First drafts of poetry, as well as commentary on poems, poets and poetry-related randomonia.
I may be speaking a bit prematurely on this but I'm bored at work and excited about the potential of this new wrinkle that's come up. I mentioned a couple of days ago that I wasn't feeling the idea of continuing louder than words after Eric heads west. One of the keys to the show was our tight relationship that allows us to smacktalk each other without offending. After some solo thinking on it, I asked Omar - one of the few people I share a similar rapport with - if he'd be interested in stepping in. He was, but…
What do American Idol and poetry slam have in common? A little bit of irony to set it up first. As a kid, I was notorious for always being late. Not a few minutes late, either, but often an hour or more. Because my mother was pretty strict, I knew 5 minutes was as bad as 5 hours and so always pushed it past its limits. After I became too old for the belt, I spent a lot of time on punishment. One of the more extreme came two days before I was supposed to take my road test for…
Today's navel-gazing missive about the meaning of life and the fallacy of the American Dream will be pre-empted for in-the-moment coverage of some late-breaking news: my main man Eric Guerrieri is leaving town. :-( He just called me a little while ago with the news that he's moving to Colorado...in two weeks! It's a great, if bittersweet, opportunity for him and I'm simultaneously happy for him and selfishly pissed. If Bassey is my little sister from the poetry scene, Eric is my twin brother. From those first days when I wasn't sure where he was coming from to the present…
Last night at Acentos was like an uninterrupted 24-hour stint in the recharger and I'm feeling good about poetry again and hopeful about the scene in general. I've always said being nervous before a performance is a good sign that you still care about what you're doing. Jessica, Nina and Maria obviously care about poetry, specifically the meticulous crafting and unadorned presentation of it. They let the poems speak for themselves and did they ever! Jessica, in particular, took an impressive leap forward with a commanding - almost, dare I say it...cocky? - stage presence and even kicked a memorized…
From August 25, 2003: Speaking of next year, I'm making a To Do list for the run-up to 35. I've got 356 more days to get it all done: 1. Write 3 short stories/novellas; publish one; 2. Write & publish 2 articles, one non-poetry-related; 3. Produce 3 performance events; 4. Go back to school; 5. Reconnect with my not-so-inner nerd; 6. Lose 5 more pounds and tone up; 7. Unsubscribe from the poetry_slam listserve.112 days to go and I'm way behind on this. Completed: 5. Reconnect with my not-so-inner nerd; 7. Unsubscribe from the poetry_slam listserve. In progress: 1. Write…
Wole Soyinka has this quote, "The tiger does not sing his tigritude." But, I think that if the tiger entered a world of leopards, he probably would. -- Mara JebsenApropos of nothing, I just love how Mara's mind works and her writing is second-to-none. This weekend was...tiring and counterproductive. Short, aimless getaways just don't work with kids this young. India throwing up in the car Friday night just as we had pulled into the Pathmark parking lot to go grocery shopping was a sign to cancel the whole trip and stay home. We didn't, of course, and the three-day weekend…
A public apology to Helen Yum for not getting downtown to wish her farewell last night. :-( I tried, really I did, but between Sunday's trip to the zoo and all the walking I did yesterday, by the time we'd gotten the kids ready for bed and I picked up the laundry, I was exhausted. She's one of a handful of poetry people - as in, the ones I like above and beyond the poetry scene - that I'd go out of my way for, but I just couldn't do it last night. Another apology to everyone else I've stood…
