CAN'T WAIT TO DRINK THAT POISON!

Today, I sneaked a peek at the fabulous cover to Ivy Alvarez's forthcoming A DOZEN POISON HAY(NA)KU, to come out from Big Game Books. I think this will be the fourth single-author hay(na)ku poetry collection (the first being Ernesto Priego's Not Even Dogs, the second being John Bloomberg-Rissman's OTAGES, and the third being Moi's flamenco hay(na)ku series in THE SINGER And Others). Very kewl, Ivy! I am looking forward to its release!

And John Bloomberg-Rissman also will issue the fifth single-author hay(na)ku collection later this Fall, NO SOUNDS from Leafe Press in the U.K.! If the hay(na)ku is a diasporic form, its book manifestations certainly reflect that! Also, proofs indicate that NO SOUNDS will weigh in at just over 200 pages, so it will become the most brick-ish hay(na)ku volume out there until someone else tops that record!

Love books, especially with a glass of wine. And speaking of which, here is my latest list of relished W(h)ines:

BOOKS:
JOLOGRAPHY by Paolo Manalo (it's only May as I write this, but this book has just jumped to the top five of my anticipated year-end list of 2007 Most Relished Read Among Poetry Collections)

FRAGILE REPLACEMENTS (manuscript form) by William Allegrezza -- this super colleciton is a forthcoming Meritage Press title!

IN BOX, poem by Noah Eli Gordon

A FIDDLE PULLED FROM THE THROAT OF A SPARROW, poems by Noah Eli Gordon

THE IMMACULATE AUTOPSY, poems by Todd Melicker

PARTS OF THE JOURNAL: NIGHT, poems by Richard Lopez

PUNK POEMS by John Burgess

A HALF-RED SEA, poems by Evie Shockley

SHADOW AND PRAISE, poems by Terry Wolverton

IN MY FATHER'S FOOTSTEPS, memoir by Sebastian Matthews

CUBE, architectural monograph by David Morrow Guthrie

THE JUROR, novel by George Dawes Green

THE WHISTLING SEASON, novel by Ivan Doig

PRODIGAL SUMMER, novel by Barbara Kingsolver

THE WRONG HOSTAGE, novel by Elizabeth Lowell

THE PRESIDENT'S ASSASSIN, novel by Brian Haig

A COUNTRY AFFAIR, novel by Rebecca Shaw


WINES:
2005 Robert Mondavi pinot noir
1990 Haut-Marbuzet
2005 Larkmead Vineyards sauvignon blanc
2004 Larkmead Firebelle
2003 Larkmead Vineyards "60/40" (favorite among Larkmead reds)
2004 Larkmead cabernet
2003 Larkmead Vineyards Salon
1995 Clos de L'Obac Priorat
2005 Oriri Swift The Prisoner
1994 Taylor's Fladgate
1992 Ravenswood Pickberry
2003 Dutch Henry chardonnay
1994 Artadi Vina El Pison Reserva
1996 Trevor Jones "Wild Witch"
2003 Bond St. Eden
2005 Travigne House chardonnay