Blackout Poetry

Yesterday was weird to say the least. I went to the mechanic to pick up my car (which had broken down on the way here and which needed, yet again a new battery and alternator. $300. OK, reasonable). Upon driving it away, it stalled out five times. Needed another "remanufactured" alternator. I had to hitch a ride home. Starving, I went to the dining hall to catch the end of dinner. The dining hall blacked out. As I left, I encountered a squirrel emerging from a garbage can carrying an ice cream cone in his teeth. I went back to the dorm to finish my laundry. I put my wet clothes in the dryer and pushed start. The dorm blacked out. I hung up my soaking clothes all around my room. Charles Simic was scheduled to read in the lecture hall. I was looking forward to it all week. The blackout dominoed all around town, from here to Albany. Campus was dark. We mulled around, waiting. The reading resumed, with the help of lamps. It was hot and smelly. Then the lights went back on. Alix Olin read a short story about a murder. Then Charles Simic was introduced. He walked onto the stage and the lights went out. So he read poems about the dark, in the dark.

Butcher Shop by Charles Simic

Sometimes walking late at night
I stop before a closed butcher shop.
There is a single light in the store
Like the light in which the convict digs his tunnel.

An apron hangs on the hook:
The blood on it smeared into a map
Of the great continents of blood,
The great rivers and oceans of blood.

There are knives that glitter like altars
In a dark church
Where they bring the cripple and the imbecile
To be healed.

There's wooden block where bones are broken,
Scraped clean--a river dried to its bed
Where I am fed,
Where deep in the night I hear a voice.

Let the Rhythm Hit'em

Shopping in the Chinese mega-market on Broadway is one of the more, shall we say, interesting experiences in Elmhurst. I was there earlier buying some unsweetened soy milk (I take care of my body, you know--ha!), but decided to walk around to see if any other products were worth buying. Oh my, you bet there were! Among the usual products one would expect to see in an Asian market (dried noodles, quail eggs), I came across some decidedly more adventurous offerings: spicy bamboo shoots, black chicken (I've never seen something so strange in my life), and much to my surprise, live frogs (on sale at $4.49 per pound). I had the urge to pick one of them up, but decided against it. I might return later this week to give them names; the frog at the top of the heap looked like a "Harry."

Anyhow, I did not make any particularly brave choices, and stuck to my soy milk. But, along with that bottle of soy milk, I bought a package of vegetable spring rolls, the label of which reads like so:

No need to defrost. After the oil turns hot, fry until the bread turns golden brown. It taste good.

It taste good, indeed.

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I can't believe that I've been walking around without knowing of the existence of what doctors call a "didelphic uterus." How is it possible to be this uninformed?

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Eric B & Rakim's "Don't Sweat the Technique" sounds as fresh and alive as when it was first released in 1992. The track is, without question, a classic of hip-hop: it is sample-heavy, and loaded with Rakim's smooth vocal delivery. (One wonders how this usually rhythmic genre could have shifted, in the span of about fifteen years, from being filled with beats to one that is nearly minimalist [refer to Southern hip-hop for a bit of what I mean] in its construction.)

And speaking of music, the GMC Single of the Week is Interpol's "The Heinrich Maneuver." The track is classic Interpol; those fans who are looking for experimentation and change are advised to look elsewhere. However, the song (from the forthcoming Our Love to Admire, the band's first for Capitol) has a lot going for it, given that it has an incredibly propulsive beat and lyrics that actually make sense ("today my heart swings," for example, as opposed to "you wear those shoes like a dove").

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Like I used to say, at the end of my radio show, until next time, be safe...

My Next Reading: 6/26/2007

Dear All,

My next poetry reading will take place on Tuesday, June 26, 2007. Here are the details:

Graduate Reading Night at Cornelia Street Cafe
29 Cornelia Street
New York, NY 10014
212-989-9319

Traci Bimhall - Sarah Lawrence College
Amy Lawless - The New School
Danny Rivera - City College
Zach Sussman - New York University
Angela Veronica Wong - The New School

Time: 6pm
Admission: $6 gets you one free drink

I hope to see some of you there!

[DR]

Celebrate Brooklyn

http://www.briconline.org/celebrate/schedule_2007.asp

Come to my backyard for a picnic and concert! June 29/ 30.

2 cool events, fyi...

FREE
Queerin' Queens Pride Celebration
@ Queens Museum of Art
June 17th

an evening of poetry, music and dance featuring
Climbing PoeTree
Queen GodIs
DJ Ashu Rai
and many more!

Film Festival: 3-5pm
Performance: 5-7pm

**Complimentary Light Refreshments will be served.**


SATURDAY 6/16

DOORS: 8pm
SHOW: 9pm
DANCE PARTY: all night long!
WHERE: Clemente de Soto Velez cutural center, NYC
107 suffolk st ( between DElancy and Rivington)
3rd floor studio 307 (Afro Brazil Art Capoiera Studio

MUSIC * POETRY * FOOD * ACTION

*Raising FUNDS for ONE* LOVE's trip to SOUTH AFRICA
*Celebrating MOANA and* OJA's born days
*MOURNING and HONORING*
30th Anniversary of Soweto Children Uprising

One Love South Africa
is an international team of Artist, Educators, Leaders and Activist standing together in action to end AIDS in South Africa.

SUGGESTED DONATION: $15-$ 50

2nd whale shark dies at Ga. Aquarium

In January, Ralph, another whale shark that was among the aquarium's first stars after it opened in 2005, also died there.

Ralph had stomach problems that led to an inflammation of a membrane in his abdomen, according to aquarium officials. The aquarium has theorized that a chemical it no longer uses in the tank to treat parasites might have contributed to his loss of appetite and health problems.

The two new whale sharks, Yushan and Taroko, join Alice and Trixie in the aquarium's 6-million-gallon tank. The sharks can grow up to 40 feet long.

Poetry! Live! Tonight!

Here are the details for the reading that I'll be giving tonight at the Bowery Poetry Club:

Saturday, June 9 2007
8:00pm - 9:30pm

Greetings Magazine celebrates the release of aural issue #13 at the Bowery Poetry Club with a concert/reading featuring poets Jacqueline Waters, Daniel Rivera, and magazine editor Jeffrey Joe Nelson. Bands Legends and Drachein are also scheduled to perform, as well as experimental musicians John Clair and Jed Shahar. Greetings Magazine, a ten-year-old literary magazine, is primarily published as a limited-edition, handmade CD of live music and poetry performances. This issue includes performances by comedian Nick Kroll, R&B tandem Simone and Blaze, hip-hop master MC Extra-Cheese, and poets David Cameron, Paul Killebrew, and Cliff Fyman. The Allman Brothers, Bill Evans, and the double-dutch jumping, bike-pumping children of Brooklyn also make cameos. All attendees will receive copies of the CD. In the past two years alone, Greetings has been proud to host a diverse group of musicians: Adam Matta, Julianne Carney, The Woes, Sabir Mateen, Val Geffner, Danny Erker (of the Cobble Hillbillies), Bryan Eubanks, Blaise Siwula, Warslut, John Clair, Spin 17, and Marina Rosenfeld. In the same time period the magazine has published the work of writers Bob Holman, Filip Marinovich, Matvei Yankelevich, Julien Poirier, Geoffrey Cruikshank-Hagenbuckle, James Hoff, Stan Apps, Michael Ruby, Eddie Berrigan, Phil Cordelli, Dustin Williamson, Steve Dalachinsky, Yuko Otomo, Micah Ballard, Stan Apps, Vanessa Place, Harold Abramowitz, Joseph Mosconi, Ilya Bernstein, Ara Shirinyan, and Mathew Timmons. As always the editors encourage musicians, writers, and entertainers to submit works and proposals for the next issue and/or reading in person at the show.

fun with pearl jam

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLd22ha_-VU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePjESN9pRdg&mode=related&search=

Teddy began collecting his things...

Adventures of a Teddy Bear by Mrs H. C. Cradock: An Abridged Version
First published October 1934 by George G Harrap & Co. Ltd. 182 High Holborn, London

THE NURSERY
"Deep breathing now," said Elizabeth.

TEDDY LEAVES HOME
"I don't think I can have an adventure sitting here. Do you think so, Owly?" He said the last few words aloud. The other part was thinking. Then he wished he had not spoken, for he wanted the adventure to be a secret.
Hanky, Biscuits, Honey, a little string, a knife--in case, a man's proper leather purse. Three tiddly-wink counters. He called them pennies. One was blue, one red, and one green. Walking-stick! He put on an important sort of grown-up look. "P'raps I'll write."
"Writing paper, one envelope, one stamp."

TEDDY BEGINS HIS ADVENTURES
Now his legs were not very long, and soon his strides became shorter, then shorter still.

TEDDY SAVES THE LIFE OF A LITTLE GIRL
I'll pay, said Teddy, feeling very grand

TEDDY KEEPS A SCHOOL
Teddy felt a little anxious about the school, for, truth to tell, he wasn't a very clever little bear. He knew that an island was a piece of land with water all around it--
My dear Mummy,
I am having wonderful adventures. I will tell you all about it some day. Love to John and Owly.
EDWARD BEAR, ESQUIRE, HEADMASTER.

TEDDY SLEEPS IN A TREE
"Now listen to this," he said. "'The rat ran away when it saw the cat.'"
They gazed at him open-mouthed. What learning!
"Now the reading lesson is done," said Teddy. "Geography next."
"What is an island, children?"
Silence.
Cock-robin, Sparrow, Jenny Wren, and Blue Tit sometimes came too.

TEDDY SEES FAIRIES
They rowed very quietly up to the island

TEDDY DECIDES TO GO HOME
Teddy writes in his little blue notebook:
SAVED THE LIFE OF A FAT LITTLE GIRL
BEING HEADMASTER
SLEPT IN A TREE
TELEGRAMS
FAIRIES
Never again, surely, would they roll him on the nursery floor and call him "Fatkins."

THE HOUSE IN THE WOOD
"Not a bad idea," said John. "But I can remember things without a notebook. If you write down everything, Teddy, you'll spoil your memory."
But Teddy didn't know what that meant. He wrote:
BIG STICKS
LITTLE STICKS
LITTLEST STICKS
CONES
MOSS
STICKY MUD
Teddy and Owly worked very hard

MUMMY COMES
"I don't think it's light enough for tomorrow," he thought.
To-morrow soon came; it generally does when you go to sleep quickly.
It was the very loveliest party.

THEY ALL GO HOME
Owly was murmuring, "I thoughted of the best adventure. Nobody ever had such nice people to tea"; and as he was so young they didn't contradict him.

Girl of Sixteen

Lyrics and Conversation


I don’t want to start any blasphemous rumors
But I think that god’s got a sick sense of humor
And when I die I expect to find him laughing.

*

Mother: When are you going to have kids?
Daughter: Should I get married first?

*

what day is it
and in what month
this clock never seemed so alive

*

Mother: You gained some weight.
Daughter: You stayed the same.

*

Girl of sixteen, whole life ahead of her
Slashed her wrists, bored with life
Didn’t succeed, thank the lord
For small mercies

*

The sun is sinking down
I'm standing 'round my window
You say you're going away
But I believe in love

*

Fighting back the tears, mother reads the note again
Sixteen candles burn in her mind
She takes the blame, its always the same
She goes down on her knees and prays

*

Peace be with you.
And also with you.

*

Mother: What are you writing?
Girl: Stupid typewriter.
Typewriter: You’re a star.
Girl: I’m a lowly planet.
Typewriter: Don’t forget to dream.

*

TO DO: Buy: To Buy or Not to Buy Organic
Build Your Own Treehouse.
I Like You. Lose weight.
Take advice from Amy Sedaris

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Girl of eighteen, fell in love with everything
Found new life in Jesus Christ
Hit by a car

*

The moon is coming up
And I'm still here in prayer
You say you've had enough
And that you just don't care

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Time Out Moon Café
Huge storm hits bay window
Slant sheets of hail
On the top of the mountain
My heart rises and falls

*

Summers day, as she passed away
Birds were singing in the summer sky
Then came the rain, and once again
A tear fell from her mother’s eye.

Boulder Falls

I could not have taken this picture because it was shot in 1919. But I was here.

Rocky Mountain

I did not take this picture but I could have...

Homely

Literary Journals that Have Rejected My Poems, an Unabridged List:

LIT

New Ohio Review
New American Writing
The Saranac Review
Cue: A Journal of Prose Poetry
Eye-Rhyme
The Columbia Review
jubilat
Notre Dame Review
New York Quarterly

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Pages 37 - 38 of my Moleskin journal:

Lebanon's religious make-up: Sunni Muslims; Shiite Muslims; Maronite Christians; Druze.
U.S. Mint > Bureau of Engraving & Printing > Mutilated Currency Unit

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A Conversation Between Category A Members Rivera and Crosby, in Brief:

C: Aren't you a little old for a velcro wallet?
R: Don't you dare judge me, motherfucker exclamation point
C: I see you haven't refuted my judgment.
R: You obviously can't appreciate the finer things in life. Like a velcro wallet made in China. Hi-yo!
C: Sad, sad little man.
R: Your point is what, exactly?
C: If you strike me down, I will only become more powerful than you can imagine.
R: Like He-Man?
C: Loser.

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Glossolalia: n. tongue; ecstatic usually unintelligible utterance usually.

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Have a happy and healthy Memorial Day weekend, everyone.

Fast Fashionable

It's great to go through your record/CD collection and rediscover those old favorites that sound good years, if not decades, after first hearing them. For me, Depeche Mode's Violator is one of those records--vaguely detached without being cold (those damn synths!), but full of drive and raw energy (without resorting to macho bravado). And while the lyrics leave something to be desired (Dave Gahan is no Bob Dylan), there is nothing wrong with the frankness and simplicity of the following words: Words like violence / break the silence / come crashing in / into my little world / painful to me / pierce right through me / can't you understand / oh my little girl?

And speaking of music, the Album of the Week is Mirrored by Battles (see cover art, above), which is epic, sprawling, instrumental post-rock for the twenty-second century.

http://www.amazon.com/Mirrored-Battles/dp/B000OLHGBQ/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/002-0001001-5034422?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1180063931&sr=8-1

Calling all alumnaes and almost alumuses

Congratulations to the Class of 2007 from all of us here at Katz's Delicatessen...we got your tongues.

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Love to TP, my homies, FGT, and the biatch patrol.

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"I'm tired of Love: I'm still more tired of Rhyme.
But money gives me pleasure all the time." --Hilaire Belloc

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Congratulations and best of luck to the Marquis de Mercury "freewriting saves all" Mystique, Marquis de "Stee-rike! Hi-O!" Rivera, Marquis de "Is that sexual?" Modig, and Marquis de "Gimme some jello I love you Myella so much" Cosby, for yet another gruel-filled semester. You've made a world of difference on my soul. XXOO

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My orange cat sleeps on my pillow next to my head while my evil cat tries to poke our eyes out from under the bed.

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"I hardly ever tire of love or rhyme--
That's why I'm poor and have a rotten time." --Wendy Cope

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I never told you this before but I've been watching you in class.

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K.I.T. Never change! Remember the fried green tomatoes!

"I prefer your face as it is now. Ravaged."

The above, it goes without saying, is the album cover of the year.

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Is there anything cuter than Rufus Wainwright in lederhosen?

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Ever notice how conservatives will resort to using words like "illegal," while liberals prefer to use "undocumented"?

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Song of the Moment: CSS - "Fuck Off is Not the Only Thing You Have to Show" [Sub Pop, 2006]

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Station platform scene. What unpredictable calm--it's the inner voice.
--Tomas Transtromer

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We need not know the details of history to recognize its children.
--Tony Tost

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Dislocate, the literary journal of the graduate creative writing program at the University of Minnesota, has published "Permanence."

With this event, modern American poetry has finally suffered creative collapse.

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I'm in the middle of drawing up a summer reading list. So far (have you any suggestions?), I've only been able to come up with the following books:

Nicanor Parra - Antipoems: How to Look Better and Feel Good
Various - Scoring from Second: Writers on Baseball
Eliot Asinof - Eight Men Out: The Black Sox and the 1919 World Series
Dave Eggers - What Is the What*

*denotes nearly completed; progress impeded by arrival of life events.

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I was looking forward to a cross-country road trip from Chicago to San Diego, but will have to do with with my own plans, tired heat.

*

how do we make sense
of such evil,

ashen stream over
Murray Street

Hot Wax - May 2007

Pressure Drop - "Theme for the Outcaste"
Radio 4 - "Dance to the Underground"
Young Love - "Discotech"
Liars - "It Fit When I Was a Kid (Don't Techno For an Answer Remix)"
!!! - "Yadnus"
CSS - "Alala"
Battles - "Atlas"
Moa - "Joy & Pain"
DJ Shadow - "Red Bus Needs to Leave!"
Tricky - "Demise"
Jarvis Cocker - "Tonite"
Sean Lennon - "Wait for Me"
Johnny Cash - "Further Up On the Road"
[track deleted]
Bruce Springsteen - "O Mary Don't You Weep"

Hunter College - BFA Thesis Exhibition

My brother, Steve, will take part in Hunter College's BFA degree exhibition (entitled "TEN."), which opens on Thursday, May 17. All are invited to attend.

The other artists in the group show, whose work ranges from painting to sculpture to performance art, are Michael Berube, Claudio Blanco, Ian Campbell, John Gonzalez, David Hudec, Jun Imamura, Jen Phippen, Norah Quinn, and Jesse Willenbring. The show is curated by Professor Gabriele Evertz.

The nitty-gritty:

TEN.
May 17 through June 16, 2007

The Bertha and Karl Leubsdorf Art Gallery
Hunter College
68th Street and Lexington Avenue (SW corner)
New York, NY 10021

Gallery hours: Tuesday through Saturday, 1-6pm
Telephone: 212-772-4991

Onward, Christian soldiers...