Sometimes it is a bitch just to get something down on paper... other times it flows like a river.
Last night I felt so vexed with my writing. I hate it when you just have to focre it out. I know everyone deals with this - but when it goes on for days it really exacerbates the whole issue, notching it up another level.
I think it is time I went through my journal and pull some old material out to work on and see if I can move forward that way.
Thursday, July 07, 2005
Most Popular Poets et al.
I see that Garrison Keillor is at it again he's compiled another poetry anthology, "Good Poems for Hard Times." His earlier anthology was simply titled "Good Poems". I'm not sure how this fellow finds the time for all he undertakes. Ant any rate, the second anthology is due out this fall. I'm thinking he needs to hurry.... cause hard times are here!
Three Cheers for Emily Lloyd... She just had a poem accepted for Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel.
Interesting tid-bit from the American Acadamy of Poets - Top 10 Most Popular Poets on Poets.org (Popularity based on Poets.org user searches)
1. Langston Hughes
2. Emily Dickinson
3. Robert Frost
4. Walt Whitman
5. Dylan Thomas
6. Sylvia Plath
7. William Carlos Williams
8. Gwendolyn Brooks
9. E.E. Cummings
10. T.S. Eliott
Three Cheers for Emily Lloyd... She just had a poem accepted for Bedside Guide to No Tell Motel.
Interesting tid-bit from the American Acadamy of Poets - Top 10 Most Popular Poets on Poets.org (Popularity based on Poets.org user searches)
1. Langston Hughes
2. Emily Dickinson
3. Robert Frost
4. Walt Whitman
5. Dylan Thomas
6. Sylvia Plath
7. William Carlos Williams
8. Gwendolyn Brooks
9. E.E. Cummings
10. T.S. Eliott
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
Urban Reflections
Took a walk this afternoon - to crank up the old metabolism... was nice out. Warm, but not unpleasant. A bit of Urban Reflections along the way.
What is it like to live on $1 a day...
MSN Money - Extra: What it's like to live on $1 a day The Africa Plight - as G8 gets underway. live8 poverty
Expressive Aphasia
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
Tabios Gift of Poetry better than any Toaster
Well I didn't realize it.... But I guess Eileen Tabios had a bit of an anniversary on June 30th. It was the tenth anniversary of the day she quit her banking career for poetry. Now if that seems trivial to some, I think it is not. After all, what are the odds that I would be reading a blog on banking or any of those gazillion other peeps ( Stick has lost count ) out there. Happy belated Eileen.
Speaking of Eileen, I have been reading in I Take Thee, English, For My Beloved somewhat often lately. It seems ( to me anyway) this book is difficult to just pick up and read through unlike Menage A Trois With the 21st Century. Don't get me wrong, The Brick, as it is often referred to is inspiring on several levels. One, it seems to layer so much into one complete book. Life, culture, politics, relationships, language, art, sex - have I missed anything? Second, it approaches poetry with innovation.
But seriously, lately I have been reading parts of it - some for the first time, some for - Oh I don't know, but certainly the umpteenth time. I keep trying to process this and let it speak to me. I think I'd like to try writing from some portions of it for prompts - like epigraphs.
I really have not blogged much about this book, though I have had a copy of it since I think March. Actually, I really have a lot of questions about it I'd like to pose Eileen. And maybe I will at some point soon.
I guess to go full circle on this post, I should say that I am glad that Eileen traded in here banking career for poetry. I don't know what kind of a banker she was, but she has been electric as a poet. Her energy, thought process as well as expression are all simply amazing. Trust me - I'd take one of her books over a toaster any day!
Meanwhile, I need to get back to The Brick.
poetry
Speaking of Eileen, I have been reading in I Take Thee, English, For My Beloved somewhat often lately. It seems ( to me anyway) this book is difficult to just pick up and read through unlike Menage A Trois With the 21st Century. Don't get me wrong, The Brick, as it is often referred to is inspiring on several levels. One, it seems to layer so much into one complete book. Life, culture, politics, relationships, language, art, sex - have I missed anything? Second, it approaches poetry with innovation.
But seriously, lately I have been reading parts of it - some for the first time, some for - Oh I don't know, but certainly the umpteenth time. I keep trying to process this and let it speak to me. I think I'd like to try writing from some portions of it for prompts - like epigraphs.
I really have not blogged much about this book, though I have had a copy of it since I think March. Actually, I really have a lot of questions about it I'd like to pose Eileen. And maybe I will at some point soon.
I guess to go full circle on this post, I should say that I am glad that Eileen traded in here banking career for poetry. I don't know what kind of a banker she was, but she has been electric as a poet. Her energy, thought process as well as expression are all simply amazing. Trust me - I'd take one of her books over a toaster any day!
Meanwhile, I need to get back to The Brick.
poetry
Friday, July 01, 2005
Thoughts on Patriotism
As we go into the 4th of July weekend, here is a link to a short essay that I wrote for USAToday. It appears in their online version and a portion was included in a print copy of the newspaper. You can find the whole essay here, along with others that the newspaper carried. Mine is the first one.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)