I just received this information this morning via e-mail from Sam Hamill:
The original meeting location for the DC Poets Against the War
contingent
marching on Saturday will be closed that morning.
So, please join us at our NEW LOCATION (Apologies and please help us
get
the word out!):
Poets Contingent
Saturday, September 24, 11 AM
Sherman Square Park, next to the White House gate on the west side of
15th
Street NW (at Alexander Hamilton Place.)
Closest Metro: McPherson Square (Orange & Blue) or Metro Center (Red,
Orange & Blue)
And don't forget:
Bring your poems of hope and outrage to the:
Open Mic for Peace & Justice
Sunday, September 25, 3-5 PM
Busboys & Poets, 14th & V St., NW, Washington, DC
www.busboysandpoets.com
U Street/Cardozo Green Line Metro
Wheelchair accessible.
Free and open to the public. A special welcome to those in town for
Saturday's rally and march.
More info: 202-577-6596, browning@womenarts.org
Namaste,
Sam Hamill & the PAW Board
http://www.poetsagainstwar.net
Friday, September 23, 2005
The Bush Administration On Iraq vs. Reality
"We do know that [Saddam] is actively pursuing a nuclear weapon" ~ Condoleezza Rice 9/10/02
"We believe [Saddam] has, reconstituted nuclear weapons" ~ Dick Cheney 3/16/03
"There's no question that Saddam Hussein had al Qaeda ties." ~ George W. Bush 9/17/03
"We know where [the WMDs] are." ~ Donald Rumsfeld 3/30/03
"We found the weapons of mass destruction." ~ George W. Bush 5/29/03
We will in fact, be greeted as liberators... I think it will go relatively quickly...
[in] weeks rather than months." ~ Dick Cheney 3/16/06
FACTOIDS -
* Nearly 2,000 U.S. soldiers are dead
* The war is costing Americans $5 billion a month.
* Just this last week, more than 150 people were killed in suicide bombings in the deadliest day in Baghdad since the March 2003 invasion.
* The 9-11 Commission concluded there was not a direct Iraq - al Qaeda link.
* The WMDs are where?
* Nuclear program had never been restarted since the first Iraq war.
Iraq War Bush Administration
The Company You Keep
A candle without a wick
No fire burns
The air is sullen
The sky opaque
The Moon truant
Ambiguity seeps
Through my Pores
A ponderous burden
So I keep company with doubt
Or he with me- we are inseparable
We huddle in the very darkness
That becomes us- this night
No fire burns
The air is sullen
The sky opaque
The Moon truant
Ambiguity seeps
Through my Pores
A ponderous burden
So I keep company with doubt
Or he with me- we are inseparable
We huddle in the very darkness
That becomes us- this night
Thursday, September 22, 2005
Leave My Child Alone
In June of this year I blogged on a little known aspect of Bush's NO CHILD LEFT BEHIND Act. This is a provision that requires school districts to furnish the government personal information on your minor child for the purpose of military recruiting.
This despicable provision at least has an opt-out option. This option is little known and no doubt the government was hopeful that it would continued to be just as obscure as the provision itself that requires school districts to turn over this information to them... Including their social security number. This information then is maintained by a private vendor hired by the department of defense to retain this data.
I am happy to report that LEAVE MY CHILD ALONE DOT ORG has made it relatively simple to opt-out and give proper notification of your child's school district as well as the vendor. ODDS ARE THEY HAVE ALREADY BEEN GIVEN THE INFORMATION DURING THE PAST YEAR. From this site you can very easily with a limited amount of keystrokes, construct two letters - one to your school district superintendent opting-out, and the other to the vendor instructing them to purge your child's information.
Using the link below, you can access the site to help you with this process. I encourage you to not only do this, but help publicize the site so that more people are informed of this. I already opted-out for my school age child.
The Pentagon has been compiling sensitive data on 30 million youth ages 16-to-25 using a private marketing firm, without the knowledge or consent of individuals or their families. You can opt-out of this database by following instructions at www.LeaveMyChildAlone.org.
No Child Left Behind
United for Peace and Justice - Saturday, September 24 Massive March, Rally & Festival
United for Peace & Justice - Saturday, September 24 Massive March, Rally & Festival
I wanted to share this information with Stick Poet readers. Any of you that are within the proximity of D.C. - this is your opportunity to make a statement to the Administration and Congress that enough is enough!
Sam Hamill of Poets
Against the War has put out a call for support from the poetry community.
While I can't physically be there this weekend, I am there in spirit.
Iraq War Bush Administration Poets Against The War
I wanted to share this information with Stick Poet readers. Any of you that are within the proximity of D.C. - this is your opportunity to make a statement to the Administration and Congress that enough is enough!
Sam Hamill of Poets
Against the War has put out a call for support from the poetry community.
While I can't physically be there this weekend, I am there in spirit.
Iraq War Bush Administration Poets Against The War
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Yet Another Poetry Send Off
Another six poems off this afternoon for consideration. This is a good thing!
Connecting the Dots
The mind is such an incredible device. You are reading along in some other poet’s work and all of a sudden, hum…. You wonder what was going on in the poet’s mind. Well, very likely what was going on in his or her mind is the same thing working in your own mind, logic.
Of course you’ll argue that you certainly don’t see the logic of what you just read, but the fact is, the writer used his mental process and came up with what he did. So your life experiences are different and these two minds take the same things and end up at different points of conclusion. So what! That in fact is one of the very reasons I find poetry so utterly fascinating.
If I say “clock” and you immediately think of your daughter, I might not immediately see how you got daughter out of that. None the less you arrived at point C from point A. There was to you a logical progression. For you, perhaps the word clock reminded you of an appointment time. Those in turn triggered A thought that you were supposed to be somewhere 45 minutes ago. Where? Ah, your daughter’s school to pick her up and take her to the Doctor. So while I am thinking of wristwatch, quitting time at work, going home, etc., I just don’t see your daughter. Still the connection to you was quite logical.
I recall someone once saying ( I think it was Pinsky but don’t hold me to it) that when he reads a poem and is not getting it, he refuses to dismiss it, thinking what a poor job the poet has done. Instead, he figures the problem lies with himself, the reader and that he has to read it again, and again , again until he gets it.
The is the challenge of reading poetry that inspires me. Yes, I too sometimes wonder, “where did that come from?” The fact however, is that it was the product of the logic of another’s mind. There is always a reason, it simply may not be an obvious reason to you. And so with poetry, we get a tiny glimpse inside the workings of another’s mind.
Poetics
Of course you’ll argue that you certainly don’t see the logic of what you just read, but the fact is, the writer used his mental process and came up with what he did. So your life experiences are different and these two minds take the same things and end up at different points of conclusion. So what! That in fact is one of the very reasons I find poetry so utterly fascinating.
If I say “clock” and you immediately think of your daughter, I might not immediately see how you got daughter out of that. None the less you arrived at point C from point A. There was to you a logical progression. For you, perhaps the word clock reminded you of an appointment time. Those in turn triggered A thought that you were supposed to be somewhere 45 minutes ago. Where? Ah, your daughter’s school to pick her up and take her to the Doctor. So while I am thinking of wristwatch, quitting time at work, going home, etc., I just don’t see your daughter. Still the connection to you was quite logical.
I recall someone once saying ( I think it was Pinsky but don’t hold me to it) that when he reads a poem and is not getting it, he refuses to dismiss it, thinking what a poor job the poet has done. Instead, he figures the problem lies with himself, the reader and that he has to read it again, and again , again until he gets it.
The is the challenge of reading poetry that inspires me. Yes, I too sometimes wonder, “where did that come from?” The fact however, is that it was the product of the logic of another’s mind. There is always a reason, it simply may not be an obvious reason to you. And so with poetry, we get a tiny glimpse inside the workings of another’s mind.
Poetics
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