TALKIN' BUSINESS

One of the many joys of Galatea Resurrects is e-meeting some of its reviewers who often have very interesting things to say! A delight to add Nicholas Manning's THE NEWER METAPHYSICALS blog to Moi's blogroll. He has interesting things to say about Tom Beckett's UNPROTECTED TEXTS. Hi Nicholas!!

And I adore how he considers Galatea Resurrects an antidote of sorts to John Barr's lament of sorts over "American Poetry in the New Century". Read Galatea, Mr. Business-Man Poet -- afterwards, we can lament what should really be lamented: the relationship between globalism and poverty, Kapischkie?

GALATEA RESURRECTS FOR THE FOURTH TIME!!!!

Well dang if Moi wings didn't sprout a white hair, I mean, white feather on this one. But IT'S DONE!!!! To wit, the announcement below and if you don't mind I'm gonna hit the Wine Cellar to celebrate!

GALATEA RESURRECTS (A POETRY ENGAGEMENT)

Galatea's animal lovers are pleased to release our Fourth Issue with 61 NEW REVIEWS of poetry books and projects, as well as other special poetry features. 61 New Reviews is, of course, distinctly UP from the third issue's number of 49 new reviews -- heee! Go here directly to Issue 4 -- I also replicate the Table of Contents below!

Galatea Resurrects (A Poetry Engagement) Issue #4:
CONTENTS:

EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION
From Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
Steven Fama reviews THE NIGHT I DROPPED SHAKESPEARE ON THE CAT by John Olson

Elizabeth Kate Switaj reviews THE END OF RUDE HANDLES by Jen Tynes

Nicholas Manning reviews UNPROTECTED TEXTS: SELECTED POEMS 1978-2006 by Tom Beckett

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews UNPROTECTED TEXTS: SELECTED POEMS 1978-2006 by Tom Beckett

Andrea Baker reviews LITTLE EASE by Aaron McCollough

Jim McCrary reviews ON EARTH: LAST POEMS AND AN ESSAY by Robert Creeley

David Baptiste-Chirot reviews SAINT GHETTO OF THE LOANS by Gabriel Pomerand

Craig Perez reviews I HAVE NOT BEEN ABLE TO GET THROUGH TO EVERYONE by Anna Moschovakis

Eileen Tabios reviews SCRAWL by Susana Gardner

Laurel Johnson reviews UNDER THE WANDERER'S STAR by Sigman Byrd

Barbara Jane Reyes reviews GUTTED by Justin Chin

J LeClerc reviews GARNET LANTERNS by Sally Rosen Kindred

Nicholas Manning reviews VAUDEVILLE by Alyssa Wolf

Madeline Tiger reviews UNCOMMON GEOGRAPHY by Therése Halscheid

Thomas Fink reviews INSIDE THE OUTSIDE: AN ANTHOLOGY OF AVANT-GARDE AMERICAN POETS, Edited by Roseanne Ritzema

Eileen Tabios reviews BOYS, A-Z: A PRIMER by Dan Waber

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews THE OBEDIENT DOOR by Sean Finney

Lynn Strongin reviews AN APOLOGY FOR LOVING THE OLD HYMNS and HOUSEHOLD OF CONTINUANCE, both by Jordan Smith

Allen Bramhall reviews MAINSTREAM by Michael Magee and MUSEE MECHANIQUE by Rodney Koeneke

Richard Lopez reviews MY SPACESHIP, Edited by Mark Lamoreaux

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews THE AFTER-DEATH HISTORY OF MY MOTHER by Sandy McIntosh

Craig Perez reviews DO NOT AWAKEN THEM WITH HAMMERS by Lidija Dimkovska

Diane Lockward reviews SEEDPODS by Glenna Luschei

Allen Bramhall reviews POST~TWYLA by Jack Kimball

Jesse Crockett reviews POST~TWYLA by Jack Kimball

Susana Gardner reviews ORGANIC FURNITURE CELLAR by Jessica Smith

Leny M. Strobel reviews NOT EVEN DOGS by Ernesto Priego

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews OPERA: POEMS 1981 - 2002 by Barry Schwabsky

Michelle Bautista reviews OPERA: POEMS 1981 - 2002 by Barry Schwabsky

William Allegrezza reviews ON THE FLY by Amy King

Julie R. Enszer reviews MARBLE GODDESSES WITH TECHNICOLOR SKINS by Corinne Robins

Lynn Strongin reviews NECESSARY ANGELS by Carolyn Maisel

Dion Farquhar reviews INCESSANT SEEDS by Sheila Murphy

Steven Fama reviews BIRD-BOOK by Jessica Smith

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews THE GOOD CITY by Sharon Olinka

Eileen Tabios reviews NO APPOINTMENT NECESSARY by Thomas Fink and OTAGES by John Bloomberg-Rissman

Beatriz Tabios reviews UNPROTECTED TEXTS by Tom Beckett

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews WARP SPASM by Basil King

Laurel Johnson reviews BREAKING THE FEVER by Mary Mackey

Rhett Pascual reviews MUSEUM OF ABSENCES by Luis H. Francia

Eileen Tabios reviews SIGNED EVEN AS A WAITING by Paul Klinger

Erica Kaufman reviews THE ANGER SCALE by Katie Degentesh

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews GAGARIN STREET by Piotr Gwiazda

Fionna Doney Simmonds reviews THE GOOD CAMPAIGN by Amy King

Nicholas Downing reviews EPISODES by Mark Young

Vanessa Kenyon reviews A BOOK OF HER OWN: WORDS AND IMAGES TO HONOR THE BABAYLAN by Leny M. Strobel

Julie R. Enszer reviews THE FIFTH VOICE by Pamela Hart, Allen Strous, Victoria Givotovsky and Noah Kucij

William Allegrezza reviews METEORIC FLOWERS by Elizabeth Willis

Julie R. Enszer reviews NATURAL DEFENSES and FIRE IS FAVORABLE TO THE DREAMER, both by Susan Terris

Lynn Strongin reviews NOW YOU CARE by Di Brandt; SPEAKING OF POWER: THE POETRY OF DI BRANDT, Edited by Tanis MacDonald; and SEEDPODS by Glenna Luschei

Eileen Tabios reviews A PLACE TO STAND by Jimmy Santiago Baca

Susana Gardner reviews A BEDSIDE GUIDE TO NO TELL MOTEL Edited by Reb Livingston and Molly Arden

Jim McCrary reviews BOOK OF SKETCHES by Jack Kerouac

Mark Young reviews WOMEN OF THE BEAT GENERATION by Brenda Knight and
SAN FRANCISCO'S BURNING by Helen Adam


FEATURED POETS
Guillermo Parra presents JUAN SANCHEZ PELAEZ

Eric Gamalinda presents IAN BRAND

Paolo Javier presents AARON PECK


FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEWS
David Buuck reviews IN THE HEART OF ANOTHER COUNTRY by Etel Adnan

Joyelle McSweeney reviews the time at the end of this writing and 60 lv bo(e)mbs by Paolo Javier

Steffi Drewes reviews like wind loves a window by Andrea Baker

Elizabeth Treadwell reviews POEM FOR THE END OF TIME AND OTHER POEMS by Noelle Kocot

Christine Hamm reviews PIECES OF AIR IN THE EPIC by Brenda Hillman


ROASTING THE EDITOR
John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews REPRODUCTIONS OF THE EMPTY FLAGPOLE by Eileen R Tabios


INSIDE BACK COVER
Woof Woof!

OUTSIDE BACK COVER
Purrrrrr.....

I'MA JES SAYIN'...

This article on anger in art criticism (viz Ron) can shed light upon some of you poets who choose to critique...Poetry.

I'ma jes sayin...

[Update: if the article link doesn't work to get you to said article, go to Ron's and then click on his link.]

Meanwhile, I think Galatea Resurrects' next issue is less than 24 hours away. Watch here for upcoming pride-ful pronouncement! Oh yeah--the excitement mounts!

WHAT I HAVE IN COMMON WITH BRITNEY SPEARS

(or so I understand from what the radio morning talk show peeps are blathering...)

which is to say, my hair is standing up and askew and I've got a slightly manic gaze on my face and the dogs are complaining I worked so late last night they couldn't get me up at 6 a.m. to let them out for their morning barkings at the deer...and I'm still working away here at the computer and then my gaze dropped and I realized:

beneath my manic hair I am wearing no panties. I am wearing the t-shirt I wore to bed and beneath, nada.

Geeeeeez. There are limits to what I will do for Poetry. You will forgive me if I now go offline, take a shower, have my first cuppa and maybe a bit of breakfast...before I continue this punishing schedule of making sure Poetry Takes Over The World!!!!

MOI’S JOB

It looks like there’ll be 36 reviewers in Galatea Resurrects’ upcoming issue. I’m still formatting it (several do multiple reviews), but here’s what I notice:

Of the 36 reviewers, only two -- as far as I can tell -- are not poets. And of that twosome, one of them is my mother (yes, I yanked my mother in to do a review...heeee!).

This statistic gets to the heart of my concerns as a poetry reviewer. See, there are plenty of poets out there who are all concerned about the state of poetry criticism, and the need to do better evaluations as well as articulations of such. Good for you -- more, indeed, should share your concerns.

But this is a type of dialogue that often gets too inbred for me. It’s the kind of conversation that happens in a corner (not even all four corners but barely one corner) of, say, a huge loft-size room where a party may be happening. And the conversation, in this far-off corner, gets all hot and heated at times…but at the end of the day, the distinct majority in the party aren’t paying attention. They got their good times elsewhere. Heck, they even got their bad times elsewhere and what's poetry for if not a bad time, youse know?!

So, my intent with Galatea Resurrects is about a forest, not a particular tree -- even if that tree is full of laurel leaves. It’s why I knew Galatea Resurrects had to be an online publication as it would have more reach that way than the typical print journal. And what I’d like for it to reach for is to persuade as many people as possible -- I say "people", not "poets" -- that it’s worth paying attention to poetry.

This approach -- even as it need not be a binary against, say, the cerebral or academic or even the Gate-keeping POV -- poses certain implications. And one of them is that Galatea Resurrects must provide a space for also experiencing Joy.

That’s Moi’s job. And that’s why I like Moi’s job.

***

Took me decades to earn Moi’s job. Having said that, what I never anticipated is the … loneliness of this POV. Poor Joy…

KUDOS-ES!

Shanna Compton reviews Tom Beckett's lovely inaugural book UNPROTECTED TEXTS

It says something, doesn't it, that Tom's book has been getting raves since it was released -- in fact, it'll inaugurate a record in the next issue of Galatea Resurrects by being the first book ever to receive three reviews -- that's by 3 different reviewers, AND in three different countries, y'all -- in one issue!

But where was I? Oh yes, so it says something about poetry publishing that my five-year-old press, managed by Moi with no particular ties to Langpo, had to be the one to publish Tom's first book. Oh yes, it says something about the poetry world ...

This post is dedicated to those who don't sit on their ass but take up the DIY Flag: xPress(ed), Blue Lion Books, No Tell Books, Otoliths, Faux Press...and so on and so on....

APPEALING ALLEN

I am such a fan, a long-time fan, of Allen Bramhall's shopping reports! I look forward to more as the Consumer, I mean, Holiday Season unfolds...!

What does this have to do with Poetry, he asks?

Well, as the lucky reader of his million-page manuscript that Meritage Press hopes to publish next year -- it has a lot to do with (his) poetry. That attention to detail ... that looseness in the unfolding of the text ... that smoothness ... humor, wryness, ... in sum:

that appeal.

For Allen writes poetry that is also mucho appealing!

"DIY", LIKE POETRY, IS A VERB!

Still formatting the next issue of Galatea Resurrects which I hope to release later this week. Meanwhile, I just want to share the announcement from Otoliths below -- not just coz it mentions my book but because it reflects one of my favorite pasttimes: being part of new journals or new endeavors by poets who DIY rather than (just) rely on others. And so -- to more new-book endeavors!


NEW FROM OTOLITHS:

As part of its continued growth beyond the original (print & electronic) magazine & associated chapbooks, Otoliths is pleased to announce the publication of two new books.

DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS by Eileen Tabios
http://www.lulu.com/content/470167

EILEEN TABIOS' publications include 14 poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, and a short story book. DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS, her 11th print poetry collection, extends a body of work unique for melding ekphrasis with a transcolonial perspective. Here, she introduces her translation of the painterly technique of scumbling to create poems from other poets' words. From other writers' texts, she also extracts sequences of the hay(na)ku, a poetic form she inaugurated on June 12, 2003 to mark the 105th Anniversary of Philippines' Independence Day from Spain.


the allegrezza ficcione by Mark Young
http://www.lulu.com/content/437263

MARK YOUNG's the allegrezza ficcione is a speculative novella about journeys — the contemporary journey of Umberto Allegrezza as he seeks to discover the truth about a legendary journey East from Europe made by an ancestor decades before before Marco Polo. Other journeys are intertwined; the journey made before Tripitaka to bring back the Buddhist sutras to China, the relocation of the Library of Alexandria, the continued existence of the followers of Hassan-i-Sabah. First serialized on the author's blog and now available for the first time in its entirety, the allegrezza ficcione blurs the line between fiction and fact.


Both books are available through the respective link above for $10 plus postage.

The Otoliths' Storefront can be found at http://www.lulu.com/l_m_young

MANY MANY HATS COZ I PLUCK THOSE ANGELS' WINGS TO IRRITATE THEM AS WELL AS TO GARNER THE LOVELIEST PLUMES TO WAVE OVER MOI HEAD!

The year rushes to its ends with Moi over-hatted with projects! The latest is

Meritage Press' Sixth Annual Poetry Contest for Filipino poets -- click here for more information.

Reminder that you have until Nov. 30 for Bruna Mori's and Dec. 15 for Michelle Bautista's Special Pre-Release Offers for their inaugural books!

I am busily formatting the next issue of Galatea Resurrects with its record number of new reviews -- it should come out next week!

And here's the latest results of what I do in my spare time: drink books and read wine:

BOOKS:
DERIVE by Bruna Mori, with paintings by Matthew Kinney

AMERICAN KUNDIMAN, poems by Patrick Rosal

TEAHOUSE OF THE ALMIGHTY, poems by Patricia Smith

SHE'S MY BEST FRIEND, poems by Jim Behrle

PARADISO DIASPORA, poems by John Yau

THE PICTURES, poems by Max Winter

NEAR THE OCEAN, poems by Robert Lowell

WATCHWORD, poems by William Fuller

ELAPSING SPEEDWAY ORGANISM, poems by Bruce Covey

SIGNED EVEN AS A WAITING, poem by Paul Klinger

BLUE COLONIAL, poems by David Roderick

WHAT FEEDS US, poems by Diane Lockward

YOU BEING YOU BY PROXY, poems by Justin Marks

CHANCE, poems by Daniel Becker

MORNING NEWS, poems by Ana Bozicevic-Bowling

MILK BOWL MOON OVER ST. LOUIS, poems by David E. Patton

THE WEDDING DRESS: MEDITATIONS ON WORD AND LIFE by Fanny Howe

NIGHT, memoir by Elie Wiesel

NATIVE IN A STRANGE LAND: TRIALS & TREMORS, memoir-ish journalism & poetry by Wanda Coleman

WHAT'S YOUR IDEA OF A GOOD TIME, correspondences by Bill Berkson and Bernadette Mayer

THE WORKING POOR: INVISIBLE IN AMERICA, investigative journalism by David K. Shipler

A WALK ACROSS AMERICA, memoir by Peter Jenkins

DOGGY STYLE, novel by Jane May

DIGGING OUT, novel by Katherine Leiner

THE BOOKSHOP, novel by Penelope Fitzgerald

DARK HARBOR, novel by David Hosp


WINES:
[1998 Eiswein]
1998 Fox Creek Grenache Shiraz
1997 Produttori de Barbaresco
2002 Colle Picchioni Vigna del Vassalo
2000 Faro Palari
2001 Solengo Argiano
1990 Krug from a Magnum
1990 Krug from a Magnum.
1992 Domaine Leflaive Batard Montrachet
1992 Comte de Lafon Meursault Perrieres
1990 DRC La Tache
1959 Leroy (sic) Grands Echezeaux
1988 Guigal Cote Rotie La Mouline
1968 Vega Sicilia Unico
1961 Chateau Haut Brion
1959 Chateau Lafite-Rothschild
1971 C. Gonterno Barolo Monfortino
1967 Chateau d'Yquem
Freixnenet Cava Cordon Negro
2003 Gaja Ca' Marcanda
2004 Montes Alfa Cabernet
2004 Teofolio Reyes Tomiz
2001 Torres Gran Coronas Cabernet
1989 Barolo Clerico Ciabot Mentin Ginestra
2003 Dutch Henry chardonnay
THANKSGIVING WINE: 1993 Beaux Freres pinot noir (magnum, which is good as the cork was nearly shot so we drank it just in time; may not have lasted if it had been smaller bottle?)

THANKSGIVING DAY = NEW BOOK!

Pleased to announce a new book, DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS! Thanks to poet-editor-publisher Mark Young, and book cover designer and cover artist harry k stammer! The book will be available in early 2007 through SPD and Amazon, but you can get it now (and at a cheaper price) through Lulu! Here's the official press release:

OTOLITHS ANNOUNCEMENT
For more info: Mark Young at mhcyoung@gmail.com

DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS
Poetry by Eileen Tabios
ISBN-13: 978-0-9775-6044-8
Release date: November 2006

Distributors:
Lulu.com
Small Press Distribution (SPD) (as of 2007)
Amazon.com (as of 2007)
Prices: $10.00 from Lulu.com; $14.95 from SPD & Amazon.com

Otoliths (Rockhampton, Australia) is pleased to announce the release of Eileen Tabios' latest poetry collection, DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS.

EILEEN TABIOS' publications includes 14 poetry collections, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, and a short story book. DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS, her 11th print poetry collection, extends a unique body of work for melding ekphrasis with transcolonialism. Here, she introduces her translation of the painterly technique of scumbling to create poems from other poets' words. From other writers' texts, she also extracts sequences of the hay(na)ku, a poetic form she inaugurated on June 12, 2003 to mark the 105th Anniversary of Philippines' Independence Day from Spain, its three-century colonizer.

In DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS, the author addresses loss: a lost country, lost memories, lost words, and lost dreams. But hope remains, and serves as the impetus for new poems.

Recipient of the Philippines' National Book Award for Poetry, Ms. Tabios also edited or co-edited five books of poetry, fiction and essays released in the United States. Her poetry and editing projects have received numerous awards including the PEN/Oakland-Josephine Miles National Literary Award, The Potrero Nuevo Fund Prize, the Gustavus Meyers Outstanding Book Award in the Advancement of Human Rights, Foreword Magazine Anthology of the Year Award, Poet Magazine's Iva Mary Williams Poetry Award, Judds Hill's Annual Poetry Prize and the Philippine American Writers & Artists' Catalagan Award; recognition from the Academy of American Poets, the Asian Pacific Association of Librarians and the PEN-Open Book Committee; as well as grants from the Witter Bynner Foundation, National Endowment of the Arts, the New York State Council on the Humanities, the California Council for the Humanities, and the New York City Downtown Cultural Council.

Ms. Tabios performs the poetics blog, "The Blind Chatelaine's Poker Poetics" and edits the journal GALATEA RESURRECTS: A Poetry Engagement while steering Meritage Press She is the Poet Laureate for Dutch Henry Winery in St. Helena, CA where, as a budding vintner, she is arduously and long-sufferingly researching the poetry of wine.


**********

Otoliths, based in Rockhampton, on the Tropic of Capricorn in Australia. is an independent publisher of poetry in its literary and visual forms -- separately & in combination -- from around the world that takes advantage of the opportunities offered by the web and print on demand publishing to bring out both books & the journal it is named after.

It's editor is Mark Young, a poet whose work has been appearing both in print & online for nearly 50 years.

For more information on Otoliths' print publications, please go here.

POETRY CAN MAKE THE BLIND SEE, WHICH IS TO SAY, FLY

(This post is for Greg Perry who notes, "maybe the world is what we make of it. Maybe creation is mechanical if we assemble it in such a manner.")

***

Moi am back and have won Moi bet -- looks like the next issue of Galatea Resurrects will have a record number of new reviews, surpassing the impressive 48 new reviews posted in the current issue.

Play poker with the Chatelaine and I'll strip you blind and take all your money....then buy you a new wardrobe to my liking and recast you, Reader Dear, as

THE EMPEROR WITH NEW CLOTHES

Because what the Fallen Angels taught is, after you take the person down -- deep down -- you take the person up -- high up.

Ascension Poetics = the engagement with a poem.

Kapisch?

Oh don't mind me. I'm back! And I'm blathering!

How was Mexico? several of you ask?

Well, I went for my back which is knotted tighter than a boulder due to those nascent wings hunkered down on Moi shoulder blades. And during one of my sessions there, Olinka was assigned to be my masseuse. Here's what happened at our first meeting.

Two seconds after Olinka touched my back, she said, "Ms Tabios, I think you should try meditation."

Moi: Ugh.

Olinka: Why Ugh?

Moi: Look, I've tried. But I just want to say -- Can I just say that meditation is boring.

For some reason, that cracked her up. Moi followed up: But why did you suggest meditation?

Olinka: Oh, because your body has so much tension. What are you? A cop?

Moi: No.

Pause.

Moi: I'm a poet.

For some reason, that cracked her up even more. Geez -- she must have cackled for a good five minutes which, mind you, I begrudged coz that was cutting in on my back's time. Then the kicker -- as her laughter slowed, Olinka gasped out: So. What do you write poems about? Cops?

Yeah, I know. At that point, I was wondering about Olinka, too....specifically what her thingie was with cops. So:

Moi: What do you do when you're not doing massage?

Olinka: I'm a painter.

Moi (perking up and proclaiming with robust enthusiasm): Oh!!! I'm so jealous! I've always thought that I'm a poet because I don't have the talent to be a painter!!

Olinka (in an aw shucks mode now): Naaaah. Anyone can be a painter. All you need is canvas.

Moi: C'mon. I can't draw or paint ....

Olinka: Not a problem -- that's when you call it "abstract."

Pause:

Olinka: So you don't write poems about cops?

Moi: Nope.

Olinka: What kind of poetry do you write?

Moi: Abstract poetry.

Yep. Olinka laughed again. And laughed. And laughed.

While Moi was thinking as she went down -- deeeeeep down: Whatever. I see you, Wings. Poetry -- bring it all on.

CLOSE AND I'MA WANTING THAT CIGAR!

Okay -- so as of this post, I have 38 brand new reviews for Galatea Resurrects' Fourth Issue which will be released later this month. GREAT. But, Peeps, that is 10 less reviews than the prior/current issue which offers new reviews of 48 publications.

Now, I have to go to Mexico , and won't be back home -- and online -- until late Tuesday. So I will keep taking reviews until next Wednesday, Nov. 22 (probably even Thursday if you let me know). Okay?

I do have more than 10 commitments out there -- and any of you certainly are free to just send over a review -- so that it's still possible that I can win my bet with this one Peep who'd bet I wouldn't be able to top 48 new reviews. (Send reviews to GalateaTen@aol.com)

Work with me, Peeps. I am blind and I play poker poetics -- surely you don't want me to lose Moi bet?

*****

Meanwhile, I continue to update Galatea Resurrects' list of available review copies as books come in the snailmail almost daily. Please check it out!

VIZPO, DAW

I blather and the world takes me seriously.

I'm grateful of course ... and now here's the latest --

I just got a sublimely silly email -- though I'm sure the writer was serious -- requesting my wedding dress pinned with poems (from my "Six Directions" project) to be sent over to a Visual Poetry Exhibition in Asia next year.

Geeeezus. I don't think so. That wedding gown has been so used that it's barely hanging on to its sequins. Matter of fact, some would say my wedding gown wasn't used so much as abused -- check out the hilarious illustration on his link! And, obviously, with all those gals and boy who've worn it, it ceased being white a loooooong time ago.

So, instead, I'll be sending over some poetry drawings/collages. But Whoooooo-ooooh if that Six Directions won't cease expanding!! That's the great thing about Love Poetics -- it grows infinitely!

WOW. THAT WAS QUICK

As soon as I wrote that last post, God replied. To wit:

The Angel Who Never Fell just dropped a new future manuscript on Moi's lap. (Shit -- there goes my aching back's hope for a rest.) It'll be entitled

MAGANDA BEGINS

"Maganda" is not just a Tagalog word for "Beauty" but also, according to a Filipino creation myth, the name of the first woman.

Sigh: I am in a life post-Fahrenheit 451...

from the series "What I Do to Amuse Moiself"
GOD SPOKE AND IT WAS A FOUR-LETTER WORD

Got an email that pronounced I apparently "kicked ass" at this past weekend's conference in New York.

Guess that bodes well for a certain anthology since I delivered a first draft of a paper positing Babaylanism as an alternative to modernity (hi Leny, hi Jean). Or was it the poems I read from DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS (hi Mark).

In any event, after briefly preening over said email, it occurred to me that never has someone been so applauded as she writes her way to obscurity. (Alternative to modernity? Ooops...there go those critics who might have wanted to say something about my work....hee).

Or, as I dreamt two nights ago when, I suspect, I was wondering what the &*)(*^%$ it all means (because it so wreaks havoc on Moi's back) to release 15 books in 11 years, the true Voice of God proclaimed:

You have a lot because you don't give a shit.

To which I mischievously reply this morning -- "So, Mi Lord, what would it be like if you sent me an Angel who never fell? I'ma jes curious, you know..."

"...WHOSE GLINT OF LIGHT IS BEST KEPT IN THE DARK BEFORE IT PIERCES"

[Pls Feel Free to Forward]

MERITAGE PRESS ANNOUNCEMENT

A Special Pre-Release Offer For:

Kali's Blade
by Michelle Bautista
ISBN: 978-0-9709179-7-3
Release date: December 2006
Price: $12.00
Distributors: Lulu.com, Amazon.com & www.MeritagePress.com
For more info: MeritagePress@aol.com

Relevant categories: Poetry. Creative Nonfiction. Martial Arts. Women's Studies.

Meritage Press is delighted to announce the release of Michelle Bautista's inaugural book, Kali's Blade. This unique collection is a mixture of poetry, prose, and collaborations that brings martial arts to the page, creating a tapestry that attempts to capture this elusive spirit known as Kali.  Kali's Blade is like walking the edge of a knife between reality and myth, strength and frailty, the physical being and the written body.  As Bautista writes in, "How to Battle a Wind Goddess," the only real way to win is to inhale her, for "where she became my flesh / I became the wind goddess."

Gura Michelle Bautista is a 4th degree black belt in the Kamatuuran school of Kali under the direction of Tuhan Joseph T. Oliva Arriola. She teaches Kali in Oakland, CA. She is a SF Bay Area poet and performer, having worked with Kearney Street Workshop, Bindlestiff Studios, Asian American Theater Company, KulArts, and Teatro Ng Tanan. She has been published in Going Home To A Landscape, Babaylan, maganda magazine, Eros Pinoy, Asian Pacific American Journal, TMP Irregular and MiPoesias Magazine.

ADVANCE WORDS:
"She is deep, she is dark, she is unseen. She is the Goddess of both death and destruction, and birth and creativity. Through her all life comes and yet, death is her domain. Kali is a duality...a beautiful woman that hides a secret. Hidden from all to see, she keeps her weapon near her belly. It is the power that is her fury. A two-edged knife...whose glint of light is best kept in the dark before it pierces."
—Grandmaster Joseph T. Oliva Arriola, Kamatuuran School of Kali

*************************

To celebrate Kali's Blade, Meritage Press is pleased to offer a Pre-Release Special through December 15, 2006. For $10.00, you can obtain a copy of Kali's Blade, a savings off the book's retail price of $12.00—plus free shipping/handling to U.S. addresses (another $3.00 savings). Just send a check made out to "Meritage Press" to:

Eileen Tabios
Meritage Press
256 North Fork Crystal Springs Road
St. Helena, CA 94574

*************************

Information about Meritage Press is available at http://meritagepress.com

MOI SELF PORTRAIT

By the way, I have to say that Moi's absolute SHOCKER while I was in New York this weekend had nothing to do with poetry or wine. 'Twas sculpture.

As I'm wont to do in New York, I did some galleries and stopped off to see George Adams (and George Adams Gallery) in Chelsea. The current exhibition was by Lesley Dill who's often created some marvelous combines of imagery and text. What I didn't expect to see was a de facto SELF-PORTRAIT OF MOI through her sculpture entitled "Standing Man With Radiating Words."

Click here for the image -- it doesn't give the full impact, but the concept is that here's a human with WINGS from his back and the WINGS are made of LETTERS. Ooomph! The poet turned that corner into utter self-recognition.

Poetry -- the huge wing-spanned flight of letters...!

CONDOMS ALSO FLOAT

Tom Beckett's UNPROTECTED TEXTS is newly available at Amazon. So if you must do it the Amazon way, go ahead and ride that wave.

MOI ET TOI

I'm back and swamped...and whilst catching up on emails, had to send a "process note" to a journal that's taken some of my poetry collaborations. Swamped, I dashed out a brief note ... that, come to think of it, is a purty good summing up. So I share with you because I'm just about you:

My poetics can be summed up in three words: "I Love You" or "Everything, Everything, Everything!" Collaborations facilitate both paths.

Okay. Now -- love Moi back. Go on. Love Moi!

DREDGING IN NEW YORK CITY!

Okay -- am about to take off for 2 wine gigs and 1 poetry gig in New York. (The latter is a 2-day conference and this is to confirm to y'all who've asked that, due to requisite wine-whining, I only will be able to attend the Saturday conference where I am presenting; hope to see you there!). And until I return Sunday, am not likely to blog.

So whilst you miss me, please to chew on the cover of my upcoming book DREDGING FOR ATLANTIS below -- it'll be a delicious collection!

So many books, so many books! Consequently, I've writ mucho (too mucho) bios throughout the years -- but it's worth sharing my favorite lines ever from a bio -- this is from my bio for ENGLISH:

She feels it is her fate to make books -- authored by her and others -- partly because, as a two-year-old, she once folded a piece of paper and proclaimed it a "book." According to her mother, she pointed to a green crayola slash on the bottom of the first page and read it as, "The grass is green." She then turned the page to point at a yellow crayola slash at the page's upper left corner and read it as, "The sun is out." Then she pointed to a brown crayola slash at the bottom of the third page and read it as, "The sun browned the grass."

That, my dears, was the Bookish Baby Moi! And here is the cover to her next book:



Thanks Mark and Harry!

THAT LOVELY EDGE

I have a small collection of Southeast Asian swords, including the kris. They hang in my studio, known here at Galatea as "Babaylan Lodge."

I've never forgotten the first time Michelle Bautista visited my literary site for Babaylans here on the mountain. She looked at the swords, picked a kris off of its wall-stand and started talking about its spirit. Well, as Wikipedia puts it:

Spirits
Discussing the essence of the kris is a complicated topic. For the most part, blades were considered to almost be alive in some cases, or at the very least holders of special powers. Krises could be tested two ways. A series of cuts on a leaf, based on blade width and other factors, could determine if a blade was good or bad. Also, if the owner slept with the blade under their pillow and had a bad dream, the blade was unlucky and had to be taken away. It is important to note that just because a blade was bad for one person didn’t mean it would be bad for another. Harmony between the owner and the kris was critical.

Some krises helped prevent fires, death, agricultural failure and myriad other problems. Likewise, they could do more than prevent problems; some krises brought on fortuitous harvests and other events. Krises could also have tremendous killing power. There are legends of krises moving around on their own and killing individuals they disliked. When making a blade, the empu could infuse into the blade any special spiritual qualities and powers the owner desires.

Because some krises are considered sacred, and people believe they contain magical powers, specific rites needed to be completed to avoid calling down evil fates. For example, pointing a kris at someone is thought to mean that they will die soon, so in ceremonies or demonstrations where ritualized battles are fought with real krises, the fighters will perform a ritual which includes touching the point of the blade to the ground to neutralize this effect.

Which is all to say, I'm pleased to share the cover of Michelle's forthcoming and inaugural poetry collection, Kali's Blade (Meritage Press, 2006) -- isn't it GORGEOUS!!! Artist, activist and Kali practitioner Marirose Taruc made the paintings specially for Michelle's book -- don't you sense this female warrior's...Beauty?!



Heee! I ADORE women warriors! As in Michelle behind whose back I will happily hide any time!

CHUCKLE

Jessica Smith notes:

What I got in the mail:
- Concordance for Galatea Resurrects. This came with a bookmark with a condom attached-- an ad for Tom Beckett's Unprotected Texts. This is a great invention. One often needs a bookmark and a condom in quick succession.

As the condom/bookmark "ad" designer would say, "Sweeeeeeeeet!"

Tom--are you up (ahem). Check out the above!

SILENT POETRY & NOISY W(H)INE

SILENCES: The Autobiography of Loss. The 265-page manuscript collects works written over the past 7 years or so. But I didn't come up with the appropriate book arc for them until last week. Took a couple of days to organize, and there was a brand-spankin' new manuscript on Friday.

I submitted it Saturday.

It got accepted yesterday (Monday).

To put together (not write, but put together) a book, submit it, and get it accepted for publication in three days.

Even I am amazed at Moiself.

But pleased. And not just because I got a book accepted. But because I am getting closer to my goal as a poet -- SILENCES.

And along that path, here are my latest-relished read and imbibed lists -- it's interesting how I want to write silence and yet I can be quite slurpily-noisy drinking that wine:

BOOKS:
THE ALLEGREZA FICCIONE, novella with poems by Mark Young

BOYS, A-Z: A Primer, poems and visual art by Dan Waber

YUMMY ZEST, poem by Jukka Pekka Kervinen

THE TAR PIT DIATOMS, poems by Sandra Simonds

EXERTIONS, poems by Scott Glassman

TO DELITE AND INSTRUCT, poems by Catherine Daly

DOVEY & ME, poems by Lynn Strongin

EVACUATION ROUTES: A USER'S GUIDE, poems by A.L. Nielsen

POSTCARD MEMOIRS (1-100), prose poems by Alex Gildzen

GILDZEN AT 50, tribute to Alex Gildzen

FOX, poems by Adrienne Rich

HEART ON A TRIPOD, poems by Kaia Sand

CASE SENSITIVE, poems by Kate Greenstreet

OUT OF WEDLOCK, poems by Jennifer Reimer & Craig Perez

BLUE OUTLINE: After Hiroshige, poems by Craig Perez

CROP, poems by Yedda Morrison

HOMELESS AT HOME, poems by Gloria Frym

VAUDEVILLE, poems by Alyssa Wolf

TEN THOUSAND SORROWS: THE EXTRAORDINARY JOURNEY OF A KOREAN WAR ORPHAN, memoir by Elizabeth Kim

THE STATIONS OF SOLITUDE, memoir/meditation by Alice Koller

MAKING LOVE TO THE MINOR POETS OF CHICAGO, novel by James Conrad

ALL SHE EVER WANTED, novel by Lynn Austin

A DOG'S LIFE, novel by Peter Mayle

THIS HEAVY SILENCE, novel by Nicole Mazzarella

WINES:
1996 Greenock Creek Creek Block Shiraz
1982 Chateau Petit Villages (Pomerol)
2001 Kistler Pinot Noir Hirsch Vineyard
1990 Moccagatta Bric Balin Barbaresco
1988 Brunello di Montalcino Sanetti Livio
2004 Chianti Classico Roberto Stucchi Coltibuono
2004 Ramey claret
1991 Ravenswood Pickberry

DEEP READINGS

Am near the end of the most rigorous editing process ever for any of my poetry collections. It's the going through of my 2007 book with Marsh Hawk Press where Thomas Fink is my in-house editor.

Rigorous editing. My back aches from stooping over the e-mail printouts of our back-and-forthing over THE LIGHT SANG AS IT LEFT YOUR EYES.

Rigorous -- but which doesn't leave me, as the one being edited, foaming. That is a balance a writer always desires but rarely gets.

Thank you, Tom.

Did I mention this manuscript is 277 pages?

Like I was saying, THANK YOU, Tom.

To other newsies, specifically for GALATEA RESURRECTS (GR), I just got my first reviewer interest from someone based in France. I love it when the internet works -- that reviewers can come from all over the world. Whoooh. Keep checking and sending to GR's very special review copy list, folks! It works!

And even as the fourth issue is still being prepared for its release later this month, I can share now that the Deadline for GR's fifth issue will be February 5, 2007. Have at it!

BELATED BUT BOUNTIFUL HARVESTS

This weekend I pleaded successfully with a poetry editor to let me edit a poem she previously accepted by inserting in the word "squiggly."

"Squiggly." It was a matter of utmost urgency.

Ach -- these dire emergencies that make the Fallen Angels pee forth their golden giggles...

As to other matters, Achilles repeated several times today, "Mommy, I love you." And the sun shone gently....but brightly over Galatea whose bounty, this weekend, also included two huge bowls of lovely persimmons from the orchard. I just ate this season's first sampling. It was delicate and sweet. Like _____.

BIRTHED A NEW MANUSCRIPT

this morning entitled

SILENCES: THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF LOSS

Next.

TAKE MY MOM'S MONEY, PLEASE

So it's November. Where, as the saying goes, did the year go?!

Being November then, this is the last month for Filipino poets to submit manuscripts for

THE FILAMORE TABIOS, SR. MEMORIAL POETRY PRIZE

judged by Moi and Mama.

Deadline: Nov. 31, 2006

More info here at http://meritagepress.com/babaylan/

COLLABORATIONS!

Is a poet inherently a collaborator?

If so, who's pushing that form?

Note to Self: They are wrong: a question is not necessarily a quest.

Anyhoo.

Moi am blathering away at poetry-collaborations over at Roger Pao's Asian American Poetry Blog...

...which is nifty because, as usual -- with no prior planning on moi part, I swear -- there I was this morning driving through the rain to drop copies of that brilliant collaboration, 100 MORE JOKES FROM THE BOOK OF THE DEAD by John Yau and Archie Rand, over at SPD. Apparently, it's likely to be picked up as a text!

Yay! And, indeedy, word is just starting to get out that 100 MORE JOKES... is actually a great educational tool, in large part due to John Yau's essay regarding collaborations in back of the book. You teach? You teach poetry, visual art, visual poetry, or the physics of agriculture? You check it out, please!

SMART ASS

Michael Wells, btw, queried:

Has Moi ever been mellow?

suggesting I chew on that for a while. Smart Ass.

RE. QUESTIONS

I just got this one--

Dear Poet-aster, If you cannot promote yourself without bashing others' poetries, does that mean that you realize deeeeeeeep down in your small-hearted self that your own poems aren't that hot?

Bold-face mine. Chuckle....

SO MANY KEYS IN SEARCH OF THEIR LOCKS!

Thank you for your QUESTIONS!

Please continue asking Moi...whatever you want to ask Moi!

I have so many keys still lacking their doorways. Their weight makes the poor Chatelaine's back really achey.

Ask me a question: show me a lock and I'll show you the love to unlock it.

And Moi name ain't even Abby, Dear...

OH, HULLO NOVEMBER!

RE: THE POETRY WORLD
(Nov. 1, 2006)


Rancor is a failure of the imagination.

You are confusing me with someone else: just because I am a woman / Filipino / short / luddite / et al doesn't mean I consider myself someone in the margins.

What is held in common by these two matters: poets who bring store-bought cookies to potlucks and poets who use cleavage to sell poems?

Someone set up a blog just to diss me. Thank you, Jesus: I'm famous now.

Nicey-nice has become the new radical. Tap…tap…: Waiting for others to get with the program.

Some people disagree with me, specifically citing “aggressive self-deprecation” as the new avant garde.

Over there, still the moon. But this time, it manifests joie de vivre, with zero apologies!

You regurgitate The Man’s words and you think the vomit is art?

Standards loosened through the consistent “Why not?”s.

Oh Pilgrim--you’ve not exhausted the “Why?”!

Struggling, here, for the upbeat.

Upbeat is the new radical (what eee-jit claimed there’s only one radical?).

I want to look at the moon’s grin and not call it “cheese.”

I want to see the moon crack and acknowledge it as a grin.

I want to see the moon behind the clouds.

I want to see the moon as less than full to allow my vision’s contribution

               for archetypes which are archetypes for a reason

                              and are now marginalized

Where did the sea go

               now that icebergs have melted?

from the series "What I Do To Amuse Moiself"
MOI AM FAMOUS

I belatedly discover I have an e-stalker -- that is, a stalker about whose activities I previously was unaware.

I didn't actually go to the stalker's site (not to pay attention is the worst cut of all, eh). But I am perversely happy that there's someone out there dissing me.

Particularly in the Poetry World, one of the marks of fame is to be detested.

I guess I'm famous now.

But wait, someone in the Poetry World detested me years ago, too! Have I been famous all these years and been unaware of my fame?

Sip.

(I would detest Moi, too -- she's so relentlessly cheerful, isn't she? Sip -- cuppa morning coffee.)