Confession Tuesday - the Celsius Edition

Dear Reader:

Tuesday means confession time and I confess that I'm feeling  a little punctual today so let's head to the confessional.

Reader it has been a week since my last confession and
this seems all a bit circular if you know what I mean.

I confess that I wanted to surprise my wife by cooking something new from a recipe book of quinoa dishes. This idea came to me because Cathy has utilized quinoa in cooking - though not in ways that particularly seemed appealing to me. We both like stuffed peppers.  I've made them with ground beef and ground turkey and when I saw a recipe for stuffed peppers with quinoa I thought this would be a great dish for us to try together so I embarked on it tonight.

When I make stuffed peppers I usually do it in the oven & use a Pam like spray on the peppers.  At say 350 degrees.  This recipe called for them to be submerged in warm water and cooked at 180 for 10 minutes covered and another 5 minutes uncovered.  I thought this was incredibly below temperature and time but I trudged on with the cooking. I confess while I deep down knew this was not possible it never occurred to me that the recipe was in Celsius, hence it would have been about 400 in Fahrenheit. Consulting with my wife we made necessary changes and went on successfully finish the dish. I confess that in spite of my lack of common sense we were able to  create a really enjoyable dish.

I confess that this week I've wasted way too much time playing Words with Friends. My wife got it on her new phone and she got me to playing it again. I've had something like #%*!( games going at once.

Some of this may be because the past few days I've had problems with my laptop and it has frustrated me and caused me to get off track on writing and the has emotionally drug me down.  I know this is no excuse - simply a reason.  I've spent too much time on the phone with tech support and this thing is going back. Then I resort to playing  games. Vicious cycle.

Hardly Worth Mentioning

A poem I wrote several years ago found a home at Punchnel's.

 Hardly Worth Mentioning  is the second poem of mine  to appear in  Punchnel's Magazine these last two months.

I always find interesting material in Punchnel's...It's a fun stop on the Internet and not just because of my work. ;-)

You Are WHO You Are

“Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.”  Dr. Seuss

Yeah for the Simple or No Xanax Required

There are simple things in life that can make your day.  I'm dog sitting away from the house today missing  my family and the normal 4th of July stuff.... (Happy Birthday Shannon!)   It is however an opportunity to do some writing and reading.  I have an ASUS laptop that I've had just shy of two months now. I've previously used and loved Toshiba. This ASUS laptop is thinner - or svelte, there are things I like about it but the one hang-up I've had has been the touchpad (I usually use a wireless mouse) which constantly is activated by my palm as I type no matter how hard I try to be careful. This means that frustratingly my cursor is constantly getting moved all over my page inserting  words where they were not intended and making a mess of almost any project I'm working on.  I never experienced this problem with other laptops.... only this one.

I spent  close to two hours today with support trying various methods to disable the touchpad. This is something that is supposed to be option. Pushing the Fn button and the f9 buttons should disable it, but no, not for me. We tried numerous other possibilities which always came up empty. Tried uploading other files and setting changes - nothing. I finally gave up for the afternoon. I refused to do a refresh as that would have meant reloading programs. I was not up to that tonight.

A few minutes ago I did the Fn & f9 buttons (something I've tried repeatedly and Walla!  They worked! I'm typing this without the touchpad miss-interruptions. It's really cool! I'm a happy person again.*



 *No Xanax was used in the creating of this happiness.

Confession Tuesday - Keep Calm Edition

Dear Friends-

Yet another week has come and gone. Won't you come with me to the confessional?

The planetary alignment is not presently good for the vehicles in our family.  We have multiple car issues that have all hit at once. I confess that car problems are a big stressor for me. Fortunately we have not had a lot of them lately but the astro-vehicular alignment was like a plague yesterday and we are still dealing with the repercussions  and likely will be for a couple days more. My poor tired daughter picked me up from work, took me to the chiropractors tonight and then my final destination for the evening.  She still has places to be yet tonight. I confess I appreciate her help but feel for her and her late nigh driving saga.

With the 4th of July holiday falling on Thursday I confess that I feel cheated. Monday or Friday would work quite nicely. I'm pinning for a 3 day weekend and I cannot lie. I confess right now I have the melody for "I like big butts and I cannot lie" running through my head and an the words "big weekends" substituted for rumps. It's a  little weird, I'll give you that.

I got some really good poetry news yesterday but I confess that I cannot share it just yet.

I confess that I'm reading in my Kindle more lately. I confess I STILL prefer real pages in binding. I do like the convenience of it and the % as opposed to page numbers.

I've debated some things lately with respect to my poetry and these little internal debates while not new, have presented with levels of  clarity I've not been accustomed to. This is good because it means that I've not been fretting as much about such things as do I enter this contest; to I submit the work here or there and then being a piece with myself after the deadlines have passed.

I think I'm becoming a calmer poet. This also seems to be crossing over into other aspects of my life. I confess that this feels like a good thing.

Amen

Confession Tuesday - My Passions Edition

Dear Reader:

It's been one more wedding anniversary, back to back home runs and a Saturday off from submitting and writing and yes, one more week since my last confession.

Saturday being our wedding anniversary I took a break from both submitting and writing so that we could get out of the house and celebrate without distraction. We succeeded in doing so and I did not worry that the sky would fall in. I confess that it would not have been surprising for me to freak out about not at least submitting if not writing, but I was proud of myself, maybe a bit relived even that I did not stress out. I was able to separate myself completely from any obsession that I changed my routine. It really was refreshing to feel the detachment.

My son and I went to the ball game on Sunday and amazingly the Royals had back to back home runs. Almost as amazing they won. They have had little offense of late.  Of course when it comes to baseball I confess my heart really belongs to San  Francisco.

A few days ago I read an article about another article.  And then another about the same article (of the second part). Okay, if this is getting confusing the article about which all others pointed was a Harper's essay by Mark Edmundson titled Poetry Slam or the decline of American Verse.  The Edmundson Essay sits behind the Harper's paywall, and I'm not a subscriber so I've not seen the real thing. (That too is a confession)  Edmundson at least by the quotes from other responses I've read was pretty harsh in his assessment of the current poetry scene. I've talked with a couple of other poets who have read the responses but again not the Edmundson essay.  It's funny but such discourse  about poetry/poetics often remind me of hot stove league. If you are not into baseball, the hot stove league is the chatter that of the happens off season between baseball fans pining for the real thing. They debate possible trades, theoretic benefits of such player swaps  between teams. I confess  I have long seen similarities between poetry and baseball. It's no wonder I love both.

 

Can A Person Be Reading Too Many Books?

It comes down to this... I'm wondering if a person can be reading too many books?  I suppose you can say that the answer to this question is subject subjective... each person is different. That answer works up to a point. If I were to tell you I am actively reading maybe eight or nine books right now would you think this crazy?

The fact is I do often read multiple books and quite frankly I'd say eight-ish is likely an accurate count if I were to sit down and list them. Do others have a ongoing host of books commanding their attention at one time? I haven't even mentioned the poetry books on my night stand that I've already read but continue to go back to from time to time, often in the evening to read two or three random works before I retire.

Yes, I could finish books faster if I stuck to one book at a time, but my mind gets easily fragmented into different areas and causes me to in any given week want to be feeding  my divergent interests. Is that such a bad thing?

I guess what I am wondering is... am I an enigma? Please, someone tell me that I'm not the only person who scatter reads multiple books at one time. Humor me, even if you would never think of it.

Confession Tuesday - Ginsu Knife Edition

Dear Reader:

Close your eyes with me and pretend it's Tuesday. Are you with me?  Good!

It's been one father's day,  one chiropractic visit, a new poem in publication  and a June week since my last confession.

I confess that it feels like we've transitioned into summer and that's all right with me. I'm not one who does heat well, but so far it has not been that bad. I realize the hottest part of the year is still ahead, but I have spent some time reading and occasionally writing on our deck as the dogs play. I confess that it may be early to be singing the praise of summer but I am going to try and embrace the spirit of summer. At least for now.

I confess that having three poems accepted in less then 48 hours last month has spoiled me. I am well aware that this was a most unlikely occurrence. I've had thee in one month before but never in two days. Having started Submission Saturday some months back, I confess that I am more optimistic about my work being  published. I hate to think of it like this but being published is a little like selling  Ginsu knifes or encyclopedias door to door; metaphorically speaking that is. You have to hear "no" a lot if you are ever going to get one "yes".

I confess another thing about June that is exciting is the fact that many of the shows we like to watch on TV are coming back into their new seasons. Yeah.

I had a dream last night that my wife and I attended our class reunion. This was pretty interesting since I confess I've never attended my class reunion. I've wanted to but Cathy has had no interest in attending with me. Don't get me wrong, she has never discouraged me from going, she just has never had any desire to go along. I've never wanted to go alone.  So last night in my dream we went together. This morning I could only recall one person out of all the attendees that we know.  I confess going wasn't worth it.

That will about do it for this week. Until next week, keep pushing your Ginsu knifes.

Toy Soldiers - Summer Issue of Boston Literary Magazine

Summer 2013 and The Poster Girls of Boston Literary Magazine

 

 

The Summer Edition of the Boston Literary Magazine is available and it features one of my own poems titled Toy Soldiers.

 

I have not devoured every morsel of the issue yet but some poems that I was particularly impressed with...

• Tewksbury Mental Hospital by  Elaine Moynahan
• The Gift by Corey Cook
• How We Too Haven't Stayed Young by Rene Lee

Always a good read.  My complements to the editors!

Amazon sales of Orwell's 1984 rise 9,500%

Given the recent attention to the NSA news of data mining  phone, e-mail and Internet records, sales of  George Orwell's novel about a society in which big brother knows all has skyrocketed. Knowledge of their once secret spy program called PRISM  has sparked new debate about the dangers of a government that has the ability to watch our every move.

Confssion Tuesday - On Time Edition

Surprise!

Dear Reader...

It's TUESDAY and it's confession time. I confess that I cannot recall how many weeks it has been since I actually  confessed on Tuesday. I've been late, late, late. I'm thinking  it's been three, maybe even four weeks since I last got it right.

Tonight I got together with some other poet friends in the northland. We read and wrote and it was all good. I confess that I realize that I need to get out more to readings & other events.

The past few weeks I've been hooked on Scandal. I confess that I often catch on to TV shows multiple seasons into to them. My wife and I both have been zipping through two seasons and wow - the shows are captivating. Honestly I was hooked 15 seconds into the first episode. My daughter Cathy Ann turned us on to it.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I type this. I've had some issues with my new laptop and I hope that these issues are all behind. I confess I've learned one thing about Windows 8... it is designed to just start all over when you have problems. Neat? I'm not so sure. Anyway, I'm typing with crossed fingers.

I confess tonight I wrote a keeper at the poetry meeting. I will return to it  in a day or two and start reworking it to see where it  takes me.

I came home tonight thinking of watermelon. We have had two super sweet ones in the past week.  I had that taste hanging onto my tongue all day. I confess it was all gone when I got home. Last year the watermelons were sub par and scrawny. I confess I'm looking forward to a replacement melon in the next few days.

The Mag - 172 / Walled Memories

Charleston Farmhouse Door

It could have been inviting.

An assemblage of colors

whose meaning is subject 

to ones interpretation.

I fancied a room, a child's room.

A room from long ago, 

whose inhabitant unseen

for one reason or another

for numerous years

while a proxy kept

watch over it and for

the return of the child 

grown.

But the lock withdrew

any invitation to the room.

A room unchanged

perhaps dusted pristine.

Perhaps too painful

the memories-

to be reconstructed;

too painful to forget.

Michael A. Wells (c) 2013

The Mag

Submission Saturday....

It always feel so good when I'm finished with Submission Saturday.

• last 12 months - 66 
• submissions still pending 24
• accepted still pending publication 2

The Mag -171 / We Have Never Known

Morris Graves - Walking, Walking, Singing in the Next Dimension? 1979

Eyes pressured by destinations beyond. 

Walking, walking, singing, chewing gum...

flight becomes the norm. Man becomes bird,

becomes one with air, the sky, and the heavens.

The mind in circles

spirals off to new heights

now we are the hawks

we are the song birds

we are the doves...

We calculate 

we praise

we seek a peace doesn't exist

but we know it is out there.

We have always been evolving,

becoming...

We have never known 

what we will be tomorrow. 

Michael A. Wells (c) 2013 

The Mag

Confession Tuesday - Um edition

Dear Reader:  It's been 5 days since my last confession  which was very late and now this one too is tardy since it should be cone on Tuesday, hence the name "Confession Tuesday."

I confess that I have toyed with changing the date but I suspect that would not work any better.  If you get busy and forget, or as I confess the case was Tuesday night, I took my daughter to a ballgame then crashed and burned when we got home.

I confess I have not written much since the weekend. I've actually  thought about taking a short break and while I ruled this out I realized if I haven't been writing much I already have essentially taken a break of sorts. Are you starting to realize a theme here? Like say confusion?

But let's go back to Tuesday night. I Confess that as much as I love baseball, being there with my daughter was the real treat. My wife and I used to go to games sometimes together but she doesn't like the heat, humidity, scorching  sun (pick one) that normally is associated with the game. I don't blame her for that. Still, I confess that miss her at games.

At the game Meghan and I saw an interesting bird on the guy  wire that held up the net behind home plate. Using my Audubon phone application we determined it must have been an Orange crowned Warbler. This was a cool memory of the ballpark, as was Gordon's throw from left field where he nailed the runner  on what  seemed like a sure fire double. I confess the Royals offense sucked. But you find you moments in a game where you can. Sometimes the bats aren't happening.

I confess that I still recall today as the day Robert F. Kennedy died. Having won the California Primary on the night of  June 5th I still recall shortly after excitedly hearing clips from his victory speech at the Ambassador Hotel in LA, the news wires were abuzz with word of him being shot a close range in the hotel. I was in school back then and I recall that we had a class picnic planned at Tower Park. Several of us stayed  glued to a transistor radio for reports on his condition throughout the morning.

Last weekend I had to go up on our roof and make a repair in a leak around a vent in our roof.  I confess that my knees are just beginning to feel within a normal range from my roof trip. If they remain  of only minimal discomfort I plan to get my bike out a ride a bit this weekend. Of course that also depends on  having a weekend that is not all showers.

I confess my head feels a little clearer now. Maybe confession has been a good thing. I confess my lunch our is about over and I need to get back to work.

Submission Saturday - On Deck

I set up a folding table on the deck moments ago and brought my laptop out. There is sun on the far end of the deck but I'm where I can catch some shade for a while anyway. 

I brought the dogs out... Mo is sun bathing on the deck and Klaus is watching me dutifully. Barry is... well he's out of sight doing his own thing. He's a dachshund, I wouldn't expect anything else. 

And so begins Submission Saturday... it starts with the shade with a cool breeze. Who knows how it will end.  

Feeling A Tad Bit Overwhelmed - RECOMMENDED READING

This post by Kelli Agodon is highly recommended  ~ Book of Kells: Confession Tuesday on Thursday: The Swamped Edition (Or How to Stop Being an Overwhelmed Swamp Monster)Sel

Confession Tuesday on Wednesday - Bad Habit Edition

This is getting to be embarrassing. It's been one week since my last confession (which was a day late) and here I am again.

Forgive me readers:

Yes it's been a week but I could swear it should be longer so I have even less excuse. I confess I firmly believe it should be Friday. When you think about it that is pretty pathetic since I had a Monday holiday. That on top of a week's vacation!

Travel is tiring to me so the vacation was a bit draining. I confess I love flying but  everything else with travel, time zone changes, the hurry here and hurry there, these things try my patience.

I confess that I am ready to send out some new material this weekend when I do Submission Saturday.It always excites me when I have new material to send out. Still, I can't help it, I worry that I should have tinkered with it longer as soon as it drops into the mailbox or I hit the send button.

I confess I still have dirty clothes from the trip and I need to do laundry tonight.

I confess that I need to get up and let the dogs out as they are looking at me in a most perturbed manor.

Until next week - may all your habits be good ones!

Journal Bits - May

A sampling for me journal this month...

May 2nd - This morning traffic snarled but couldn't keep me away. I arrived in time to resent being here, to resist the start of the day without success.

May 6th - The weekend was uniquely positive in terms of writing...  Three poems accepted for publication within 48 hours is so exciting and unfortunately sets a new bar that I'm sure I will not often reach again - but there is hope like the stars, I can look from the distance and dream.

May 7th - If the sun sets today on my life/I will not disappoint the cartographer/for my journey will be one that is not/subterranean but rallies around/dancing light and open byways.

May 9th - two books in the mail today from Martha Silano - her own The Little Office Of The Immaculate Conception and Radial Symmetry by Katherine Larson. Woot!

May 10th - I tend to isolate things like bird songs/or the lessor popped kernels of corn./Or things my wife says with special emphasis/on the details detached from major points.

May 12th - yesterday I thought a workshop to eight writers... then in the evening I sent out three poems.

Time has been unfriendly to me and I left my sanity in the midst of a new operating system on a computer that is pounding the blood vessels against a phantom anvil inside my head.

May 22nd - In Tempe, AZ for Meghan's wedding - It's been a lazy sort of day... I've finished a poem draft today and got some reading done. Trying to be open to another poem coming to me....

May 23rd  - The bubble wrap is gone/the thing now is just/boxed delight - fragile.

Confession Tuesday - Late

Dear Reader:

It's been a grueling week and a day since my last confession.

I confess the obvious.... I'm a day late.

I'm on vacation - day three now but it hardly seems like it.  I confess that I traveled 1,354 miles more or less to arrive at my destination (Phoenix) yesterday and I am wiped out. I feel as if I could have flapped my arms to get here rather than by jet. Some of that is because my last week at the office was an intense one trying the leave less on the burner for others to deal with and make my return less stressful as well. I confess the latter never seems to work.

The flight on Southwest wasn't too bad. Only a little turbulence in the early going and I expected it given the turbulent weather in the Midwest these past few days. I haven't flown in a while and I generally enjoy it. When I fly I confess I'm a window hog.

I took a brief swim this morning and it did loosen up the stiff mussels. I confess I really am going to need a nap today. I do have some quiet time available for writing and I intend to make use of it.

We are here for my daughter's wedding and I confess that that I am both excited and anxious about it. I'm very happy for her and I want her wedding day to come off perfect. I confess I'm not sure what that would look like, but I have ideas about what it might not look like. I realized they rarely are picture perfect but  I want her memories of it the be good ones. Happy ones. Lots of friends and good time.

I confess I love the scenery in Arizona but hate the heat. How people live here I cannot imagine.

I confess I had diet coke withdrawal earlier but I'm halfway through a 44 oz and doing better now.

My prayers have continued to flow for the people in Moore, Oklahoma. I can only imagine how hard it must be for those homeless there now not to mention families that have lost loved ones.

This morning my cell rang and it was our disposal company with a message that trash pickup next week would be pushed back a day due to the memorial day holiday. Even during vacation, life goes on.

Submission Saturday Starts in 30 Minutes

I've got to shift some files from one laptop to the other or work from my old laptop to do submission Saturday today. Yes, that  ads a layer of work moving stuff, and maybe I'll just use the today to complete this weeks submissions. Still, I do need to get some stuff moved.

It sucks when you have work out that is waiting someplace you'd like to see if  find a home and don't want it to submit it any place else till you here back.  I do a lot of simultaneous submissions but there are pieces that I really want to control more where they might end up. Getting picky I guess.

Confession Tuesday - Busy Week Edition

Dear Reader-

It's been two weeks, three poems accepted, one new laptop and a poetry workshop since my last confession.

I confess that I have this mysterious pain that comes and goes just below my  right waste-line. It's been doing this off and on for a while now and I've gone to the doctor they can offer no explanation so far. Labs are fine, no bladder infection, x-rays show nothing extraordinary. Sometimes I'll go a while with nothing and then the pain can be bad enough to keep me awake parts of the night. It's good to know some of the things that have been ruled out but it remains frustrating just the same.writers

Saturday morning when the sky was bright with invitation I was conducting a poetry writing seminar with 8 writers who could be out soaking up the sun rays but were instead sitting around tables doing writing prompts for three hours. I confess that I was appreciative to have such an attentive group to work with.

My new laptop is an ASUS & it has windows 8 operating system on it. I have been a Tashiba user for  a long time. I did not pick this one out. My wife and computer savvy daughter did. Windows 8 dealt me a fit the first two days. It's still not my favorite platform but I am getting the hang of it.

It's been a pretty good week... And I've had three new poetry books delivered by the postman since the weekend you can't get much better then that.

Poem Up On Punchnel's

My poem titles "Both" appears on Punchnel's today. This is a really interesting venue, an eclectic collection of material. Check it out!  Oh, and click here for my poem.

Feel Good Delivered By E-Mail

It's been an exceptionally good weekend for me with two different venues accepting a total of three poems. I think from now on I'd like my acceptances in bunches please.

I know we can't always have what we want but  it really feels good to get several poems accepted over two days as opposed to several rejection letters over two days.

This is just another example of my Submission Saturday venture paying dividends.

Worked on some re-writes today. I'm trying to put together about three more pieces that need some fine tuning so that they can be ready  for prime time too.

Confession Tuesday - feeling life edition...

Tuesday again! Come along to the confessional...

Dear Reader:

It's been a week since my last last confession. Much of that confession dealt with a death watch for my mother-in-law. She has since passed and we put her to rest in a funeral service yesterday. This turned my weekend into a three day weekend and I confess I believe we all in this household were worn down by the weeks leading up to this. 

I confess that the service was short but nice. The weather preformed perfectly and it added an uplifting element.  But this is now past. Life goes on.

I confess that  the "life" part of that is what I want to focus on. I confess too that I want to feel life more deeply. I want not to miss any part of it. I want to be passionate about life. I want to see more art in life, sing more songs and read more lines of poetry into each minute of the day. 

Praise be to Life!

Amen!

Why Poetry Can be About Anything

"Anything one does every day is important and imposing and anywhere one lives is interesting  and beautiful." - Gertrude Stine

Confession Tuesday - stalking death edition

To the confessional....

Dear reader:

Tuesday night and I've just got home a short while ago. It's been a long-long week since my last confession and I'm ready to get this over with so I can put it behind me and move on and unwind tonight.

My wife used to talk about driving a fast 45 MPH  or a slow 45 MPH. But 45 is 45 right? I guess it's kind of like time. Twenty-four hours is twenty-four hours and yet some days seem like an eternity, and extrapolated a week of those kind of days are like, a week of eternities. My mother-in-law decided to stop dialysis recently and of course the result of that is that the body will finally shut down, death becomes imminent. Her decision has dictated much of the past ten days or so.  My wife has been dutifully at here bedside some of every day. In many instances spending the night with her. I've watched her (my wife) attempt to find some degree of normalcy each day where there is nothing normal. I know this is far more difficult for her then myself, but I confess it's not easy to watch my wife go through this with her.

There have been several times that we thought, or someone would convinces us that it was her time.  Her time has really been taking it's time. I got a call from her today at work and rushed home to run her out there. She had not planned to go out till tonight but they called from the care facility to tell us they though the family should come out. On of here brothers had been there all day and they had been in touch throughout the day.
Oh, and they said they were putting out refreshments for the family. Refreshments?  Really? I confess this seems a little circus like.

We went out and were joined by other family members. Honestly she looked pretty good. Her breathing pace has slowed but she was not breathing labored. She is in a sleep. Some occasional facial expression changes though not many. She once sort of squinted open her eyes. Cathy ended up staying the night (as she had planned) but she and I agree, Mom is not looking like tonight is the night.

There are aspects of our life that seem on hold. Only because of the uncertainty of the end time. Each day is another possibility. I know Cathy hopes it is sooner then later. She has at times asked me to pray that it comes soon. I confess that I feel uneasy with such prayers.

In the meantime, death (a subject that clearly takes me outside my comfort zone) seems to dominate my day and night and I have no control over it.

  

Submission Saturday

It's been a morning of submission. Normally I submissive to the publication Gods in the afternoon on Saturdays but I did a morning gig today and it feels good to have it over with.

One rejection letter so far this week. It was a journal I had not tried before.

I have a poem that I am nearly ready to move out of the draft garage this week and park it with the other work that I submit from.  I've got several    drafts that are keepers that are approaching that same nearly ready for prime time status but I don't like to push these along too fast as much as I'd like to.  I have I've always believed in that I've sent to several journals without success and I am thinking of messing around with it some more to see if I can get a new perspective on it before I send it out again.

Confession Tuesday - petty anger edition

Dear Reader:

I confess that I did  not confess last Tuesday and I don't remember for sure why - except that it has been a crazy time these past  week to 10 days and if I would pick most any night last week I could tell you with certainty I was exhausted and on low function by the time I got home most evenings.

I finished off a journal, switched out the copy with a refill from my journal binder yesterday. I confess a brand new journal refill always leaves me feeling fresh and hopeful. I'm weird that way. I guess my hope is that the new journal will have smoother flowing hand writing, less crossed out or scribbled things, and perhaps more interesting writing in it. See how naive I can be?

Sooner or later it was bound to happen... I fell off the NaPoWriMo wagon this week. THIS is why I don't like doing it. This is the same reason I dislike New Years resolutions. What part of doomed do people (me) not get?  I am however going to move forward writing a poem today and hope that over the next week I can catch up and finish out the month with 30 poem drafts. No promises though...

This morning my wife dropped me off at work and kept the car so that she could drive out an check o her mother in the nursing home. I saw that someone was in my designated parking spot in the lot. I have to tell you that I was angry about this, even though I was not going to need the spot today. Sitting at my desk, I was fuming about it until I started feeling petty about it. Then I confess that I rationalized that the driver (who has been warned this is designated parking) had no idea that I would not be driving today and still had the nerve to take the spot. But then I felt petty again.

The Tax Culture & Finding a Little Happiness

I did my taxes last night. The past two years I've gotten them done early but the important thing is they are finished and filed two days before the deadline. It's that deadline that I'm writing about today.

April 15th is a day the tends to resonate in the mind of Americans. It's a date that's particularly memorable to us. Ask a married couple what day he/or she proposed and they often won't know right off. What day is Tax Day? April 15. Bang... right away they know the answer.

In American culture taxes have become tied to death as two things you can't get out of. It's no wonder April 15 has become such a dreaded but easily remembered day. In recent years various businesses have played on this trying to evoke some cheer and pleasure in the lives of ordinary people by offering give-a-ways... food and other items of cheer.

This year I've searched for some of the Tax Day Perks and found some interesting things.

• Between 6PM and 8PM stop by participating Cinnabon  bakeries and get free Cinnabon bites.  A little sweet to make you smile. 
• Arby's offers curly fries & potato cakes all day Tax Day with coupon. This is their third annual give-a-way & what's better on such a day then comfort food? 
• Office Depot will do up to 5 lbs of shredding for free with coupon on Tax Day
• Get a Tax Day Rib-bate for 2 for $10.40 
• White Castle - 15% off entire purchase on Tax Day with coupon.
• Free HydroMassage on Tax Day through April 19 with  coupon..
• Sorry, this was for early filers but In LA and San Francisco you could get a "brand new" Trojan Vibrator while supplies last on Thursday and Friday. (Glad they were new). Anyway, this stimulus package may be the most innovative yet.  

So if you are feeling blue, and your pockets are now empty, you can find a few ways to pick yourself up after you've paid your taxes. 

Thought for the Day

The folly of mistaking a paradox for a discovery, a metaphor for a proof, a torrent of verbiage for a spring of capital truths, and oneself for an oracle, is inborn in us. ~ Paul Valery

Heard any good Metaphors?

"Metaphor sleeps around." ~ Alfred Corn 

Celebrating Poetry

While National Poetry Month is relatively new I will share a like to The Academy of American Poets web site where they feature a list of 30 WAYS TO CELEBRATE. I'm sure everyone can find as couple of ideas on now to make this month one of enrichment for themselves and others.

Meanwhile I've completed poem #3 on the third day of NaPoWriMo so I've not fallen off the wagon yet. (fingers crossed)

Recalling Dana Gioia's book of essays, "Can Poetry Matter?" I give you the following link to a Chicago Tribune story on Maj.General John Borling who writes poetry of survival.

Have you written or shared a poem today?

Confession Tuesday - Poet Crush List Edition

Dear Reader:

It's been  one Giants Baseball regular season game, 6 & a half innings of another, one NaPoWriMo poem and  one one week since my last confession. 

April is that cruel month when some of us inflict the agony of 30 poems in 30 days on ourselves. I confess that I've stepped knee deep into this madness again this year. Some years I avoid the pressure and other times I just plunge right in. This is a plunge year.

This month being National Poetry month I though it would be a good time to update my Poet Crush List. I started doing this some time back and I believe the last time I did it was like May of last year. So almost a year and being April I thought it would be a good time to revisit the Crush List and revise it. As writers, we are supposed to be all about revision  aren't we? 

So my Poet Crush list is comprised of ten  living poets. If I would do this three or four times a year it would likely  fluctuate back and forth like undulating waves coming ashore sometimes what's left behind is familiar and sometimes it's new. With that in mind I will give you the new list and my last list. 

NEW LIST  - April 2013 
I Confess these poets rock my world!!!

1. Mary Biddinger
2. Dean Young
3. John Ashbery
4. Denise Duhamel (new to List)
5. Kelli Russell Agodon
6. Stephen Dunn (new to list)
7. Sharon Olds
8. Natasha D. Tretheway (new to List)
9. Diane Ackerman (new to List)
10. W. S. Merwin

PREVIOUS LIST - May 2012

I Confess these poets rocked my world last May

1. W. S. Merwin
2. James Richardson
3. Sharon Olds
4. Kelli Russell Agodon
5. Dean Young
6. John Ashbery
7. Mary Biddinger
8. Ada Limon
9. Charles Simic
10. Beth Ann Fennelly

Later this week, what makes these poets special...

Amen!

WALL TO WALL POETRY - NATIONAL POETRY MONTH

It's National Poetry Month and NaPoWriMo month as well. I typically struggle about committing to NaPoWriMo as I have a sort of love/hate relationship with it.  I don't really care for the pressure to create because I feel that it conflicts with the best physical and mental dynamic for good writing. I have no problem writing daily and I strongly believe in it. But saying I'm writing a poem every day of the month is a lot of pressure.

There are days it comes easy. There are days & nights that it's tough to birth a poem no matter how hard you try. I consider these all poem drafts because rarely do I ever write a poem in a single setting. I generally try to get something that shows enough promise to be a keeper - something that can be improved over time. But for the sake of NaPaWriMo, these are poems in the most primitive context.

If after 30 days I have 30 poems and 6 or 8 are real keepers, then that's an outstanding month. That is the bar I'm setting this year.

I am posting my daily work on a private poetry forum. This gives me some accountability and allows for some feedback but at the same time is is off the beaten path of the Internet so that the work is not truly published and I am free to work on these pieces for possible submissions down the road.

Are you participating?  How do you approach it.?

I intend to be very active on my blog this month.  Tomorrow is my normal day for Confession Tuesday. It's been almost a year since I did my last Poet Crush List. I'll be updating that list as part of my Confession.

Dragonfly

Surround the summit
in flight
in exacerbation of wingspan
a sentinel aloft 

Confession Tuesday

Dear Reader:

It's Tuesday again.. another week since my last confession.

It's been a strange evening. I came home and fixed dinner grabbed a couple books and settled in to read. I confess I still have these books beside me hours later and I've basically been in a TV trance.
Somehow I've managed to settle a lesser form of mental stimulation.  I'm not proud about it.

I was saddened this week by the death of Walt Bodine a long time local radio personality. I think Walt was 92. I confess I used to stay up late listening to his call in program as a young teen. His program was always so eclectic. 

I've has this uncanny mental thing going on where it seems I'm seeing poems in all these different things around me. At least segments of poems. I confess I've  been swishing these thoughts around trying to keep them straight so that I might be able to get these down on paper before they evaporate.

That's it for tonight, wishing you all a great week.

Amen~

Dead Writers Cologne - How can you not be inspired?

Looking for a little  inspiration or maybe the perfect gift for that writer friend?  How could you go wrong with Dead Writer cologne?

I  know you have a puzzled What? look on your face about now but consider according to J.T. Siems, "This blend evokes the feeling  of sitting in an old library chair paging through yellowed copies of Hemingway, Shakespeare, Fitzgerald, Poe and more. The Dead Writers blend makes you want to put on a kettle of black tea and curl up with your favorite book."

Simes is the Seattle brain (or nose) behind this enterprise. It's a unisex blend and it's available here.

*Note this is not and endorsement of the product. I have not tried it but it is curiously intriguing.

Pope Peeps

My wife was searching the web and sent me a link to some items that she though would interest me and bingo, we have a winner! (She knows me well)

What would Easter be without Peeps? I love Peeps - probably not the best thing for diabetics. They do make a sugar free variety these days and they are not bad.

Fortunately for Catholics worldwide, well will not have to go through Easter without a Pope. And as you can see at the left, we has Pope Peeps thanks to The Monkey Cage. They outfitted a whole Papal Conclave of Peeps in red felt Cardinal suites. Is that not a crack-up?

Confession Tuesday - Lazy Edition

Another week has come and gone. Let's go to the confessional.

Dear Reader:

I confess that I'm being lazy tonight. I'm doing this blog post from my phone because I don't want to fire up my laptop.

I confrss that I've slacked off on reading. I have several books started and this psst week have not gotten much further into any of them. I hope to read some tonight when I finish my confession.

I have say that I enjoyed getting reacquainted with Bailey's Sunday. It's been a while since I have indulged in any. I confess I like it a little bit too much.

The past two nights I've had itchy eyes. I went out and bought some eye drops last night but I confess they are again annoying me. Right now i'm so annoyed by them I feel like poking them out. Ok,  not really but obvioudly have had the thought enter my mind.

I don't know what it is but I've read a bunch of really good poems the past few days. These are for the most part from poets new to me. I confess it's strange that so many of them have struck me as especially enjoyable.  Perhaps I will share links to some of them in a blog post later this week.

I confess that's all I have to give tonight. Have a good week...

Amen

An Irish Blessing

May joy and peace surround you,

Contentment latch your door,

And happiness be with you now,

And bless you evermore.

Hey Hey it's Saturday...

 So what's the big deal?

Ok, the big deal is this... I started organizing myself so that I do my submissions on Saturday. I just finished this week's. Yeah!

Last week was the start of this new plan/habit. Maybe it's too early to call it a habit yet, but I have accomplished my planned submissions now two Saturdays in a row. In addition, last Saturday I was an over achiever and submitted someplace in addition to my plan.

Now about the plan. I am trying to plan at least three months in advance. That assures a couple of things. Each quarter of a year I now want I need to do for that period of time. Since I check the reading dates I can make sure I'm getting material to the various Journals and venues that I want to be in and not miss their deadlines or like I've often done, realize on Friday night that a deadline is two or three days away and I've given no thought to what I'd be sending so in the pressure of it all I say, "F it" and just let it pass.  "F it" is a well developed form of procrastination for me.

So you see, this not only affords me better control over my calendar of submissions but it also assures that I have time to explore the best fit for my work. Let's face it, if you don't take the time to explore best options and you just slap together three to five poems and send the out, can you really be surprised when they come back in your face rejected?  If you want an editor to truly take time to consider your work, take some time and be thoughtful about what might be a best fit for the Journal you are submitting to. Are you always going to nail it? No, but it's better then throwing the spaghetti noodles on the wall to see if they stick.

I've said it before, I hate submitting work. I'd rather write then submit. But no one has ever come up to me and said "Hey, give me something, anything and I'll publish it." And if they did, I might not want to be in what they just published.

So from now on, if it's Saturday, It's Submission Saturday! I've actually felt good these past two Saturdays after achieving my submission objective. So maybe I'll start to like this thing. Or, at least not hate it so much.

In both instances I've felt so good when I was finished, since I was at my laptop I just kept on working either with rewrites or starting new stuff.

Confession Tuesday on Wednesday

Dear Reader:

I confess I’m slipping into the confessional late for Confession Tuesday. I see you are already aware I am tardy. In my own defense I was at a poetry group meeting last night.

We did an impromptu write – pulling our prompt from a box passed around. I prompt was to write about my favorite trip or vacation during my teen years. I confess this was really hard because as I thought about it, the most remarkable thing about vacations as a teenager was that they were unremarkable. I got something down on paper but honestly I had to really lower my standards to choose a favorite.

Arriving home last night my wife had not eaten yet. I went out to get us fast food. Later, we were watching TV just before turning in and my daughter who had just come home came in to say good night. My wife asked if anyone had any chocolate for her. I confess that she has been dropping not too settle hints for several days she is craving chocolate and I confess that I’ve been neglectful in appropriately delivering on the chocolate hints. Note to self, don’t home without chocolate tonight!

I confess my body is still rejecting the time change from the weekend. Maybe I’ll get it together by this weekend.

I confess that I've been trying to hold out the past two days from making a call to my chiropractor to see if she could work me in on an emergent basis. I have my regular appointment tonight for adjustment and trigger-points. I see the light in the tunnel.

I confess that I have so many apps on my phone that if I were ever to get stranded in the woods someplace I’d have to immediately dump all my apps to conserve battery until I could be located. 

I confess I have no idea why I was even thinking about the possibility of being lost or stranded someplace.

Amen~

The Mag 159: The Cycle

Meal Beach, Burra Isles, Shetland by Robin Gosnall

Listen to the power.

A clean white foam pushed

from behind by a blue-green hand

then pulled back.

The sand wet,

beach reticent briefly-

then the flapping 

and laughing of disquieted Seagulls

in the distance; then closer

until deafening.  

As the white foam reappears

the gulls circle out to sea

watching, awaiting 

the powerful wall of water 

once again push in 

and take back.

In mocking fashion 

the birds do it all over. 

 

Michael A. Wells

The Mag 159

The Mag 158: All Is Spilled

Photo by TheFoxAndTheRaven

All is spilled

There is nothing more

I romanticize. Not bath

nor sleep. Not the ache 

of empty night. 

The voices are of no comfort.

They press me awake endless hours

Is this an inquisition? 

Must I answer? I am pulverized, 

strained through a cauldron 

of one sided talk-

I look to my wrist

I look for answers

I look, I look...

Michael A. Wells

The Mag 158

  

Talking to Poems

So it's Friday night and what are you doing?

Me, I'm transitioning from Diet Coke to Chardonnay.  I've been working for several hours on a poem and our conversation had grown old and tiring so I've stopped for now.

Do you talk to your poems? Ok, more specifically your poems in progress. Drafts. First drafts, second drafts, twenty third drafts?

My conversation with this evening's poem-in-making has started out asking  a single line where it would like to go. It said take me to the other side of what you just said. So I said ok and abridged. I asked what will we do after we've contradicted our opening line. I go no response. (sipping wine) I don't know about you but when I ask a direct question of a poem-in-making I expect at least that it will clear it's throat and appear to be thinking of a reply. I was about to repeat the question when it said you assume too much.

I'm not sure how I feel about a poem - especially one in the making assuming it knows what I'm assuming. I thought it important at this point to make it clear that I had no preconceived notions about where this poem was going. It quickly shot back, "Good!"

I studied my words on the page.  Flipped a stanza. Cut some words. Another "Good" arose from the page. "You approve then?" I asked. I was told yes, but for the time being. I thought about moving the opening line to another location in the poem. Cautiously I was told that was worth considering, but encouraged to consider too making the opening line the title of the poem instead. I said I'd keep that in mind.

My head is spinning at this point and I suggested that I really thought it might me time to step back and let this all rest upon the page a while. Maybe overnight. There was a sigh...  "No offense, but working with you can be tiring."  I responded, "Oh, you think so?" and I saved the work in progress.

Confession Tuesday

It's Tuesday and I'm moving slowly to the confessional because it's been the kind of day and evening where I'm not to certain it's good to put too much stock in my forward motion. But I'm here so let's get started.

Dear Reader:

I confess that there have been a couple nights this past week where I've come home and pretty much blown off the evening. This is easy to do if I've had a particularly crazy day at work. Actually today would be a good example. A day when you are just beaten down with work and after a full day of it feel you have not made any headway against your work load. It's days like that I come home - do the minimal I need to do, then crash and burn. Don't like it when I'm like this - looking to break from this, find a way to slowly unwind and then do something productive. 

For several years now I have observed the annual anticipation of, the hoop-la and the afterglow of AWP. I must insert for the record that the observation has all been from afar. I've not been to AWP. I've seen people rave about the contact with other writers that they might not have met otherwise. They talk about great panel discussions, swoon over treasure troves of books and of course there are the readings.  Occasionally I have read blog posts or Facebook post from those who start by indicating they are not going to AWP this year and then in some silly and demeaning way poke fun at the conformance. I confess I have chuckled as I have read through some of these pieces, yet I wonder if the writer is not really just using humor to mask disappointment for not being there.  I confess that I'm intrigued by what I have heard of the conformance and     

yes a bit jealous of those attending. 

I confess the return of sunlight after all our snow has been uplifting. I confess that we still have mountains of snow and that the sunlight on it is blinding, but I was going blind from the abundance of white everywhere anyway. 

I confess that I'm ready for Spring. 

Amen.

The Planning Poet

Friday and Saturday I did some writing and was pleased with the progress. Tonight I've taken another route. Tonight I'm the Planning Poet. I've spent time scouring the various venues for publication with concentration on submissions for the next 90 days. I'm identifying who I want to submit to and matching my calendar with their reading periods.

One thing I'm being is realistic. I'm not trying to send work to 10 places in one weekend. First, I want to be able to stay on a steady work schedule. The last thing I want to do is set myself up for failure from the start.

Knowing at the beginning of one week what publication I am focusing on that coming weekend allows me time for quality forethought to each submission package.

I've gone crazy cranking out submissions in the past like all in one weekend and they instantly cold for months. It's no secret, I said it many times before, I dislike the process of submitting work. Still, I'm well aware that it's all part of the process. Unless I'm just going to write and throw all my work in a trunk and forget about it, then I need to get real about my commitment to the whole process.

By the end of May, I'll let you know how this is all working out for me.

Confession Tuesday - Recklessness and Poetry Edition

Welcome to the confessional  - I'm just about to start...

Dear Friends:

It's been a week and maybe 17 inches since my last confession.

I confess that if it's Tuesday, I'm confused. Or Snow Blind, or both!  Confused because due to a big storm that dumped maybe about 11 inches (give or take) on us last Thursday - I ended up with a 4 day weekend when they shut down work.  I go to work Monday but another winter storm advisory for Monday -Tuesday caused them to shut down again today.  The conditions this morning were complicated by a mixture of sleet and snow. It looks like about another 6 inches on top of the previously 11. All of this change in work routine complicates my cognitive view of the  calendar.

There was a very nice man that helped free my car on Thursday when I drove back from the office only 40 minutes after arriving when they shut everything down. I don't know his name but thank you!

I confess that if we have to shovel the drive for any additional snow, I have no clue where to put it. It's stacked out front about as high as it can go.

Normalcy is now abnormal and it is challenging in ways I'd never imagined. It's easy to feel stir crazy inside, but it seems so white every which way you look that everything outside looks the same so it's hard to feel there is much deviation inside or out.

I confess that Monday at the office it became clear that snow was not the only thing piling up. So were phone messages and work. I confess that it is to the point that being away from the office is not relaxing but stressful because at some point I will have to deal with what I can only imagine is a dam breaking and the work flooding everywhere.

Sunday I had the marvelous experience of auditing a Dean Young Master Class at UMKC. I confess that I am even more impressed with Dean Young then I was before and he had already been on my radar. What I found Sunday was that his whole view of poetry so fits into my own concept but he is able to articulate what that is far better then I have been able to.

I also had reservations to attend his reading/New Letters interview Monday night at the Library.  Even as they were telling us mid-day that the impending storm was going to be severe enough that they would already shut down the offices the next day, I hoped that the evening weather would relent. I hoped that the Library would not cancel the event.  I stayed in town at 5:00 instead of heading home. I checked with the library and they were closing the library at 7PM but the Dean Young event would go on. So with reckless abandon I chose to risk it and go to the event. By the grace of God the sky that looked so ominous held off until the event was over and I pulled into our drive. The the sleet came, then the snow.

I confess that I now have to read The Art of Recklessness: Poetry as Assertive Force and Contradiction.     

I confess that I am trying not to think about the mountain of work growing at the office, but I think I can actually hear it and it's hard to ignore.

Really Good Weekend

Yesterday and today I had some really good karma going on or something because some pieces that I have been working on really started to come together.  Other upbeat things to report....

• Audited a Master Class taught by Dean Young. It was both a thrill and a real learning experience.
• Yesterday I got some submissions out that I've procrastinated over. 
• Surprise of the afternoon, Dana Guthrie Martin was at the master class and she recognized me and introduced herself. 

And Tomorrow:

Dean Young will be reading and doing a live interview for New Letters on the Air tomorrow night at the Plaza Branch Public Library at 6:30.  Call the Library 816-701-3407 for reservations.  There is a 6:00 reception prior to the event.