A very friendly Barry to go with the poem I posted recently.
Monday, May 23, 2005
Who or What is the Enemy?
I'd like to take a moment to call to the attention of others who have not seen it, a post by Eileen R. Tabios over at The Chatelaine's Poetics, titled ANTI-FEAR POETICS: MOUNTAIN OR MOLEHILL ON THE POST 9-1-1 TERRAIN?
Unquestionably, Eileen has a wit about her that even allows her to rant on serious topics and make her point. In her Sunday post, she has gone to great pains to make sure that her point is not taken too lightly and I think as we all have to do at time, nudge herself to make certain not to have fallen into the self-censoring mode.
As she states, "The ugly thing about all this Security shit... is that it generates paranoia, distrust, fear of speaking out, etc. I am doubling back to look at how I self-censored a rant and lapsed into humor. I don't like that about myself. I don't want to practice fear as part of my poetics -- it gets in the way of lucidity."
I'm not going to tell her story here... go read her post. There are so many aspects of the post 9-11 that are troubling to me as an American. She has touched on just a small bit of it, but a significantly important bit, none the less.
Unquestionably, Eileen has a wit about her that even allows her to rant on serious topics and make her point. In her Sunday post, she has gone to great pains to make sure that her point is not taken too lightly and I think as we all have to do at time, nudge herself to make certain not to have fallen into the self-censoring mode.
As she states, "The ugly thing about all this Security shit... is that it generates paranoia, distrust, fear of speaking out, etc. I am doubling back to look at how I self-censored a rant and lapsed into humor. I don't like that about myself. I don't want to practice fear as part of my poetics -- it gets in the way of lucidity."
I'm not going to tell her story here... go read her post. There are so many aspects of the post 9-11 that are troubling to me as an American. She has touched on just a small bit of it, but a significantly important bit, none the less.
Sunday, May 22, 2005
KC Literary Calendar - May 23-29
Monday - May 23
Regular Monthly Open Mic at the Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts
3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts 8pm.
Tuesday - May 24
Regular Meeting of KC Metro Verse - 6:30 contact information.
Thursday - May 26
David and Judy Ray Poetry Reading
Community Christian Church - on the Plaza - starts 7:00PM - details call the Writers Place
816-753-1090.
Friday - May 27
Crystal Field Scholarship Reading
At The Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts
3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts 7:30pm.
Saturday - May 28
Poetry Workshop / David & Judy Ray
At The Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts 3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts at 10am.
The workshop focuses on seeing as a poet sees, reading as a poet reads, experiencing the world as a poet must in order to fuel and sustain their work.
Cost $30 for WP members and $40 for non-members. Call 816-753-1090 for details.
Sunday - May 29
Reading from the Pit at
PROSPERO'S BOOKS 1800 W. 39TH St. KANSAS CITY, MO 64111
Starts at 6:30pm - continues till everything that needs to be said is said.
Regular Monthly Open Mic at the Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts
3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts 8pm.
Tuesday - May 24
Regular Meeting of KC Metro Verse - 6:30 contact information.
Thursday - May 26
David and Judy Ray Poetry Reading
Community Christian Church - on the Plaza - starts 7:00PM - details call the Writers Place
816-753-1090.
Friday - May 27
Crystal Field Scholarship Reading
At The Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts
3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts 7:30pm.
Saturday - May 28
Poetry Workshop / David & Judy Ray
At The Writers Place - Midwest Center for Literary Arts 3607 Pennsylvania - Kansas City, MO - starts at 10am.
The workshop focuses on seeing as a poet sees, reading as a poet reads, experiencing the world as a poet must in order to fuel and sustain their work.
Cost $30 for WP members and $40 for non-members. Call 816-753-1090 for details.
Sunday - May 29
Reading from the Pit at
PROSPERO'S BOOKS 1800 W. 39TH St. KANSAS CITY, MO 64111
Starts at 6:30pm - continues till everything that needs to be said is said.
Saturday, May 21, 2005
Reviewing Kooser Event in Kansas City
Ted Kooser signing books in Kansas City - Rockhurst University Thursday May 19
In a week which has seen an enormous number of poetry events in Kansas City, there was still room for over 600 to squeeze in another on Thursday. The Mid-America Arts Alliance had to be happy with their sponsored event, An Evening With Ted Kooser.
The audience was a wonderful mixture of age groups. While Kooser's selected poems were from a very narrow niche- primarily family inspired work, the overall response was a grateful audience.
The event opened with the unveiling of a new postal commerative stamp honoring the first U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Penn Warren.
My personal preference would have been to hear a broader composite of Kooser's poetry, but night was truly enjoyable none the less. Just the quiet and appreciative audience hanging on to his words was a joy in itself. He has a simple but preciseness in his verse. Though just once, I'd like to have been shocked by something he said. I'm sure that says something about me.
Friday, May 20, 2005
My Dachshund Trumps Your Honor Student
Frenzied fur
On four manic driven legs
Awaits me inside each evening.
My face safe
From an overactive tongue
Only by the sheer height differential.
A dance
I'll call the "scamper"
Tugs my heartstrings.
Hey, look at me Dad!
Intones his little cavort
Daring my brush-off.
Astute as any child would be
He understands how preposterous
It would be to ignore this performance.
[Note: Barry, my long haired Dachshund is 2 years big today. Any resemblance to the character in this poem is purely intentional]
On four manic driven legs
Awaits me inside each evening.
My face safe
From an overactive tongue
Only by the sheer height differential.
A dance
I'll call the "scamper"
Tugs my heartstrings.
Hey, look at me Dad!
Intones his little cavort
Daring my brush-off.
Astute as any child would be
He understands how preposterous
It would be to ignore this performance.
[Note: Barry, my long haired Dachshund is 2 years big today. Any resemblance to the character in this poem is purely intentional]
Thursday, May 19, 2005
Tonight I Shamble
Ted Kooser is in town. That sounds kind of like announcing the arrival of some gunslinger that just rode in. But he is here, or at least will be by tonight. I'm going to see him at Rockhurst University and I'll take my copy of The Poetry Home Repair Manual for him to sign. I mean after all, he is the U.S. Poet Laureate and he has won a Pulitzer... I mean I might as well have the thing signed.
I got a kick out of Emily Lloyd's post yesterday about Kooser and I have to give serious thought about the implications of shambling up to him afterwards and asking him to sign my copy. Will my shamble mask the truth (that being that I already partake of and write poetry) and give him the false pretext of another convert? Or perhaps my shamble will in fact be lame. Maybe he can spot a fake shamble a mile away. In which case he might say something like, "Nice try with the shamble bit... how long have you really been reading and writing poetry?"
I got a kick out of Emily Lloyd's post yesterday about Kooser and I have to give serious thought about the implications of shambling up to him afterwards and asking him to sign my copy. Will my shamble mask the truth (that being that I already partake of and write poetry) and give him the false pretext of another convert? Or perhaps my shamble will in fact be lame. Maybe he can spot a fake shamble a mile away. In which case he might say something like, "Nice try with the shamble bit... how long have you really been reading and writing poetry?"
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Two Links I Recommend
Today, I'm focusing on links to two other sites.
I recommend reading a piece in today's WSJ.com by Michael Judge on the late Frank Conroy. Judge relates some of his own personal memories of Frank Conroy from his school days... but mostly he recalls Frank dealing with the myths surrounding creativity and mental illness.
Conroy had vast exposure with mental illness, both on a very personal level as well as a professional level. As such, his acknowledgement of it within the creative arts community is significance. He had a refreshing balance of reality without romanticizing it. The story Judge relates concerning Robert Lowell is priceless.
On another note - I read a heart warming story about a young lady named Andrea Miller, a 17 year old who lost much of her hearing as a result of chemotherapy for brain cancer as a toddler.
Andrea is a National Honor Society student at Benilde-St. Margaret High School in St Louis. In spite of multiple surgeries and deftness in one ear, Andrea has chosen a proactive course with her young life and inspires others by her own example.
She has created her own foundation which has raised over $27,000 for an orphanage in India. The springboard for raising funds has been offering prints of a painting called "The Elephants of Kerala" and a recently published book of her own though-provoking poetry.
Andrea's website is linked here.
I recommend reading a piece in today's WSJ.com by Michael Judge on the late Frank Conroy. Judge relates some of his own personal memories of Frank Conroy from his school days... but mostly he recalls Frank dealing with the myths surrounding creativity and mental illness.
Conroy had vast exposure with mental illness, both on a very personal level as well as a professional level. As such, his acknowledgement of it within the creative arts community is significance. He had a refreshing balance of reality without romanticizing it. The story Judge relates concerning Robert Lowell is priceless.
On another note - I read a heart warming story about a young lady named Andrea Miller, a 17 year old who lost much of her hearing as a result of chemotherapy for brain cancer as a toddler.
Andrea is a National Honor Society student at Benilde-St. Margaret High School in St Louis. In spite of multiple surgeries and deftness in one ear, Andrea has chosen a proactive course with her young life and inspires others by her own example.
She has created her own foundation which has raised over $27,000 for an orphanage in India. The springboard for raising funds has been offering prints of a painting called "The Elephants of Kerala" and a recently published book of her own though-provoking poetry.
Andrea's website is linked here.
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