The Mag 113: Visions in Red

Red Roofs, Marc Chagall, 1954

Visions in Red

In the night of my many sighs

I see the roofs of our village 

rushing with red

I sit along the way 

pretending not 

to see my wedding day

this way

I am both in my own view

but along the way as well

my bouquet in hand

but I smell nothing 

though the taste of copper

is strong in the air

like I'm sucking on coins

my groom stands over us all

and ladles the blood of every Passover

on us all - even the Jew we call the Christ

I am clothed and yet nakedly vulnerable

before my groom, before God,

before the whole of the town 

Michael A. Wells

Mag 113

KC area man Chosen Missouri Poet Laureate

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed a retired professor from Northwest Missouri State University as the state's third poet laureate.

The selection of Lee's Summit resident William Trowbridge was announced Friday. He will serve a two-year term, giving presentations and lectures on poetry to school, community and civic groups throughout Missouri.
Trowbridge has published eight collections of poems, and his works have been reprinted in more than 30 anthologies and textbooks. He was on the faculty of Northwest Missouri State in Maryville from 1971 to 1998.
He succeeds David Clewell, a professor of English at Webster University.   [Source]

Poetry Thought for the Day

"A joke is like an explosion - there's just this little smoke and it's gone. A poem is like a much. much richer joke." Adam Zagajewski, AGNI online, 2004

Confession Tuesday Broken Back Edition

Dear Reader:

It's been on week since my last confession.  One back breaking week.


I confess our garage needed cleaning out.  We have a two car garage but I don't believe we've ever parked two cars in it at the same time. We have packed one in on occasion but this has been rare. We don't have a formal basement as such. There is a lower level finished family room where some people might have a basement but for us the garage area has been used mostly for storage from day one. I would add that it has not been organized storage in any sense of the word.

This past week we have been cleaning  it out. It's been a back braking task and I confess that yesterday evening we had a chiropractic visit that we moved up from it's scheduled Wednesday night time slot because we were both so sore.

Things I've parted with - Not of course an inclusive list but some items include:

• various books
• two pipes-  I smoked a pipe years ago. In fact I smoked a pipe  late in my high school days. (I confess nothing more then traditional pipe tobacco)
• old material from previous political campaigns I was involved in
• some wall plaques
• VHS tapes & movies
• Misc. papers saved over the years
• fantasy baseball magazines
• old watch
• old yard signs
• broken fan
• old carpeting

I confess that we are not yet finished.

I confess that with lent over I have now had and enjoyed a diet coke.

Easter Break

Wishing all A Happy Easter!

I'm taking a break from cleaning in the garage. Made a last minute check to my fantasy team to see if any lineup changes are in order. Made a slight adjustment.Seeing as how it is noon could explain the fact that I'm hungry.
I can't sit here long want to get back to work. I hope not to work too late tonight want to be able to relax a bit and the write.

I've thrown out some interesting things from my past. Maybe I'll list some here this week.

Journal Bits

It's been a while since I've done a journal bits post but then I've not posted very much lately. The week I've been working in the garage - major spring cleaning and reading some in the evening and writing a bit each day.

From the pages of my journal - these following bits, quotes, thoughts....

Thursday, March 22, 2012:  A vacation day today, I've made a trip to the Midwest Gemological Society looking for information about my dad's grave. While I did not find it for certain, I did find a listing  date for an obituary. It was in 2005 and those archives are not available on line. I will need to contact the paper and order a micro-fish in order to see a copy of it. [Note: it appears he survived all his siblings and I am fearful that no prior arrangements for burial were mad and therefor he may not have a grave site but have been cremated.]

Saturday night, March 24, 2010: I've  spent time on Ancestry Dot Com tonight working on family history & found more things on my father including two collage photos [sophomore and senior years] also dis some searching about Cathy's family. It's easy to get lost [time wise] doing this.

In other news my poem "Sis" was accepted by Montucky Review.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012: Today was the last day of filing and I entered the Blue Sub 8 Democratic Committee race at the very last minute.

Thursday evening, March 29th, 2012:  It's approaching 9:00PM and I just ate almost a pint of Black Walnut ice-cream. I'm in a bit of a self-destructive mood...

Saturday evening March 31st, 2012: Again I'm dealing with negative crap from others.

"Someone told me you can't/like the simplicity of these two/words that should pair off at different corners/of the ring that don't /belong to any social circles together."

April 1st, 2012: "All the room was silent even/as words from your mouth/filled the air with pollen/my eyes and throat itchy from/the allergen words "you can't".

April 2nd, 2012: Quote by Fay Weldon BBC, January 2, 1992 -"A poem almost exists because of the pattern of space around it."  In thinking about Weldon's words - On the page, a pattern of ink and white page are the parameters that confirm the existence. [like a foot print] Every poem [written] has a presence upon the page and at the same time it has another whole dimension that occurs in the form of sound... If read in a room it can occupy the normal silence [briefly].

April 3rd, 2012:  "It's an everything bagel/what more does it need?"

April 4th, 2012:  "Someone said they saw a bit /of the arctic circle just off Manhattan/ and the infrastructure is unsettled/by rising water levels but just this morning/I heard a Senator talk of global warming /and Greek myths in the same/run on sentence..."

April 5th, 2012. "His and her closets say so much/about class, about possessions/about archetypes..."
"At first approach relationships/are shell games requiring/great attention span."

What I'm Reading...

Tonight I am settling in with a copy of FALL HIGHER by Dean Young.  After a little reading I'll tackle a new poem draft for day four of poetry month.