Brittan Elementary School / Principal Earnie Graham get Dubious Honor

Stick Poet reported on Mr. Graham's lapse of better judgment earlier this year - I see that he and the school have been selected the winner from 5 nominees (you have to wonder what he beat out) for the "most invasive proposal or project," from a London-based human-rights group.

Earnie Graham ~ your fame just keeps growing!

Poetry Month Quote - April 17

I would as soon write free verse as play tennis with the net down. ~Robert Frost, 1935

Poetry Month Quote - April 16

Poetry is ordinary language raised to the nth power. Poetry is boned with ideas, nerved and blooded with emotions, all held together by the delicate, tough skin of words. ~Paul Engle, New York Times, 17 February 1957

Kansas City Area Poetry Events

Friday April 15 - Riverfront Series - Reading at The Writers Place 3607 Pennsylvania - K.C., MO starts at 8:00pm - participants in TWP Winter Poetry Workshop will read poems work shopped in seminar as well as other works.

Readers - Phillis Becker, Susan Carman, Joe Cecil, Ben Chapman, Meg Huber, David Hughes, Judith Bader Jones, Joan Langmack, and Kathleen Laverick.

Saturday - April 162:00pm - Westport Library - 118 Westport Rd. K.C. MO

Branching Out - The K C Public Library - Writers Place and KC Metro Verse team for a multi- event afternoon.

Poet Martin Espada speaks on the late poet Pablo Neruda starting at 2:00pm

Following this event Writers Places hosts a reception.

Then at 4:00pm - to 5:30pm KC Metro Verse hosts a Favorite Poem Project

Monday - April 25th regular monthly Open Mic at The Writers Place starts at 8:00pm

Thursday April 28th - Midwest Poets Series hosts poet Cornelius Eady at the Rockhurst University - Mabee Theater - 5225 Troost - K.C., MO. Enevt starts at 7:30pm.

Poetry Month Quote - April 15

And by the way, everything in life is writable about if you have the outgoing guts to do it, and the imagination to improvise. The worst enemy to creativity is self-doubt. ~Sylvia Plath

Poetry Month Quote - April 14

Poetry is not a civilizer, rather the reverse, for great poetry appeals to the most primitive instincts. ~Robinson Jeffers

Name Droppings

Here is a link to a really cool idea for "Poetry in the street" which had it's roots in Toronto, Canada. I like this idea. Actually I am hoping to do some in pastels on a sidewalk this month. Not exactly permanent, but the same general principal.


Have to do a plug. Christine Hamm has a new book- Safe Word which I have not seen yet, but I adore her work. I got a peek of one of the poems in it. Check it out - and/or buy it here. Check read her blog, this is all your fault here.

I read an interesting critical eye on poetry from Camille Paglia - link.

My new Poets & Writers came this week. Haven't had a chance to read but a just a bit of it last night.

Tom Beckett interviews Eileen R. Tabios - link.

Ok, I'm through dropping names for now...

Poetry Month Quote April 13

"Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood." ~T.S. Eliot, Dante, 1920

Poetry Month Quote - April 12

"The crown of literature is poetry. It is its end and aim. It is the sublimest activity of the human mind. It is the achievement of beauty and delicacy. The writer of prose can only step aside when the poet passes." ~W. Somerset Maugham

Poetry Month Quote - April 11

"Everything in creation has its appointed painter or poet and remains in bondage like the princess in the fairy tale 'til its appropriate liberator comes to set it free." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Beacon Journal | 04/10/2005 | Poet laureate lacks rhyme and reason

Interesting piece from the Akron Beacon Journal.

Two Time Ted

Ok, Kooser gets a second term. Congratulations Ted.

I have been reading his book, The Poetry Home Repair Manual [it's worth reading, by-the-way] and I wanted to comment on his effort as Poet Laureate.

Kooser's support of poetry is laudable, of course that should be a minimal requirement of a Poet Laureate. I believe he is succeeding in bringing new people to poetry, and that is part of what I see as the responsibility that comes with the position.

Kooser has carved out a niche for accessible poetry. Though not the first by any means, [former Laureate Billy Collins promoted accessibility in poetry as well] Kooser I fear, is often times cheering on the sidelines for others to write the kind of poetry he likes (and writes) while leaving an impression that the vast sea of alternative poetry is the dirty stepchild that he'd rather not talk about in public.

I reality, I don't believe Ted Kooser is judgmentally putting down the rest of poetry. If I did, I would not be as kind in my choice of words. Sincerely, I believe he is trying to do what he believe is best for the art of poetry by opening a whole new frontier of readers. People who will embrace and love poetry. To that I raise my wine glass.

Perception however can be dangerous. It is here that I offer these concerns for brother Ted. As fellow poets, I believe it is important that in the broadest possible way, we should be lifting up and supporting the art of poetry as a whole.

There are poets out there who thumb their noses at accessible poetry. They are just wrong.

Do I think everyone has to like everyone's poetry? Of course not. But as practitioners of the art, I think we need to be open the encouragement of a rich diversity within the art form.

I tell you in all honesty, I am far less fearful of poetry dying anytime soon then I am people stressing that poetry has to take on this shape or that form. Optimistically, I have a great deal of faith in people that are brought into the poetry fold to grow in their interest, and like water follow the paths of least resistance to suck up what they read and like. With this in mind, growing our ranks with accessible poetry is not a bad thing. Some will sip the nectar of that which they were exposed to and that will be enough to sustain them. This will be a good thing. Others will thrust for much more... and their taste will grow and change. This too will be a good thing if allowed to happen. That is why I applaud Kooser's efforts... I just want to make sure no one is building damns around the many other lakes, rivers and oceans that people may choose to drink from.

Poetry Month Quote - April 10

"Poetry is not a turning loose of emotion, but an escape from emotion; it is not the expression of personality, but an escape from personality. But, of course, only those who have personality and emotions know what it means to want to escape from these things." ~T.S. Eliot, Tradition and Individual Talent, 1919

Poetry Month Quote - April 9

"We don't read and write poetry because it's cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race. And the human race is filled with passion. And medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for." ~ Dead Poet's Society

Rejection

Nick Carbo proves rejection comes in many forms.

Now a month or so ago, I received a rejection letter from a west cost literary journal that I imagine you'd all recognize - it contained a scrap of paper no doubt torn (emphasis on torn) from an 8-1/2 by 11 size sheet of paper. The 8-1/2 was still there, but I got about one inch of the 11 portion.

For a brief moment I looked at the paper which spoke to me in words that said ...we get a fucking trunk load of submissions, we are way too busy for this... and, "sorry, it is not what we are presently looking for."

Now don't get me wrong, I am sure that the fact of the matter is they do receive a ton of material each month. But when you send a self-addressed-stamped envelope, you would think the least they could - no, make that want to do is to appear somewhat professional in their correspondence. I don't so much mind the "strip of paper" but hell, at least cut it so it looks like a strip of paper and not a scrap.

Yes, for a brief moment, I wanted to reply with a rejection letter myself saying, "I'm sorry, but your rejection letter what not what I was looking for and seems to contract with my present collection, therefore I will not be using it but I wish you well in your rejection endeavors and do try us again. Hee-he. Of course even the rejected can dream!

Poetry Month Quote for April 8th

To be a poet is a condition, not a profession. ~Robert Frost

Proetry Month Quote -April 7th

A poet is an unhappy being whose heart is torn by secret sufferings, but whose lips are so strangely formed that when the sighs and the cries escape them, they sound like beautiful music... and then people crowd about the poet and say to him: "Sing for us soon again;" that is as much as to say, "May new sufferings torment your soul." ~Soren Kierkegaard

Poetry Month Quote - April 6th

A poem is never finished, only abandoned. ~Paul Valéry

UCR News: Creative Writing Professor Reads from Book of Poetry

Christopher Buckley, a professor in the Department of Creative Writing at the University of California, Riverside, will read from and discuss his book of poetry “Sky” from 3:15 to 4:30 p.m., Wednesday, April 20, in Special Collections on the fourth floor of the Tomás Rivera Library at UCR, 900 University Ave. The event will be web cast live and will be archived for later viewing. For more information call Special Collections at the UCR Libraries at (951) 827–3233

The Bards Celebrate

Last night - about 35 people attended an Open Mic presented by the Raytown Bards ( Raytown, MO - a Kansas City suburb) in celebration of National Poetry Month.

The event started with guest poets Don Queen, Kathy West, and Bob Savino then followed as one-by-one guests came to the microphone to add their own work or that of someone else they has chosen.

Hot topics of poems were "spring" & "Iraq war" - though there was a poem dedicated to Pope John Paul II, a poem about baseball dreams dying hard, first day home with a newborn, cowboy poems, domestic violence, childhood memories and so on. Very good mixture of light material and some heavier poems with very pointed statements.

Raytown Bards is just one of several chapters of the Missouri Poetry Society.

Poetry Month Quote - April 5

"Science is for those who learn; poetry, for those who know."
~ Joseph Roux, Meditations of a Parish Priest

Poetry Month Quote - April 4

"Poetry comes with anger, hunger and dismay: it does not often visit groups of citizens sitting down to be literary together, and would appall them if it did." ~ Christopher Morley, John Mistletoe

Poetry Month Quote - April 3rd

"Poetry is the revelation of a feeling that the poet believes to be interior and personal which the reader recognizes as his own." ~ Salvatore Quasimodo

Raytown Bards - Celebrate Poetry Month

Monday, April 4th - the Raytown Bards will celebrate National Poetry Month with an event at the Mid-Continent Public Library branch in Raytown, Missouri.

The event runs from 7-8:30PM and will feature local poets:

Don Queen, Kathy West, and Bob Savino. There will be an open Mic following their presentations and the public is welcome.

Address: 6131 Raytown Road - Raytown, MO
Contact: 353-2052 for more information.

Poetry Month Quote - April 2nd

"He lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize." ~ Oscar Wilde

April First - No Fooling - It's National Poetry Month - Quote of the Day

"Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful."

~ Rita Dove


Celebrate Poetry All Month Long - make it a habit - it will become a year round passion....


Subscribe to the Poetry Month - quote of the day by e-mailing me at poetrylives@prodigy.net with the word "subscribe" in the subject line of your e-mail. This is only a one month (April) project.

Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Diane Von Furstenberg, Dan Rather, Maya Lin, Minnie Driver to Read at Poetry Benefit on April 5

Meryl Streep, Liam Neeson, Diane Von Furstenberg, Dan Rather, Maya Lin, Minnie Driver to Read at Poetry Benefit on April 5

Follow link to Press Release....

Strange But True

Someone actually googled their way to this site with the search: national something on a stick day. Which of course causes me to ask the question.... Does such a day exist?

Fairchild's Poetic Wisdom Part Two

I have promised a post concerning last Thursday’s master poetry class - conducted with B.H. Fairchild. After a bit of reflection on the experience, I am ready to externalize those thoughts here.

Fairchild’s approach began with establishing his current definitive formation of what a poem is. Prefacing that he was not trying to be restrictive he noted that his definition has been somewhat fluid over the years. Currently he defines it this way:

A poem is a verbal construction, which through an array of prosody and rhetorical devises of embodiment achieves an order of being, an ontology, radically different from other forms of discourse (with the exception of certain forms of fictional and descriptive prose)

I was most intrigued by the "order of being" and his commentary surrounding this point. It seems he views poetry as a way of "being" in the world. It is an order unlike anything else.
He took the argument of some poetry and prose have a narrowing separation and stressed that while the two do overlap, they are alike. Otherwise they would be contiguous. He noted math and physics overlap at points but they are indeed different. The same is true of biology and chemistry.

There was discussion of the interior life of the poem – the sound textures or auditory aspect of the poem which he seems to think we don’t pay enough attention to these days.

There were a series of poetry manuscripts that we as a group went over. Expressing thoughts about meaning – syntax – line breaks. I especially appreciate the approach Fairchild took to the manuscript examinations. It was not done with judgement but certainly conducted thoroughly and with an intent to bring each of us to our own assessments if the material was working or not.


I am still processing a good deal of the material nearly a week later. The combined exposure to his reading and class was most educational.


Poetry

Pulitzer Prize-winning poet to perform at Drury

W.D. Snodgrass - 79 year old poet - to preform Thursday evening at Drury University's Olin Library.

Fairchild's Poetic Wisdom Part One

Following my attendancelast week at a B H. Fairchild poetry reading and a poetry class I thought I would take some time to offer my observations.

The reading was an enjoyable event from a strictly entertainment perspective. As a reader Fairchild is a well above average performer. His physical voice is easily soothing to the ears and quite palatable to the grasp of comprehension. Had I been a casual fan of poetry, I would have enjoyed the reading.

I did not however, attend the event with a casual interest. My engrossment in his presentation included everything from his work itself, to his delivery and possibility that his poetry hit a specific or definable theme. I came in to the reading with only a casual knowledge of his work. To the extent of his selections,

I appreciated that he offered a short intro to explain any particular nuances the he fell were not obvious to his readings.

I was able to see perhaps two points of interesting palpability emerge from his reading. Fairchild’s roots have remained evident in his work. It is perhaps not surprising in the contest that as Hemingway once said, "…write what you know best." Still, it is obvious that Fairchild grew up one of those individuals that seemed destined to travel through life searching. Something I can identify with, and I suppose many that connect with poetry do. It is this very search that seemed to lead or drive – (I’m not sure if he felt more pushed or pulled) away from his boyhood home of Liberal, Kansas or towards something other than that home. Still, it is clear that he wanted to experience much more that what the limits of such a rural milieu could offer. He wanted more then what this lifestyle offered. To his credit, twenty years of academia have not killed those roots, but perhaps given him a stronger basis for understanding them and communicating them.

If there is a thread that seems to run through his work and ( there is) tying it up nicely, it would be his understanding of the nature of working class men and women to want. To even seek. Yes, to hope and dream. And in the end to be able to be able cherish what they have, even in the face of larger disappointments. To find some level of happiness, even if for the moment, without sacrificing desires and putting them out, like some squashing the butt of a burning cigarette in an ash tray.

The other truth that shines through is work and his presentation is that he has not lost that touch with the common man. Not even after twenty years at Cal State. Not after all his prestigious awards and The Guggenheim, NEA, Rockefeller/Bellagio fellowships. He has been able to wear the hat of a professor all the time keeping the ball cap of a common man.

Tomorrow I will post on what I came away from the workshop with.

POETRY MONTH QUOTES

As my personal commitment to the promotion of poetry during the month of April (National Poetry Month) I have set up a special e-mail address simply for the purpose of offering a daily e-mail with a poetry related quote to inspire your view of poetry throughout the day.

In order to sign up, please e-mail me at poetrylives@prodigy.net with the word "subscribe" in the subject line of your e-mail. PLEASE - do not sign up for someone other than yourself. Subscribers will be asked to confirm their request by a followup e-mail. As much as I'd like to share this with as many people as possible including those who have marginal or no present interest in poetry, it is not my intent to spam people with poetry quotes. You of course may share them with your friends and family individually that you might hope to encourage to become readers of poetry, but I wish to keep this strictly above the board. Your e-mail addresses will NOT be shared with anyone else, and the Quotes will stop at the end of April.

Happy Poetry Reading & Writing!

Michael Wells
Stick Poet

Building Up To National Poetry Month

Over the next few days I will be doing several things as a build-up to National Poetry Month.

I will be posting Poetry Month Events - Some, local Kansas City, Missouri area events and a few in other parts of the country for our nation-wide readership.

This week I attended a reading of the poet B H Fairchild and yesterday a master class in poetry for which Fairchild put on in conjunction with the UMKC language arts department. I will be commenting on these experiences.

Additionally, tomorrow I will make a offer to Stick Poet readers. This will represent my personal commitment to promoting poetry month. Check back tomorrow for the details and an opportunity to be on the receiving end of this special Stick Poet offer.

Transformation

"Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought

and the thought has found words."

~Robert Frost

I could not have said it better....

B H Fairchild

I am attending a reading of B. H. Fairchild tonight here in Kansas City. Looking forward to hearing his work. He grew up in a small town in Kansas and some of his poetry reflects midwest ties, though he has I believe in more recent years lived in California.

Thursday, I'll have an opportunity to set in a class he is giving as well. He was brought in by UMKC College of Arts and Sciences.

My Poetry Quote of the day:

"A poet looks at the world the way a man looks at a woman." ~Wallace Stevens, Opus Posthumous, 1957

By nature...

"A true poet does not bother to be poetical. Nor does a nursery gardener scent his roses." ~Jean Cocteau

I have this overwhelming desire to paraphrase this as, "Shit happens" ~ but I won't.

Hit with The STICK

James at Love During Wartime passed me the STICK. Immediately I was overcome by a combination of trepidation and honor. Sort of a schizophrenic emotional burst.

1. You're stuck inside Fahrenheit 451, which book do you want to be? Ariel by Sylvia Plath
2. Have you ever had a crush on a fictional character? Gee, not that I can recall. Which seems almost as lame as if I had one.
3. The last book you read: Transformations by Anne Sexton
4. What are you currently reading? The Poetry Home Repair Manuel - Ted Kooser & Wintering - Kate Moses ( I'm multi-tasking ) ;)
5. Five books you would take to a deserted island: Men at Work: The Craft of Baseball - George Will [there is no culture without baseball] , The Journals of Sylvia Plath, Sylvia Plath's Collected Poems, Why Time Begins on Opening Day - Thomas Boswell, And Poetry Speaks and a CD player....(is this cheating?)
6. Who are you going to pass this stick to (3 persons) and why? Eileen at The Chatelaine's Poetics: Because she's upon there on the mountain where the air is thin and Just never know what she is going to say. Jilly at The Poetry Hut: Who is not on a mountain ( that I know of) but is among the culturally elite who love baseball & poetry at the same time ; ) and Michaela at Mikarrhea: who, hell is just likely to say anything - mountain or no mountain.

The pleasure of it....

"Even when poetry has a meaning, as it usually has, it may

be inadvisable to draw it out.... Perfect understanding

will sometimes almost extinguish pleasure."

*

~ A.E. Housman

My Skin Curls

Jilly has a new site address.... here.

I'd like to call your attention to this site: Voices In Wartime

Christine Hamm is just too damn good... and I think I've said that before, or at least something like it-- but damn, she is! Writing a Poem - check it out! When I read her stuff, I swear my skin curls.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

"The poetry of the earth is never dead." -John Keats

Happy St. Patrick's Day

~

And then there is a flash....

You can tear a poem apart to see what makes it tick.... You're back with the mystery of having been moved by words. The best craftsmanship always leaves holes and gaps... so that something that is not in the poem can creep, crawl, flash or thunder in. ~Dylan Thomas, Poetic Manifesto, 1961

Come on Eileen, when you have THAT many peeps, you are going to be recognized when you come down out of the mountain!

Some day I may understand life. I don't really think today is going to be it though. Still, I am trying to be open to that possibility.

Slate Backlogged

"He Lives the poetry that he cannot write. The others write the poetry that they dare not realize." ~ Oscar Wilde


I noticed yesterday that Slate is not accepting submissions till December of this year. There must be some prolific writing and submitting going on these days. While I've not sent anything to Slate since maybe middle of last year, as long as I have paid any attention, I don't recall them restricting submissions or even having a reading window as such. This has me curious to know if other venues are experiencing a significant increase in manuscript submissions.

I got a note the other day that Victoria Chang's new book Circle is out. Having enjoyed her insights when she was blogging, I of course would like to read the work.

B. H. Fairchild is in town next week, and I have an opportunity to hear him read and do a workshop.

Catherine Meng has a great read --- If the Laundromat Doesn't Work Out I Will Gladly Offer My Bed. You gotta love the Walt Whitman line.

Any poets in the Kansas City area - are invited to check out the local chapter of the Missouri Poetry Society. Our blog site is here. We meet twice a month.

To quarrel with yourself....

Out of the quarrel with others we make rhetoric; out of the quarrel with ourselves we make poetry. ~W.B. Yeats

Conceptualization

Feel the grass blades
Between the toes of your mind
And how the shade holds the darkness tight
Within a room that is running out of a concept
We call space. I have little time to explain
Concepts - because I'm not sure when my time
Is up... and when it ends- all those concepts
In my mind are going to vaporize.

Taking It Right To Their Front Door

That is what Ted Kooser has in mind. Ted who? Ted Kooser, the new U.S. Poet Laureate.

Ted is intent on broadening interest in poetry. After all, that is his function as the Poet Laureate. How one accomplishes this feat is up to the individual Laureate.

The Kooser plan is to offer a free six to eight-inch column to local newspapers each week with a poem by a living American and a brief introduction written by himself. This idea catches my fancy since I am often hearing people talk about how. "poetry is dead... or at least all the poets are." Of course neither is true and more power To Ted Kooser if he can carve that misconception into little pieces and bury it.

Kooser's idea was the result of reading a prestigious literary journal in which he was unable to find a single poem he could use to show an average reader to demonstrate what he was missing. His assessment was that all the poems in the journal were geared for a "really sophisticated audience."

In spite of Koosers assention to the lofty position of Poet Laureate, he is not a household word. In fact he is not like most poets who have aspired to this position. Not a part of the northeast academia crowd, and his own poetry strives for the simplicity that mirrors his humble mid-west life. He rises every day at 4:30 and writes though he says that he probably produces only 10 to 12 poems a year that he considers worthy of publication.

If Ted Kooser is successful in his endeavor to broaden the interest in poetry in this country, it will likely be because he himself is more like the average American than perhaps most Poet Laureates in the past. Good Luck Ted Kooser!

source
Poetry

The Surprising Journey

A poet's work is to name the unnameable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world, and stop it going to sleep. - Salman Rushdie


I think one of the most fascinating acts of writing is to discover that you have arrived someplace that you didn't think that you could possibly get to from where you were. To do the impossible or at minimum the improbable. I'm not talking about achieving some status. Yes, I'd fall over clutching my heart if I got a call that I was the next poet laureate. That is not at all what I am talking about. What I am speaking of is to be writing and all of a sudden to realize that you have learned something. The very creation of your piece of work opened up your eyes. By your own creation, you arrived at a point or place that you were not trying to reach. That is such a incredible event to a poet. Such is what keeps me writing... even on bad days.

Finding Themeo

James over at Love During Wartime has me wondering if my life has a theme. From my initial blank stare, I'm thinking no. Surely there has to be at least a thread that runs through this fragile accumulation of years that I call a life, that exhibits some evidence of a theme. Still, I'm clueless.

I suppose I could look backwards (a talent that must be good for something) and see points in my life where I might have had something of a theme going on. Doing this little exercise could be important to something I have been toying with lately. The thought of trying to write an autobiographical poem. Not a four or five stanza poem that summarizes my life. Something a little more lengthily. I don't think I am talking as extravagant as Eileen Tabios's brick. Still, something that could allow me to compartmentalize my life into segments with metaphorical adaptation. Why, I'm not sure. Maybe it would make a more interesting read from that standpoint.

Anyway, James has put a thought in my head (scary as that may seem) and now it is going to bug me until I can work through this and come up with some answers. I'm wondering if this is one of those things you can think too much about. Like maybe the first thing that pops into your head is more significant than trying to think it through in deep thought. Forcing it, so to speak. Yes, I'm obsessing now. Thanks James, for the ensuing headache I feel coming on.

Break

Bright gold raged most of the weekend
Brassy in the crisp blue sky
Till nightfall when clouds pushed the envelope
Rain, hail and winds did calisthenics
Morning brought an overcast chill
And talk of snow tomorrow

Under theTellingtree Anthology Reading & Signing

Some thirty- five people attended the reading & signing last night at B & N - Zona Rosa Shopping Center. Was nice to have some people that were just shopping stop by to listen. They had to set up a few extra chairs. We have another at the northland area Boarders tomorrow afternoon 2:30 to 4:30. Six of the authors featured in the book were present and read.

Weather is so nice today - Going to take Barry for a walk after while. Have a yard project I want to get done while the weather is nice. I'll read and do some writing later today.

Last day of the work week is half over!

Friday

This is a good thing!