confess that I'm learning a thing or two by way of the Artist's Way. This too is something for later posts but there are things already that I feel happening that may well be setting the foundation for an improved attitude about my artistic undertakings.

I confess that I am a person who wants to be organized but finds disorganization  like it were a magnet and I were metal.

I confess that I have way too many applications on my phone.

I confess that I want to by books every week but don't have the budget to keep up with my want list. When I do buy a new book I go over my wish list like I were doing triage in a MASH unit and trying to decide the life and death of a book on the list. It can get emotional. Ok, maybe just a little. Sometimes.

That's it for this week...

And they all said, Amen!

Confession Tuesday - Over-thinking Edition

Dear Reader,

It's been a week since my last confession. A week and 7 morning pages. Follow me to the box and let's begin.

I confess that sometimes this past week I've woken up in the wee hours of the morning and had trouble getting back to sleep. This might not be so annoying if in fact I was getting to sleep at a decent hour.  Lately unsettled dogs in the house have set me back for starters and on occasion (but not always) they are the reason for waking prematurely. This is compounded by the fact that office work has been so intense lately that I come home exhausted to start with. The other day in spite of being awake at 3 A.M. I was able to get back to sleep and have some wildly eventful dreams after falling back to sleep. This tells me in hit REM and that's good sleeping.

Getting back to morning pages, I confess that starting the Artist's Way has revealed some interesting things to me. If you are not familiar with morning pages they are written about anything and everything that comes into your mind. They are like stream of conscious writing. This flushing out of the mind each day is not to shared with anyone else or even reread for a period of time so I will not go into detail.  In fact I can't necessarily recall everything I've written but I will confess that their are some things that have been revealed to me that challenge some of my habits and thinking. Since one of the things in the book that I read in advance of week one suggests there are things we might feel uncomfortable about I can attest that this is already happening. But this is a good thing, right?

I confess that I will hit what my wife said the kids called a milestone birthday on Thursday. No, I'm not turning 100. I don't think of birthday's as milestones except maybe 100. Milestones in years are like years on the job or number of years married. Those are milestones. I confess the only thing worse then turning my age would be NOT turning my age. Does that make sense?

I confess that I subscribed to Duotrope. I'm hope subscription price will shame me in to submitting more work.  I didn't do bad last year but I'm hopeful that 2013 will be a robust year for both submissions and acceptances.

The other day I began pondering if I should dump the name of this blog. I've blogged here under the name Stickpoet since 2003 if my memory serves me correctly. (I could look at my first date in the archives if I was not too lazy) I liked the sort of comic identity but have recently wondered if it's unbecoming.  Too silly to be seen seriously. Do I even care to be taken seriously? Of course I want my work to be taken seriously.  I confess this may be over-thinking. I sometimes do that. I think it's a Capricorn thing.

Can I get an Amen?

175 Of Them!

Across the street from my home is a large field with a baseball diamond. (an added bonus when we looked at the house) I've knocked around some fly balls in it and played catch. Not as often as I'd like to have but even knowing it's there is still a cheap thrill.

I enjoy it when others use the field for baseball or just to practice. Not so much for soccer or football practice. Some things are sacred. But each year I do enjoy the return of the geese. To the geese I always extend a hearty welcome.

Sometimes there are 30 to 40 that arrive. Other times there are in excess of 100. This weekend I thought the number exceptionally high and I began to count. They are really not hard to count because they will stand still for me for the most part Spread out over the field there were 175 that I counted. Now I may be off + or - 1 or 2 but I'd say no more. So for the sake of this reporting I will go with the 175 number and it established a new high count.

Thinking about the geese there are a couple of things right off that I like about them. For starters the fact that they return a couple of different period of time during the year. I like that they come back to where they know.

I also appreciate that when they are walking around they seem to be doing their own thing. The are individuals. But they also belong to a larger community. When they go and come it is together. And they will fly off in a beautiful formation once aloft... Their aerodynamics is something to behold.; and they know their leader. There is no bickering among them as to who is to lead. This may of course occur in private smoke filled rooms but they do not air their dirty laundry or do political backstabbing in plain view and I appreciate that about them.

They have blessed me with a return again this winter and for that I am thankful.

  

Confession Tuesday - Tardy Edition

Dear Reader,
I'm late. Yes I'm starting this out nearly an hour into Wednesday.  I confess that it had not occurred to me that it was Tuesday in spite of answering my wife's question as to what day it was esrlier in the eveving.  It's like I knew without it ever really registering.

My mind has apparently been on break from reality. Reality is so overrated.

I confess that in the morning I will of course meet the sun with a different perspective but I confess I will not be s willing participant in this.

Even on holidays or other days off I don't generally find it easy to lose myself in the moment. I confess that I did tonight and I liked it.

Amen!

Making The Artist's Way Commitment

I'm committing this month to undertake The Artist's Way in order to better connect with the artist that is within me, to explore it, to listen to it, nurture it, grow it and realize the potential that is there, often overlooked or hindered. 

The Artist's Way - Wikipedia

I understand  that I am undertaking an intensive, guided encounter with my own creativity. I commit myself to the twelve week duration of the course. 

I commit to weekly reading, daily morning pages, a weekly artist date, and the fulfillment of each week's tasks.

I further understand that this course will raise issues and emotions for me to deal with. I commit myself to excellent self-care, adequate sleep, diet, exercise and pampering for the duration of the course.


Michael A. Wells
January 1, 2013

Hello 2013 - Can You Hear Me Now?

I saw this "wordcandy.me" image today and thought it was perhaps speaking to me because I have been planning to start The Artist's Way now for several months and I've decided to make the jump into it  straight away as the new year gets underway.

There is a undercurrent that is bubbling on a low simmer within me that wants to be something grander. I have felt it and maybe it's fear, or not knowing what to do next, of being too fractured in my thinking but there is something that has allowed me to go only so far that year that we are ending. Perhaps I want not supposed to go any further. Maybe I was supposed to find myself right were I am at the end of this year on a slow burn (knowing something different was ahead in my writing) and awaiting the next phase.

I spent another fall working with a poet on some things and again I found myself feeling growth in my work and again finding inspiration. As a coach and mentor this poet has a way of bringing about transformative awareness in where you are and helping you step out of that place and move ahead.  I have to credit this low simmer as a part of that - telling me that what's cooking is something different and that I need to be ready to turn up the burner a bit and let new things happen.

So that is in this new horizon for 2013 is not in clear focus but I have some ideas. I've had ideas before and for one or more reasons this ideas have only gone so far. I've been experienced in finding one road block after another on paths here and there. 2012 has provided me with some successes for sure. I have a lot to be thankful for, but I'm not getting any younger and I've never felt that time was on my side. I do want to turn the burner up a bit and move ahead; I want to reach what is on that horizon and not feel like I'm swimming in an ocean after a point that never gets any closer.

HELLO 2013 -  CAN YOU HEAR ME NOW?

Mail Bag

Some days it's better to get no mail then the alternative if that's bills. Today was a really good day...
1. Copy of Poets & Writers magazine.
2. Check for work published.
3. Card from another poet.
4. Rumpus letter from author Elizabeth Crane.

Not a single bill!

- Happy poet

GlassFire Magazine - Winter 2012 Issue

Winter issue is out along with my poem PRONOUNS

GlassFire Magazine Intro Page Click Here

Poetry Mentions Around the Internet

Poets & Poetry around the Internet -

Mohamed Ibn Al Ajami’s crime consisted of reciting on November 16, 2011 a poem extolling the courage and values of the popular uprisings in Tunisia - Sign Poets petition here

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation's Barbara Mandingo Kelly Peace Poetry Awards deadline for 2013 Prize

Q & A on Kelli Russell Agodon's Third Poetry Collection [Read Here]

Benefits of Poetry for Professionals [Read Here]

Poets you should know about: Mark Doty, the Painter [Read Here]

Confession Tuesday

Dear readers: 

It's been not one, but two weeks since my last confession.

I confess that I am so finished with last week. I can say that the sickness, the irritation, the overwhelming feelings of failure and hopelessness belong to you, the past and not the present.

I confess that I arrived at Monday fearing that all the sinus stuff would continue to plague me but like a passing storm my head began to clear.

I confess that even feeling like crap over the weekend I ventured into the mall maze of people and survived. I actually did it twice in one day.

I confess I need to get serious about writing this week as I've crashed and burned too many nights last week

My wife had a book come in the mail yesterday and while I'm happy for her I confess I wished there had been one for me as well.

Still have several books outstanding on my want, list. I confess the list never seems to end.

I confess that I cannot end this confession without expressing a sense of heartache over the loss of so many innocent young lives and the ultimate sacrifice of so many teachers at the Sandy Hook School shooting. This leaves a very empty feeling inside and yet I cannot begin to imagine what that feeling must be like to the families.  My prayers go out to all of them.

Saturday check-in

I've been neglectful in blogging past week this largely due to feeling so drained by sinuse issues. Aside from work I've come home nightly with little energy left for anything else.

I've managed to get some reading done... little writing. Today I'm feeling better and a little optomistic though the energy levels are still at low tide.

In the senselessness of the Sandy Hook School tragedy combined with this dull sick feeling, it is even harder to keep from becoming frozen in dysfunction.

Duotrope in the New Year

Are you looking forward to the new year, dusting off this one - out with the old in with the new?  Not so fast...  Starting January 1, 2013 Duotrope - the writer market listing and submission tracking service will no longer be available free.  Of course as it has been said many times about many things, nothing is really free.  Duotrope has operated since inception without charge. It has encouraged users to make contributions towards operating expenses and utilized a color coded warning system not unlike the old homeland security threat system. This told users if they were on track, running short, or warning Will Robinson things are dire.

All the good stuff that is Durotrope is no longer going to be available to users unless they ante up. Now I could say, "Damn, why didn't people support it?" But I am, case in point perhaps a reason for the downfall. Yes, I have contributed to it, but not often enough.

Now, I've seen one blogger post that this has caused a major uproar among writers and that many are saying  they will do without the service before they will pay to use it. Of course that's a choice we can all make.  If I was only submitting work two or three times a year I'm sure I could live without it. I did see one writer on Facebook objecting to the pay model that if they charged everyone $50 to use Facebook there would be mass exodus. I don't disagree, but I've never felt I could live would Facebook and I would not pay $50 to be on it. But this is apples and oranges.

Durotrope has been a top notch site in my opinion and further, they have made major upgrades to it in recent times. Only time will tell, but I'm planning on submitting a lot of work in 2013 and I'm going to need the service.

Confession Tuesday - Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders Edition

It's Tuesday again and so I've come here tonight to offer up my weekly confession. Shall we start?


Dear Readers:

It's been two newly purchased poetry books, a new pair of shoes, and one contract from a publisher to sign since my last confession a week ago.

I confess that while I was about 25 minutes late leaving the office tonight I was not ready for the fact that it was well on the way to being dark downtown. It just seemed so different then last night when I left.  I mean Monday night It was still light when I arrived home and this was like spooky different. I don't mean that I was afraid or anything like that, it was just strange how different it felt. The drive home was not especially smooth.  Traffic on I-70 played with my patience. I did not let it get the best of me though.

As I noted above I got two new poetry books this week. They are Factory of Tears, by Valzhyna Mort and In Broken Latin, by Annette Spaulding-Convy. (have more to say soon about these books) I truly am giddy when I get a new poetry book. Especially if it's one that I have had my radar on for a while. You have book radar don't you? I confess that I'm forever wanting this book or that book and usually several at a time. I just can't ever quite satisfy my thirst for books. I'm pretty sure that if you look in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders) there is a code for people who can't own enough books.

I got a contract from a publisher this week. Don't wet your pants! It's not for a book but for a single poem. I confess that in all the time I've written poetry and had work accepted and published there has never been a written contract involved. Of course there has never been any money involved either.

This past week I've been exhausted every night by the time I've gotten off work. My work can be pretty intense, even stressful at times but since we've added a new case management program, I'm working in it essentially all day long. It's very labor intensive so I get to the end of the day and I've like done all this work and maybe moved two items off my desk. I know there is value to the case management program but I confess that I have a tendency to look at how far I've gotten into my work load and it can be depressing.

Slowly but surely I've been working on a manuscript. I confess that I've not written like I should have this past week. Gotten off my schedule and been more miss then hit. Otherwise my days have leveled out. Not a lot of great days but much fewer bad days. I confess I'll accept that  this time of year.

Amen!

~ Book of Kells: Holiday Gift Guide: Poetry Book Edition (even if you don't write poetry, you can read poetry)

~ Book of Kells: Holiday Gift Guide: Poetry Book Edition (even if you don't write poetry, you can read poetry)


Excellent gift ideas from Kelli Russell Agodon.  There are a couple on this list that I'm craving after her post.

Wondering

Did the dead thump of the head
to the concrete floor
so many years ago
have any repercussion

I should know of
or would I recognize
anything beyond
the usual
as unusual

Valzhyna Mort - Mid-West Poets Series

After work last night I headed to The Mixx for dinner. It was a grueling day and I had not eaten lunch. A Mixx salad sounded like just what I needed and I had a but of time to kill before heading over to Rockhurst for the Midwest Poets Series reading by Valzhyna Mort.

I've miss the last couple of MW Poet Series readings but this one I've had on my radar. I first heard about Valahyna Mort in a Poets & Writers magazine maybe three years ago or so.

Valzhyna started her reading in  Belarusian her native tongue. While not able to understand - the words had a familiarity. I too two years of Russian in high school and while I have retained little of the Russian the sounds were quite similar and I found the sharpness and the harshness of the language amazingly comforting. Her speech is soft but powerful. Her writing too shows a powerful command of language. These two components are interesting given the fact that she approached the microphone with just a bit of shyness maybe trepidation.

In Belarusian I  as in other of her poems she blends a sociopolitical landscape into her work and does it well...

"even our mothers have no idea how we were born
how we parted their legs and crawled out into a world
the way you crawl from the ruins after a bombing"

In one poem in memory of a book, I can tell you that everyone around me was hanging on to every word.

Valzhyna  is a small woman of physical proportions but her poetic voice has strength and resonance. In her book Factory of Tears there is a  line that makes me think of her...

"i'm
as thin
as your
eyelashes"

I've been in need of an Artist's date and this was reading was just what I needed.


Additional biographical information:
Valzhyna Mort - Wikipedia 

A video clip (August 2008 in Brooklyn)