Journal Bits March 15 -21

March 16 - The morning is like an intersection with everything coming together at me all at once.

March 16 - There could be an IED / somewhere on this desk / who would know / till it were too late / till the florescent crackled / overhead the air crisp / with carbon / ashen paper particles


March 17 - and there among all other / was a single green rose / the bud still grasping itself
 
March 20 - where would we be without the moon / the moon that placates vampires / that romances our literature / that hangs in the trees / night after night until gone / its presence then in the conspicuous absence / until reappearing as a sliver resting against the night
 
March 20 - noted that late night I read "For the Year of  the Insane" by Anne Sexton
 
March 21 - Time to kill / on a messy morning / Sunday, graystone sky Sunday / silent cold / the air having scraped her teeth on snow that fell  / these past two days / crispy chattering

Unconscious Mutterings Week 373

You say.... I think:

• 1.Burrito :: bandito
• 2.Spike ::  railroad
• 3.Tougher :: love
• 4.Mock :: trial
• 5.Slurp :: drink
• 6.Knock :: out
• 7.Conference :: call
• 8.Madness :: March
• 9.Minds :: inquiring
• 10.Connection :: internet

Get you own list here!

It's Not All Academic in Tehran

Among the many debates the occur frequently around poetry, there is the well worn question of what can poetry do… what is it good for anyway? Academics are not the only ones with a view in this question. Evidently Iranian authorities have one too and apparently are fearful of the power of the poetic word. Last week they stopped Simin Behbahani, an 82 year old woman who is nearly blind, from boarding a flight to Paris. Behbahani, is a poet, and known to some as the Lioness of Iran. She was taken away from the airport, interrogated throughout the night, then sent home without her passport.

Behbahani has written poetry in Iran for decades…through the reign of Iran’s Shah, during the Islamic Revolution, and the reign of the ayatollahs. She has been twice nominated for the Nobel Prize in literature. She’s been outspoken for women’s rights. It has not however been easy for her to publish work in the past few years. The government has become more repressive in years towards writers in general. Her last work of poetry published required the removal of 40 poems or fragments thereof once the government censors finished with it.

After the disputed presidential election last summer and hundreds of thousands hit the streets in protest, prompting government crackdown and violence, Behbahani wrote a poem, “Stop Throwing My Country to the Wind.” People who have followed her for many years now have considered her as untouchable. There will be a lot of eyes on Tehran watching how she is treated from here on.

Update on Mary Oliver Visit to KU

Unfortunately the Mary Oliver event for next week at KU has been cancelled. Originally scheduled for March 23-24, it has been scratched due to illness. The Hall Center will make every effort to reschedule this event at some point in the future. I'll keep readers updated as soon as I know something further.

Happy St Patricks Day

As you slide down the banister of life
May the splinters never point the wrong way...

Confession Tuesday

Tuesday has arrived a little faster this week due to daylight savings time, so lets move to the confessional.

I must confess that I do not appreciate the alleged finer points of daylight savings time. I never have. It messes up my internal clock which in turn makes me grouchy about not only the subject but other things as well. If someone wanted to be my hero, they could lead a campaign to repeal it.

I confess that I’m not the greatest house husband. My wife works long hours and I’m not the greatest at picking up slack at home. I can find any number of reasons why things are frustrating in relation to the chores around the house, but I need to stop focusing on reasons. They are like running an obstacle course, the fact that they are there may make the journey a little harder, but they are not a reason not to reach the other end of the course. I can do better.

Having been in a leadership role in the Democratic Party at one time, I have a critical view of how my party is governing presently. I confess there are people I’d like to shake. I know you should never shake children. Is it a bad thing to shake you Congressman or Senator?

Right now, I confess I’m a frustrated writer. There are days I even think of stopping, but I realize I’ve been there before and I would be frustrated in another way altogether were I to stop writing. I confess I’m not especially excited about Poetry Month this year. I’m sort of forcing myself to do the daily poem challenge and not especially looking forward to it. I confess when things are not really going right with my writing I take a harsh view of my own efforts. I can have a hard time with self-esteem. The negative spiral that follows only makes for more stress. Realizing this, I have decided to put more emphasis on reading these next few days and hope that the upside will be a better frame of mind when I set down to write.

I confess I had to laugh this morning when I read if you fiddle with all the letters in Jennifer Aniston's name you can come up with ‘Fine in Torn Jeans.’

An Evening with Poet Mary Oliver March 23 -

Time: 7:30 p.m.
Location: The Lied Center of Kansas
Humanities Lecture Series  -  Kansas University





The author of 18 collections of poetry, most notably the Pulitzer Prize-winning American Primitive (1983) and New and Selected Poems, Volume One (1992), which garnered a National Book Award, Mary Oliver will share her work and take questions from the audience. Her most recent collections are The Truro Bear and Other Adventures (2008), new poems and beloved classics about creatures of all sorts, and Evidence (2009). Red Bird (2008) was an immediate national bestseller. Oliver is a past recipient of the Guggenheim Fellowship.


For additional information contact Hall Center for the Humanities 785/864-4798