The more things change... poets at the VMFA TONIGHT!!!

John Hoppenthaler and Deborah Ager will be reading
(see bios in previous posts)

In the place of Bernadette Geyer and Anna Claire Hodge

GREG DONOVAN and SHANN PALMER

will be reading!! 6-8pm FREE

Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
Richmond, VA

First Friday Poets at VMFA 6-8pm Meet Poet # 4

Poet John Hoppemthaler

TONIGHT!!!   FREE 6-8pm VMFA

Meet Mr. Hoppenthaler:


John Hoppenthaler books of poetry are Lives Of Water (2003) andAnticipate the Coming Reservoir (2008), both titles from Carnegie Mellon University Press. With Kazim Ali, he has co-edited a volume of essays on the poetry of Jean Valentine (forthcoming from U of Michigan P, 2012). His poetry appears in Ploughshares, Southern Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, Laurel Review, Barrow Street, West Branch,Christian Science Monitor, Pleiades, and Blackbird, as well as a number of anthologies, includingPoetry Calendar (Alhambra Publishing),Making Poems: 40 Poems with Commentary by the Poets (State U of New York P), September 11, 2001: American Writers Respond (Etruscan Press), Blooming Through the Ashes (RutgersUP), The Sound of Poets Cooking (JACAR Press), and Chance Of A Ghost (Helicon Nine Editions). Among his honors are an Arts Fellowship Award for Excellence in the Field of Literature from the West Virginia Division of Culture and History and the West Virginia Commission on the Arts, a North Carolina Community Council for the Arts Regional Artist Project Grant, and residency fellowships from the MacDowell Colony, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, The Elizabeth Bishop House, and the Weymouth Center for the Arts & Humanities. For eleven years, he served as Poetry Editor for Kestrel, and he now edits A Poetry Congeries for the cultural siteConnotation Press: An Online Artifact and curates a guest-edited poetry feature. He also serves as Advisory Board Member forFairleigh Dickinson University’s Words and Music Festival (WAMFEST). Personal Assistant to Toni Morrison for nine years, he is now an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing and Literature atEast Carolina University. He lives on the banks of the PamlicoRiver in Washington,NC with his wife, Christy, his stepson, Danny, and their kitten, Obi.

First Friday Poets @VMFA Jan 6th Poet # 3

First Friday poets at VMFA January 6
Anna Claire Hodge  # 3

Poets at the Virginia Museum January 6th (First Friday) Local Poet Alert!!

First Friday in January at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts you will have the opportunity to meet and hear four WONDERFUL poets reading- Deborah Ager, Bernadette Geyer, Anna Claire Hodge, and John Hoppenthaler. They will read 25 minutes each from 6pm to 8pm in the atrium. Free.

 

Meet Ms. Hodge:

 

 

 

Anna Claire Hodge is a graduate of VCU's MFA program in poetry. Her poems have appeared in Breakwater Review, Blue Earth Review, Miracle Monocle, Makeout Creek, and Hayden's Ferry, among others. Her work has been nominated for both the AWP Intro Journals award, as well as the Best New Poets anthology. A native Floridian, she is currently a columnist in Orlando.

 

poems  and another 

First Friday poets at VMFA January 6 Poet # 2

First Friday poets at VMFA January 6
Bernadette Geyer Poet # 2

Poets at the Virginia Museum January 6th (First Friday) Local Poet Alert!!

First Friday in January at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts you will have the opportunity to meet and hear four WONDERFUL poets reading- Deborah Ager, Bernadette Geyer, Anna Claire Hodge, and John Hoppenthaler. They will read 25 minutes each from 6pm to 8pm in the atrium. Free.

 

 

 

About Ms. Geyer:

 

Bernadette Geyer lives inVienna, Virginia, where she works as a freelance writer and editor. Shereceived a 2010 Strauss Fellowship from the Arts Council of Fairfax County and isthe author of the poetry chapbook WhatRemains (Argonne House Press). Her poems have appeared in Verse Daily, Oxford American, The MidwestQuarterly, North American Review, and elsewhere.  Geyer was twice selected asa Jenny McKean Moore Poetry Scholar at The George Washington University, and threeof her poems appeared on Northern Virginia buses as part of the Moving Wordsprogram, sponsored by the Cultural Affairs Division of the Arlington CountyDepartment of Parks, Recreation, and Cultural Resources. Geyer has served as apoet-in-the-schools in Northern Virginia through the Humanities Project of theArlington Public Schools, and collaborated with the Greater Reston Arts Center in2010 on a program to teach students how to write poetry in response to visualart. In 2011, she participated in the 3rd Annual Poetry Expo atMount Vernon High School, in Mt. Vernon, Virginia.

 

 

poems (video)   another poem  and another  and one last

First Friday poets at VMFA January 6 Deborah Ager Poet # 1

Poets at the Virginia Museum January 6th (First Friday)  Local Poet Alert!!

First Friday in January at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts you will have the opportunity to meet and hear four WONDERFUL poets reading- Deborah Ager, Bernadette Geyer, Anna Claire Hodge, and John Hoppenthaler. They will read 25 minutes each from 6pm to 8pm in the atrium. Free.

About Ms. Ager:

Deborah Ager’s poetry collection is Midnight Voices. Her poems have
appeared in journals such as New England Review, The Georgia Review,
Quarterly West, New Letters, New South and elsewhere. She’s founding
editor and publisher of 32 Poems Magazine and has overseen the
magazine since its inception in 2003. Many poems first appearing in 32
Poems have been honored in the Best American Poetry and Best New Poets
anthologies and on Verse Daily and Poetry Daily.

poems   and more  32 Poems Journal 

Poets at the Virginia Museum January 6th (First Friday)

Local Poet Alert!!

First Friday in January at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts you will have the opportunity to meet and hear four WONDERFUL poets reading- Deborah Ager, Bernadette Geyer, Anna Claire Hodge, and John Hoppenthaler. They will read 25 minutes each from 6pm to 8pm in the atrium. Free.

Click here for more info- I'll be posting individual pages for each poet soon!

30 Things to Stop Doing to Yourself!

There are mornings when my web reading while I breakfast is a terrible waste-

not this morning.

I wish the list were shorter so I could carry it around, some of the thoughts are repetitive, but whatever-

Go Here and Free yourself

then get back to whatever you were doing before you read this. Did it make any difference?

If you're looking for my poem-a-day entries

If you're looking for my poem-a-day entries-
you won't find them here anymore. They were all drafts, unformed, unfinished poem starts- and I will be fiddling with them for awhile.

I miss writing a whole poem each day, I feel a little lost, aimless. January- I'm looking forward to getting serious again.

Got a couple of no's from my submissions, both with nice comments and please send more, it's a good kind of rejection, I suppose.

I've had two wonderful opportunities to write, one at The Porches (if you look at the photo on the webpage, my room was second floor with the chimney- the blue room- see below). The other time "away" was house sitting for a friend west of Richmond, where I slept a lot and made some clay doodads.  It was good to clear my head, but home is still somewhat chaotic, what with four adults in a small house (and we all have different schedules).

Writing is a solitary ordeal. When I was in college, music was a solitary ordeal. Creativity, for me, is primarily solitary. The older I get, the more I crave silence and empty rooms. I was to get rid of the excess around me, pare down, uncomplicate.

I sense some new directions for the winter. Come with me.

Read some current work out there right now...

Chapbook over at the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature

Poem "Mrs. Klute" at PIF

Poem "The bells done rung" at Qarrtsiluni

Plus the daily poems, to be updated shortly

Thanks for reading my work!

Are you writing a poem a day in November?

Here's some good places for inspiration:

Book of Kells

also

Poetic Asides

or take a headline from the newspaper

or get on twitter and check out some of the folks who are poets

I can't help being proud

Poems are like children I finish up (as best I can) then shoo them out into the world hoping they make something of themselves.

My poem "On the Ninety-Ninth Floor" which I wrote about 9-11 in 2001 (also titled "On the Hundred and First Floor" on the advice of an editor who was a Rolling Stones fan) has been used in two different school English programs and been published numerous times in print and on the web.

While googling myself (if you submit poetry, you should check occasionally) I found another instance where the poem was used, this time in a commemoration ceremony at Harper College in Illinois, read by Anne Davidovich, an English professor.

HERE is the link. Thanks, Professor Davidovicz!

Poetry Tasting Thursday!

	Thursday, October 27 · 6:00pm - 8:00pm
	C'est Le Vin 15 N. 17th St. RVA 23219

Is that a poet behind those $5 sunglasses?

or is it Shann with a new haircut by her personal stylist?

Makes me wanna write a jazz hot poem-

Poetry Society of Virginia Newsletter October

If you are interested, find it HERE

If you want to receive a copy in your email, let me know, I'm the editor!

The annual contest begins November 1st and runs through January 19th (Poe's Birthday)

Cash prizes, some pretty substantial, quality well-known judges that change every year!

C'mon- you know you want to!

Fountain Books and Chop Suey

And this is why I purchase books at these two stores (or occasionally from a writer at a reading):

Read this article if you love books

My husband noticed Books-a-Million on Broad Street is closed. I never much cared for the place for books- the staff was generally good and the magazine selection was the best in town (at least for my cross stitch). The loss of any bookstore diminishes all of us.

You laugh now, but wait until Amazonofthefuture tells us what to read.

and they don't like poetry.

Halloween Poems??? You bet your pumpkin!

What could be more fun than poems for Halloween??

A most benign holiday, apparently safe for all faiths- or those with little.

Click HERE for selections.... and Boo!

$10,000 Poetry Prize Winner

Congratulation

Lisa Russ Spaar
2011 Recipient

The Carole Weinstein Prize in Poetry, established in 2005, is awarded annually to a poet with strong connections to central Virginia. The $10,000 prize recognizes significant recent contribution to the art of poetry and a broad range of achievement in the field.

from Poetry Daily

Sevenlings and Shann

Did I mention I'm writing a sevenling a day for the month of October?

So far, it's been interesting- not as easy as I'd thought, but fun.

link HERE

give it a try- I'll post one soon...

you wanna hear SLAM? REAL Slam??

Then be here Tuesday night- yeah- I know, it's Maryland.

Taylor Mali

And who, you ask- is this Transtromer dude??

He's writes difficult poetry, only available through translation.

He's 80.

He's not Bob Dylan, or American.

"Transtromer, whose subtle, multi-layered work often deals with the relation between man and nature or the conscious and unconscious, is a regular on the list of favourites to win the prize." Simon Johnson, Reuters

What do I think? Dunno, really. I'm not a huge fan of The Poet With the Name That Sounds Like a Sci-Fi Movie. (or should I say Syfy?)

HERE be some useful links

My Chapbook is posted - The Dead Mule School !!

Read Skip-Tracing Angels

Click here-

Read the other stuff, too!

Tell me what you like!

Poets coming to town!!

Lotsa Poets! Put on yer underwear and get ready to go!

Nick Lantz Sept 28

Norge Library reading Oct 1

Megan Martin and Kristi Maxwell Oct 3

Richmond Secrets reading  art6 October 14

Carolyn Forche    Oct 14 UR

more coming

New Zine - New Poem

Here it is

Jubilee

over at Scissors and Spackle

Forgotten poem from 2004

Sequence

All my poems scamble in shrimp nets, full
and fishy, tossed across the deck of boats

where lazy afternoons sway honky-tonk music.
Sometimes in the middle of a dream I'll hear

a Cajun tune I can't remember when I'm awake.
Makes me wonder what else I've forgotten, who sang.

When I shut my eyes I see grainy 8mm movies,
stop-action black and white flashbacks in wonky angles,

smooth pine floors, a single bed in a back room;
somewhere there's a party in progress.

Thinking about it arouses me, and I don't know why.
It was Tucson in the spring or an East Texas summer.

Some men wear the smell of their work: creosote,
wet peat, fresh cut wood, motor oil and sweat—

I'm in line at the movies when I torque into a faded Polaroid
and try to inch my way closer to the guy in front of me.


His smell snaps me back into the arms of that mechanic.
We fucked all night in a rollaway bed a million years ago.

The rug was olive green, the wine was fruity and dark,
words are vivid colors and fais-dodo lovers who wait

dancing on the other side of a closed door,
at the end of the dock, in an elevator going up.



April/May 2004 Eclectica

Poetry tonight 9-6 at the University of Richmond

It's been awhile- earthquakes, hurricanes, 5 day power outages, but I'm back and ready to go with news and such:

Tonight at UR:

Honor Moore, Distinguished Writer in Residence

Tuesday, September 6, 2011 at 7 p.m.
Brown-Alley Room, Weinstein Hall

Honor Moore has published a memoir, The Bishop’s Daughter, and a biography, The White Blackbird, A Life of the Painter Margarett Sargent by Her Granddaughter. The Bishop’s Daughter was named an Editor’s Choice by the New York Times and was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award. In 2009 the Library of America published Poems from the Women’s Movement, an anthology edited by Moore, and in 2010 the Feminist Press published her translation of Taslima Nasrin’s Revenge. She is also the author of three collections of poetry—Memoir, Darling, and Red Shoes—and her play, Mourning Pictures, was produced on Broadway. Moore has received awards in poetry and playwriting from the National Endowment for the Arts, the New York State Council for the Arts, and the Connecticut Commission for the Arts, and in 2004 was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in non-fiction.

HERE is the link to the rest of the year - STEVE ALMOND is coming!!!!

No posts due to earthquake ennui!

I can't sleep- I hate this- I am behind on everything!

Poetry workshop again at Grace Church Wednesday, August 31 at 2pm and 7:30pm

scroll down the page for more info- Please come!

my personal earthquake damage.

At least the Waterford (colleen) tumbler didn't break.

Poetry workshop in Goochland starts Wednesday

top ten "best of" poets?

It;'s a new world out there, children.

They can cast Philip Levine as the Studs Terkel of poetry, but they can't make a single baby boomer young again- and double that when you judge it poetry. (Okay, I got a little lost on the good ship trope but I'm not rewritting this- it's not a poem).

ANYWAY,  Click here to get some interesting opinions- and click on the specific poetry links.

Tell me what you think- I'm not sure yet what I think.

I've never heard of ANY of these poets, that I can remember (and that worries me).

So yeah, this made me almost cry

Poetry can do that, if it's the right poem (by Cate Peebles) at the right moment of chaos in my day

Read it and weep

Maybe it's because I window shopped at a couple of little odd-shops on Lakeside Ave today (across the street from Consignment Corner, where we also shopped).

There's something about the sight of objects someone doesn't need anymore that makes me happy - they are relieving themselves of the burden of "things".

but what if they have died or lost everything because of difficult circumstances?

Conflict. That's what makes poets. Conflicts. That's what makes poems.

New National Poet Laureate

Head wordy fella

And so it's the personable curmudgeon Philip Levine as our new poet laureate.

A "working man" because he grew up in Detroit. A "common" man because he isn't an elite New Yorker.

I happen to like his poems. A lot. But there is a certain cynicism attached to the decision to offer up a "commoner" to the people, when the middle class is under such pressure.

At least that would be the case if anyone really cared- except a handful of poets sprinkled across the country.

Another drop in the ocean, A sweet one.

Wanna Free Book? Do you like Dead Penguins?

Check this out:

an ebook promo from MelvilleHouse Publishing

AND

you can get it right here in Richmond at The Fountain Bookstore!!

It's free if you do it in the next four days!!

I got mine.

A summer poem...by Tony Hoagland

Summer is tough for poetry- it's hot, other things call (barbecue, watermelon, naps) and general folderoling around.

So I got nothin'

But here's a poem by Tony Hoagland you might like

Summer

mmm, yeah.

Hanging out with old poems (by old poets)

eleven years ago on PIF

Interstate

nine years ago at the Melic Review

(I wanted to) Dance on Your Grave

if they had been published in print journals, these poems would be lost.

I love the internet!!

Poet Laureate of Virginia

To all concerned:


There is NO List at this time for nominations for Virginia Poet Laureate!

Kelly Cherry is the current laureate and will serve until her term expires in Fall of 2012.

When the time comes, probably early spring, the newsletter for the Poetry Society of Virginia will contain a ballot where interested parties can submit names. Ten names will go forward to the MEMBERSHIP of the poetry society for a vote which will then be reduced to 5 names (three from the committee, two from at-large candidates). Up until that time, no names or candidates will be considered and it does not make me very happy to receive all these letters of support in my email, since I have one vote and one vote only, just like every other member of the society.

If you want to be eligible to vote, join the poetry society. We have been appointed by the legislature to suggest names to the governor.

Your candidate may be the most qualified, may receive enough votes to be on the final list, but all of this is more than six months away. This is NOT a popularity contest. Letters of support hold no sway and will not be considered. Someone needs to nominate your candidate when the time comes.

There will be many wonderful and well-qualified candidates. The poet laureate spends the two years traveling all over the state presenting programs and readings. It is not an award to be given as a tribute, it is a difficult, expensive, and time-consuming job.

Please go to http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/ for more information and to join the society, if you wish.

We have so much....poem a day

Poem a Day from the Academy of American Poets

by Stuart Dischell

Click here

So far behind! So much poetry!!!

Poem accepted for Scissors & Spackle for the 1/11 Equinox issue (out September 30th)

Submitting like crazy-

leaving tomorrow for West Virgina for the Writers Workshop at WVU with Denise Duhamel-

I hope the family doesn't stop up the sink or the toilet while I'm gone!

More poems after that- still working on my "Assassin" series.........

Modern Poetry- a thoughtful commentary

Read this now-

it's wonderful

CLICK HERE

Love it, love it, love i!

Why I play piano...

besides my aunts, I loved Liberace and JoAnne Castle

and

I'm from the FDA and I'm here to kill you...

Watch this movie free thru Sunday night-

seriously- watch it!!!

http://healthimpactnews.com/2011/the-proven-cancer-cure-the-fda-has-tried-to-surpress/

I'm from the FDA and I'm here to kill you...oh- and to get rich from your money while I do it!

June 14 poem-a-day

Why Poets are not Optimists

up too late
assembling chapbooks
she hopes to make gas money,
maybe get a sandwich,
have a little extra for the weekend
for the farmers market-
early tomatoes, peaches, maybe,
feel like a success
in the face of so many
people grinding out poetry,
she doesn’t even have
what she’ll read
picked out
or her dress
nothing is timed
nor in large fonts
now she won’t get
enough sleep
she never does
preparing to tell strangers
her deepest secrets
they should at least
buy a lousy chapbook.

Mark Rylance on the Tony Awards

In case you thought Mark Rylance was riffing- here is the prose poem he used in his acceptance speech...

POEM

Don't tell me poetry can't be memorized if it doesn't rhyme!

June 12 poem-a-day

Selected


Jumble of covers,
I am not trapped,
I am not trapped.
Aggregate calamities,
opportunity + idea = advantage.
Covert operations indicate
a lack of documentation.
Sancho Panza got it right
(about the pitcher).


Slipping into tepid waters,
I remember how to swim.
Under the influence/
it is too easy to ignore
the obvious
old injuries
telegraph a warning,
too late, too late
I throw myself against the wall of your smile.

June 6 poem-a-day

Half an inch of water


I’ve never been confused for someone else,
who’s missed a plane to Memphis,
fought with a ragtag few against the many,
stepping forward when those near me don't.

I’d rather duck and run, look busy, divert
attention when necessary, or just say No.
As the rope gets to me, I’ll ease it out,
unwilling to hang alone or with others.

When it is time to stand I’ll watch
from a comfortable distance in a lawn chair,
shaded under the gnarl of a grape arbor,
as the vine grows to cover my transgressions.

I’ll never be a martyr, or a blessed saint,
my convictions are fluid, convenient,
fleeting as first love, only a pin prick deep,
silent in mourning, I will not speak first.

June 5 poem-a-day

removed for revision

June poem-a-day grind 4

Removed for revision.

June poem-a-day 3

removed for revisions

June poem-a-day 2

removed for revisions

June Poem-a-Day (aka Grind) 1

removed for revisions

Yes, I have not posted for two weeks!

But that is going to change. I am (once again, foolishly, because I have a masochistic streak) writing a poem-a-day for the month of June.

Frankly, I've been floundering since April, writing little to nothing for the month, doing some revising but I need a place to drop off new ideas, ya know?

I have been doing cross stitch, which no one much does anymore. Just finished a monocolor tree/heart motif, now I'm working on a lovely 'stained-glass look" art deco rose. Think Charles Rennie MacIntosh and you have the idea. It's my first full coverage piece, and I've been doing this a long time (30 plus years).

My 30th wedding anniversary is this month. I've been an employee of (some) Episcopal Church for 40 years. I moved to Richmond 40 years ago this month. Lot's of major things here.

time passes

the dude abides

I want to like this poem, but I don't

Read it HERE

more on Tracy HERE

and HERE

maybe she just didn't see the same movie I did, or dream about that scene, or want to be there.

Guess I'll see what the rest of the book is like.

Young people. Sigh.

Ya missed em- until they appear elsewhere

All those poems, thirty of them, are gone from here and are being scrubbed and rethought to make them better.

Ya missed 'em. Oh well.

next year.

Poet Kate Daniels reads Wednesday at the Library of Virginia

Poetic Principles features poet

Kate Daniels

Poetry reading and book signings
6 p.m.
Library of Virginia
800 E. Broad St.
692-3592.


"The Pedicure"

"The Hatching"

National Poetry Month is around the corner...

write a poem a day

take a poet to lunch

buy a book of poetry

donate a poetry book to a library or school classroom

buy a book of poems from Fountain Bookstore (in Richmond) or other local independent

carry a poem for Poem in Your Pocket Day!! April 14th

attend a poetry reading

all of the above and more....

I am doing a google group for daily poems- if ya wanna, email me! It'll be fun!

Now THIS is a lovely poem...

A LOVELY POEM

i can't help saying i think the last four lines are unnecessary, though, and bring the whole piece down a notch.

can't resist sending you to this blog...

Besides, it's a rant by the inimitable Ursula K. LeGuin- and if you don't know who she is, you might want to google her-

Article - Click HERE

When I was in my 20's, I could say "Fuck!" much faster than  "butt" or "fart"- words I was taught to never use in polite (particularly mixed) company! Thank you Country Joe!

I also learned as a child never to say golly or gosh- these being derivatives of the word god (implying goddamn) because I wouldn't want to violate a commandment.

Since that time, I can definitively state I have violated every commandment, most more than once.

Shit. I guess I'm fucked.

Blogging, tweeting, and other stuff

I am directing music for a production of "Annie" at Goochland Middle & High School - show dates are Mar18th, 19th and 20th! It will be fabulous!

I am working through music for the choir at Grace Episcopal Church for Lent and Easter, Ash Wednesday we have a noon and 7pm service.

We also have a "Local Talent Variety Show" at the church Friday the 11th at 7pm to support our mission work in the county- I'll be singing something, don't know what yet.

The Virginia Benefit Chorale has a concert next Sunday (in Blackstone) at 5pm.

With the regular work I do and poetry and all that- my time is passing fater than I care to think about- I look forward to April Fool's Day to celebrate my accomplishments!!

Oh yeah- I need to get taxes to the tax guy-

so don't expect much on the tweet, facebook, blog, email front for the next two weeks, okay??

love y'all!

help a family in New Zealand (or elsewhere)

Help a family in New Zealand (or elsewhere)- donate to Shelterbox-

here's a good source (and a group effort from writer Maureen Johnson-

http://www.maureenjohnsonbooks.com/2011/02/23/the-last-little-shelterbox/

A little bit behind....

but not a little behind-

Writing, reading, and taxes.

Three pieces in publication (or soon) more submissions on the way-

today will be spent with th floor scrubber in the kitchen, somethimes art isn't enough.

Poetry at art6 Friday at 7:30

Oh yeah- I'm crazy
and of course, it's documented-

crazy poets

If you want to find out for yourself- come to art 6 Gallery (6 east Broad Street) on Friday night at7:30 and hear myself and some other wacko poets prove it to you!!!  (it'll cost ya $5)

Trust me, you can call it research.

Hilarious!! "The poet laureate of the US is, of course...

W. S. Merwin." Of course- what?

Oh, Washington Post- you crack me up everytime!!!

Click HERE for the full story (well, tiny story)

We poets don't get no respect!!

Did I say POE-try??

The annual contest by the Poetry Society of Virginia deadline is approaching.

check out the details HERE

get those poems in by January 19th- Edgar Allan's birthday...

and sad news- Richmond poet (and contest winner many times) Norma Richardson died after a LONG battle with cancer. her obituary will probably be in the Richmond Times Dispatch tomorrow.


Rest in peace with all the company of heaven, dear Norma!

Over with the festivities- back to poetry!!!

I am going to write a poem a day in January, also submit, submit, submit. It's not a resolution, it's what I'm going to do,

First: Poetry Society of Virginia Contest HERE. I've managed to win and place over the years, cash prizes, so I'm going to start gathering this week.

"Secrets" reading in February 11th. I'm not sure what else I'll be doing but it's time to get some poets together, find a venue and do our thang.

Yup.

Happy New Year coming!

What a Nice Thing to Say, and at Christmas!

Muriel Rukeyser  "If there were no poetry on any day in the world, poetry would be invented that day. For there would be an intolerable hunger."

Muriel Rukeyser 

Holiday gifts for poets!!

I'm freezing- I don't care about anything but getting warm.
Busy waiting for packages to arrive so I can wrap them, that kind of thing.

Ordered a number of poetry books (from the poets directly), still trying to get to Fountain Bookstore (favorite bookstore in Richmond) to pick up a few titles.

For your poet friends:

Journals (though some of us like notebooks- what have you seen them use?)
Subscriptions (you can do this online)
         Poetry
         Poets & Writers
         or a million others!
Books
         for a list of poet's favorite book's, go here and scroll through the suggestions made by poets
Gift cards to bookstores (like Fountain Bookstore in Richmond or a local independent)

Most of these you can order right from your favorite chair and computer!!

Remember- THINK LOCAL, BUT LOCAL whenever you can!

Donate for the Holidays- Donate for Life

Are you buying something useless for someone who doesn't need (or want) it? Donate something instead.

Dean Young is one of our finest poets. He needs a heart transplant.

Donate HERE Read the letter by Tony Hoagland.

I did. I know my brother-in-law won't mind.

Some poems by Dean Young:

To those of you alive in the future

Thrown as if Fierce and Wild

Ode to Hangover  has audio

If everyone on my friends and email list donated $10- well, let's just say I have a LOT of friends and many (most) are poets and writers.

Such a wonderful life!!

From the Ninth Elegy:

Maybe we're here only to say: house,
bridge, well, gate, jug, olive tree, window —
at most, pillar, tower ...
but to say them, remember,
oh, to say them in a way that the things themselves 
never dreamed of existing so intensely.

Rilke


I am surrounded by a community of lovers and doers. It is a beautiful time of year.
When a car cuts me off in traffic, when the frantic mother runs into my ankles with her
shopping cart, when I despair over money or messes or temporary inconveniences,
I will recall this and smile.

And write.

Tuesday in Goochland!! Music!

December 7th at 7:30pm

the Virginia Benefit Chorale will sing at Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland

to benefit the Goochland Food Pantry and the Christmas Mother.

It's a free concert but we ask you to bring canned food

and/or consider making a donation to the program.

ALL money raised will go directly to

this important cause that has been taken on at Grace Church.

Hysterical!! A poetaster's birthday!

from the Writer's Almanac by Garrison Keillor (I subscribe and get it by email every day)

It's the birthday of Julia A. Moore  born in Plainfield Township, Michigan, on this day in 1847. She grew up on a Michigan farm, dropped out of school at the age of 11, bore 10 children, and is famous for writing really bad poetry — so famous for it, in fact, that Mark Twain modeled a character after her in The Adventures of Huck Finn, and he wrote a parody of Moore's bad poetry for that character, Emmeline Grangerford, to recite.


She's sometimes referred to as a "poetaster," which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as "a petty or paltry poet; a writer of poor or trashy verse; a rimester." This distinction usually entails things like the use of awkward meter, painfully sappy sentimentality, words that rhyme in an unpleasant way, or poor taste in subject matter. Other poetasters famous enough to be anthologized include J. Gordon Coogler, William McGonagall, and James McIntyre.

As for Moore, her favorite topics included abstinence, temperance, sudden death, terrible destruction, obituaries of small children, and big disasters, such as train wrecks or fires. One of her most famous poems is about the Chicago Fire. She wrote:

The great Chicago Fire, friends,
Will never be forgot;
In the history of Chicago
It will remain a darken spot.

It was a dreadful horrid sight
To see that City in flames;
But no human aid could save it,
For all skill was tried in vain.

Her first collection was published locally as The Sentimental Song Book (1876). But then a big Cleveland publisher picked it up, re-titled it The Sweet Singer of Michigan Salutes the Public, and sent out a bunch of copies to newspapers around the nation, along with a review of mock praise he'd written up. In spite of all this bad publicity, or perhaps because of it, Julia Moore's book of verse became a national best-seller, and she began to give public readings.

The readings did not go well. She was jeered off stage, and her husband, a Michigan farmer, made her promise to never publish any more poetry. She waited until her husband died, and then she published some more.

Each year in Michigan, the Flint Public Library holds a Julia A Moore poetry contest, and people have the chance to do their best imitations. In 1997, 150 years after her birth, the governor of Michigan set aside a week in her honor. A new edition of her poems was published a couple years later by Michigan State University Press, edited and introduced by Thomas J. Riedlinger; it's called Mortal Refrains: The Complete Collected Poetry, Prose, and Songs of Julia A. Moore, The Sweet Singer of Michigan (1998). She once said, "Literary is a work very hard to do."

In her poem "Sketch of Lord Byron's Life," she wrote:

"Lord Byron" was an Englishman
A poet I believe,
His first works in old England
Was poorly received.

Perhaps it was "Lord Byron's" fault
And perhaps it was not.
His life was full of misfortunes,
Ah, strange was his lot.

The character of "Lord Byron"
Was of a low degree,
Caused by his reckless conduct,
And bad company.

He sprung from an ancient house,
Noble, but poor, indeed.
His career on earth, was marred
By his own misdeeds.

yes, I have been remiss!

Posting poetry (or otherwise) has not happened much lately.

I did write a poem per day through the 16th or so but my get up and write rode away with a handsome cowboy. Or something like that.

Actually, I've been working, singing, doing the church choir director thing (Sundays plus 2 funerals).

Two events of note:

December 7th at 7:30pm the Virginia Benefit Chorale will sing at Grace Episcopal Church in Goochland to benefit the Goochland Food Pantry and the Christmas Mother. It's a free concert but we ask you to bring canned food and/or consider making a donation to the program. ALL money raised will go directly to this important cause that has been taken on at Grace Church.

As I type this, I am listening to the CD from our first concert last week at St Luke's Lutheran on Southside- it is AMAZING- and not just because I sing 2nd soprano). We open with an arrangement of "Steal Away" by local organist Mike Simpson, then go to Rachmaninoff, Brahms, Poulenc, and so many other songs. Did I mention we sing a cappella??

The other event is a poetry reading at art 6 Gallery on December 10th at 7:30. $5. Put it on your calendar, I'll 'splain more later!!

Poem a day November 9th

If you slow down



the stars stay longer,
the alarm doesn’t startle,
the milk won’t scald,
the toast can’t burn

because you’re right there
to see the sky lighten,
to slap the snooze alarm,
to turn the burner down,
to rescue breakfast,


then make some scrambled eggs,
watch the cardinals sing,
listen to Joni Mitchell,
sip your hot chocolate,
find the plum preserves,


before the world grabs you
and throws you to the wolves,
and jams up the interstate,
and fills your mail with bills,
and keeps you late at work,

stealing the day in high velocity.

November poem a day for the 8th

Ask Alice



She’s always saying yes when she wants
to say no, doesn’t seem right how folks
take advantage of her good nature, does it?

Then she’ll turn right around and Big Fat No
something that seems interesting, like a party
or dinner at a fancy place she’d never go alone.

Been known to say no to food when she’s hungry,
squeeze her legs tight in the car too prim to answer
in the affirmative to “Anybody need to stop?”

Hard-wired to do for others, deny herself,
she comes from a long line of giving women,
the kind that believes it’s what has to be done,


after all, it’s biblical, right? Dutiful wives,
loving mothers, must learn to abide, sit tight,
give in, walk the extra mile for everybody else.

The ease of Yes, the discomfort of No
needs to be switched around, rethought
before she wears herself out with loving.

Prob’ly have to piss off a few folks, before
the new rules set themselves in stone,
likely have to cry behind the steering wheel

when they play the guilt card, she mustn’t cave.
Truth be trotted out- she never did ‘em a favor
always pulling the wagon without any help.

She’s gonna give it a good No next time,
save the Really Big YES for what she wants.
Maybe dogs and Alice can turn a trick around.

November poem-a-day here's November 7th

Bamboozled, and on a Sunday

There are always biddies and busybodies
in a congregation - acting as spies for the devil.
It’s celestial intelligence, meddling minions
to insure the message is muddled, called out

before the match catches, Lacryma Christi!
The witnesses stand silent,mouths agape.
The end is nigh, and always has been,
(truth be told we never had a say at all).

You, Lucy? And Ethyl, long suffering,
the same sprinkled dirt now covers both of you.
Those expecting more will be sorely disappointed,
while the rest of us suspected nothing all along.

it's First Friday (again)!

and there is sculpture at art6-

and first novels at VCU- (that's Thursday)

and poetry at Chop Suey

and I'm writing a poem-a-day (so far without inspiration)

and it's a dark and dreary day (which I love, actually)

and I'm about to cook stuffed cabbage (with lamb and pine nuts)

life is good!

Are you teaching a poetry class?? Taking one??

Here's a text you might consider. At least make it part of your personal collection.


Making Poems

Poets include Jan Beatty, Robin Becker, Fleda Brown, J. L. Conrad, Jim Daniels, Todd Davis, Chris Dombrowski, Dan Gerber, Jeff Gundy, Kimiko Hahn, William Heyen, H. L. Hix, John Hoppenthaler, Ann Hostetler, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, David Kirby, Gerry LaFemina, Mary Linton, Shara McCallum, Dinty W. Moore, Erin Murphy, Mary Rose O’Reilley, Lee Peterson, Greg Rappleye, Keith Ratzlaff, Jack Ridl, Steven Sherrill, David Shumate, Aaron Smith, Lucien Stryk, Mary Swander, Sue Ellen Thompson, Natasha Threthewey, Brian Turner, Lee Upton, G. C. Waldrep, Michael Waters, Patricia Jabbeh Wesley, Katharine Whitcomb, and Robert Wrigley.



Twitter poets

Tonight we had a poet party on twitter- it was a blast!

Some heady names were there.

You missed it.

Voting again! Caption contest!

Go vote for someone- me, for instance, if you like my caption!

CAPTION CONTEST

Serious fun. Read the Project Runway commentary, too- voting is at the bottom of that.

Poetry Resolutions

Poetry Resolutions 10-17-10

1) To pay attention
2) To revise and reorder poems
3) To organize my time around writing poetry
4) Submit submit submit (contingent on #2)
5) Set aside reading times (poetry first, fiction after)
6) Clear my desk, clear my head
7) Walk everyday (I should probably move that up, it's doable)
8) Continue eating well, and plan meals better for the husband (who is quitting smoking)
9) Keep better contact with friends, near and far

Cooler weather brings more energy- I wish it brought more money (but I can't let that hold me up from doing these resolutions). It's very tempting to huddle under a throw and moan about details- I have certainly done  enough of that recently.

Forward. Outward display. Inner Peace.

Poetry.

Shann

Caption contest throwdown!! Go vote!!

and I'm in again- but I might be out tonight...

Go vote- go vote for someone!

READ here and scroll down to vote

Secret Stories Friday at art6

Don't miss out on this!!

7:30  $5
Poetry, music, reception after

The last poem-a-day for September

September 30th (draft)


She Endures

through rain, then mud,
then all the mold and mildew
in the little house, her closet

full of shoes and purses
on the cracked linoleum floor
beside mice nests, spider parts

she scribbles on the wall behind
her Laura Ashley paisley suit,
her white Rainbow girl formal

she writes: New York City,
San Francisco, London,
any place except home, here

where she lays out places
to see with pink lipstick
carried in her pocket, La Porte

the one city she will say
she hates, the heat, the stink,
the rules about taking Home Ec

instead of geology or Russian
pretending to be Blanche,
or the jester’s other girlfriend

she plots escape, university,
marriage, money, music,
in the meantime, she endures.

Even more poetry- from the Poetry Society of Virginia

If you don't have a job- check this out: (not sure what it costs if you aren't a member)

Come Enjoy!

three October readings by P.S.V. Poets

October 8th Award winning Poems

Joan Mazza, Evelyn Tower, and Rob Arthur

October 15th Published Poetry

Patsy Anne Bickerstaff, Ed Lull, and Norma Richardson

October 22nd Favorite Poets

Shonda Buchanan, Evelyn Tower, and Katie Brydon

at

University of Richmond, North Court Reception Room

1:00 pm – 3:00 pm

Free for P.S.V. members

Directions:

UR campus map: richmond.edu/visit/maps/index.html

Park behind the Modlin Center (building 50 on map).

Walk through Modlin Center

Cross Keller Road

North Court is building 40 on campus map.

Questions: contact Maria Butler, 285-8302.

PSV members please come and help attract the Osher members to

PSV membership

http://www.poetrysocietyofvirginia.org/

http://directory.richmond.edu/

an hour for each reader?????  Skip out for Bob Arthur, he's dreadful IMO



This will be a MUST SEE- Larry Levis

A teaser for a documentary film about an incredible poet-

My Story in a Late Style of Fire

When ?? Where ??

That's all I'll need to know.

Politics ain't poetry- ever-

I want to go to DC for Jon Stewart's Rally For Sanity- anyone wanna go with?

"In his outstanding new book, The Misogynist, novelist and biographer Piers Paul Read makes a list of what he describes as “the Seven Sins of the Secular State.”

They are racism, misogyny, homophobia, elitism, smoking, obesity and religious belief. Read discusses all of this with a breathtaking grasp of the absurdities of the contemporary world and the book is essential stuff."

(Michael Coren, via the Toronto Sun) (via C. Dale Young)

sept 12 draft poem-a-day

Eternity

removed for editing...

yes, I'm doing a poem a day again

here's September 4's draft
*removed for revisions*

*VMFA “First Fridays” Welcomes Back VCU Poets Please come!!!*

VMFA will host the first event in the new First Fridays performing arts
series on Friday, September 3 with poetry readings from four poets from VCU.

The readings will be held in the museum’s Atrium from 6-8 PM. Admission to each event is free and open to the public. Take advantage of the late Friday evening hours, and view the works of art in the galleries, browse the gift shop or enjoy the casual atmosphere, food and beverages offered in the Best Café before or after the performances

*First Fridays, September 3*
*Poets* (introduced by Shann Palmer)

6:00-6:25 pm Avery Beckendorf
6:30-6:55 Tarfia Faizullah
7:00-7:25 Randy Marshall
7:30-8:00 Cynthia Grier Lotze

*Avery Beckendorf *is a third-year MFA student in poetry at VCU. She earned a BA in creative writing and journalism from the University of Central Florida in 2006. She previously worked as editor of the *Cypress Dome*, a student literary magazine at UCF, and her poetry and fiction have appeared in The *Susquehanna Review* and *Takedown.*
*Cynthia Grier Lotze* earned her MFA in poetry from VCU in 2006. She has taught Literature and Writing at VCU and at the University of Mary Washington and teaches in the English Department at St. Catherine’s School. She is at work on a book-length poem entitled *Baedeker for Comets* and her
shorter poems can be found or are forthcoming in publications like *Harpur Palate, Babel Fruit*, *Opium, Versal* and *Makeout Creek*.
*Randy Marshall* received his MFA in poetry from VCU. His poems, essays, and reviews have appeared in *Richmond Arts Magazine, GSU Review, Cream City Review *and *Blackbird*. Selections of his poetry were named as finalists in the Frank O’Hara Chapbook Competitions. He currently serves as Associate Literary Editor of *Blackbird: an online journal of literature and he arts.*

*Tarfia Faizullah* received her MFA in poetry from VCU. She is a former associate editor of Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts. Her poetry has appeared in Mid-American Review, The Southern Review, Ploughshares, Cimarron Review, Green Mountains Review, Poetry Daily and elsewhere. She was a 2006-07 AWP Intro Journals Award winner, a 2008-09 winner of the Catherine and Joan Byrne Poetry Prize, and the 2009 winner of Ploughshares’ Cohen Award

"Jesus wants you to be a millionaire"

A poem by Robert Bruce from poetry.org (the rest of the poem HERE)

Jesus Wants You to be a Millionaire

We know that he

worked as a carpenter
until
he gave it up to
travel
tell stories
and generally
piss off people like me

Poets you might (or might not) enjoy

Interesting stuff from Jezebel

An odd mix of the sublime and the sleazy- if you like to talk shit, click on some of the videos (I'm sorry- my personal opinion is, if you think talking about blood and vaginas makes you a better woman than me- I am so not impressed little girl- you don't know my life).

Stand up, commentary, bullshit, brilliance- all under the heading of poetry.

You choose-

A really great poem!!!

A prize winner for sure....by Ed Madden-
Jubilate

For I will read queer things in punk magazines in English.
For we will talk about David Bowie and Rod Stewart in art.
For I will watch Sting sing ‘Don’t stand so close to me’ on Friday Night Videos
as I lie on a bed in Sheryl Honey’s house my senior year,
for I will lie on the bed with Elizabeth, who loaned me the magazines,
for I will lie on the bed with Paul, the quarterback with perfect hair and tanned ankles,
for we will watch Sting sing ‘Don’t stand so close to me.’

(click HERE for the entire poem)

Brian Henry talks poetry, man

Brian Henry at Best American Poetry as guest blogger -
(University of Rivhmond, Verse literary zine editor, Weinstein prize winner)

Here

here

here

here

here

here

here

here

enjoy!

Kelly Cherry named Poet Laureate of Virginia

Kelly Cherry has been appointed Poet Laureate of Virginia. She will serve from 2010-2012.

She was preceeded by Claudia Emerson and Carolyn Foronda, both incredible poets! Cherry is a wonderful follow-up in this line of poets.

a poem from the Cortland Review...



She Doesn't Care What you Say About Her,

Just so Long as you Spell Her Name Right


Would she have fame?
Would she take tea and have fame with her tea?
Or roll a joint, famously?

She imagined approval, applause
A man not bored by her voracity.

In the house to be
Furnished in the future,
There would be intricate, quiet rugs,
Acres of books,
Someone playing the cello.

A late supper after the concert or play...
Outside, the people were clamoring for autographs.
The Madonna Syndrome:

Later, they went home,
And the man who was not bored
By the fact that she loved him
Allowed her to write her name
On his balls with the tip
Of her tongue as many times
As it took to make sure
He got it right.


*******************gotta love that, right??? Thank you Poetry Society of Virginia and Governor Whasisname.

best new writer I've met this year

Her name is Ann Pancake and her novel is "Strange as the Weather Has Been" , her short story collection is "Given Ground".

Her characters are spot on, full of life where lesser authors would infuse them with caricature and moonshine (or lately, oxycontin and meth).

Her words helped me feel the trees, the land, the rocks- the remainder of my vacation in West Virginia (I met her at the West Virginia Writers Workshop) I saw the land in a brand new way. As we drove to Morgantown and Oakland, MD on a different day, the mountains spoke to me and this time- I heard what they said, thanks to Ann. It was joy, beauty, and sadness.

I'm sure Kelly at Fountain Bookstore would be glad to order both books for you. Ann does for West Virginia what Clyde Edgerton and Sheri Reynolds do for their respective stomping grounds.

new US Poet Laureate named- it's Merwin!

W.S. Merwin is it-

HERE

More info HERE

I have mixed emotions- The past 2 years with Kay Ryan have been pretty much a wash (not her poetry but her public persona). It would be nice to have something going on with poetry again. Pinsky-style.

Just sayin'



Language

by W. S. Merwin

Certain words now in our knowledge we will not use again, and we will never forget them. We need them. Like the back of the picture. Like our marrow, and the color in our veins. We shine the lantern of our sleep on them, to make sure, and there they are, trembling already for the day of witness. They will be buried with us, and rise with the rest.

Just when you thought there was enough about Larry Levis!

There's more....

HERE

all this AND Phillip Levine?? Gotta love this, seriously.

Mark your calendars NOW!

2010 Levis prize winner announced by VCU

Check HERE for the details-

Some past winners are listed HERE

It's not major money but these winners have been exceptional poets in the past (with one exception IMO, but that's just IMO)

I have not read the winning book but have his first book and it is quite good.

show me the poetry in sausage biscuits

oh, can you tell me Hardee's (if that's your real name)?

Maybe it's not poetry without gravy-

Best Hour I've Spent in a Long Time

Incredibly inspiring...trust me, stick with it to the end...


Chuck Palahniuk from Grub Street on Vimeo.

Kids and Words at Chop Suey- last chance to sign up!

I'm not sure there are any slots left, but if you're kid is creative and not good with the heat- this is a real great opportunity-

Richmond Young Writers is a great program with exciting and interesting leaders to run your smart kid through all manner of word related activities.

Not to mention the poetry lady is very cool.

Summer Sessions 2010


Summer sessions run Monday-Friday from 2-5 pm at Chop Suey Bookstore in Carytown. Young writers will have the opportunity to explore the craft and fun of creative writing through a variety of imagination-stimulating prompts, journaling, people-watching and more.

Special workshops with professional writers will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3-5 pm. Each week will culminate in a reading of student works-in-progress at the Byrd Theatre at 4:30 pm on Friday afternoon.

Session 1, Ages 10-14 June 21- June 25
Character (Slash Coleman) ** Surrealism (Mike Dulin) ** Poetry (Shann Palmer)


Session 2, Ages 10-14 June 28-July 2
Journalism (Chris Dovi) ** Zine Making 101 (Liz Canfield) ** Fiction (Michele Young-Stone)


Session 3, Ages 10-14 July 5- July 9
Character (Slash Coleman) ** Poetry (Shann Palmer) ** Journalism (Chris Dovi)


Session 4, Ages 14-17 July 12- July 16
Fiction (Michele Young-Stone) ** Surrealism (Mike Dulin) ** Zine Making 101 (Liz Canfield)

Poetry at the Norge Library

June 3, Saturday 11 am

Guy Terrell, Shann Palmer, Carolyn Foronda, Henry Hart, Ed Lull

Reading their original work

Norge Library, Williamsburg

No job at Dominion Power if your daddy works there- oh no!

seems my son can't be hired at Dominion (Va Power) cause his dad works there- wish they'd mentioned that before his very promising interview yesterday

(the boss above the boss decreed it so - even though they would not be working together)

Did you know there are people reading your meter part-time *no benefits* who barely speak English but a collage grad who desperately needs a job can't get one because he's family?

Did you know the agency who is working on filling these positions (part-time) did not know this?

My son needs a job. Anybody?