Everything is fair when you’re living in the city


unwinding in the south bronx
Originally uploaded by nuvole

[An excerpt from the introduction to “The Death and Life of Great American Cities” by Jane Jacobs]

Nothing is static. It is the same with cities. Thus, to investigate either natural or city ecosystems demands the same kind of thinking. It does not do to focus on “things” and expect them to explain much in themselves. Processes are always of the essence; things have significances as participants in processes, for better or worse.

This way of seeing is fairly young and new, which is perhaps why the hunt for knowledge to understand either natural or city ecology seems so inexhaustible. Little is known; so much yet to know.

We human beings are the only city-building creatures in the world. The hives of socially different in how they develop, what they do, and their potentialities. Cities are in a sense natural ecosystems too –for us. They are not disposable. Whenever and wherever societies have flourished and prospered rather than stagnated and decayed, creative and workable cities have been at the core of the phenomenon; they have pulled their weight and more. It is the same still. Decaying cities, declining economies, and mounting social troubles travel together. The combination is not coincidental.

It is urgent that human beings understand as much as we can about city ecology –starting at any point in city processes.

Full text here.

Silent Poem by Robert Francis


Silence/d
Originally uploaded by Lumase


       Silent Poem

backroad      leafmold       stonewall        chipmunk
underbrush          grapevine     woodchuck      shadblow
woodsmoke            cowbarn    honeysuckle      woodpile
sawhorse       bucksaw                      outhouse              wellsweep
backdoor        flagstone           bulkhead                      buttermilk
candlestick         ragrug         firedog             brownbread
hilltop         outcrop       cowbell          buttercup
whetstone     thunderstorm     pitchfork          steeplebush
gristmill        millstone          cornmeal     waterwheel
watercress     buckwheat    firefly           jewelweed
gravestone     groundpine   windbreak             bedrock
weathercock    snowfall       starlight         cockcrow

© Robert Francis

What is a quest if the players ain’t willing?


Litcrawl at New College
Originally uploaded by Steve Rhodes

I am trying to figure out why my nervousness has been progressively increasing in my last three readings. This last reading had my voice so shook that it was pretty apparent to the audience that I was not comfortable up there.

Not that I don’t get nervous before and during a reading but I can usually transform that energy into something positive and feel real good about presenting the work in a style that befits it. Lately though, my voice is shaking and I am tripping over my tongue which means the work is not getting out there properly. And that’s a shame since I think I am writing some real strong poems right now.

Ok, nuff of the negativity. The positives are that the poems are pretty strong and while they may not be getting 100% stage love, they are getting some good publication love as first three poems of the set will be coming out soon in OCHO. Askin is over at spindle and I am on a mission to make sure the lone orphan poems gets to find a home.

Since I was short on time – five minutes was the alloted time – I went with a quote instead of a cover poem and also went through this with no banter whatsoever and this reading may also signal the end of the No-Banter experiment as I have proved that I can do it but have also found that I might be willing to cut short a poem in favor of some dialogue with the audience.

Despite my nervousness, the set went well. Got to the Mission on time, found the venue, settled in and then got to see the place get packed quick. I went up first and here is that breakdown.

SET LIST

“This is the city, and I am one of the citizens/Whatever interests the rest interests me” — Walt Whitman

• Psalm for Anywhere Avenue

• Sepia

• Sonnet for the Lexington Avenue Express—Mt Eden Ave Stop

• Political Theory

• I’m Jus Askin

Quick side note: Political Theory is the new title for my We poem and I think the title might just stick.

Also on the plus side, the crowd was very attentive and invested in listening to the writing which was a pleasant surprise since this is advertised as a literary bar crawl and the threat of someone walking out in the middle of a piece or randomly sticking their head in and declare “Where’s the beer?” is a real possibility. Luckily, this didn’t happen.

Afterwards, we went and hit the Mission Laundromat to support Tea Party, Craig Perez and Claire Light. I will say that I was very much looking forward to hearing lit inside a laundromat. I’m not quite sure why, but I was. What I was not ready for was pumping techno blaring over the laundromat loudspeakers and no sound system set up to compensate for that. Which meant hearing some pretty good to real damn good fiction to the sounds of Blondie and The Gorillaz. Yeah, ain’t we lucky.

Despite the less than optimal conditions Craig and Claire were awesome and so Lit Crawl ends with a bang plus some good post-reading food and the sounds of Hall & Oates’ “I Cant Go For That” blaring on the corner of 19th & Mission.

Sonnet After Columbus, II by Jack Agüeros

We watched the stiff starched sails, the cotton and wood
On the scale of little boy boats blow onto our shore:
Our burned tree canoes were larger and sleeker.
The Caribbean was quiet tranquil as ourselves, but

These men were all more hellish than any hurricane,
And nothing good came after, government after government,
English, Dutch, Spanish, Yankee, twisting the tongue,
Jail some, buy some, scare some, dope some, kill plenty.

Do you know the names of the ones in jail or why?

Sailed in our bays and put paper feet on our throats,
Paper hands in our pockets, papered the trees and land
Papered our eyes, and we still wait wondering when.

     As for the names of the incarcerated? You and me.
     Charge? Not throwing tea in the bay.

© Jack Agüeros
from Correspondence Between the Stonehaulers

Call for Submissions: Special Latino/Hispanic Issue

The Spring 2008 issue of International Poetry Review will be dedicated to work by Latino/Hispanic poets. The magazine will be divided in two sections, one for work originally written in Spanish, with facing English translation [to be provided by the author], and one for work originally written in English.

Send your submission of four or five poems postmarked no later than November 26, 2007 to :

Mark Smith-Soto, International Poetry Review
Dept. of Romance Languages
PO Box 2617, UNC Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina 27402-6170

Email contact: mismiths[at]uncg[dot]edu