Bouncing Thoughts

Just finished mowing the front lawn. Came in with a diet coke - sweating and here I sit at my laptop and realizing it's just past 1PM I suddenly feel a large portion of my weekend  has slipped by with nothing to show for it (except a challenge to the people on the north and south side of us to take their lawn down a notch.

I've read several things this week (mostly on blogs) that have caused me food for thought.  Here are some of the items bouncing off my cerebral walls.

1. The first has nothing to do with blogs or reading...I simply  missed confessing on Confession Tuesday. The fact is my past week has been busy at work and at  home and I really had nothing exciting to say except I was out of energy and time.  Too much going on and it's still out there like a stationary front on the weather man's map. It's just hanging over the city all sultry. But enough of that because this is one super ball I want to find it's way outside my scull.

2. There is a long standing story that my writing poetry is an attempt to find a loophole in mortality.  So when I read in Book of Kells this week about poet Patrick Lane at the Skagit Poetry Festival how after a poet died the wife of the poet had the family and friends of her husband memorize each 5 poems of his. In this way, each of them had five of his poems alive within them and they would be able to share them with others. By doing this she was keeping her husband and his work alive in the world. So I'm thinking this immortality thing for poets can work.... kind of.

 3. Reading an earlier blog post by Martha Salino I marveled at the description of the writing relationship with Heather McHugh during an independent study. Sure, from what I've read of Heather and her work I've been exposed to this was the kind of thing any serious writer would likely be ga-ga over. Still, what this brought to my mind was not specifically anything about Martha and Heather but the value of interaction of writers in general. I've often thought for instance of writers I'd love to even just have an hour lunch with to talk poetry in general. Their writing processes or motivations. Where do they feed their creative hungers? Things they try never to do when they write. I think about who I'd tag for such an occasion - it's all fantasy - but after all, poets are good at dreaming of the far fetched. I always enjoy reading the letters of poets because there often is the more personal and revealing side of the artist that comes through.

I've read several poems online this week that have me thinking about various different topics.  Strife in third world countries, couple of poems about rather mundane items and last but not least, travel. These things have been rolling through my thought process because I like to thing about poems that I read that truly seem to bring fresh approaches to writing. For example, I've thought a lot about in writing collections of themed poems, how do you talk about one or two things for say 35 poems and keep your reader wanting to read the next poem? How do you keep it fresh... moving and different?

Never to Be Seen

Patches invigorate the ready to wear line

she put to test and no one could be certain—

she ever came out of the blind.

There were rumors, I’m sure

you’ve heard that she never wanted to be

seen after he left her; after all the fuss

over Palm Springs, over the night the moon lapsed

into a deep coma and the best that he could do

was a sad impersonation of a neurotic art whore.

The things he did for a painting or two…

no wonder the poor dear would cloth herself

in camouflage.

Turning to Stories–Alzheimer's Patients Improve Interaction

Technorati Tags: Alzheimer's disease,dementia,story telling

First off, I want to acknowledge NPR for this post but also say a few words in general about their value in the community. NPR fills a hole in the media landscape that I really don’t see anyone else really touching, besides a higher quality of journalism then what we get from  the rest of the media gene pool. With the decline in network television and the sensationalism of Cable we have lost something that those in their in their 30’s and under really have never experienced. Yes, modern times have given us much progress, but we’ve paid a price in other ways. But I deviate from this post.

What I really want to say is that I was impressed with the NPR story about a program in Seattle where volunteers are working with patients with Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia to find ways to improve interaction with others in a low-stress environment.

Using a program called Time Slips, volunteers utilize poetic language of improvisational storytelling to invite people with dementia to express themselves and connect with others. The program founder Anne Basting describes the importance of their work this way… "People with dementia start to forget their social role; they might not remember they're a spouse ... a parent," says Basting. "They need a social role through which they can express who they are, and the role of storyteller really supplies that."

You can listen to the NPR Story HERE.

Naomi Shihab Nye latest book reviewed by Thomas Devaney

Book Review: ‘Transfer’ from Naomi Shihab Nye

Naomi Shihab Nye is one of the most spirited voices in American poetry. The author, editor, and translator of more than 30 volumes, she is best known for her poetry collections Fuel (1998) and You and Yours (2005), and her award-winning anthology of international poems for young people This Same Sky (1992). In her affirming introduction for that book, she writes, “Whenever someone suggests ‘how much is lost in translation!’ I want to say, ‘Perhaps — but how much is gained!’ ” »Read story

Katrina Vandenberg - New Poetry Book

Katrina Vandenberg wowed me several years back with her first poetry manuscript published as "Atlas." I had the opportunity to hear her read personally in Kansas City and purchased her book later as a result.  I saw an article online that appeared in the Twin Cities Star Tribune about her  her latest book... "Using letters as a frame, Vandenberg exercises restraint in her poems, letting the personal and historical inform one another." Catch the complete write up here. This will have to go on my books to buy list.

The Problem With Poetry

Confession Tuesday - It's All Good

It’s at time once again. Let’s go to the confessional.

Dear Reader:

A week since my last confession and a much better week weather wise. The weekend I wanted to Xerox and run off like 365 days like it.

Today it was actually warm in my office in the afternoon which resulted in my turning to a fan for some relief. I confess I get crank when the office gets warm. A co-worker visiting me in the afternoon on a mater thought it cold. I swear I don’ know what she was talking about. I felt like at best I was pushing around warm air. I confess that I’m keeping my fingers crossed for Thursday as our office is going to the ball game and I’m counting on this weather to continue.

Last weekend I wrote a very good draft in one sitting.  I confess that makes me uneasy to say because I know how rate those instances are. Still, I’ve done one rewrite – one very small change rewrite on it and I’m just letting it sit a bit longer while I think about it some more. I want to write like this all the time though I confess I realize how totally unrealistic that is. That’s why I tend to not get too excited about NAPOWRIMO in April. I’ve done it and produced some keepers but it tends to ad stress to the writing mix. Not a good ad-in ingredient.

I confess this month has some very exciting components yet ahead. My son is getting married and my daughter who has been away in school is retuning permanently. No kidding, this is not a dream. I keep pinching myself and I have the red marks to prove it!

Writers Lead Russian Opposition

RIA Novosti, the largest Russian news agency, reports that leading Russian writers spearheaded a 10,000 person protest against President Vladimir Putin's rule: A host of Russian literary figures led thousands of people through the squares and boulevards of downtown Moscow on Sunday afternoon to an opposition camp that has become the epicenter of the challenge to the rule of President Vladimir Putin.

Protest leaders say that arbitrary and illegal arrests of  persons by the Russian government has lead to their opposition to Putin's reign.

Writers and in particular poets have held a special place in Russian society over the years. It will be with watching to see what course this opposition takes if the government clamps down especially hard.

Behind the Deak

A shadow fell across his leafy brow.
The sinister one. The heavy one.
His feet were big as his buckets
propped on his desk-
it was the mammoth dark wood desk
that created a chasm between him
and anyone who strolled in.

Casual was not his color.  Casual was too close.
It allowed for comfort and that tilted the scales
in the wrong direction.  Always he strives to be
that backhand shot across the net that comes to you
in such a way you have to lean hard and fast to return
the serve and only with dumb luck will the volley be back
in his court anytime soon.

A Poem Takes Place

"A door opens, a door shuts. In between you had a glimpse: a garden, a person, a rainstorm, a dragonfly, a heart, a city. I think of those round glass Victorian paperweights ...a clear globe, self-complete, very pure, with a forest or village or family group within it. You turn it upside down, then back. It snows. Everything is changed in a minute. It will never be the same in there - not the fur trees, nor the gables, nor the faces. So a poem takes place."  ~ Sylvia Plath

Thank You Maurice for the Gift of Your Imagination

"I believe there is no part of our lives, our adult as well as child life, when we're not fantasizing, but we prefer to relegate fantasy to children, as though it were some tomfoolery only fit for the immature minds of the young. Children do live in fantasy and reality; they move back and forth very easily in a way we no longer remember how to do."

Maurice Bernard Sendak  - 10 June 1928 – 8 May 2012

Let the wild rumpus start in heaven!

Confession Tuesday - Roundup Edition

Dear Reader:

I have the day off today and it suddenly occurred to me that I should have a day off every Confession Tuesday.  I actually have it off because it's Harry S Truman's birthday. I know that some of you may find that odd, but around here the nation's 33rd President is a pretty big deal.  And who am I to question a paid holiday. It could be celebrate dirt clod day and I confess it would be happy to have it off.

I confess that this past week we've had too much rain for my liking. I can hear the green stuff growing again and that means I need to mow the lawn. [sigh]

This past week I've been moving lots of things around including adding the book case above to our bedroom. I confess that I have a habit of many books scattered all about the house. I have book cases in my office but I will still carry books out including especially the bedroom. Now I don't have an excuse to let them pile up in the bedroom and I will be able to find many of those transitory books with greater ease.

Another benefit of the new book case and cleaning in my office I have managed to locate what I believe to be nearly all of my personal journals. I confess that these did not have a specific home and now about 20 of them occupy one shelf dedicated just to them. I confess this has inspired me to plan to recycle through these some 4,000 plus pages looking for gems that I can go back and inspire me to take them steps beyond where I left off.

Reading in Remembering Randall - a memoir of Randall Jarrell written by his wife Mary von Schrader Jarrell, she discusses Randall's work on Translations as something he turned allowing him to use his writing energies  even when he felt poemless himself. She talks about him at times wondering if he had already written his last book.  I confess that reading this was encouraging to me in that I realize someone the callabur  of Randall Jarrell also had doubts and dry periods.

I  confess that I'm looking forward to a summer free of dry writing periods. Hey, I can hope!

The Pen and the Bell

“Strictly speaking, this isn’t a book—it’s a beautiful, quiet path into the deep woods of contemplative practice through the medium of the written word." ~ Norman Fischer, from the Foreword to The Pen and the Bell


I don't know about you but this sounds pretty sumptuous to me.   Check out the author's site here:

 The Pen and the Bell - Mindful Writing in a Busy World

Mag 115: The Way To Read...

   image by Manu Pombrol         

                                          

Barely anything else is relevant

the surroundings conically insular;

reading aloud has ringing quality

reverberating off Mason and water.

Did I say water? I hardly notice it

we have become temperate equals.

This is the way to read a superior literary work—

aloud, to yourself and the rest of the world be damned.

Michael A. Wells

Mag 115

If

Outstretched is how this week as been

with multiple vulnerabilities sacked out

in bunk beds resting up for the next day.

The weekend is nigh but I fear it

hardly will differ from the last

with no demarcation, no reverence,

no amount of appreciation for

white space, for quiet on the page,

for ink that might occur if given

half a chance.

What my Biorhythms say about my day today...

Your intuition is intensified. You can foresee events and sense which way the wind is blowing. Such ability will give you a greater understanding of others, and will be advantageous in current situations. Be aware of opportunities that may present themselves today. Plan for the future. New long-term contracts could turn out to be successful.

Physical state: Negative
Emotional state: Negative
Intellectual state: Positive
Intuitive state: Positive

Emotional minimum

The emotional minimum is characterized by a decrease in desires and a tendency toward depression, apathy, and irritability (usually women are more strongly affected). This is a difficult period for creative people, due to feelings of apathy. For the same reason, this period is not conducive to love.

Good - Bad

"If good poetry is to be written, enormous amounts of bad poetry must be written too, if only because it is important for a serious poet to know what it is she/he is trying not to do." ~ Germaine Greer, The 
Independent on Sunday, 7 May 2000

Confession Tuesday - Poet Crush List Edition

May Day, May Day! 

Dear Reader:

Can you believe it’s May first already? It’s been a week since my last confession and I have no idea where time is flying to this year.  Let’s get started.

So Poetry Month has come and gone.  I confess that I did not write a poem a day.  But I didn't fall off the NaPoWriMo band wagon because I never really go on it.  Let's say I wrote a number of poetry drafts - some of which are keepers and I avoided the stress of the Poem-A-Day Rat Race.  I confess that I have no shame about my approach this year.

It’s been about six months since I’ve done a Poet Crush list so today’s confession is a good point in which to reassess the members of my ten person list.   (see last list here) I’ve actually given this some thought for several days now. The thought process goes something like this…

·        If I’m stuck in a writer’s funk, who are the poets I go to over and over and read for a jump start with some inspiration?

·        What poets am I likely to find on my night stand on any given night?

·        Who do I often refer to persons who ask, “Who should I read next?”

·        Whose body of work do I most like to read for shear enjoyment?

·        What poets would I like to pick their brain over lunch or dinner?

·        If I hear the word poet or poetry who are the first to come to my mind?

Invariably application of the above will produce repeat poetry practitioners and those ten who most often repeat in these categories represent my poetry “crushes.”

I would say this list is often in flux.  I suppose I could reassess monthly its members but I think a six month checkup is probably often enough.

So here it is… I confess these ten poets currently comprise my Poet Crush List.

1.      W.S. Merwin

2.      James Richardson (new to list)

3.      Sharon Olds

4.      Kelli Russell Agodon

5.      Dean Young (new to list)

6.      John Ashbery

7.      Mary Biddinger (new to list)

8.      Charles Simic

9.      Ada Limon

10.   Beth Ann Fennelly

Note:  these appear in no special order - Also , these are all living poets.  I could do a dead poet crush list too, maybe I will.

So who are your poet crushes?

Journal Bits 4-19-2012 to 4-17-2012

Spring showers falling today. I've been inside - cleaning and thought I'd take a break and post some Journal Bits...

Since April 19th, 2012


4-19-2012 "Went out and got dinner for us last night to rent two movies for us last night and strawberry shortcake dessert. Rented two movies for us to watch and they were bombs..."


4-20-2012  [Copied this from a post by Kelli Russell Agodon... made me smile though seriously I think some truth lies therein... I believe that poets simply have their own humor that almost no one else gets. It just goes with the territory.]  "Sometimes being a poet feels as if you're in your own comedy."


4-20-2012 Reading at Crossroads Tonight:  I read, The Geese Returned Today, Whirly Girl, If I may Ask and I Offered You Wine.


4-22-2012  "unconsciously you stunk/in right field and something/about your shirt - your non-regulation//It all came to a head/when you were pulled/after too many errors/too much pic-neck/maybe too many Brauts//finishing out the game on the pic-neck table bench/and the search for your glove/ someone said they thought/someone put it in a trash can."


4-24-2012 Listening to Madeline Albright on Morning Joe talk about here heritage as well as her new memoir, Prague Winter. Fascinating stuff. I want to read this book.


4-27-2012 "why is it that things/mattering seem such a loss/that mattering seems beyond control/like you are urinating/down your pants legs/that it's just happening/that's all there is.//Your pissed on legs don't move/they don't run to hide/they don't seek fresh trousers/they just stand/without a care.

Our Modern Culture

"I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry." ~ Randall Jarrell

Late for Confession Tuesday

Dear reader:  It's late, I know. But I'm here just the same. It's been a week and a day since my last confession. I'll be very up front with you, I'm a little testy as I've been to both the dentist and an ENT specialist. You know the scope thingy down the nasal passage? Not so fun.

I confess that I had not been to the dentist in quite a while.  I will be making another trip back in May. {Sigh}

I confess that I started reading a new book today. Remembering Randall ...  a memoir of poet Randall Jarrell. Yes, that would be the same Mr. Jarrell who's quote resides up just under the blog title. I'll let you know what I think of it when I finish it.

I confess there seem to be more birds in and around our yard lately. Did someone tell them I was bird watching this spring as ask them to drop by? It's like they are hosting a Meet Up! right here. I confess this is kinda enjoyable.  If I have to start cleaning white wash off my car windshields soon I may rethink that.

One of our dogs brought  a cousin of Alvin to our back door this past week. I refuse to accept that it was more then a very distant relation of the famed Chipmunk. I confess this is not viewed on the same level of the many birds.

Well that's the best this cranky man can do for today.  Have a great week!

Good Time for creative endeavors

Based upon my bio-rhythms for today:

You are in good shape. This period is favorable for creative endeavors. Rest and idleness should not be indulged, as this is a good time to start a new business, expand your sphere of influence, or make new acquaintances. You have a positive influence on people and situations. You'll be able to prove yourself easily. Use this time productively.

Physical state: Positive

Emotional state: Positive

Intellectual state: Positive

Intuitive state: Negative

The Economics of Art

Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen write anthems about the travails of the working man; we line up for the revival of “Death of a Salesman.” John Mellencamp and Willie Nelson hold festivals and fundraisers when farmers suffer. Taxpayers bail out the auto industry and Wall Street and the banks. There’s a sense that manufacturing, or the agrarian economy, is what this country is really about. But culture was, for a while, what America did best: We produce and export creativity around the world. So why aren’t we lamenting the plight of its practitioners? Bureau of Labor Statistics confirm that creative industries have been some of the hardest hit during the Bush years and the Great Recession.

When reading an article on Salon by SCOTT TIMBERG I was struck particularly by the above paragraph.  I know it's easy to look at artists (in their many forms) and pooh-pooh the notion that they are importantly contributing to society.  But let's explore a list of some that represent art in society.  Yes, there are painters and sculptors, but also musicians, writers (of all types). Producers, photographers, camera men, people in a variety of film and stage productions working in lighting, set design are all artists as wells as architects, actors, entertainers of all kinds. Publishers, dancers and choreographers. I could go on and on but you start to see that without these people life as we know it would get rather dull. No pictures, no movies, no theater or television. No music to listen to in drive time. Soon it would simply be be eat sleep and work... repeat.  No libraries to visit. No books of any kind  to read. Seriously folks, I'm getting pretty depressed just thinking about a world without these people.

So how bad is it for artists?  How many are we talking about? For the answer to this I turn to the Artists In The Workforce Study -  the first look at 21st century labor trends among working artists.

Some interesting facts:

• Artists represent almost 2 million people. One of the largest segments of the workforce... only slightly less then active duty military that are at 2.2 million and comprise about 1.4 % of the total workforce.
• Artists earn an aggregate income of about $70 billion annually. 
• Between 1970 and 1990 the number of artists nearly doubled.
• Between 1990 and 2005 the number slowed to a growth of about 16% which was comparable with the rest of the workforce.

• Some gender figures as they relate to the artist workforce - Men outnumber women in architecture, announcing, music, production and photography while women outnumber men in the fields of dance, design and writing. Yes, women outnumber men in writing. 
• Artists are entrepreneurial. 3.5 times more likely to be self employed.
• Artists tend to be underemployed and only work part of the year.
• Artists tend to earn less then workers with similar levels of education. In 2005 the median income from all sources was $34,800 only slightly more then the $30,100 median income for the total labor force but less then the $43,200 median for all professionals. 
• Artists are twice as likely to have a college degree then the rest of the work force. 

Perhaps if more people were aware of some of these factors there would be less of the "oh he/she is just a writer" mentality at work when people think about artists.

Lazy Saturday Afternoon

I realized today that the Iris on the south side of our home are in bloom. I loved the way Iris flowers look. The frail yet complexity they display.  The color here is simply amazing!  They've probably been open a few days now. Hate that I didn't see them till today because they don't last terribly long. Where they come up I don't necessarily see the spot every day so it's easy to miss them.

I read last night at Crossroads Coffee House. Good sized crowd last night. Speaking of visuals, while we read last night a painter stood on the side of the riser and started with a white canvass and by the time the night of reading was over had created a strikingly picture a a woman that was titled "futility." I wish I could tell you the artists name but sadly I got off without it.

You might think the act of painting while people are reading would be distracting but I didn't find it to take anything away from the readings and rather enjoyed the two together.

Located some hard copy of some stuff I wrote in that past that I no longer had computer files for so I need some time trying to refine some of the poems, several of them were keepers so I'm glad I rand across the hard copies. So looks like I'll be working on some rewrites over the next few weeks.

A couple of notable items from BLOGLAND for poets and other writers:

Check out Kelli Agodon's  How I Prepare for a Weeklong Writing Residency... Kelli has one of the most insightful blogs and if it's not on your routine reading list then I recommend that you add it right now. 


Another blog I recommend in general is Writing Our Way Home. A lot of positive vibe and advice for writers or people in general. Often good interviews.

Thought for the day

"The bully believes he has an unquestionable right to enforce compliance upon others."  - Clayton T Grassant

Confession Tuesday

It's that time again...

Dear Reader:  It's been one week ago since my last confession.

I confess that I'm working on my laptop that is not plugged in and have one eye on the battery indicator as I type this. I confess this may be rushed.

My fantasy baseball team is preforming slightly under my expectation but I confess that I'm not sweating about it. It is starting off this week's series doing better but overall it remains competitive and that's all I can ask for now. I can tweak things as the season wears on.

I'm just about to fill up another journal and I have another brand-spanking new one awaiting in the wings. I confess that I get a rush as I start another new one that is without chicken scratching and sloppy handwriting from writing in the car when someone else is driving. Let me make it clear, I DO NOT JOURNAL and DRIVE.

I confess that I have been in a funk these past few weeks and I'm still in one. I'm not happy about it but it's the product of some external things that I don't have control over.

This week I hope to get to the library. I confess that I see lots of reading in my immediate future.

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.

Poetry Month Thought #2

"Becoming a poet involves the end of a kind of innocence. It is about being critical, separate. Experience is no longer just experience. It becomes material." ~ Vicki Feaver, How Poets Work, 1996

Confession Tuesday - Lent on auto pilot edition

Dear Friend… it’s a week since my last confession; a whole frink’n week already. 

To the confessional…. 

It’s been a week of rain and sunshine. I confess that I can take no blame or credit for either.  

It’s been a trying week. I confess that it has been a week of anger and frustration and uncertainty; all of things that I don’t like.  I confess that it also is a week in which change has been on my mind a lot. Some perhaps good and some perhaps not so, but either way he thought of changes is always unsettling to me. 

I confess that I’m usually thinking about poetry month many weeks before it ever arrives but not this one. I confess too that I often wrangle internally with the pros and cons of setting out to write a poem-a-day during poetry month. The pressure to produce, the expectations, the thought of failure, all that kind of stuff that causes you lunch to spin heavy in your stomach like a cement mixer sloshing a load before it dumps It out.  All that said, I simply went about writing a draft of a poem each of the first two nights of the month and never put any pressure on myself o do so.  Both seem to be real workable drafts… Yeah! 

I confess that one day last week I was on auto pilot when I stopped on the way to work at the local Quick Trip, aced in and filled up a 44 oz. glass, paid and went to the car where I took a sip and realized I had gotten Diet Coke instead of iced tea from the fountain.  I pitched the drink and stopped down the road for a tea. Other than that mistaken sip, I have continued my sacrifice of Diet Coke for Lent.   

My wife and I saw the movie Mirror Mirror over the weekend. It’s a fascinating twist on the Snow White story. Julia Roberts was great in a most unconventional role for her.  I recommend it!  I confess he trip to the movies with Cathy was my high point of the week.

Poetry Month Thought #1

"A poem almost exists because of the pattern of space around it." ~ Fay Weldon, BBC January 2, 1992

A Giant Among Poets

 

ADRIENNA RICH 1929-2012

It's exhilarating to be alive in a time of awakening consciousness; it can also be confusing, disorienting, and painful. ~ Adrienne Rich

Confession Tuesday

Confession time again...

Dear Reader:

It's been another week since my last confession and here I am. What can I tell you about a week that on the surface seem pretty typical?

I can tell you that I'm I'm annoyed about a certain level of drama within a poetry group that I've been associated with over the years. I use the term associated with as opposed to belong to because  over he last several years I just felt  along with many of the good vibes here was some negative ones and I'm mostly interested in good Kama where my art is concerned. I confess that it's hard to want to belong to something that brings people down.

Having another poem accepted last week was an emotional boost. I cannot deny that it always feels good. But then I have to withdraw it from all he other venues that it's still pending in... I confess  (I shouldn' complain) this is always a part of writing that I dislike. The administrative stuff.  Submitting, withdrawing, tracking, etc. Yes I sound whiny~

It seems like we've all but missed spring. Things are so green already and we've had some relatively warm days. I confess it feels like baseball should be about a month and a half down the road instead of just starting.

As If We Need A Reason to Eat More Chocolate!

From Huffington Post Healthy Living - Chocolate Eating Linked To Lower BMI        

More on Rejection

#links

When I think of rejection two things initially come to my mind... a child showing something to a parent, a teacher or some other adult that they are particularly wanting to share and being quickly dismissed. The other image that comes to my mind is s new salesperson at a sales meeting being told by a more experienced pro that being rejected in a sales pitch is just a part of the numbers. You must be rejected a certain amount of time before you make a sale.  

There seems like a very expansive divide between these two images. For starters there is no positive outcome for the rejected child. On the other hand, if you buy the goods (the argument the sales pro is making) at the sales meeting then you come to see that as unpleasant as it may be to hear no, it is an essential part of success. Yes, even the best Realtor, the top auto dealership, the biggest publishers are going to face rejection.  

Kelli Agodon who has a litany of publication credits, awards, grants won, etc. address her recent rejection blues in a both light hearted (she rarely fails to amuse moi) and yet thoughtful blog post earlier today. I don't know any writer, poet, or artist of any kind that doesn't relish accolades. Conversely, a rejection slip to a writer can be a very personal thing because it is often the cost of putting yourself out there. I've been through my share of slumps. After a flurry of acceptances one year I went the whole next year and then some with one rejection letter after another. It can feed doubt in yourself, in the very endeavor you have been undertaking.  

Kelli has reminded me something I really should be constantly aware of. In some of these dry spells I have actually reached points where I've asked myself why I even do this... why don't I just quit right now? So far when each of these negative thoughts have entered my mind I have in fact issued my own rejection and refused to quit. Is it the prize we write for or is it to flush out something on paper that takes guts? Is it publication credits or the birth of our art on a page?

I'm pretty sure I will sometime in the future swear off writing again - and yet very likely keep on keeping on. I think it's just something writers do. They don't have a choice.

Shameless Self Promotion

A poem of mine is up at Montucky Review.  A thank you to the Editors!  

To view the poem simply titled Sis, Click here

Confession Tuesday

It’s been a week since my last confession. Come along and let’s get started on this week.

Dear Reader:

I have realized over the past week that I’ve been feeling good. Energy level is up and it’s been so long since I’ve felt like this (way back before Thanksgiving for sure) that it seems a bit scary.  Scary as in I fear the resurgence of some kind of illness. Probably some kind of exotic one like plummetodivanitis.  I confess I made that up but of course you surely knew that already. The truth is I’ve had so many boom-a-rang rebounds since Thanksgiving; I’m seriously worried that I’ll be back in bed on my back battling something as early as tomorrow.

Feeling better has worked well for me.  I’m less tense about work, about writing, about most everything and I firmly believe that my improved health is a big part of this as well as the absence of some routine stressors that are no longer a factor.

I’ve realized today that change is in the air. I confess that I don’t know any Capricorns that are especially fond of change and I of course would be one.  In the near future there will be some changes impacting foremost my wife, but certainly things at home as well. These are not necessarily bad things and I need to keep reminding myself of this.  No matter how things pan out, I need to be supportive of my wife to help make these changes easier for her as well.

Over the next week I will be making a decision on something that I have been toying with and I’m not going to go into detail here at this point but I confess that it is not an easy decision for me to make.  All I can say is the fact that I am feeling more energized will help make the decision a little easier.

I’m behind where I’d like to be with writing submissions for this point in the year. Hard to believe the first quarter is nearly over. Confessing here that I am not sweating it is important to me because I’ve felt way too lousy these first three months of the year to be on the top of my game when it comes to writing or the administrative stuff (submitting work) which I’ve come to dread.  I believe I will be able to double down and move swiftly into gear.

That’s all I got for the week. May the rest of yours be super!

About Last Night

I want to give a shout out to Doug and Jalene Berger for the Third Friday Open Mics at Crossroads Coffee House in the Crossroads Arts District in Kansas City.

I read some of my own material last night, and as I like to do when I read out in public, I selected another poet and poem to introduce to the crowd. Last night I read Kelli Russell Agodon's poem Under The Covers We Find Jesus from her book, Letters From The Emily Dickinson Room.

Besides being owners of the coffee house, Doug and Jalene are a supporter of the Arts rotating artwork on their walls and of course supporting spoken word and poetry. I enjoy their coffee and I'm pretty picky about my coffee. They are located at 310 Southwest Blvd, Kansas City, Mo 64108

An Irish Blessing for You...

Sign of the Times

Love this sign... it has gotten a lot of laughs around the courthouse. I realize these are tough times but forcing your car to get a job to make ends meet is taking things to a new level.

This Friday Night - Spoken Word at Crossroads Coffee House

Reading at CROSSROADS COFFEE HOUSE

  OPEN MIC  7PM
    310 Southwest Blvd. K.C., MO 64108

Heard any good metaphors?

"A thousand naked fornicating couples with their moans and contortions are nothing compared to a good metaphor." ~ Charles Simic, The Gettysburg Review, Winter 1995

Confession Tuesday - Sick No More Edition

Dear Reader:

It’s Tuesday evening and I’m supposed to do some soul searching so let’s hurry to the confessional.

It’s been a week now since my last confession. A week in which some sense of normalcy has begun to return to my body. I confess that the concept of feeling good has become an enigma of sorts because I don’t think I’ve really fell well since before Thanksgiving. The most recent health issue was the acquisition of influenza and I believe we’ve knocked that out and I’m getting stronger daily.  A public service announcement at this point… I had a flu shot this fall and evidently there is a sizable failure rate with the most recent vaccine.  Also worth noting if you live in Missouri the CDC indicates the flu is widespread.  A week or so ago it was the only state in the US that was highlighted red – the highest level.

I think when you’ve been sick off and on for about 4 months you kind of lose that feistiness that tends to get you in trouble.  As a result I don’t have any really exciting vices to report.  Though during the work drive this week my wife noted I must be feeling better because I was a bit cranky.  I didn’t know I had to feel good to be cranky but maybe it all fits together in with being feisty.

And this week, another positive sign is I’m starting to feel like my writing mojo is coming back.  I’m convinced that creativity is one of the first casualties of sickness.  I confess that my writing was starting to feel like a self fulfilling prophecy of failure.

I confess that I’ve eaten a sinful amount of Black Walnut ice cream this past week.  But on a positive note, I’ve remained true to my sacrifice of Diet Coke for lent. Coke shares must be plummeting (good time to buy) but they will be back on the rise come Easter.  Actually, I’m thinking I will not be as big a Coke drinker after this. We’ll see.

Mag 108: Bobby Socks and Bare Knees

My memory of the neighbor girl
is burrowed in the back of my mind.
Tucked away all these years
this 7 year olds crush,
this awakening,
this curiosity,
maybe twice my age
definitely older

staked a claim on my thoughts
this afternoon—      why after all these years
do I recall the bobby socks and bare knees
how her flimsy dresses were forever
blowing in my psyche? 

How some cold mornings
her bare arms would grow goose bumps end to end.
I was hopelessly inquisitive about her;
she carried herself affable—  unlike any girls
my own age.  I didn’t even notice.

I knew nothing of pubescent girls at the time.
I only knew there was something different,
this one looked supple but sturdy
and even from a bicycle length
I could smell a difference.

Her father changed jobs
relocating to another area
that May.  I don’t recall
another girl for a long time.


Michael A. Wells

Magpie 108