Total Eclipse of the Moon

Watching from home tonight as the moon is nearly blotted from the sky by the shadown of earth. Seen here in the picture to the right by Thom Leigh for CTV.ca.


With the sky darkened - Saturn was visible to the naked eye. Just another bonus of the sky watch tonight.



It seems that historically the moon have gotten a good deal of play by poets. With the level of mysticism often associated with it, and the broad range of metaphorical concepts, it still seems to me that it hold up well against many of the otherwise over used themes. At least that's my humble opinion.

Regarding Your Silly Assed Expectations / a draft

Regarding Your Silly Assed Expectations / a draft

I have struggled with a second language
The way you wrestle a carry-on bag,
a laptop, a purse and Victoria Secrets shopping bag
as you depart your flight at the terminal.

My tongue manages to say things—
It’s not dependable. Not the way an open window is.
I’ve thought a lot about it. Perhaps too much
of an intellectual leaning. I’m perplexed
to the point of linier grief.

Passing through customs I suppose I can be insouciant.
It is only after the fact that I wallow in subverted dismemberment.
My head rings with the lyrics “too late baby” and I swallow a lump
hanging beneath my chin.

It is the expectation of everyone that I assimilate. I say, “Fuck that!”
Is it a crime to be only marginal in a second language
where most are only marginal in their first?

In customs I declared a bracelet left to me by my grandmother,
Two hundred twenty-nine Paso, a book of matches
with Hector Barilla on the front, my clothing, toiletries
and a cheap paperback, "Say It In English."

A Roar for Powerful Words

Ok, so I'm a little slow. On January 29th I received the award from Fenny Sterenborg. I'm supposed to list three things that make writing good and powerful, as well as pass the award along.

Thanks Fenny!

Three Things:
1. utalizing words that touch a nerve 2. or reinforce universal experiances 3. cause us to question


I'm passing this award along to:

Christine Hamm

Aleah Sato

Kelli Russell Agodon

Quiet Sunday Afternoon

The infield of the ball diamond across the street is a quagmire. Mostly standing water with a few islands scattered about. Around the parameter is a smattering if snow dotting the ground and the outfield is a rich wheat-brown. I'm ready for spring, even if Mother Nature isn't.

I've written a lot today. And for the most part I'm pleased with the results. This morning my wife again brought me some "poetry words" for future use to help make my poetry more inaccessibly interesting. I have promised to find places for them in future work.

She also whipped up a batch of crumpet dough and we made crumpets! Yeah! I love crumpets. This is however the first time we've ever had homemade ones. They were awesome!

Error Gave F.B.I. Unauthorized Access to E-Mail

WASHINGTON — A technical glitch gave the F.B.I. access to the e-mail messages from an entire computer network — perhaps hundreds of accounts or more — instead of simply the lone e-mail address that was approved by a secret intelligence court as part of a national security investigation, according to an internal report of the 2006 episode.


A report in 2006 by the Justice Department inspector general found more than 100 violations of federal wiretap law in the two prior years by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, many of them considered technical and inadvertent. {and the ones that were not technical and inadvertent where what?}

Source: New York Times - February 17, 2008

Journal Bits

From my journal - a few recent bits:

• Dexterity lingers in hinged sticks / that count themselves by one
• If these were normal thoughts / they would bask in the sunny side / of frequency- not the cold darkness.//
• Shadows aren't secret places. / Just overlooked and misunderstood.//
• Streets flowed downstream / past lamp posts and shops / that closed for the occasion.//

It's Friday - yeah!

A few poetry items of interest:

While Elizabeth Bishop published only about 90 of them in a handful of books, the Library of America is publishing a new collection of her poems and prose. PBS, who in my estimation has a reputation for providing some wonderful reporting on poetry, has a story about this here.

An East St. Louis woman has filed suit in U.S. District Court against Gillan Graphics and Awards, Inc., alleging it sold copies of a poem she wrote for her mother. Felicia Gayden claims she owns a copyright on a piece of original poetry, entitled "Dearest Mother" which was taken to Gillan for framing by the Plaintiff for presentment to her mother. Gayden later realized Gillan Graphics was selling a framed version of her poem with title and minor changes. [Story here]

The Seattle Arts & Lectures (SAL) Poetry Series opens with Li-Young Lee [ Story here]

On a political note, Thumbs Up for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi who would not be intimidated by President Bush over the deadline on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. When the President continues to thumb his nose at Congressional oversight I am glad to see she has the courage to stand up against his pressure. There needs to be more transparency in surveillance when American citizens are involved and when the administration has a history of acting without court authority where there are specific legal system in place to provide protection of rights.