Immortality box

Picked up a book at the library of Anne Sexon's that I have not previously seen. The Book of Folly, published in 1972 Houghton Mifflin. Sexton is on of several poets that have long been on my radar and I have read a fair amount of her work. The very first poem in the the book caught me attention and I had to check the book out. The Ambition Bird was right there slapping me in the face. I could identify with it in the moment I was reading it.


I would like a simple life
yet all night I am laying
poems away in a long box,

It is my immortality box,
my lay-away plan,
my coffin.

Sometimes that so describes my life. Don't get me wrong, I do derive great satisfaction by writing. And I can't say that anyone is forcing me at gunpoint to write. Still, there is a level of work associated with the compulsion to write that can be very taxing. And I so identify with the immortality box.

There is an overpowering call to create material for this box. The material must pass the critical review of a very demanding critic that resides within me. A slave master that demands greater productivity and at the same time improvement in the quality of work Even in the business world these two objectives do not complement each other well. In the world of art, the tension between these two can be exhausting.

The immortality thing has been an issue with me for as long as I can remember and I remain thoroughly convinced that writing is the only outlet I know availability to me to remotely deal with this issue.

Intellectual Property

"Private property began the instant somebody had a mind of his own." ~ e.e. cummings

A Night at the Oscars from My Comfy Couch

I don't always watch them. In fact I did for years and then just sort of grew away from it but I did tune in last night. The funny thing is I really didn't see anything this year that was up for awards.

I think my interest this year was sparked a bit by the fact that in one way or another I felt connected because of a common thread of creativity. There were a couple of nominations that I did hope would be winners.

• An Inconvenient Truth for Best Documentary Feature - which won
• Two Hands for Best Documentary Short Subject - which didn't
• Happy Feet for Best Animated Feature Film - which won
• Peter O'Toole in Venus for Best Actor - which didn't

So I guess I was batting .500

I think the best line of the night has to go to Melissa Etheridge who won for her song "I Need to Wake Up" from An Inconvenient Truth when she said, "This is the only naked man that will ever be in my bedroom."

I know many tune in to see who is wearing what, but from an environmental standpoint it bothers me to see people spend lavishly thousands of dollars for a dress that they will wear one time. Is this really the best use of our renewable resources?

Ground Clutter

Rain and thunder rolled in this morning. A cold chill hangs in the air. It is quiet here, I've already taken the car in for routine maintenance bright and early this morning and back home already. So starts the weekend.

While in the waiting room at the dealership, I let my mind take hold of my pen and scratched out some stuff in my journal. Nothing spectacular came of it.

I kept thinking of things going on around the world this week:

• I thought of Vice President Cheney and I had to ask myself what drives this man to to be so caustic and discordant? His remarks aimed at both China and Iran are not helpful to constructive dialogue.
• I'm wondered what was going through the heads of the Jurors in the I. "Scooter" Libby trial?
• I envisioned the rats running around the NYC Taco Bell. "Which way to the boarder?"
• And the building at Walter Reed Army Hospital with U.S. soldiers who returned home from war facing struggles with psychological issues and housed in deplorable conditions and primarily caring for themselves.

You may think I have too much time on my hands. Perhaps, but in the quiet of a Saturday morning this poet is finding it hard to clear his head of ground clutter.

Poetry magazine creates unity through line breaks - Culture

Poetry magazine creates unity through line breaks - Culture

Interesting piece on Women Celebrating Poetry

Journal Bits

• Global runs both ways- big; all inclusive, / Shrinking; creating less distance, more interdependence.
• Cold War never ended- rather disappeared in hibernation. Recent rhetoric has awaken it.

Going Nowhere

I have today off. Of course Tuesday after a Monday holiday is like a Super Monday with at least 3 x the frustrations and demands.
But I guess that is so we learn to appreciate the regular Mondays. Have I convinced you, because it isn't working for me yet?

Congratulations are in order for Jilly Dybka who has two poems up over at storySouth.