How I See Election Night Unfolding

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Words to Stroll By

As a Capricorn, I like to think of myself as an earthy sort of person. It is true I like a safety net, the secure feeling. Still, I do like a good shakeup once and a while. A little something new can be a good thing under the right circumstances. Even to a Capricorn. So when I saw an article about a man in St. Paul, Minneapolis that was bringing poetry to the people in a new way, I sat up and took note.

It seems that poetry has taken up a rather permanent position around the city on sidewalks. The project was conceived by Marcus Young who was looking for a way to integrate art into the public view.

Working with twenty poets and the Department of Public Works in St. Paul, Young was able to orchestrate poems etched into the concrete where repairs were being made in public walkways. Presently there are about 50 poems completed in various parts of the city and another fifty to go.

I thought about during next poetry month doing poems in chalk on sidewalks but this is way more cool, and lasting.

Technorati Tags: St. Paul,Marcus Young,Poetry,Sidewalk art

"Paradoxes and Oxymorons," by John Ashbery

Technorati Tags: John Ashbery,Paradoxes and Oxymorons,J D Spooky,Poetry Everywhere,Poetry Foundation

Right Here In River City

Sunday I read at the Writers Place in Kansas City for the second CD release party sponsored by both the Writers Place and the Johnson County Library. The two events were an excellent opportunity for the public to hear and meet some of our many local poets and I especially appreciated the fact that the events spanned our Missouri - Kansas boarder. I don't recall ever reading in the Kansas side before, though I have attended a number of readings there. Anyway, the local poets featured in the CD project owe a big thanks to these two sponsors.

Speaking of events... there are a number of exciting happenings that are coming together locally in the months ahead. Two poets I first discovered via poetry blogland will be coming to read as part of an Ethnic Poetry Reading Series in conjunction with Park University. The first one is Victoria Chang who will be here October 2nd, 2008 and the other is Aimee Nezhukumatathil who will be in town on March 26th, 2009. I'll do another post on each closer to their event. Also in October - on Thursday the 23rd, Poet Laureate Charles Simic will be in town as part of the Midwest Poet Series. So there, everyone mark your calendar in advance. I promise to remind you of each event later.

Technorati Tags: Aimee Nezhukumatathil,Victoria Chang,Charles Simic,poet laureate,readings,Kansas City

John's Friends

Technorati Tags: John McCain,Lobbiests,Presidential Campaign,GOP,Republican

What's That You Say?

A critic can only review the book he has read, not the one which the writer wrote. ~Mignon McLaughlin, The Neurotic's Notebook, 1960

Art & The Elections

If you are an artist or feel the arts are important in the fundamental education of American children then consider this information passed along from Kelli Russell Agodon on her blog about the presidential candidates:

Barack Obama- favors an Artist Corps in the Schools. An "Artist Corps" of young artists would work in low-income schools and their communities to bring exposure of the arts into the educational process of these students. The results of which are of course more job opportunities for artists, but most importantly this would effectively integrate positive art experiences in the education system in this country. In so many school districts art has had to take a back seat to other subjects. It's important to reach these students when they are young because otherwise they are not likely to learn to appreciate art on their own as adults. [read more in depth]

John McCain - his record is one disfavoring the promotion of the arts publicly. In 1999 he was one of 16 senators who supported the Smith-Ashcroft amendment which would have eliminated funding for the National Endowment for the Arts. Fortunately this amendment failed. He tried again in 2000. He was one of 27 senators who voted to reduce the National Endowment for the Arts budget by $7.3 million. Again, "Maverick McCain" and the others were unsuccessful. It should be noted that the National Endowment for the Arts is not just a glitzy art organization, but has been a positive vehicle for promoting literacy programs in America for people of all ages. [ I thought I'd be fair and link any specifics from McCain's campaign here, but his official site seems void of any reference to the Arts]

Pass this information on to other artists that you know. There is a lot at stake in this election.

Writers Place - Sunday -Sept. 14 6:00-PM Reading and CD Poetry CD Give-Away.

A repeat of sorts to the event last Monday at Johnson County Library.

At the Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania, K.C., MO there will be another reading and CD release party. First 50 get a free CD!

Technorati Tags: Writers Place,Poetry,Kansas City event,Free CD,Reading

Dana Gioia Takes Another Direction

The arts have truly had an Ambassador in Dana Gioia who has served as Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts since 2003. But Dana who wrote poetry quietly while working in corporate America has announced that he plans to depart from his second term at National Endowments early next year and will join The Aspen Institute, an international nonprofit organization founded in 1950 as the Aspen Institute of Humanistic Studies.  The position at Aspen will be a a half-time position. Dana plans to return to his writing as well. He has been both a poet and a critic. In fact leaving to accept this new position is really about freeing up time to write. About his decision, Gioia noted, "I announce my departure with mixed feelings," he added. "I will never have a more interesting job. But I am a writer. If I don't return to poetry soon, the Muse will never have me back."

At Aspen Institute he will be the Director of The Harman/Eisner (H/E) Program in the Arts. A new program of the Institute the purpose of which is to deepen the Institute's work by incorporating leading artists and to use the Institute's convenings to support and promote the arts.

Technorati Tags: Dana Gioia,National Endowment for the Arts,Poet,writing,Aspin Institute,Harman/Eisner Program

Saturday morning and lots going on in my mind

I can't help but wonder what the ultimate damage assessment and loss of life will look like on the Gulf coast from the savage path of Ike.  It all seems sorrel having so much news coverage and yet we know so little of the human tragedy yet. It's still all drama and yet you know the loss is there.

Then too there is the horrific train collision in the LA area. Yet another reminder how fragile life can be even in the daily grind.

If you look past all this, there is still a campaign going on, though the candidates attempt to tip-toe through the human suffering so as not to offend.

In reality an election is going to happen in the end and it is perhaps one of profound importance when you consider where this nation has been in the past 8 years. Our economy has gone from one of deficit reductions in the years prior to Bush taking office to one that is historic in terms of national debit. At the same time we are seeing banks and major investment houses collapse in their own debt write-offs for losses that not only are corporate losses but translate to shareholder losses as well.  And those  share holders are not all wealthy individuals who can sustain the risk of their investments, but in many cases baby boomers whose retirement pensions are often tied to such investments.

Meanwhile, we continue to spend $10 billion a month (not even counted in the federal budget) for the ongoing military action in Iraq. A war that was a mistake from the very conception.  All this time, things grow worse in Afghanistan, the country with the real connection to 9-11, not Iraq.

Quietly on the home front, the Bush administration continues to pursue a course of action that threatens our very constructional protections.  One by one eroding our rights as citizens. The most recent example seeks to take us back some 30 years to the Nixon era when it was necessary to clean up the constitutional abuses of a very paranoid president who felt it necessary to abuse powers to spy on the American people.

This week, as a perhaps final legacy of this administration, the FBI announced it is seeking to implement new rules as of October 1 that would allow agents pursuing national security leads to employ physical surveillance, deploy informants and engage in "pretext" interviews with their identities hidden to assess the danger posed by a subject. Such assessments could be initiated even without a particular fact or concrete lead that a person had engaged in wrongdoing. Additionally. as in the days of Nixon, it is suggested that changes still could be made in some areas, including ground rules for FBI agents who secretly infiltrate activist groups or collect intelligence at public demonstrations and events without a suspected terrorist threat.

It's a lot to chew on this Saturday morning. The underlying question now is, can I clear my head and write today?

Technorati Tags: Afghanistan,Iraq,Bush,Nixon,national debit,investments,financial institutions,FBI,civil liberties,Ike,war,election

Tricked

Ornamental excuses abound.
Window dressings, all of them
to purchase the justification
necessary to have his way
when validation was a rabbit
no where near the scene
of the black top hat.

Aren't You Felling More Assured?

In an interview last night with ABC's Charles Gibson, it was noted that Republican presidential candidate John McCain has defended his running mate's qualifications, citing her command of the Alaska National Guard and Alaska's proximity to Russia. When asked by Gibson about what insights into recent Russian actions she gained by living in Alaska, Palin responded, "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska."

Now we know she will be able to find it on a map.

LOCAL POETS ON CD

The Monday night event at Johnson County Library was well done. Thanks to both Johnson County Library and The Writers Place for their part in making it a success and allowing many local poets greater exposure in the community. The CD produced by their joint efforts includes works from the following poets:

• Katie Manning
• Marie Asner
• Bob Fisher
• Jo McDougal
• Michael Wells
• Tina Hacker
• Maria Vasques Boyd
• Martin Zehr
• Carol Bettis
• Chalise Bourque
• Donald Caswell
• Elizabeth Upperon
• Timothy Pettit
• Jan Duncon O'Neill
• Peg Nichols
• Chloe Wagner
• Sylvia Kofler
• Meril Crabtree
• William Trpwbridge
• Albert James Dow
• Greg Germon
• Gloria Martinez Adams
• Tom Gray
• Carol Hamilton
• Margarita Vallazza
• Mark Scheel
• Jose Faas
• Missi Rasmussen
• Sally Jadlow
• Maryfrancis Wagner
• Mary Rogers-Grantham
• Genie Wilson

At the Writers Place - 3607 Pennsylvania, K.C., MO - This Sunday, September 14th, 2008 6:00PM there will be another reading and CD release party. First 50 get a free CD!

Cheney Supports McCain-Palin Ticket

Cheney tells the press he's behind the McCain-Palin Ticket, the ticket John McCain says represents change from the past 8 years of the Bush-Cheney administration. The administration that was notably absent in any mention during the GOP Convention.


Why would this be? Perhaps, because McCain-Palin aren't really agents of change but more of the same. The same they don't want to talk about. The same they hope you'll forget.


Cheney believes Palin is up to the job. This is a man whose opinion on the subject Americans should take? Seriously folks, what is wrong with this picture?

Unconscious Mutterings Week 293

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:

House :: party
Think :: tank
Clot :: blood
Believe me :: song (Please Believe Me)
Fumigation :: couch
Bore :: McCain
Luck :: Irish
Patient :: Jobe
Tremors :: quakes
Pickles :: dill

It's About time!

Palin Agrees to ABC News Interview: "Sept. 7) - Under pressure for being shielded for questioning, Sarah Palin has a agreed to sit down with Charles Gibson of ABC’s “World News Tonight,” according to an ABC News official. No other interviews are scheduled. It will be the first TV interview for Palin since she was named 10 days ago as running mate to John McCain."

FREE CD OF LOCAL POETS

Technorati Tags: Poetry,Johnson County Library,Michael Wells,CD

Monday, September 8, 7:00 at The Johnson County Library, 8975 W. 87th Street, Overland Park, Kansas : Poets on CD release party and reading

Why should kids get to have all the fun? We deserve a reading program too! Come hear great poetry and find out how to participate in the BlitzRead! adult reading program at our kickoff party. The first 50 attendees will receive a free CD of local poets reading their work.

Yours truly will be there to read and is featured on the CD as well.

 

Where's Sarah?

  It's Sunday after the GOP Convention and everyone is busy facing the questions via the traditional public affairs programs that air on Sunday.

• Democrat Barack Obama on ABC's "This Week."
• Democratic Vice Presidential candidate Joe Biden, on NBC's "Meet the Press."
• Republican John McCain on CBS' "Face the Nation."

So the question is where is Sara Palin? Is she not ready to field unscripted questions? When do voters get to hear the GOP Vice Presidential candidate answer the same questions being put to the other candidates? Is this asking too much?

Technorati Tags: Sarah Palin

Sensory Triggers

Mary Biddinger writes in her blog Word Cage about sensory triggers. Those things that set off a particular behavior or thought by recreating a past experience.  Isn't it true that the best poems usually are able to take us to experiences that that we are able to relate to; that by the poets very words we can suddenly taste Grandma's apple pie or feel the warmth of the fireplace against our face  on a cold November night, while smelling the oak log burn and sipping hot chocolate? Words properly chosen have the power to transport us to another time and bring alive real experiences of the past.

So I sit here this evening thinking of things that I would consider sensory triggers I can relate to.

• The smell of cut grass takes me to a Saturday or Sunday afternoon at the ballpark. The warm sun beating down on the green field.
• When I feel the lawnmower with gas it takes me back to when I was a kid and my Grandmother would stop for gas. Those were pre air conditioning days and with the windows down it aroma of gasoline was particularly sweet and strong.  I always am transported back to that little filling station in town and still see the sign reading 34 cents a gallon.
• The feel of those wood spoons you get with Frosty Malts feel like rough, dry tongue depressors in the doctor's office and make me want to cough.
• When I'm handling something that tends to dry my hand out a lot, I am suddenly on an out of town trip, headed home to Kansas City, along the roadside changing a flat.

Those are just a few things that come to my mind.  There are lots of music triggers that take me back to the sixties, seventies and eighties. Events and places.

I think I should spend the next week listing such triggers in my journal. 

Technorati Tags: Mary Biddinger,Word Cage,sensory triggers poetry,writing

A Look At Ginsberg's Letters

The Letters of Allen Ginsberg, edited by Bill Morgan, is now available from Da Capo Press.

I've not had an opportunity to read this yet, but regular readers will be well aware how interesting I find journals and letters of poets. Given the impact on Allen and other Beat poets on the American literary culture I have to believe historical accounts of his correspondence would be absolutely fascinating.

Pocket Change

Humanity spilled- tossed about,

jingled in the the pockets

like small change.

A bit here and a piece there

the sum of which is whole

but spread about

without custodial care.

The casual acceptance-

disrespected by dispersal

to quail and disintegrate

in the shadows

of rich indifference.

A mind full of likes....

• Disheveled like a truce gone bad.
• Bristling like the cloak of a porcupine.
• Daunting like down by seven runs
  in the top of the ninth-
• Scorched like the bottom of a cooper kettle.
• Bumped like a kid out of line.

Unconscious Mutterings Week 292

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link

Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:

Groceries :: sacker
Deodorant :: anti-perspirant
Psychic :: healer
Cherries :: picker
Spooky :: ghosts
Yogurt :: Dannon
Kitchen :: sink
Nothing personal :: negative dig
Be nice :: children
Delivery :: baby

Ashbery - One of Four

I've said before that my taste in poetry easily finds John Ashbery's work very palatable. I am well aware that this is not a universal opinion among those who delight in reading contemporary poetry. Ashbery has many detractors. Still, it's a fact that at age 81 Ashbery need not fret about his mark on the American literary culture. It is well cemented. If you doubt this, consider that Ashbery is about to become only the fourth American writer to see their works published during their own lifetime by the Library of America. He joins Philip Roth, Eudora Welty, and Saul Bellow in that distinction.

Observation Skills

Technorati Tags: Sylvia Plath,poetry,writing,life as a poet

  Saturday my wife and I took the dogs and went off to the dog park.  It was while traipsing around that rugged landscape that my knee went from bad to worse.  It was also during this outing that I explored the various trees and branches and sticks and water containers for the dogs.  The sky and the sun bursting through the leaves on the many trees that dot the landscape. Observation is such an important part of the poetry process.  Even when not writing I think there is something to be said for taking in what is around us and looking at it with an eye for detail. Not so much for the ability to recount specifics, though this can be a beneficial exercise, but more importantly looking for the extraordinary in the otherwise ordinary.

From reading biographical material on Sylvia Plath as well as her journals I was long ago struck with how she was constantly seeking the poem in everything she came into contact with. Even odd jobs she took while attending Smith College provided fodder for her writing.

I am not quite as tuned into everyday events in the way she apparently was, but I do make an effort to see the poetry around me. One cannot underestimate the benefits that come from sharpening the observation skills.  Mine are far from perfected. 

Mundane Monday

Klaus always looks before backing out of driveway....

Labor day and I'm trying to find a the silver lining in this knee pain. It's not like I'm off on a sick day or anything. No, I'm using a perfectly good three day holiday to be sick. Grrr!

Report from the Gimp

Yesterday my knee which I had been favoring much of the week took a painful turn for the worse. Early yesterday it felt as though gout had set in. I've once before had a bout with gout several years ago. If you've never experienced gout it would be difficult to adequately describe it but suffice to say it is excruciatingly painful. Staying off it and ibuprofen has been my course of action. Tonight it is less painful and I am moving around with a little more ease. This has however put a bit of a crimp on my three day weekend. Spending much of it in and around bed, staying off my feet is not exactly what I had in mind. My wife did make me a delicious breakfast which I ate in bed.

I have worked on some writing yesterday and today but it gets a bit monotonous and thus becomes a distraction at certain points. Still, it is writing so that is progress.

The news of John McCain's selection for Vice President is interesting if not unsettling given her lack of any foreign policy experience and the fact that she has extremely limited governmental experience period. I believe there is no reason to fear a woman in the White House, I originally supported Hillary, but Sarah Palin would not be the same. This is a woman whose only other experience besides her short tenure as Governor of Alaska was city council and mayor of Wasilla, Alaska; a town that has a total area of about 12.4 square miles and a population estimated at about 6,700.

With hurricane Gustav likely to make landfall on the Louisiana coast by tomorrow morning, I have to think McCain has done the right thing by suspending much of the Republican Convention business in light of the hurricane. Thoughts and prayers go out to all those who find themselves again within the path of this powerful storm.

STLtoday - Missouri's poet laureate highlights area writers

Missouri's poet laureate highlights area writers
By Walter Bargen
SPECIAL TO THE POST-DISPATCH
08/31/2008

Missouri's first poet laureate, Walter Bargen, begins a new feature for the Post-Dispatch this week. Every other week, he will choose a poem by a Missourian and write a short introduction to it.

This week, Bargen kicks off the feature with one of his own poems. STLtoday - Missouri's poet laureate highlights area writers

Not everyday you run across a quote that embodies vegetarianism

"Expecting life to treat you well because you are a good person is like expecting an angry bull not to charge because you are a vegetarian." -- Shari R. Barr

Three years later, poems are still putting the impact of Hurricane Katrina into words - Entertainment News, Music & Arts from New Orleans, LA - NOLA.com

Three years later, poems are still putting the impact of Hurricane Katrina into words - Entertainment News, Music & Arts from New Orleans, LA - NOLA.com



Listen To: Codrescu, Boutte, Ivan Neville and the New Orleans Klezmer Allstars read from "Jealous Witness: Poems"

Poetry reading is the new rock'n'roll

Name the 22 year old whose My Space poems have been listened to 300,000 times, has signed a major publishing deal with HarperCollins for her first book Mistakes in the Background, believes that spoken word is about to break into the mainstream. It's Laura Dockrill.

My Space Site Story by the Independent

The Poetry of Mahmoud Darwish

I wonder how many know of Mahmoud Darwish? He was not a poet I was familiar with until his recent death hit the news. Of course there are perhaps as many poets who escape my knowledge as there are grains of sand, but few with the lyrical power of words that seem to be embodied in his work.

He is not without controversy, which the circumstances of his life perhaps contribute more to than the tone of his poetry. At least that which I have seen.

A Palestinian born in what is today Israel was a factor that was destined to have enormous influence upon his life and ultimately how he would be viewed by others.

He was taught by his grandfather to read and write, his mother being illiterate. It was as early as age seven that he began writing poetry and the lessons of a lifetime of loss swell in his work.

In an editorial by written by As'ad AbuKhalil this month, Darwish is described as "...comfortable in Hebrew and had relations in Israeli society. But as an Arab Palestinian in a state based upon religious supremacy and privileges, he could only stand at a distance: he could only stay in the inferior status still reserved for Arab citizens of the state."

Darwish became regarded as the Palestinian national poet. His writing revered by the Palestinian people. Christina Patterson writing for the Independent writes that poetry is regarded as a pastime for the lost and lonely people of Palestine.

Between 1961 and 1967, Darwish was reportedly jailed by Israelis five times. There were many times he was under house arrest. The obstacles encountered seemed only to increase his writing output. People familiar with his work say he was far more interested in growing his literary abilities than pleasing the many Palestinian readers who became critical when he traveled to the Soviet Union or elsewhere to study and write. If they felt an abandonment, he never saw it that way.

Mahmoud Darwish died in Houston, Texas on August 9, 2008 three days following heart surgery. With this post, I hope to better familiarize many Americans who enjoy and appreciate a bit of a glimpse at who he was and his work. I believe, at least that which I have seen, is extraordinary.

I found this statement by the poet Naomi Shihab Nye on Poets.org about him. "Mahmoud Darwish is the Essential Breath of the Palestinian people, the eloquent witness of exile and belonging, exquisitely tuned singer of images that invoke, link, and shine a brilliant light into the world's whole heart. What he speaks has been embraced by readers around the world—his in an utterly necessary voice, unforgettable once discovered."

Here are some resources to lean more about Darwish's work:

Two Poems By Mahmoud Darwish translated by Fady Joudah /Sonnet VI & Two Stranger Birds in Our Feathers

I Didn't Apologize to the Well

A Noun Sentence

With the Mist So Dense on the Bridge

Under Siege

Quotations:

"I will continue to humanize even the enemy... The first teacher who taught me Hebrew was a Jew. The first love affair in my life was with a Jewish girl. The first judge who sent me to prison was a Jewish woman. So from the beginning, I didn't see Jews as devils or angels but as human beings." Several poems are to Jewish lovers. "These poems take the side of love not war,"

"I thought poetry could change everything, could change history and could humanize, and I think that the illusion is very necessary to push poets to be involved and to believe, but now I think that poetry changes only the poet."

"We should not justify suicide bombers. We are against the suicide bombers, but we must understand what drives these young people to such actions. They want to liberate themselves from such a dark life. It is not ideological, it is despair."

"Why are we always told that we cannot solve our problem without solving the existential anxiety of the Israelis and their supporters who have ignored our very existence for decades in our own homeland?"

*source of quotes: Wikipedia

Technorati Tags: Mahmoud Darwish,Palestinians,poet,poetry,Israel,Naomi Shihab Nye

OBAMA / BIDEN Ticket

AS PREDICTED HERE AUGUST 17

JOE BIDEN is the OBAMA

Pick for Vice President

Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes | The Trail | washingtonpost.com

Ohio Voting Machines Contained Programming Error That Dropped Votes The Trail washingtonpost.com


Surprise, surprise, surprise! The electronic voting equipment from the company formerly known as Diebold has been the subject of repeated reports of issues related to reliability and glitches in recording and counting votes. These machines continue to be in widespread use. Quoting from the above article:

Officials in Butler County, Ohio -- north of Cincinnati -- were the first
to raise the issue when 150 votes from a card dropped in March. Brunner's office
originally said that 11 counties had the same problem but has since revised that
to nine. Her office was not able to say how many dropped votes were discovered
in those jurisdictions.

Unconscious Mutterings Week 290

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:

• Signature :: brand
• Olympics :: Medal
• 100% :: certain
• Damn! :: awesome
• Gold :: medal
• Fresh and natural :: vegetables
• Fraction :: piece
• Hurry :: come on
• Summer :: baseball
• 29th :: degree

Okay, I think this weeks word list was a bit lame but then again, no one asked me.

Virgins - Rules & Going Postal

More interesting stuff around the blogosphere:

* John Sutherland's list of the 10 Top Literary Virgins. Come now, how can he be certain?

* Diane Lockward took up the challenge and did her list of personal rules for writing poetry and added some from others.

* Dana Guthrie Martin wants us to Go Postal

* Summer is fleeting, Kelli will be back to regular blogging soon.

Two Words and a Laugh

Last night, my youngest daughter who has been home for the summer, dug out her ball glove and talked me into playing catch. It didn't take a lot of talking- I've wanted to play catch for a while now. Couple of years back I had a rotator-cuff injury and couldn't pitch a wad of gum underhanded.

For maybe 20 to 25 minuted we went back and forth. My arm felt good but was substantially lacking in power and distance.

Meg seemed to be enjoying it as much as I was then all at once when reaching low to make a catch, she pulled something in her back. We were finished for the evening.

This morning while my wife and I were driving into the city for work, Meg sent my wife a text message and said she could not understand why she ended up with and bad back and Mr. Brittle was unscathed. She cracks me up!

All right... time for some new words to drag out into the public view. Just two this time, but they are great words.

• microphagous - adj. feeding upon small objects
• philodox - n. dogmatic person; a person fond of opinions, especially their own.

OMG,,,, the second one sounds like me.

Notables

Eileen Tabois posted her POETRY SURVEY: AND ANALYSIS and if you have not been over to take a gander, you might do do.

I found Mary Biddinger's blog Word Cage the other day and she offers some insightful blogging on poetry. What do you need, and why? is a fascinating look at what she has to do to write a poem. At last count there were like 9 replies in the comments and it's fun to see what everyone else has to say on the subject.

Sunday Afternoon Breather

I've been cleaning and I'm in need of a break. So this is my break. Nothing earth shattering- this blog post is likely to be more therapeutic in value than informative.

I was excited by the Women's softball team at the Olympics being 20-0! In Baseball, The U.S. was down four runs midway through their game with Canada and scoured 5 unanswered runs to win and stay in the hunt for the medal rounds. Sure I could mention Phelps, but I'm sure someone else has been talking about him.

We are coming up on the Democratic National Convention in about a week. I'm going to step out here and make a prediction on Obama's running mate. At one point I thought he might select Hillary Clinton in spite of a good number of reasons he would likely overlook her. I don't believe it will be Hillary and unfortunately I don't think it will be any woman. You have to give Hillary credit for enhancing the possibility of a woman President. I'm not suggesting anyone make bets on the basis of my prediction, but right now I'd have to say I believe Joe Biden followed by Evan Bayh are my predictions.

I would be remiss if I ended this post without a hint of a mention of poetry, so I'll point you to this amusing story... Olympics postcard: Chinese translations pure poetry. Enjoy!

Siblings by Michael A. Wells

An Audio Link of the revised version of Siblings.

More on Truth and Poetics

The other night, I noted a quote by Laurie Sheck and then headed off to bed to contemplate her words. I'll repeat them here now.

"The poet unmasks the language of power. The language of power is the language of the lie."

As I thought that evening about her words, as well as the following day I kept coming back to the thought that if poetry unmasks the language of power, and the language of power is the language of the lie, then poetry must be about truth. But that was an easy step for me because I've come to accept poetry as in essence a truth.

Now I know there are plenty of individuals who fail to understand the concept of poetry as "a truth" but for those who might be reading this and shaking their head, let me explain.

Where you often here people argue the concept of poetry equals truth is they will often ask about a specific poem and the details therein. When they find that the poem is not specifically about an incident that really occurred to the poet, they will jump on that as fiction.

For some, truth is an absolute. It is indisputable. Within that context, if you hold something to be true but I hold something different to be true, one of us has to be wrong. It is an all or nothing proposition. In the realm of poetics today I think we must accept that there are truths that are less than absolute. We can see something and explain it for example in a metaphorical context. In fact you and I may explain it using different metaphors. You may be able to agree that you can see what I am saying but you might have chosen a totally different metaphor then I. In this way, language allows for truths that are not absolutes. It is in the language of poetry that we can see the same thing in different ways sometime looking squarely at that which is disingenuous and calling it out.

If language has power (and I believe it does) it has it to the extent that we allow it to. Poetry frees us to use language rather than allow language to control us. Through poetry, that lie is looking a little less secure to me.

Technorati Tags: Laurie Sheck,poetry,language,power,lies,truth,poetics

Celebration!

Sorry, I can't help it. Sometime overnight the 40,000th unique visitor was registered in our stats at Stickpoet Super Hero!

Kudos too for U.S.women’s gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson who won Gold and Silver respectively last night in Beijing.

*photo credit - FreeFoto.com

A parting thought....

A thought to take to bed with me tonight from the poet Lauie Sheck-

"The poet unmasks the language of power. The language of power is the language of the lie."

On that note, I'm off to bed to contemplate what this means to the poet and his or her audience.

Technorati Tags: Quote,poet,language

Chaos as an art form

Have you ever thought of chaos as an art form? I mean there are people who thrive within it and others who cannot handle it at all.

There are times when I've tried to get my shit together so to speak and found that the attempts to organize simply lead to more chaos.

For a number of years, I've carried a Franklin Planner. Back before PDAs were like the gold standard in organizing your business and personal lives. My work life became dependent upon one. Still, utilizing the proper method of indexing and what-not adds a whole extra layer of chaos into your day. I'm not saying it's unnecessary, I'm saying it requires more steps, more detail, more time, etc.

For a long time I saw myself as one who could not give up the hard copy of notations for the electronic benefits of a PDA. Then I got a smart phone (a telephone with enough options at your fingertips to launch a war) and I settled into the idea of using the PDA aspect of it. It was nice to free myself of some of the paperwork, but alas, I found that I was not able to maintain enough detail (in work related projects) to rely strictly on the PDA. So now, I do both. More layers of work in what is already a chaotic work day.

My chaos is however not limited to my day-to-day work. No, my writing is also well amerced in chaos. I have drafts and poems on a desktop at home. I have drafts in journals with heavy emphasis on the "s" and I have them on a flash drive. Some are in folders and some are not. Now I have a laptop in which I am attempting to establish greater order. It seems like such a daunting task that when I think of achieving greater order, my mental picture is something akin to world order and that seems unattainable.

So, am I blessed with the "gift" of chaos? Or did I simply work hard in my earlier life to build on sound principals of chaos till I have achieved near perfection of the art?

Then I ask myself, are there some people who are predisposed to chaos? Are right brained people stronger in chaotic traits? How about Capricorns? People with ADD? Blondes? People who love baseball? First born children? Where does it come from?

Olympics over sleep....

Watching Olympics, just got in from a poetry society meeting tonight and I'm trying to catch on the events of the day. I've never been as big on the summer games as I am the winter, but I have enjoyed quite a few events this time. I've especially enjoyed the volleyball, badminton,
field hockey, gymnastics. I'm not a big fan of swimming but I've followed the exploits of the U.S. team none the less. The men's relay was awesome the other night.

I did not see it but I understand the U.S. women's softball team had a good day. The softball and baseball I'm very interested in. I couldn't care less about basketball. Skeet shooting- thumbs down. I am disappointed that I did not see the fencing.

Anyway, tonight's meeting was good. Had a new draft of a poem that I read and got good feedback on. I am feeling upbeat about my work this past week. I have four pieces now that are strong and need a little tweaking.

Enough for now. Back to the games.

Unconscious Mutterings Week 289

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:

• Month to month :: Rental
• Adjusted :: well
• Prank :: call
• Mop :: handle
• Clarity :: humor (don't ask me why that was the first thing that came to my mind)
• Parenting :: good
• Glenn :: John
• Fingerprint :: Dillinger
• Pineapple :: Cake
• Attorney :: General

Poetry In the News 8-10-08

• Palestinian poet Mahmoud Darwish died Saturday in Houston - NPR AFP
• ‘Sort of Gone’ should be hit with poetry and baseball fans -daily gazette
• Whether sweeping or concise, narrative poetry always powerful -Norwich Bulletin
• 'Mad Men' using Frank O'Hara's 'Meditations in an Emergency' boosts sales -LA Times
• Poetry at the 2012 Olympic Games? - The Times Online

Jon Voight Acting Up

Actor Jon Voight has apparently had an epiphany of sorts. It seems he now considers his opposition to the war in Vietnam as somewhat of an "indiscretion of his youth" and he has seen the light in the current presidential race.

Voight calls Obama, "...a God-like figure in a man who falls short in every way." Well of course he will Jon, but we aren't electing a God we already have someone in the White House who believes he's one. We are electing a president. Something we haven't really had in a while.

But Voight goes on, "There's not a cell in my body that can accept the idea that Mr. Obama can keep us safe from the terrorists around the world, and from Iran, which is making great strides toward getting the atomic bomb." Voight concludes, " If, God forbid, we live to see Mr. Obama president, we will live through a socialist era that America has not seen before, and our country will be weakened in every way."

Pretty caustic stuff. I'm however, most baffled by his opposition the the Vietnam war as being a youthful indiscretion. I mean we know more today then we did back then about the real story behind the Gulf of Tonkin incident and how Johnson manipulated our full scale entry into the conflict. There is far less reason to justify the Vietnam war today then there was back then. Besides, Remember the old domino theory? That happened Right?

I'm thinking he's confusing youthful indiscretion of yesterday with early onset senility today?

Unconscious Mutteerings Week 288

Unconscious Mutterings ~ link
Word & Thought Associations

here's mine:

• Crankiness :: old man
• Backpack :: books
• Clone :: sheep
• High ground :: ethics
• Dreams :: fantasy
• Lovingly :: kind
• Mistake :: accidental
• Carson :: Kit
• Errand :: Boy
• Dozen :: Dirty

A Summer of Discontent?

As the Beijing Olympics opens to all it's anticipated fanfare, what will be the storyline that emerges around the world?
Will it be one of a China that is developing into a more modern society with tremendous economic growth, or will it be one of a nation that in spite of a globalizing influence, remains backwards and determined to suppress civil dissent?

I will be anxious to see how free reporters and bloggers are to bring us the story of these Olympic games. Historically coverage has been as much about the culture of the host people as it has about the athletic competition. There is a strong national pride that is evident among the Chinese people connected with these games. I'm sure China wants use to these games the enhance their world image, but will the world see a picture of China that is real or one that is filtered through the only lens that the government allows us to view?