PERHAPS THAT POEM IS DEEPER THAN A GUN

In his Selected Letters, James Wright discusses his discomfort at receiving a review in which complimenting his work becomes a way to shoot down another style of writing. It seems a timely point (sadly, it seems to be a perpetually timely point). And by the way, it's most pathetic when this same result occurs through blurbs. I'ma jes sayin'...

Meanwhile, here's my latest list of Relished W(h)ines:

PUBLICATIONS:
"...AND THEN THE WIND DID BLOW...", jainaku poems by Ernesto Priego

SPEAK WHICH: HAY(NA)KU poems by Jill Jones

THE SAN FRANCISCO SOUND, book art / poetry by David Larsen

VEIL: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Rae Armantrout

CULTURE: A USER'S GUIDE, poems by Nicholas Grider

SCURRILOUS TOY, poems by Shanna Compton

FURIOUS LULLABYE, poems by Oliver de la Paz

OPERA BUFA, poems by Adam Fieled

THE GRANITE PAIL: THE SELECTED POEMS OF LORINE NIEDECKER, Edited by Cid Corman

DREADFUL QUIETUDE: A CONFUSED SATURATION OF PRE 9/11 AMERICA & SUPERMEN, poetry by Geoffrey Gatza

ON BATHYBIUS, poems by Tom Orange

WILLIAM BLAKE: SELECTED POEMS with Introduction by Christopher Moore

THE ESSENTIAL BLAKE: A COMPACT COLLECTION OF THE MAJOR POEMS OF A VISIONARY POET, Edited by Stanley Kunitz

POEMS From a Tubac Poet by Edgar F. Burd

A WILD PERFECTION: THE SELECTED LETTERS OF JAMES WRIGHT, Edited by Anne Wright and Saundra Rose Maley

FORCED ENTRIES: THE DOWNTOWN DIARIES 1971-1973, memoir by Jim Carroll

I CHOOSE TO STAY: A BLACK TEACHER REFUSES TO DESERT THE INNER CITY, memoir by Salome Thomas-El

HERE IF YOU NEED ME, memoir by Kate Braestrup

HARVEST: A YEAR IN THE LIFE OF AN ORGANIC FARM by Nicola Smith with photographs by Geoff Hansen

THIS ORGANIC LIFE: CONFESSIONS OF A SUBURBAN HOMESTEADER, memoir with recipes by Joan Dye Gussow

CHOSEN BY A HORSE, memoir by Susan Richards

WILDERNESS PARISH, memoir by C.S. Cooper

BURNING BRIGHT, novel by Tracy Chevalier

DEAD IN THE WATER, novel by Ted Wood

HARLEY, children's book by Star Livingstone & illustrated by Molly Bang


WINES:
1995 Vincent Arroyo petite syrah NV
1997 Conn Valley Etoge
2004 Mark Aubert chardonnay "Ritchie Vineyards" Sonoma
2003 St. Clement merlot
2006 St. Clement chardonnay
2005 Paul Hobbs cabernet NV
2006 Paul Hobbs chardonnay
1990 Ch. Haut Marbuzet
2003 Peter Michael "Ma Belle Fille" chardonnay