Poetry for the People!

And for the Minnesota Governor too! Maybe he'll get the hang of it.


Poetry for the People!

Brookcrossing.com Found by Harper's Index

Harper's Index has found Bookcrossing.com

The June 2005 Issue features such facts as this:

"Number of books registered at BookCrossing.com, so the books can be left in public places and found by others: 1,935,00"

WhichMajor Romantic Poet Would You Be?

You're John Keats! You were born poor, trained to
be a doctor, and then decided you wanted to be
a poet. You threw yourself into poetry with
great dedication. You're very nice and
extremely dedicated to your art. You write
great letters and sexy poetry. It's amazing
how much you got done in your short lifetime.

Which Major Romantic Poet Would You Be (if You Were a Major Romantic Poet)?
brought to you by Quizilla

Graceful Insanity | A History of McClean-

sadi ranson-polizzotti wrote a review of this book about the people treated there over the years... some pretty interesting names. Of course I was aware of both Plath and Sexton. In the back of my mind I was thinking that this too was where Lowell had been treated a time or two. This review confirms that fact.

The surprise to me was James Taylor. I recall the story of his song "Fire and Rain" being written about a young woman he fell in love with at a Psych facility.... I never knew if the story was true or folk lore, but it seemed plausible. Learning that McLean was indeed the site of a hospital stay for him certainly makes the story that much more interesting.

I suppose I will need to add Gracefully Insane by Alex Beam to my growing read list.

Sit on your toadstool, say grace, eat your blueberry muffin, and just say "no" to poetry.

As the Minnesota State Legislature ended its regular session, it passed a bill to create a position of state poet laureate. The House voted in favor of the measure 126 to 6 and the Senate did likewise by a 52 to 8 to vote.

Minnesota has a state muffin - the blueberry muffin. It has a state photograph, titled "Grace" and, Oh my God!!! a state mushroom! Yep, it has an official toadstool!

Republican Governor Tim Pawlenty, however, said no to the poet laureate idea. If signed into law, the bill would have allowed him to appoint a poet laureate after receiving recommendations from the nonprofit Minnesota Humanities Commission. Many thought the timing was perfect to start such a endeavor, as the state will be celebrating it's sesquicentennial in 2008 and a laureate would have been called on to provide verse for ceremonies and celebrations thoughout the state. Additionally, no state funds would have gone with the job.

Pawlenty suggested that the measure could lead to "requests for a state mime, interpretive dancer or potter." In this case a mime for a Governor wouldn't be such a bad idea.

According to the Library of Congress, some 34 states have such a position. Several are presently vacant however.



Unrelated - but worth thinking about:

The worth of a book is to be measured by what you can carry away from it. ~James Bryce

Steve Mason, Vietnam War Poet, Dies at 65

Steve Mason, a soldier and poet who became the unofficial bard of the Vietnam War, died Wednesday of lung cancer. He was considered by many to the the poet laureate of Vietnam Veterans. In 1984, his poem "The Wall Within" was read at the dedication of the Vietnam wall in Washington D.C.

In the 1970's - Mason began writing love poems. But would go on writing poetry on the wounds of war and published a trilogy of such poems.

From The Wall Within

"There is one other wall, of course. / One we never speak of. / One we never see, / One which separates memory from madness. / In a place no one offers flowers. / The wall within. / We permit no visitors. / Mine looks like any of a million / nameless, brick walls / it stands in the tear-down ghetto of my soul; / that part of me which reason avoids / for fear of dirtying its cloths."

He was survived by three daughters and one son.








Steve Mason, Vietnam War Poet, Dies at 65

Northland writers group

northland writers_1
Originally uploaded by stickpoet.

Sunday - Northland Writers with three of my poems before them debating do we focus on trashing one, or all of them?

Actually - they were very constructive and the process was relatively painless. Hence, I wonder if they are becoming softies, or if I am getting better... :)