The Scorecard II


Fielder’s Choice
Originally uploaded by andyi.

In baseball, a fielder’s choice (abbreviated FC) is most often the act of a fielder, upon fielding a batted ball, choosing to try to put out one runner while in so doing allowing the batter-runner to advance to first base.

A batter who reaches base safely as the result of a fielder’s choice is not credited with a hit; he is effectively charged with an out (and an at bat) just as if he had been put out himself.

Now how in the high hell does this have anything to do with poetry? Well, lemme tell you.

Your boy sent another submission out in April. (Swing, batter, batter, swing!)
He was called in for an interview. (Run, Forest! Run!)
He did not make the cut. (Collective groan.)
But he is still on base. (Huh?)

It seems that I made enough of an impression during the interview to be given “alternate” status which means I’m going to take full advantage of the opportunity at hand (I get to sit in on the initial workshops), take a ton of notes (this workshop will be full of experienced interdisciplinary artists) and hopefully gain a poem or two from it all.

Returning to the baseball metaphor, I have every intention of being the dangerous runner on base and try my best to score (even though in real life, I have zero skills on the diamond).

For those keeping score at home, here is the submission that has gotten me this far:
– Viewing the world from the back of a turtle
– The Hue of Ripened Fruit
– About B-Boys in the Boogie Down
– an atlas of nationalism
– Canto del Niño Pobre
– Mercy on the Battlefield

Because of the nature of the project I decided to go with a bit more geographic and cultural movement in the pieces. Oh, and ye olde reliable (Mercy) makes an appearance but not in written form. I used the track from 5 Past 13 to show that I have some collaborative & performance experience.

More info to come (if I round the bases) or maybe not (if I get tagged out trying to advance).

Love ya like Crackers Jacks & Hot Dawgs

The Scorecard



Originally uploaded by Timmer82.

Very happy to report that my submission to the VONA Summer Writing Workshop has been accepted and that means I will be having a week long intensive with Willie Perdomo.

Can ya say: Boo-Yah!? Yes, I knew ya could.

Here are the poems I sent VONA
– About B-Boys in the Boogie Down
– both a place and a scare-word
– The Truth (and some Lies) about the Bronx
– tricking the eye
– Poem written to the Jimmy Castor Bunch’s “It’s Just Begun”

This submission relied very heavily on my group of Bronx poems which is what I felt was my strongest work about six weeks ago. Flash forward to right here, right now and I think I would have sent them a group of poems that have a bit more geographic movement. But hey, I am in the program so I got nuthin to complain about.

Speaking of new hotness, I will be reading at IWL tomorrow which will be a good opportunity to test out the new, and in some cases, very different work that has come out of these workshops. Hope to see ya there!

Once in a lifetime/water flowing underground.

party people, i am happy to let y’all know that i have been accepted to this year’s intergenerational writers lab!

many thanks to the review committee, intersection for the arts and galería de la raza but an extra special shout to the folks at kearny street workshop and my beautiful wife for pushing me in all the right ways. (when did this blog entry turn into an acceptance speech?)

for the record, my record, here are the poems i submitted as writing samples:
– About B-Boys in the Boogie Down
– Poem written to the Jimmy Castor Bunch’s “It’s Just Begun”
– Soneta de Mi Musa

now that i’ve been accepted it’s time to switch gears and put in the work of developing new kick ass writing to match.

my god! what have i done?!