LOVE AT THE LIBRARY

Call me idealistic but...I've been checking out poetry books from my local library recently. Some are reflected in my recent reading lists. I get tired of seeing the library deaccession poetry books, or refuse to take donated poetry books for their permanent collection. I figger they behave this way partly from lack of demand. So, if I start checking out poetry books, they should perceive that the demand for poetry is rising, right? Fine, today you can call me Missy Drop-in-the-Bucket...

...and in case you wish to read my books, you AWP attendees, they're at the Marsh Hawk Press table as well as the Ahadada table. Meanwhile, here's my latest Relished W(h)ine List:

CITY SLICKER'S "WINTER GARDEN" HARVEST (to date)
eight clumps of bok choy

two thick and two skinny clumps of purple kale

one clump of Red Velvet lettuce

four clumps of either lettuce or kale

54 Meyer lemons


PUBLICATIONS
BOOK LEFT OPEN IN THE RAIN, poems by Barry Schwabsky

BLACK DIAMOND GOLDEN BOY TAKES BULL BY HORNS, poetry by Geoffrey Gatza

AND HOW TO END IT, poems by Brian Clements

FOR LOVE OF AN ARMADILLO, poems by Didi Menendez, illustrations by Jeremy Baum

POLYTHEOGAMY, poems by Timothy Liu and paintings by Greg Drasler

TANSEN DONNER: A WOMAN'S JOURNEY, poems by Ruth Whitman

A TOAST IN THE HOUSE OF FRIENDS, poems by Akilah Oliver

INSTANTS, poems by Philip Metres

WEAVING THE LIGHT, poems by Mary Ruth Donnelly

A STRANGER'S TABLE, poems by Anne Brooke

LENINGRAD: AMERICAN WRITERS IN THE SOVIET UNION, 1991 collective memoir by Michael Davidson, Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman and Barrett Watten (it was odd for me to read through this book as my read kept being interrupted by flashbacks of my own late-1990s visits to the Soviet Union, trips that -- except for Buddhist Siberia -- are arguably the *GRAY-est* experiences of my life. Gray coats, gray landscapes, gray sky, gray food....GRAY. Gray people: I was advised not to smile when I was out in public so as not to stand out; this advice was proferred by some of the warmest people I know who, in the privacy of their own homes (gray apartment buildings) freely showed their liveliness. The solidity of the color GRAY, along with the significance of the non-existence of objects (e.g. nothing to buy) were resonant. The writers in LENINGRAD were correct to be moved to meditate on the implications of the object's non-existence. Insert flashback here of a request to bring bags of split peas and other rare commodities to Russia... Of course, it was after their and my trips that the Russian noveau riche would come to extend the brass of supreme billions -- but this might be foretold by the paradoxically humorous existence of something called "Women Admirers of the Jeff Koons Club". I don't know -- I need to reread this as I kept reading myself instead of much of the words. Meanwhile, okay, I guess I glean (without knowing if I'm correct) the precursor to THE GRAND PIANO Langpo project...)

ANTHOLOGY SPIDERTANGLE, visual poetry anthology edited by mIEKAL aND

ARTS OF THE POSSIBLE: ESSAYS AND CONVERSATIONS by Adrienne Rich

TAKING TURNS, art monograph by Sharon Louden

BORN INTO BROTHELS: PHOTOGRAPHS BY THE CHILDREN OF CALCUTTA by Zana Briski

THE CHILDREN'S BLIZZARD, history by David Laskin

THE HARD WAY, novel by Lee Child

THE BROKEN WINDOW, novel by Jeffery Deaver

ORCHID BEACH, novel by Stuart Woods

TAKEOVER, novel by Lisa Black

INTO THE FIRE, novel by Suzanne Brockmann

DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART, novel by Dean Koontz


WINES
1989 Remelluri Rioja Gran Reserva
1998 Dalla Valle Maya
1990 Elio Altare Arborina Barolo
Chambers Fine Muscat Solera Blend
1990 Domaine de Marcoux CNP
2005 B Cellars Blend 25 NV
1989 La Mission Haut Brion
1990 La Tour Blanche
Etoile rose sparkling wine


.