I'm still thinking about all the upheaval from a while back which centered on women and poetry. Are we truly snubbed? Do we truly snub back in retaliation? Is sexism rampant in the poetry/blog world? I tend to think it's all colored by perception, but I'm a notorious pacifist. Even so, it's raised some questions in my mind.
Some of it interests me, some of it offends me, some of it simply amuses me. Some of it, such as the bit below, does all three.
One of the more vocal feminist bloggers is also publishing an anthology in the near future. I thought to myself, "now there's a woman who's willing to put her money and time where her mouth is in a truly impressive manner to get more good poetry published and read" - I was truly impressed and, yeah verily, even a little bit excited - until I got to the part which excluded me and everyone else over a certain age. So much for poetic equality and evening out the playing field.
I think that's my point, though, any editor and every editor has a RIGHT to choose who or what to publish. Because it is their production, they are ALLOWED that privilege.....and it's either discriminatory all the way around or it isn't. Is it somehow ok to exclude someone on the basis of their age but not their sex? It's conceivable that someone could be a "new" "emerging" artist without also being a "young" one, yanno!!!! It's conceivable that I consider people in their 20's and 30's to be my "peers" and it's even conceivable that some of them also consider me to be one of theirs!! It's also conceivable that a woman could write a successful poem using a concrete "male" concept and that a man could write a delicate "female" poem about a flowering pink apple blossom tree.
In other words, if we are going to have "GirliPo," then, in the demanded "Order of Fairness", we must also have "ManliPo" and even "ElderliPo" recognized as legitimate genre. And I suppose we will need still more magazines and E-zines which no one ever buys or reads devoted to them each individually.
Why can't we just have plain old poetry? Have we grown so large and is the mansion so small that there are no longer enough rooms to house us all?
Sunday, April 30, 2006
Saturday, April 29, 2006
First Draft
If Art Should Ask
If Art should ask me did I suffer for
his sake, I'll tell him no - unless you count
the times I put the sky aside to core
an apple for a baby boy or mount
a child's butterfly with paper wings
onto a cold refrigerator door.
If Art should ask what song it is that sings
inside my heart, I'll answer quick, before
I've once again forgotten all the words
not written down - but if he feels he needs
an unleashed melody the cageless bird's
the better one to ask. She sings for seeds.
She does not know Art's name, nor does she care.
She simply sings the songs that God put there.
If Art should ask me did I suffer for
his sake, I'll tell him no - unless you count
the times I put the sky aside to core
an apple for a baby boy or mount
a child's butterfly with paper wings
onto a cold refrigerator door.
If Art should ask what song it is that sings
inside my heart, I'll answer quick, before
I've once again forgotten all the words
not written down - but if he feels he needs
an unleashed melody the cageless bird's
the better one to ask. She sings for seeds.
She does not know Art's name, nor does she care.
She simply sings the songs that God put there.
Thursday, April 27, 2006
First Aid for Dummies
I was going through some old "stuff" this morning and came across these "rules" that I used to teach in First Aid classes for Boy Scouts, church groups, school groups, etc. Funny stuff - but good to know, anyhow.
STREET SMARTS FOR SAMARITANS
1. If it looks broken, it probably is.
2. If it doesn't look broken, it probably still is.
3. If it's straight, don't bend it.
4. If it's bent, don't straighten it.
5. If it's protruding, don't stick it back in.
6. If it's impaled, don't pull it back out.
7. If it's bleeding, cover it.
8. If it bleeds through your covering, cover it again - without peeking back underneath.
9. If it's really ugly, cover it twice. (Remember, if it's making you sick, imagine what it's doing to the owner of the ugly.)
10. No matter what it looks like, don't be trying to make it look like something else. It is what it is - deal with it.
11. If it's burnt, wet it. (Water only. If all you have handy is butter, save it for the toast.)
12. If it's wet, don't dry it. If it's dry, don't wet it.
13. If it's blistered, don't mess with it. Blisters are nature's own dressing. It's like being a natural blonde - nothing you can add or subtract will improve upon it.
14. If it's violently seizing, protect it.
15. When it quits seizing violently, move in, protecting yourself. Even a semi- seizing patient has no control - if you get hurt, it'll be your own damn fault.
16. Don't stick your fingers in anyone's mouth. (see #15)
17. Better yet, don't stick your fingers in anyone's anything. No one appreciates it.
18. If it's unconscious, watch it breath - carefully and continuously.
19. If it quits breathing, breath for it - also carefully and continuously.
20. If it fell, don't be moving it.
21. If you even suspect it might have fallen, don't be moving it.
22. If it looks like it's going to fall on you, move yourself.
23. If it fell into the middle of anything arcing, sparking, spitting or hissing don't go near it - regardless of your first inclination.
24. Don't move anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident. In order to protect your own neck in court at some later date, protect theirs in the seat where they sit.
25. If the car is on fire or underwater - ignore #24. Get them the hell outa there while protecting their neck (and your own) as well as possible. Worry about legalities at some later date - it looks much better if you're both alive to even go to court.
26. If it's too hot - strip it. (Within reason, of course - unless it's an infant - in which case ask the parent's permission and then strip da baby bare.)
27. If it's too cold - cover it.
28. Remember that no one's dead until they're warm dead - especially if it involves water or weather.
29. If it tell you it's going to die - believe it and act accordingly - only faster.
30. Make sure your scene is safe and secure before you rush in.
31. Remember that no scene is ever truly secure. Murphy absolutely adores a supposedly safe scene.
32. Trust what they tell you - believe what you see.
33. Once you've decided to do something, do it as if your life depended on it. Someone's does.
STREET SMARTS FOR SAMARITANS
1. If it looks broken, it probably is.
2. If it doesn't look broken, it probably still is.
3. If it's straight, don't bend it.
4. If it's bent, don't straighten it.
5. If it's protruding, don't stick it back in.
6. If it's impaled, don't pull it back out.
7. If it's bleeding, cover it.
8. If it bleeds through your covering, cover it again - without peeking back underneath.
9. If it's really ugly, cover it twice. (Remember, if it's making you sick, imagine what it's doing to the owner of the ugly.)
10. No matter what it looks like, don't be trying to make it look like something else. It is what it is - deal with it.
11. If it's burnt, wet it. (Water only. If all you have handy is butter, save it for the toast.)
12. If it's wet, don't dry it. If it's dry, don't wet it.
13. If it's blistered, don't mess with it. Blisters are nature's own dressing. It's like being a natural blonde - nothing you can add or subtract will improve upon it.
14. If it's violently seizing, protect it.
15. When it quits seizing violently, move in, protecting yourself. Even a semi- seizing patient has no control - if you get hurt, it'll be your own damn fault.
16. Don't stick your fingers in anyone's mouth. (see #15)
17. Better yet, don't stick your fingers in anyone's anything. No one appreciates it.
18. If it's unconscious, watch it breath - carefully and continuously.
19. If it quits breathing, breath for it - also carefully and continuously.
20. If it fell, don't be moving it.
21. If you even suspect it might have fallen, don't be moving it.
22. If it looks like it's going to fall on you, move yourself.
23. If it fell into the middle of anything arcing, sparking, spitting or hissing don't go near it - regardless of your first inclination.
24. Don't move anyone involved in a motor vehicle accident. In order to protect your own neck in court at some later date, protect theirs in the seat where they sit.
25. If the car is on fire or underwater - ignore #24. Get them the hell outa there while protecting their neck (and your own) as well as possible. Worry about legalities at some later date - it looks much better if you're both alive to even go to court.
26. If it's too hot - strip it. (Within reason, of course - unless it's an infant - in which case ask the parent's permission and then strip da baby bare.)
27. If it's too cold - cover it.
28. Remember that no one's dead until they're warm dead - especially if it involves water or weather.
29. If it tell you it's going to die - believe it and act accordingly - only faster.
30. Make sure your scene is safe and secure before you rush in.
31. Remember that no scene is ever truly secure. Murphy absolutely adores a supposedly safe scene.
32. Trust what they tell you - believe what you see.
33. Once you've decided to do something, do it as if your life depended on it. Someone's does.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
A TOO LONG RESPONSE TO
Steve Schroeder's Monday, April 24, 2006 post.
Yesterday, Steve Schroeder wrote that he was (I think) unhappy with Richard Wilbur's winning of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Award...mostly because of his age and the noticable preponderance of badly-aging poets who have previously won the award. Several people have chimed in and it seems the main two reasons people agree with him are:
1. That older poets shouldn't, for some reason, continue to garner recognition and/or awards.
2. That large monetary awards should not go to people who "don't need the money."
I have to say, I'm a bit appalled by both of these lines of reasoning. Our society is built on a system which continually rewards productive employees...and generally, the longer their tenure in a position, the greater the reward they receive. No corporation/business worth its salt rewards a short-term employee better than a long-term one. Bonus money becomes higher as your stature in a company grows, monetary compensation becomes larger as you "put in your time" with any given employer. Salaries only rise greatly for truly valued employees, as do perks and bonuses. People need to "prove" themselves worthy of recognition before they GET recognition and the best way to get your talents recognized is to be consistently good at what you do. What better test of talent and consistency than time?
Why should it be any different for a poet? Almost anyone can get "lucky" and write one or two very good poems....even one or two GREAT poems, for that matter....but not everyone can write great poems consistently over one, much less several, decades. Should we reward the "One Poem Poet Wonder" handsomely? Sure...why not? But shouldn't we also reward the guy who's plodded along for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years and repeatedly given us great poems, as well? And who should receive more in the way of "reward?" - the One-Shot Dude, or the dude who's devoted his whole life to improving, enriching and perfecting his craft?
Regardless, due to the nature of The Ruth Lilly Award, which is awarded specifically for "lifetime achievement" the question is rendered moot. It's very simple, in order to win a "lifetime" award, you must prove that not only are you very good at what you do, but also that you have lived a lifetime. It's only the "old" people who can do the latter successfully.
Reason #2 is a bit more complicated. If I am reading the comments right, the theory is being bandied about that people who already have money shouldn't receive more money because they "don't need it." Try telling that to anyone who believes that they, themselves, are not entitled to recognition at work in the form of a raise or a bonus. The greater the recognition, the greater the show of appreciation. In our society money talks......money is the way we show appreciation and give honor for someone's accomplishments. To say a poet who's already won monetary awards shouldn't receive yet another monetary award is ludicrous. Would Hollywood decide to give the famous leading lady's salary to the walk-on starlet in her first performance simply because she "needs the money more?" Nope....she is going to have to prove she is worth it - just like the current leading lady had to....by showing the world her talent and her perseverance. (Maybe even her boobs as well - but fortunately that's not relevant yet in the poetry world.) A first year lawyer doesn't make nearly as much money as a lawyer with 26 years in the same law firm - nor should he. Think of the years you've already put in at your job, regardless of what that job may be - would you want to find out that a new hireling was making the salary and receiving the same perks as you? I sincerely doubt it....in fact, if it WAS ok with you, I'd be worried about your sanity.
The bigger point is - what gives us the right to decide who "needs" the money and who "doesn't" need the money? From what I can tell, Richard Wilbur is married and he and his wife raised and supported 4 children on his salary as a college professor. I don't know what his salary was during his tenure in the 50's and 60's - but if he were working today, based on the current pay scales, he'd be making anywhere between $51,000 and $85,000 a year. Due to the fact that he's been retired for quite some time, I'd feel safe saying he lived on (and saved) a whole lot less than that. Teachers, even teachers of the well-respected and long-term college professing variety, aren't in it "for the money" - simply because the "money" isn't there for them. Besides which, there are very few 80 years olds in today's world who will tell you they are entirely comfortable living on their pensions. Just ask my mother - or your own. Their life savings just aren't stretching with today's economy. I doubt that Mr. Wilbur feels any differently, or that his expenses haven't risen dramatically right along with the rest of ours.
In his lifetime, Mr. Wilbur's largest poetry awards have been 2 Pulitzer's, a stint as Poet Laureate of the United States and the Ruth Lilly Award. If you break that down, it's a total of $20,000.00 for the two Pulitzers, $35,000.00 for his year as Poet Laureate and $100,000.00 from The Poetry Foundation. That's a grand total of $155,000.00 over a career which began in 1947 when he published his first collection. In other words, he's been richly and repetitiously awarded to the tune of the grand and glorious amount of a whopping $2,583.33 a year.
You-all are right - no one deserves to receive that kind of money more than once.
Yesterday, Steve Schroeder wrote that he was (I think) unhappy with Richard Wilbur's winning of the Ruth Lilly Poetry Award...mostly because of his age and the noticable preponderance of badly-aging poets who have previously won the award. Several people have chimed in and it seems the main two reasons people agree with him are:
1. That older poets shouldn't, for some reason, continue to garner recognition and/or awards.
2. That large monetary awards should not go to people who "don't need the money."
I have to say, I'm a bit appalled by both of these lines of reasoning. Our society is built on a system which continually rewards productive employees...and generally, the longer their tenure in a position, the greater the reward they receive. No corporation/business worth its salt rewards a short-term employee better than a long-term one. Bonus money becomes higher as your stature in a company grows, monetary compensation becomes larger as you "put in your time" with any given employer. Salaries only rise greatly for truly valued employees, as do perks and bonuses. People need to "prove" themselves worthy of recognition before they GET recognition and the best way to get your talents recognized is to be consistently good at what you do. What better test of talent and consistency than time?
Why should it be any different for a poet? Almost anyone can get "lucky" and write one or two very good poems....even one or two GREAT poems, for that matter....but not everyone can write great poems consistently over one, much less several, decades. Should we reward the "One Poem Poet Wonder" handsomely? Sure...why not? But shouldn't we also reward the guy who's plodded along for 20, 30, 40 or even 50 years and repeatedly given us great poems, as well? And who should receive more in the way of "reward?" - the One-Shot Dude, or the dude who's devoted his whole life to improving, enriching and perfecting his craft?
Regardless, due to the nature of The Ruth Lilly Award, which is awarded specifically for "lifetime achievement" the question is rendered moot. It's very simple, in order to win a "lifetime" award, you must prove that not only are you very good at what you do, but also that you have lived a lifetime. It's only the "old" people who can do the latter successfully.
Reason #2 is a bit more complicated. If I am reading the comments right, the theory is being bandied about that people who already have money shouldn't receive more money because they "don't need it." Try telling that to anyone who believes that they, themselves, are not entitled to recognition at work in the form of a raise or a bonus. The greater the recognition, the greater the show of appreciation. In our society money talks......money is the way we show appreciation and give honor for someone's accomplishments. To say a poet who's already won monetary awards shouldn't receive yet another monetary award is ludicrous. Would Hollywood decide to give the famous leading lady's salary to the walk-on starlet in her first performance simply because she "needs the money more?" Nope....she is going to have to prove she is worth it - just like the current leading lady had to....by showing the world her talent and her perseverance. (Maybe even her boobs as well - but fortunately that's not relevant yet in the poetry world.) A first year lawyer doesn't make nearly as much money as a lawyer with 26 years in the same law firm - nor should he. Think of the years you've already put in at your job, regardless of what that job may be - would you want to find out that a new hireling was making the salary and receiving the same perks as you? I sincerely doubt it....in fact, if it WAS ok with you, I'd be worried about your sanity.
The bigger point is - what gives us the right to decide who "needs" the money and who "doesn't" need the money? From what I can tell, Richard Wilbur is married and he and his wife raised and supported 4 children on his salary as a college professor. I don't know what his salary was during his tenure in the 50's and 60's - but if he were working today, based on the current pay scales, he'd be making anywhere between $51,000 and $85,000 a year. Due to the fact that he's been retired for quite some time, I'd feel safe saying he lived on (and saved) a whole lot less than that. Teachers, even teachers of the well-respected and long-term college professing variety, aren't in it "for the money" - simply because the "money" isn't there for them. Besides which, there are very few 80 years olds in today's world who will tell you they are entirely comfortable living on their pensions. Just ask my mother - or your own. Their life savings just aren't stretching with today's economy. I doubt that Mr. Wilbur feels any differently, or that his expenses haven't risen dramatically right along with the rest of ours.
In his lifetime, Mr. Wilbur's largest poetry awards have been 2 Pulitzer's, a stint as Poet Laureate of the United States and the Ruth Lilly Award. If you break that down, it's a total of $20,000.00 for the two Pulitzers, $35,000.00 for his year as Poet Laureate and $100,000.00 from The Poetry Foundation. That's a grand total of $155,000.00 over a career which began in 1947 when he published his first collection. In other words, he's been richly and repetitiously awarded to the tune of the grand and glorious amount of a whopping $2,583.33 a year.
You-all are right - no one deserves to receive that kind of money more than once.
Sunday, April 23, 2006
Friday, April 21, 2006
A List of "Things"
Thursday, April 20, 2006
PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS
CAUSE:
EFFECT
If anybody asks me, I have new heroes. My new heroes are fairly ordinary folks...who just happen to ride motorcycles when they aren't leading the same ordinary lives that we all live and who happen to believe that grieving families should have some privacy and some dignity and that if they need protection to get these things they'll be there for them. My heroes call themselvesTHE PATRIOT GUARD RIDERS and just yesterday they made a horrible time in life a little easier for the family and friends of Lance Cpl. Philip J. Martini in Lansing, Illinois.
I thank them, personally on behalf of my niece and her friends who were there to pay their last respects to a good friend, and, on a larger scale, on behalf of all of us, regardless of our views on the war in Iraq, who want and deserve to bury our dead in peace and privacy.
God bless you, Bikers, every one.
EFFECT
If anybody asks me, I have new heroes. My new heroes are fairly ordinary folks...who just happen to ride motorcycles when they aren't leading the same ordinary lives that we all live and who happen to believe that grieving families should have some privacy and some dignity and that if they need protection to get these things they'll be there for them. My heroes call themselves
I thank them, personally on behalf of my niece and her friends who were there to pay their last respects to a good friend, and, on a larger scale, on behalf of all of us, regardless of our views on the war in Iraq, who want and deserve to bury our dead in peace and privacy.
God bless you, Bikers, every one.
Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Richard Wilbur Wins Ruth Lilly Prize
Got this in an Email just now from the Poetry Foundation.
Way to go, Mr. Wilbur!!! A formalist, no less!!!
I'm beyond excited.
April 11, 2006
Media Contact: Anne Halsey (312) 799.8016;
ahalsey@poetryfoundation.org
RICHARD WILBUR WINS 2006 LILLY PRIZE
$100,000 Award One of Largest to Poets
Chicago -- Poet and translator Richard Wilbur has won the 2006
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Established in 1986, the prize is one
of the most prestigious given to American poets, and at $100,000
it is one of the nation's largest literary honors. Christian Wiman,
editor of Poetry magazine and chair of the selection committee,
made the announcement today. The prize will be presented at an
evening ceremony at the Arts Club in Chicago on May 25th.
In announcing the award, Wiman said: "If you had to put all your
money on one living poet whose work will be read in a hundred years,
Richard Wilbur would be a good bet. He has written some of the
most memorable poems of our time, and his achievement rivals
that of great American poets like Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bishop."
Richard Wilbur has published over two-dozen poems in Poetry
since his first appearance in the magazine in February 1948.
Wilbur has served as Poet Laureate of the United States and
his many other honors include two Pulitzer Prizes, the National
Book Award, and the Bollingen Translation Prize. He lives with
his wife, Charlotte, in Cummington, Massachusetts.
Born in New York City on March 1, 1921, Wilbur grew up on a
New Jersey farm, was educated at Amherst and Harvard, and
served with the 36th Infantry Division. He was a member of
the prestigious Harvard Fellows and taught there until 1954,
when he moved to Wellesley and then to Wesleyan University.
From Wesleyan he went to Smith as writer-in-residence.
In 1987 he was named the second Poet Laureate of the U.S.,
following Robert Penn Warren.
"No contemporary poet has brought so much lived experience
into such formally perfect poems as Richard Wilbur. Entering
a Wilbur poem is a deeply civil and civilizing experience,
from which we emerge better human beings," said John Barr,
president of the Poetry Foundation. "The Poetry Foundation
is pleased to represent Ruth Lilly, once again, in giving
this major award to a poet as extraordinary as Wilbur."
Wilbur began to write poetry in earnest only after experiencing
the horrific chaos of battle during WW II service as an
infantryman in Italy. No poet of his generation has been
more committed to careful, organized expression or has more
thoroughly mastered the forms and devices of traditional poetry;
this conservative aesthetic and his deep love for "country things"
link Wilbur to the Roman poet Horace and to his fellow American
Robert Frost. He has also produced sparkling, witty translations
of classic French drama and several books for children.
Wilbur's books of poetry include New and Collected Poems (1988),
which won the Pulitzer Prize; The Mind-Reader: New Poems (1976);
Walking to Sleep: New Poems and Translations (1969); Advice to a
Prophet and Other Poems (1961); Things of This World (1956),
for which he received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book
Award; Ceremony and Other Poems (1950); and The Beautiful Changes
and Other Poems (1947). Richard Wilbur's Collected Poems 1943-2004
was published in 2004.
Judges for the 2006 prize were poets Linda Gregerson, Don Paterson,
and Christian Wiman.
"A Barred Owl"
by Richard Wilbur
The warping night-air having brought the boom
Of an owl's voice into her darkened room,
We tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking of us, if rightly listened to,
"Who cooks for you?" and then "Who cooks for you?"
Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can also thus domesticate a fear,
And send a small child back to sleep at night
Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw
Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.
From Mayflies: New Poems and Translations. (c) 2000 by
Richard Wilbur. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
***
Way to go, Mr. Wilbur!!! A formalist, no less!!!
I'm beyond excited.
April 11, 2006
Media Contact: Anne Halsey (312) 799.8016;
ahalsey@poetryfoundation.org
RICHARD WILBUR WINS 2006 LILLY PRIZE
$100,000 Award One of Largest to Poets
Chicago -- Poet and translator Richard Wilbur has won the 2006
Ruth Lilly Poetry Prize. Established in 1986, the prize is one
of the most prestigious given to American poets, and at $100,000
it is one of the nation's largest literary honors. Christian Wiman,
editor of Poetry magazine and chair of the selection committee,
made the announcement today. The prize will be presented at an
evening ceremony at the Arts Club in Chicago on May 25th.
In announcing the award, Wiman said: "If you had to put all your
money on one living poet whose work will be read in a hundred years,
Richard Wilbur would be a good bet. He has written some of the
most memorable poems of our time, and his achievement rivals
that of great American poets like Robert Frost and Elizabeth Bishop."
Richard Wilbur has published over two-dozen poems in Poetry
since his first appearance in the magazine in February 1948.
Wilbur has served as Poet Laureate of the United States and
his many other honors include two Pulitzer Prizes, the National
Book Award, and the Bollingen Translation Prize. He lives with
his wife, Charlotte, in Cummington, Massachusetts.
Born in New York City on March 1, 1921, Wilbur grew up on a
New Jersey farm, was educated at Amherst and Harvard, and
served with the 36th Infantry Division. He was a member of
the prestigious Harvard Fellows and taught there until 1954,
when he moved to Wellesley and then to Wesleyan University.
From Wesleyan he went to Smith as writer-in-residence.
In 1987 he was named the second Poet Laureate of the U.S.,
following Robert Penn Warren.
"No contemporary poet has brought so much lived experience
into such formally perfect poems as Richard Wilbur. Entering
a Wilbur poem is a deeply civil and civilizing experience,
from which we emerge better human beings," said John Barr,
president of the Poetry Foundation. "The Poetry Foundation
is pleased to represent Ruth Lilly, once again, in giving
this major award to a poet as extraordinary as Wilbur."
Wilbur began to write poetry in earnest only after experiencing
the horrific chaos of battle during WW II service as an
infantryman in Italy. No poet of his generation has been
more committed to careful, organized expression or has more
thoroughly mastered the forms and devices of traditional poetry;
this conservative aesthetic and his deep love for "country things"
link Wilbur to the Roman poet Horace and to his fellow American
Robert Frost. He has also produced sparkling, witty translations
of classic French drama and several books for children.
Wilbur's books of poetry include New and Collected Poems (1988),
which won the Pulitzer Prize; The Mind-Reader: New Poems (1976);
Walking to Sleep: New Poems and Translations (1969); Advice to a
Prophet and Other Poems (1961); Things of This World (1956),
for which he received the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book
Award; Ceremony and Other Poems (1950); and The Beautiful Changes
and Other Poems (1947). Richard Wilbur's Collected Poems 1943-2004
was published in 2004.
Judges for the 2006 prize were poets Linda Gregerson, Don Paterson,
and Christian Wiman.
"A Barred Owl"
by Richard Wilbur
The warping night-air having brought the boom
Of an owl's voice into her darkened room,
We tell the wakened child that all she heard
Was an odd question from a forest bird,
Asking of us, if rightly listened to,
"Who cooks for you?" and then "Who cooks for you?"
Words, which can make our terrors bravely clear,
Can also thus domesticate a fear,
And send a small child back to sleep at night
Not listening for the sound of stealthy flight
Or dreaming of some small thing in a claw
Borne up to some dark branch and eaten raw.
From Mayflies: New Poems and Translations. (c) 2000 by
Richard Wilbur. Reprinted by permission of Harcourt, Inc.
***
Sunday, April 16, 2006
Annie Finch + Nine
This has been a good week for finding new blogs. I've added ten new blog-sites to the sidebar and just to call them to your attention, I'm going to list them here, as well.
Annie Finch has started blogging....always a good thing. Annie is one of my favorite living formalists and I, for one, am quite excited to be able to read not only her poetry but also whatever else she's going to have to say.
I foundAnne Boyer Josh Corey Jessica Smith and Craig Teicher through the lively "discussion" on male/female bloggers.
I've also addedOut of the Woodwork by Brian Campbell Bill Knott's new blog and a blog by Tad Richards . All are enjoyable. All are well-written.
Finally, I've also linked to ~~WOMB~~ and Formalista
which are basically two woman's poetry site with lots of good information for both women AND men.
I found
I've also added
Finally, I've also linked to
which are basically two woman's poetry site with lots of good information for both women AND men.
Saturday, April 15, 2006
5162 Colchaine
(more notes from the back of an ambulance)
In the white house on the corner
of Colchaine and 51st
there was a man who defied
gravity and managed to stay
standing for a day (or maybe two)
after he died.
The lights were off. His feet were bare,
his hair unkempt - as if he'd
woken thirsty in the night.
One hand was firm upon the faucet
while the other hand reached widely
for a glass.
They say that death's expected
by the old and the infirm, but I'm
unsure. He didn't lie serene,
he stood surprised.
In the white house on the corner
of Colchaine and 51st
there was a man who defied
gravity and managed to stay
standing for a day (or maybe two)
after he died.
The lights were off. His feet were bare,
his hair unkempt - as if he'd
woken thirsty in the night.
One hand was firm upon the faucet
while the other hand reached widely
for a glass.
They say that death's expected
by the old and the infirm, but I'm
unsure. He didn't lie serene,
he stood surprised.
Friday, April 14, 2006
April Is The Cruelest Month
It's that time of year again.....The least we can do is make you laugh.
Thursday, April 13, 2006
I Am Woman - Hear Me Bitch
CAUSE
Poetry Off the Books
EFFECT
Jessica Smith
Seth Abramson
Craig Teicher
Josh Corey
Anne Boyer
Reb Livingston
Wow! Once again, sexism rears its ugly head. On the 'Net, no less - where no one even knows for sure how short the skirts are - or how big the appendage.
I've got to admit - it mostly bores me. Been there, done that, got over it. It's interesting enough to read that I've included an equal mix of male/female opinions (wasn't that extremely non-sexist of me - the equal number thing?) but its value, other than entertainment, is nil. I've worked in a male-dominated profession for more years than I care to think about and I know for a fact that nothing gets solved by arguing or name-calling or accusation-throwing. On the contrary, it usually only serves to make thing worse. The blogging poetry world is fragile enough - wouldn't a united front make it that much stronger?
For one thing, Craig is entitled to read whatever blogs he reads and to write whatever truths he sees - doesn't make it gospel, just makes it his particular view. Last I heard, there was no law which said you had to be gender-equal in your opinions, your articles or your reviews. If he likes Josh Corey and Ron Silliman enough to mention them then he does. That's his prerogative. It's also his prerogative to use them as examples of what he likes and not to be expected to include a female just because there are female blogger/poets to choose from. It's not life, it's not death, and frankly, it's not important. It's also not sexist. It is what it is - an honestly written article - the exclusion of a woman example doesn't make it sexist. I'll go a step farther and say that the inclusion of a female might have been even more sexist. Any time you're forced, by public opinion or fear of public opinion, to be "equal" the forcing party automatically becomes unequal due to the nature of the force. If I'm going to be included in something, I damn well want to be there because I was wanted, not because I'm there as an afterthought simply to satisfy some imaginary quota.
Speaking as a woman, we'll never be equal until we learn not to whine. "Equality" is something we can prove, not something we can demand. When I joined the fire department, I took the same test and I passed the same physical that the men took. I didn't grumble and groan (well, I did groan a little while I was hanging upside down with my knees hooked around the ladder-rung with the blood rushing to my head and the goddamn airpack slipping down and hitting me in the back of the neck cutting off my oxygen supply) but it wasn't because I didn't think I should be forced to take the same test - it was because I was dying.
Same thing with poetry....or blogging...or blogging about poetry. It's not going to do me any good to jump down someone's back because there aren't any women being mentioned somewhere - the only thing that's going to do me any good is to write better and to be more interesting and more consistent. I want to be noticed as a writer, as a poet, NOT as a woman. I can get noticed as a woman any time I want to - I don't need the poetry world to recognize me because of my physical equipment - I need them to recognize me because of my carefully metered brain - and I don't want my brain to have a gender identification card attached to it.
Sometimes we make our own beds and then we cry because we have to lie in them. No one has any problem with "Woman's" groups or "Woman's" sites.....I'm listed on one of them - WOMB and I belong to one of them - Formalista (Although, I hasten to add, Formalista not strictly for women only - and we do have a few male members - brave hearty souls that they are) However, if the high-heel was on the other foot, and there was a "Male" group or a "Male" site, many (most?) women would be appalled and outraged at their exclusion. How many men have railed against their exclusion in "Womb?" Please, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being recognized as a "Woman Poet" - simply because I like being recognized as a poet at all......and I love WOMB and what it does and what it's trying to do, but it does bother me a bit to be classified as a "woman poet" and not just as a "poet." My point is, by virtue of these exclusive (and thereby excluding) groups, it's the women themselves who are automatically classifying themselves as somehow different by their very gender. How then, realistically and fairly, can they become upset about it when they feel they have been intentionally or unintentionally excluded from something by a male? Shit happens...sometimes it's not even deliberate.
Demand or Deserve - which works? Which works best? Which one would you choose as a means of getting recognition? Is it possible for women to get what they think they deserve without their first demanding it? And if not, is it worth it? Is it even valid at that point?
Does it matter?
EFFECT
Wow! Once again, sexism rears its ugly head. On the 'Net, no less - where no one even knows for sure how short the skirts are - or how big the appendage.
I've got to admit - it mostly bores me. Been there, done that, got over it. It's interesting enough to read that I've included an equal mix of male/female opinions (wasn't that extremely non-sexist of me - the equal number thing?) but its value, other than entertainment, is nil. I've worked in a male-dominated profession for more years than I care to think about and I know for a fact that nothing gets solved by arguing or name-calling or accusation-throwing. On the contrary, it usually only serves to make thing worse. The blogging poetry world is fragile enough - wouldn't a united front make it that much stronger?
For one thing, Craig is entitled to read whatever blogs he reads and to write whatever truths he sees - doesn't make it gospel, just makes it his particular view. Last I heard, there was no law which said you had to be gender-equal in your opinions, your articles or your reviews. If he likes Josh Corey and Ron Silliman enough to mention them then he does. That's his prerogative. It's also his prerogative to use them as examples of what he likes and not to be expected to include a female just because there are female blogger/poets to choose from. It's not life, it's not death, and frankly, it's not important. It's also not sexist. It is what it is - an honestly written article - the exclusion of a woman example doesn't make it sexist. I'll go a step farther and say that the inclusion of a female might have been even more sexist. Any time you're forced, by public opinion or fear of public opinion, to be "equal" the forcing party automatically becomes unequal due to the nature of the force. If I'm going to be included in something, I damn well want to be there because I was wanted, not because I'm there as an afterthought simply to satisfy some imaginary quota.
Speaking as a woman, we'll never be equal until we learn not to whine. "Equality" is something we can prove, not something we can demand. When I joined the fire department, I took the same test and I passed the same physical that the men took. I didn't grumble and groan (well, I did groan a little while I was hanging upside down with my knees hooked around the ladder-rung with the blood rushing to my head and the goddamn airpack slipping down and hitting me in the back of the neck cutting off my oxygen supply) but it wasn't because I didn't think I should be forced to take the same test - it was because I was dying.
Same thing with poetry....or blogging...or blogging about poetry. It's not going to do me any good to jump down someone's back because there aren't any women being mentioned somewhere - the only thing that's going to do me any good is to write better and to be more interesting and more consistent. I want to be noticed as a writer, as a poet, NOT as a woman. I can get noticed as a woman any time I want to - I don't need the poetry world to recognize me because of my physical equipment - I need them to recognize me because of my carefully metered brain - and I don't want my brain to have a gender identification card attached to it.
Sometimes we make our own beds and then we cry because we have to lie in them. No one has any problem with "Woman's" groups or "Woman's" sites.....I'm listed on one of them - WOMB and I belong to one of them - Formalista (Although, I hasten to add, Formalista not strictly for women only - and we do have a few male members - brave hearty souls that they are) However, if the high-heel was on the other foot, and there was a "Male" group or a "Male" site, many (most?) women would be appalled and outraged at their exclusion. How many men have railed against their exclusion in "Womb?" Please, don't get me wrong, I like the idea of being recognized as a "Woman Poet" - simply because I like being recognized as a poet at all......and I love WOMB and what it does and what it's trying to do, but it does bother me a bit to be classified as a "woman poet" and not just as a "poet." My point is, by virtue of these exclusive (and thereby excluding) groups, it's the women themselves who are automatically classifying themselves as somehow different by their very gender. How then, realistically and fairly, can they become upset about it when they feel they have been intentionally or unintentionally excluded from something by a male? Shit happens...sometimes it's not even deliberate.
Demand or Deserve - which works? Which works best? Which one would you choose as a means of getting recognition? Is it possible for women to get what they think they deserve without their first demanding it? And if not, is it worth it? Is it even valid at that point?
Does it matter?
Wednesday, April 12, 2006
Save Chippy!!!
Save Chippy from the garbage heap -
or worse - the fireplace.
He's very small and very sweet
he won't take up much space.
He's got Pinnoccho's old nose
atop an impish grin.
To let him burn in hell would be
a most disgusting sin.
He'll brighten up your every room
he'll bring your children joy
A hand-carved puppet's flesh and blood -
unlike a store-bought toy.
He'll move his arms and legs for you -
poor little wooden waif
So scoop him up and bring him home -
Keep Chippy sound - and safe.
Chippy can be found here:
http://cgi.ebay.com/
Wooden-Doll-Hand-Carved_
W0QQitemZ9508645020QQcategoryZ2446QQss
PageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
Death Toll In Iraq Comes Home
LCpl PHILIP MARTINI
7/10/81 - 4/07/06
I've added a new counter to my side-bar. It's directly above the counter which tells me how many days we have left to endure the current presidental reign. I feel the two are related, but today is not the day to espouse my particular views on politics and war...or on the politics of war. It's enough to remind you that people are dying....very young people are dying and I wish they weren't.
I wish I didn't feel the need to add the counter - but I do. As always, war touchs everyone and my family has been touched this past weekend. On Friday, April 7, 2006, a member of my family joined all of the other grieving families and friends of the 2354 Americans killed in Iraq to date.
My 21 year old niece's friend, LCpl Philip Marini, was killed in Iraq. I have no details, I'm not sure the details are important. A young boy is dead fighting in a war he believed in and his family and friends are left bereft.
There is not much to say to a 21 year old woman who's lost someone dear. Children should not have to lose their friends. Parents should not have to lose children. Babies should not be called upon to lose parents. Wives should not lose husbands and husbands should not lose wives...not at 21 or 24 or 32 or 41.
I had no explanation to give to Megs.....and the only advice I could offer was to tell her to cry.....and the only consolation she has is knowing that Philip died doing something he strongly believed in....protecting his country.
"Here dead lie we because we did not choose to live and shame the land from which we sprung. Life, to be sure, is nothing much to lose; but young men think it is, and we were young. "A. E. Housman
You were very young, Philip, and you were much loved and you will be very much missed.
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Rewrite
Salaam
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9
Somewhere a girl with stick-thin limbs and veins
that run like fractured spider webs beneath
her parchment skin is waiting for a sign.
No angels have appeared, no gods have granted
immortality. She barely breathes,
but look! Her fingers twitch convulsively -
ten cornered mice who've spied the serpent's stare.
She speaks in foreign tongues to men that no
one sees. Her mother weeps, her father rails
against her worthlessness and sells her in
the street. Her value's nil, her price is low,
and no one intercedes on her behalf.
Eventually she'll strap a bomb around
her waist and send her innocence to hell.
Her name is Peace - quite possibly
she's our responsibility. She could be God.
"Am I my brother's keeper?" Genesis 4:9
Somewhere a girl with stick-thin limbs and veins
that run like fractured spider webs beneath
her parchment skin is waiting for a sign.
No angels have appeared, no gods have granted
immortality. She barely breathes,
but look! Her fingers twitch convulsively -
ten cornered mice who've spied the serpent's stare.
She speaks in foreign tongues to men that no
one sees. Her mother weeps, her father rails
against her worthlessness and sells her in
the street. Her value's nil, her price is low,
and no one intercedes on her behalf.
Eventually she'll strap a bomb around
her waist and send her innocence to hell.
Her name is Peace - quite possibly
she's our responsibility. She could be God.
Friday, April 07, 2006
Some Things Just Speak for Themselves
THEN
Testimony Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak
September, 2003
"Let me just say something about leaks in Washington," Bush told reporters in September 2003. "There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch, there's leaks in the legislative branch, there's just too many leaks.... and if there's a leak out of the administration, I want to know who it is. And if a person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."
NOW
Libby Says Bush OK'd Leaks, Filing Alleges - Yahoo! News
April, 2006
WASHINGTON - I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby apparently had serious qualms about leaking classified intelligence to the press, but he was quickly persuaded to drop them. There was pressure from his boss, Vice President, Dick Cheney, who advised him that the president had authorized Libby to do so. End of discussion.
Testimony Adds New Element to Probe of CIA Leak
September, 2003
"Let me just say something about leaks in Washington," Bush told reporters in September 2003. "There are too many leaks of classified information in Washington. There's leaks at the executive branch, there's leaks in the legislative branch, there's just too many leaks.... and if there's a leak out of the administration, I want to know who it is. And if a person has violated law, the person will be taken care of."
NOW
Libby Says Bush OK'd Leaks, Filing Alleges - Yahoo! News
April, 2006
WASHINGTON - I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby apparently had serious qualms about leaking classified intelligence to the press, but he was quickly persuaded to drop them. There was pressure from his boss, Vice President, Dick Cheney, who advised him that the president had authorized Libby to do so. End of discussion.
A Bridge Quite Close
With His Mate Wounded, George Tends the Nest
Who would have thought? A pair of eagles - right here next to the Woodrow Wilson Bridge.
I am hoping "Martha" recovers and "George" waits for her return.....but, much like people, he probably won't. He'll take up with the renegade female who beat the hell outa Martha, she'll move right in, rearrange seven years worth of branches and sticks and throw Martha's eggs out of the nest.
Eagles aren't the noble birds people think they are. On the contrary, they're nasty scavengers for the most part. Even if Martha hadn't been so rudely and violently removed from the scene by another female, her and George most likely would have trashed at least one of the eaglets themselves by encouraging it to fly too soon. 40% of all eaglets do not survive their first flight. Even before that happened, chances are only one of the two eggs would have survived even that long. Fratricide is common in Eagle-Land. An eaglet's survival is very much based on "the fittest" and parents are quick to allow the stronger/bigger eaglet to kill the smaller/weaker chick. American Bald Eagle - Nesting & Young They steal food, feathers, nest material and other eggs from smaller birds regularly. They're also quite fond of carrion. The fact that they CAN easily kill their own prey doesn't seem to stop them from snatching it from others or taking advantage of road kill......it's easier that way. American Bald Eagle - diet and feeding habits Less energy expended and all. Again, much like people.
I'd still like to see one, though. Just because. Knowing the truth may make them less majestic, but they're interesting in spite of their inherent evilness - or maybe because of it.
Maybe this weekend I'll take a short road trip to Maryland.
Blue Ridge
The eagle was thought to be the only animal capable of looking directly into the sun. Aristotle and Pliny wrote of this and added that the eagle tested its young by facing them to the sun, rejecting any that looked away
The Essence of Eagles - baldeagleinfo.com
Listen to midnight / at the edge of the eyrie / two egg-teeth chipping
Come carrion hour / each gray-downed half-winged fledgling / turns face to the east
Observe the sunrise / how it blinds men and opens / the eyes of eaglets
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Kitten Corpse Sold
I knew it. I even said I knew it. I said it right here back on January 11. 2006:
Terminal Chaosity: "Holoprosencephaly"
She may not have sold it on E-Bay, but sell it she did.
I hate people. I especially hate people who do bad things for money and then
have the nerve to call it "religious."
AOL News - Corpse of One-Eyed Kitten to Go on Display
Corpse of One-Eyed Kitten to Go on Display
GRANBY, N.Y. (April 5) - The one-eyed, noseless kitten that inspired an
international debate last year over whether it was a hoax is coming to a
new museum of oddities in central New York.
The museum founder, who believes in creationism, said the kitten is
meant to launch another debate about how science and religion intersect.
The Oregon woman who owned the kitten said she turned down Ripley's
Believe it or Not! and sold the remains to John Adolfi of Granby
because she liked his religious reasons for wanting them.
"We didn't want Cy becoming a joke or part of a personal collection,"
Traci Allen said. "But John was so heartfelt, you could tell he was
genuine and sincere."
Adolfi would not say how much he paid for the kitten, named Cy,
for Cyclops. He said he plans to have it embalmed Wednesday
at a local funeral home.
The kitten died in December, a day after being born. Veterinarians in
Oregon said it suffered from a rare disorder called holoprosencephaly.
Cy will be displayed in a glass jar in the Lost World Museum,
which Adolfi hopes to open in nearby Phoenix this fall.
Other exhibits will include giant plants and eggs,
deformed animal remains and archaeological finds, Adolfi said.
copyright 2006 AP (picture removed by me... unfortunately link still works)
Terminal Chaosity: "Holoprosencephaly"
She may not have sold it on E-Bay, but sell it she did.
I hate people. I especially hate people who do bad things for money and then
have the nerve to call it "religious."
AOL News - Corpse of One-Eyed Kitten to Go on Display
Corpse of One-Eyed Kitten to Go on Display
GRANBY, N.Y. (April 5) - The one-eyed, noseless kitten that inspired an
international debate last year over whether it was a hoax is coming to a
new museum of oddities in central New York.
The museum founder, who believes in creationism, said the kitten is
meant to launch another debate about how science and religion intersect.
The Oregon woman who owned the kitten said she turned down Ripley's
Believe it or Not! and sold the remains to John Adolfi of Granby
because she liked his religious reasons for wanting them.
"We didn't want Cy becoming a joke or part of a personal collection,"
Traci Allen said. "But John was so heartfelt, you could tell he was
genuine and sincere."
Adolfi would not say how much he paid for the kitten, named Cy,
for Cyclops. He said he plans to have it embalmed Wednesday
at a local funeral home.
The kitten died in December, a day after being born. Veterinarians in
Oregon said it suffered from a rare disorder called holoprosencephaly.
Cy will be displayed in a glass jar in the Lost World Museum,
which Adolfi hopes to open in nearby Phoenix this fall.
Other exhibits will include giant plants and eggs,
deformed animal remains and archaeological finds, Adolfi said.
copyright 2006 AP (picture removed by me... unfortunately link still works)
Monday, April 03, 2006
Mo' Rejection
Sigh - - - yet another rejection letter. Another form rejection letter. From Poetry this time. I should learn, and yet, I always hope anyhow. Maybe the grammer-school nuns were right....and I really am a slow learner. Sigh - - - again.
Sunday, April 02, 2006
Winners and Losers
The Swift Competition ( http://www.swiftsociety.com/) has announced their winner and semi-finalists. For anyone interested in some really fine satire, this is the place to find it.
"My Dan" was a semi-finalist. His poem -
A Man of God Refutes a Man of Science
by Dan Halberstein
can be found here -- http://www.swiftsociety.com/2006_shortlist/flood.html
Funny funny stuff...and the meter and mood are perfection.
YAY DAN!!! You ROCK!!!!!!!!!
On a more somber note, I received my computer-generated rejection note from The New Yorker last week. It did not even include a salutation. It consisted of 1 and 1/2 lines beginning with "we regret" and ending with "sincerely, The Editors."
Ah well....I really didn't expect anything more. I just like it when people use my name or even take the time to add a "To Whom It May Concern" or a "Dear Poet."
On the plus side, it was a rapid rejection....13 days from submission to rejection. If nothing else it frees up the poems for me to send elsewhere if and when I get my courage back.
"My Dan" was a semi-finalist. His poem -
A Man of God Refutes a Man of Science
by Dan Halberstein
can be found here -- http://www.swiftsociety.com/2006_shortlist/flood.html
Funny funny stuff...and the meter and mood are perfection.
YAY DAN!!! You ROCK!!!!!!!!!
On a more somber note, I received my computer-generated rejection note from The New Yorker last week. It did not even include a salutation. It consisted of 1 and 1/2 lines beginning with "we regret" and ending with "sincerely, The Editors."
Ah well....I really didn't expect anything more. I just like it when people use my name or even take the time to add a "To Whom It May Concern" or a "Dear Poet."
On the plus side, it was a rapid rejection....13 days from submission to rejection. If nothing else it frees up the poems for me to send elsewhere if and when I get my courage back.
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