A group of train poems can be found here.
Follow up to Writing Assignment #4
But first:
РI should up my rating on D̩rive over at Good Reads. The conversation over this volume has generated sound responses and helped me in a new poem.
– Myung Mi Kim. Just got introduced to her work last night, which is criminal considering that the Sexy Loft Library has four of her books. Quick thoughts: Kim’s poetry focuses on the individual word and how that word makes a distinct association to the previous and following word making it different from (what I define as) lyrical poetry which invokes more intuitive associations creating rhythmic patterns that often leave us spellbound by the feel of the poem but hard pressed to locate specific phrases that equally excite us. (Note: While I am a fan of lyric poetry, I am also very aware of the way ignorant, offensive messages can be hidden in a rhythmic poem. More on this later.) While I can’t say I get Kim’s work on one read, I can say I appreciate how she constructs these word bridges – which in my mind are more like a gnarled fallen log helping you traverse a stream in the woods as opposed to a smooth shiny metal toll plaza – and I am going to read more of her work.
– Writing Assignment #3. I’m not gonna get a chance to revise this badboy for a minute. Distance from your poems – not a bad thing.
– Writing Assignment #5. We are to write exhausitevly on a topic for the next few days; then stop; look back on the writing and distill it down to a 50 word poem. Good times.
– The new poem. I like where this is going, it needs more work but if I say anything else it will give you the open door I am not supposed to be writing so there’s that.
This Wednesday
as you enter as you enter with perfume and spice fill the mouth a perfect sacrifice as you fill the ritual in song in praise to the hosanna hosanna in the highest fill your house a weight heavy in the air spoon shaped whisp perfume spice ritual inside filled with a song of sage of sweetgrass of signs of archways open spread open for business closed for business closed gate close the gates for good for now for ever forgive this weakness this willingness this acceptance this prayer this lift this dust this
The Doors
With all the recent travels, expanded reading and serious crunch time at work; I have not given last week’s poem a second glance and this week’s assignment is due by tomorrow: Write a poem that does not have an obvious front door.
This comes from the fact that too many poems have easy entrances and easy exits, which allow for a nice pleasant stroll through your work but generally doesn’t lead to many twists and turns. I type that last sentence knowing full well that I have written my fair share of poems that fall into that category. I’ll go one further and say I still catch myself writing those poems often for the sake of the narrative arc and still often just to keep it simple and safe. Keeping your listener hooked to your story but not treating your listener like a three year old is a dangerous game especially when your listener has become your reader and can look back to see when that the clever turn in your poem wasn’t so clever.
In an effort to help me break out of my comfort zone and shift things up a bit, I am checking out the poems in Bruna Mori’s Dérive, a true slice of New York vis-a-vis the end stops of the subway which almost always lead you to the outer boroughs and to the best stories in the city. This collection presents me with an authentic snapshot of the city I once knew and leaves me feeling homesick and glad to be away at the same time. Matthew Kinney’s accompanying ink work also gives us a weighted melancholy version of NYC that is scary familiar adding texture to Mori’s poems without offering explanation. A good read, for sure, but it’s not a slow stroll through Museum Mile which is cool cuz I get the feeling Mori never meant it to be anyways. Sides, most New Yorkers can’t stand anyone who “strolls.”
Bonus Track: A sample of Dérive can be found over at Shampoo Poetry.
On The Other Side Of The Eye
First off- Many thanks to Bryan Thao Worra for letting me read at his book launch.
I also want to give Bryan mad props for putting so much energy into the book launch and creating an atmosphere of genuine joy and anticipation for his debut collection. Guerilla marketing at its finest mixed with some good ole fashioned party throwing and a splash of I-Make-This-Look-Easy added to some I-Am-Working-Hella-Hard-To-Create
The-Illusion-That-This-Is-Easy equals a full house, an awesome well run reading and 100+ copies of On The Other Side Of The Eye sold on night one. Color me impressed and fully inspired.
Much thanks also go out to Ka Vang for being a stellar host and her deep driving skills.
Now, buy the book here.
Beautiful Experience
Minneapolis/St Paul is a blast! Just came back from checking out the Loft and the Guthrie while also getting on my disaster voyeur quota (checking out the bridge collapse). It sounds dreadfully touristy but I am becoming quite the fan of urban architectures and how they inform us (those who live, work or are affected by city) as markers of permanence.
Example: A few years ago, a construction company hired to remodel Mosholu Parkway in the Bronx accidentally uprooted a slew of century old trees. Yes, there was some local uproar and the company apologized and planted new seedlings but damage done and all back to normal soon enough. Now, a building falls down or a bridge collapses and various gov’t agencies are called in to examine this phenomenon from every angle possible to insure it never happens again. Is it only because human life has been lost or is it because we want to make sure as shapers of the new “natural” landscape, we want to make sure we are perfect in order to assume a proper god-like nature?
More later, with links, pics and a reading report as “The Other Side of the Eye” is about to officialy lanuch and I am uber-excited for Bryan!
Latahz.