Category Archives: Uncategorized

Same Time, Same Place: a poetry reading and chapbook release
featuring Maile Arvin, Oscar Bermeo, Eleanore Fernandez, Janell Moon, Nirmala Nataraj, Michelle Ryan, Christine Vilar, and Joy Hae Yung
& emceed by Truong Tran

Join KSW and Truong Tran’s KSW summer 2006 poetry writing workshop for a poetry reading and release of the next in KSW’s chapbook series, Same Time, Same Place, with original cover illustration and design by noted cartoonist and APAture 2006 featured artist Thien Pham. Featuring new work from eight emerging literary voices of the San Francisco Bay Area–Maile Arvin, Oscar Bermeo, Eleanore Fernandez, Janell Moon, Nirmala Nataraj, Michelle Ryan, Christine Vilar, and Joy Hae Yung–the readings will be followed by a reception and opportunity for book signings and meeting the poets.

Date/Time: Tuesday, November 14th , 2006; 7 – 9pm

Location: KSW’s space180, 180 capp street, @ 17th street, San Francisco

Cost: $5

Info: sam@kearnystreet.org; 415.503.0520

kearnystreet dot org

Poets Hitchhiking on the Highway
Gregory Corso

Of course I tried to tell him
but he cranked his head
      without an excuse.
I told him the sky chases
      the sun
And he smiled and said:
      “What’s the use.”
I was feeling like a demon
      again
So I said: “But the ocean chases
      the fish.”
This time he laughed
      and said: “Suppose the
           strawberry were
                pushed into a mountain.”
After that I knew the
      war was on–
So we fought:
He said: “The apple-cart like a
      broomstick-angel
           snaps & splinters
      old dutch shoes.”
I said: “Lightning will strike the old oak
      and free the fumes!”
He said: “Mad street with no name.”
I said: “Bald killer! Bald killer! Bald killer!”
He said, getting real mad,
      “Firestoves! Gas! Couch!”
I said, only smiling,
      “I know God would turn back his head
      If I sat quietly and thought.”
We ended by melting away,
      hating air!

© Gregory Corso

has anyone read this collection? is it a must buy or what?

thanks, y’all.

a lil over a week of being married and i can tell you that my life has never been fuller, healthier and happier. werd.

put up some 8 foot tall curtains yesterday. picture my just-right-height-wise-by-ecuadorian-standards up on a hella long ladder with my power drill. yeah, i know, its a sight to behold.

you read right: i have a power drill. it does not define me.

i also have a tool box. it does define me.

add minestrone soup to my culinary repertoire. coming soon: pumpkin pie!

outside the home: i just dropped a 1,500 word short story for my creative non-fiction class. it gets workshopped tonight. a lil nervous going into this since i dont know how this group will attack the work. the facilitator has already taken grammar off of the discussion board which is a good thing even though this bad boy should be grammatically sound. (thanks to wonderful computah technology, of course.)

time to worry over. the story has a pretty sound base and goes through some nice curves while never forgetting its base premise. think of it like fancy stitching over a solid inseam line. still a lil worried but thats what happens when ya experiment.

speaking of experiment, i have come to the recent conclusion that ALL poetry is just an experiment. is this old territory that has been covered endlessly before? not by me, and its my blog ya know.

i’m thinking that the narrative is the norm, the main unit of speech. by speech i mean “telling a story.” poetry, by virtue of messing with that unit – in its desire to break the narrative down to stanza, line and sound breaks – goes against that natural manner of storytelling in an attempt (read: experiment) to differentiate itself (reinvent?).

all this to say that i am starting to find the term “experimental poetry” quite oxymoronic. if you aren’t trying to tell *the story* in a new way, why bother with poetry?

mini-rant done. time to hop on the bus and enjoy my time at work.

a quick rundown

– new poems coming out of me. a hard birth but its happening. the midwife is definitely an impending deadline.

– i have an idea for my creative non-fiction class which will revolve around the bronx and the directions that algarin left in the poem i posted last week.

– regarding the poem i posted last week: i disagree with algarin’s first point. i am torn as to whether or not poetry should or should not change in an increasing electronic world. to ignore the demands of our mass-media driven society is folly. analog is out, digital is in. the solution is somewhere in the middle, sites like fishouse prove that solid literary work doesnt have to be bland to the ears. def poetry proves that poetry can be packaged for mass consumption. now where does today’s working poet fit in there? i am not going to talk of differing camps and rigid lines, that goes against everything in me. what has to happen is a hybrid and i think the poets who can take advantage of all the tech available to them now have the best chance to be archived on their own terms and i cant think of any artist who wouldnt want that. more latah foh sure.

– still on algarin. i do dig a lot of what he says in the poem and mad respect to all poets who are willing to put down an ars poetica. i dont believe in camps but i do believe in strong individuals who dont sway in the wind with their opinions.

– about ready to drop a rant and a half cuz this aint doing it for me. some of it involves new york and some of it involves poetics but its all revolves around community. and not community as a rah-rah kumbaya rally call but what community really is: messy, difficult, rewarding, musical, healing and struggle. if you think you can have community without making choices then you are just conforming and i’ll stop there cuz i got other shot on my mind.

– song of the moment: Scissor Sisters’s “I don’t feel like dancing”
its all about the purple jump suit, foolios! that and the cheesy laser sound effects!

– add home made pizzas to my growing culinary repertoire.

– i just had lunch with my parents and the rest of my family will be here in a few hours. life is hella good.

– this blog is on lock down for the next few days and you all know why…