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A group of train poems can be found here.

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.

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.

here

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.

Ekphrastic poem is semi-done. The body is in place and the ideas are very close to what I want to say about the accompanying photo and furthers the narrative of Anywhere Avenue .

Once I work out the kinks, I will post it up for sure. Many thanks to Barb, Truong and my workshopmates for hitting me with the honest critique.

Re: My current process.
Lately, I’ve been focusing on the voice and tone of my speaker(s) but I am also trying to avoid cliché language and predictable stereotype. Recent efforts have been hit and miss but that’s the messy part of poetry for me and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Re: In the South Bronx Of America
I first came across Mel Rosenthal’s work last year as I was trying to find evidence of New York’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development efforts to beautify the Bronx by covering up abandoned tenement windows with cardboard depictions of flowers and open spaces. Just about the only photos I could find was Rosenthal’s photo essay on the Bronx of the 70s which is just gorgeous. Maybe not the word you would think when showing people drinking straight from a fire hydrant, mother and daughter posing by a demolition site, a man openly brandishing a bayonet or a young boy somersaulting onto a flimsy mattress in the street but that’s pretty much what I saw around me growing up (Ok, maybe not the dude with the bayonet but there were mad rumors of folks carrying machetes for protection)

Rosenthal, a Bronx native, also has a wonderful sarcastic side as he decided to place the following text alongside the pic you see here.

The Bronx has prime real estate that is affordable. No inflated prices like Westchester, New Jersey, or Long Island. The City of New York is planning to sell prime parcels of real estate for retail, light manufacturing, office and industrial development. These are properties which the city has held from sale until the market was right. Now the market is right. You can own real estate in thriving, busy commercial centers, industrial enclaves, and growing residential areas. (Text courtesy of NYC Dept of General Services)