"SWEETLY, YOU RECOMMENDED EGGPLANT"

I'm honored that the new issue of Blue Fifth Review, which focuses on collaborations, includes two poems -- the first was written in 2001 shortly after dinner with Philip Lamantia...such a younger self then!

The second poem (which appears in moi latest) still amuses Moi -- that last stanza shows that it wasn't just this season's "American Idol" that generated some horrific song-writing...

Thanks to Sam Rasnake, hard-working poet-editor!

MOI SON, THE ARTISTE!

While going through the adoption journey in the past couple of years, we were exposed to a variety of children. Usually, the brief bios that came with their photos would try to share something of the children's interests. One day, I realized that every single child was being described as a natural artist! To wit, nearly all the bios mentioned that the child had an interest in art -- in drawing, painting, et al!

Well, how can everybody be a Picasso, Moi thought? I delved deeper into the matter and thus realized that many of the children whose profiles I was perusing lived in group homes or orphanages...where there often aren't enough caretakers to give as much attention to each child. And what is one of the opiates convenient for enabling children to be left on their own? Coloring pencils and paper, of course! Not quite as bad as plunking the children in front of a TV or a horror movie (happens, too) but done often enough...indeed, one of the tragedies of orphanhood is how the child's true interests may never be recognized and developed...

Thus, we as prospective parents learned to take the phrase "talented at art" with a bucket of salt. So imagine our delight to realize that Michael actually has immense natural talent. Hah! I'm writing this post, as a matter of fact, after just reading an email from his art teacher who was showing his *altered book* project (containing drawings) to the school principal and various faculty members! I preen on moi son's behalf as I emphasize that the word "incredible!" was used about moi son...!

Poetic justice! To have an artist-son given my and hubby's life-long interest in the arts (and, yes, I'm one of those who write poems only because I can't make paintings...)

I've already emailed the hubby, wondering if we should start using Michael's new nickname "Jesus"....

As I await the hubby's reply -- might be a long wait as it'll take him a while to stop rolling his eyes -- let Moi further entertain you please with a photo of the next Picasso in ... DISNEYLAND! Here he is from last weekend with Juliana, his tutor/translator; prior to seeing Juliana off to her return to Colombia viz LAX, we stopped off to see Mickey Mouse and friends. Naturally, he has on another lovely white shirt as we partook of the breakfast buffet at the Disneyland Hotel:

TO LOVE POETRY IS TO DESTROY THE BOOK

I grew up in a country where books were (are) expensive. It was a big deal for my parents to work to buy the encyclopedia and various classics and have them line the living room of my childhood home in the Philippines. I was raised revering the Book and I continue my respect today. And I have been a reader all my life, loving books even before I became a writer.

In the past few weeks, I've had to help my son develop an art project for his sixth grade -- an "altered books" project. To "alter" the books -- and write on their pages, cut up the pages, collage other material onto the pages -- is to destroy the originals.

My son is in a class attended by 12-13-year-olds. What does it mean for them to consider the book as something that can be destroyed?

My son was only in our house for a few weeks before he started this project. Our house is crammed with books, and he knows his mother writes/makes books. He (to my appreciation) first balked when I had to explain the concept of an altered book. He balked at destroying a book.

Of course he had to do the assignment and will finish/submit it this week. And I've ceased to worry about whether the experience might make him revere the book less. His homework assignment should be more than mitigated by living in a household where books are clearly cherished.

But how many of his young classmates -- in a world where reading becomes less and less a popular activity -- might take the wrong lesson from this project? What if they come from a non-reading household and now are taught it's okay to destroy a book (even if for "art") before they learned to love/respect a book?

***

But, despite my meditations on this matter, I suggested/encouraged my son to choose one of my books to alter, to destroy. Although my son brought home a couple of books from class to alter (it looks like his art teacher may have collected from reject piles for purpose of this project), I told him to go ahead and use one of mine.

This, moithinks, is one meaning of being a poet. It's a straddled paradox that's very very irritating.

COLOR IS A NARRATIVE

FOR INSTANCE, WHITE. One only need pay attention to the photos I've posted to date of my son to think he only owns one shirt: a white shirt. Here he is in a recent visit to Safari West:



He loves his white shirts. In his former orphanage, white is not a practical color given the nature of doing laundry for 170 children. So many stories hide behind that fact, yah?

I've written "color is a narrative" in at least one old poem -- perhaps I didn't really know what it meant until I considered my son's love for a white shirt...

GO FORTH AND BRISTLE WITH MIGHTY ME!

So suggests Kevin Killian, anyway, in his own energetic review of Meritage Press' HOUSECAT KUNGFU by Geoffrey Gatza. Go HERE for a fun read....but here's an enticing excerpt:

Looks like mighty little Meritage Press has plucked forth another winner, this one with a nursery edge that will have your infants gripping the bars of their cribs and swatting those cut-out animals that dangle, like indents, above their faces on showy Kid Calder mobiles.

GALATEA RESURRECTS SOARS FOR THE 12TH TIME!

We are all delighted to announce the release of the 12th issue of Galatea Resurrects, with a record number of 87 new reviews! You can go HERE directly for the issue. We also reprint below for your convenience the Table of Contents. Enjoy!

ISSUE NO. 12 TABLE OF CONTENTS

May 20, 2009

[N.B. You can scroll down for all articles or click on highlighted names or titles to go directly to the referenced article. Since this is a large issue, if it takes too long to upload the entire issue, you can click on the individual links below to more quickly get to a review that interests you.]

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
By Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
Thomas Fink reviews 237 MORE REASONS TO HAVE SEX by Denise Duhamel & Sandy McIntosh

Kristin Berkey-Abbott reviews 237 MORE REASONS TO HAVE SEX by Denise Duhamel & Sandy McIntosh

John Herbert Cunningham reviews CONEY ISLAND OF THE MIND: 50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION by Lawrence Ferlinghetti, ABOUT NOW: COLLECTED POEMS OF JOANNE KYGER by Joanne Kyger, and THE COLLECTED POEMS OF PHILIP WHALEN BY PHILIP WHALEN Edited by Michael Rothenberg

Nic Sebastian reviews HARLOT by Jill Alexander Essbaum

Tom Hibbard reviews ENDGAMES by Márton Koppány

Amber DiPietra reviews OCCUPATIONAL TREATMENT by Taylor Brady

Rebecca Guyon reviews MOONGARDEN by Anthony McCann

Angela Genusa reviews MAXIMUM GAGA by Lara Glenum

Eileen Tabios engages OBSOLETE—AN ALPHABET OF POEMS INSPIRED BY DEAD WORDS by Katie Haegele

John Herbert Cunningham reviews CONTEMPORARY POETICS edited by Louis Armand, PRIOR TO MEANING: THE PROTOSEMANTIC AND POETICS by Steve McCaffery, and PATAPHYSICS: THE POETICS OF AN IMAGINARY SPACE by Christian Bök

Tom Hibbard reviews FRAGILE REPLACEMENTS by William Allegrezza

Kristina Marie Darling reviews THE HOUSE IN THE HEART by Willie James King

Garrett Caples reviews MARTINIQUE: SNAKE CHARMER by André Breton

Michael Caylo-Baradi reviews HUMAN CATHEDRALS by John Sweet

Thomas Fink reviews HISTORY OF THE COMMON SCALE by Edward Foster

Eileen Tabios engages DISCLOSURE by Dana Teen Lomax

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews THE HEAVEN-SENT LEAF by Katy Lederer

Richard Lopez reviews ALL ROADS...BUT THIS ONE by Jon Cone, Claudie Grinnell, klipschutz and Albert Sgambati

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews POEMS FOR THE MILLENIUM VOLUME THREE edited by Jerome Rothenberg and Jeffrey C Robinson

Eric Gelsinger reviews TIME MACHINE by Ric Royer

Jeff Harrison reviews NOSERING CELLPHONE by Lanny Quarles

Jean Vengua engages KATA by James Maughn and KALI'S BLADE by Michelle Bautista

Nicole Mauro reviews [LAPSED INSEL WEARY] by Susana Gardner

Kathryn Stevenson reviews TINDERBOX LAWN by Carol Guess

John Herbert Cunningham reviews THE CAMBRIDGE INTRODUCTION TO MODERNISM by Pericles Lewis, THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO MODERNIST POETRY edited by Alex Davis and Lee M. Jenkins, and THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO POSTMODERNISM edited by Steven Connor

Steven Karl reviews THE STARS ON THE 7:18 PENN by Ana Bozicevic

James Stotts Engages TODAY I WROTE NOTHING: THE SELECTED WRITINGS OF DANIIL KHARMS, Edited and Translated by Matvei Yankelevich

Eric Gelsinger reviews LETTERHEAD VOLUME 2, Eds. Eric Johnt, Bradley Lastname, Brian McMahon, Robert Pomerhn

Eileen Tabios engages PORTRAIT AND DREAM: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Bill Berkson

Ching-In Chen reviews THE ALPS by Brandon Shimoda

Christopher Mulrooney reviews THE NEW YORK POSTCARD SONNETS by Philip Dacey

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews INVERSE SKY by John Isles

Nathan Logan reviews THE AMPUTEE´S GUIDE TO SEX by Jillian Weise

Grace C. Ocasio reviews HORSE PLAYING THE ACCORDION by Elizabeth Smither

Dave Bonta reviews TEN POEMS ABOUT HIGHWAYS AND BIRDS by Sarah Bennett

Eileen Tabios engages OPEN NIGHT by Aaron Lowinger

Richard Lopez reviews T(HERE) by Jonathan Hayes

Tom Beckett engages CADAVER DOGS by Rebecca Loudon

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews 14 BOOKS from the 2008 LONDON SMALL PUBLISHERS FAIR

Jeff Harrison reviews INCONGRUITIES by Séamas Cain

John Herbert Cunningham reviews EMERALD ICE: SELECTED POEMS 1962-1987 by Diane Wakoski

Elizabeth Kate Switaj reviews SATELLITE CONVULSIONS: POEMS FROM TIN HOUSE, Edited by Brenda Shaugnessy and CJ Evans

Craig Santos Perez reviews RIVER ANTES by Myung Mi Kim

Denise Dooley reviews THE DRUG OF ART: SELECTED POEMS by IVAN BLATNY, Edited by Veronika Tuckerová

John Herbert Cunningham reviews LITERARY THEORY: A GUIDE FOR THE PERPLEXED by Mary Klages and THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO FEMINIST LITERARY THEORY edited by Ellen Rooney

Ruth Lepson reviews HOUSECAT KUNG FU by Geoffrey Gatza

Angela Genusa reviews BARF MANIFESTO by Dodie Bellamy

William Allegrezza reviews DIPTYCHS: VISUAL POEMS by Nico Vassilakis

John M. Bennett reviews SUCURSAL DE ESTRELLA: POEMARIOS INICIALES Y FINALES by Alvaro Cardona Hine

John M. Bennett reviews LONGFELLOW MEMORANDA by Geof Huth

John M. Bennett review FROM THE ANNUAL RECORDS OF THE CLOUD APPRECIATION SOCIETY edited by Márton Koppány and Nico Vassilakis

Eileen Tabios engages LUNCH POEMS by Mark Young and DELTA BLUES by Skip Fox

Aileen Ibardaloza reviews THISTLES by Jack Cassinetto

Nathan Logan reviews THAT TINY INSANE VOLUPTUOUSNESS by Elisa Gabbert & Kathleen Rooney

Nicola Trumbull reviews NEVER CRY WOOF by Shafer Hall

James Stotts engages INSTANTS by Philip Metres

John Herbert Cunningham reviews GAYATRI SPIVAK: ETHICS, SUBALTERITY AND THE CRITIQUE OF POSTCOLONIAL REASON by Stephen Morton and GAYATRI CHAKRAVORTY SPIVAL: LIVE THEORY by Mark Sanders

Steven Karl reviews CLARITY AND OTHER POEMS by Thomas Fink

Helen Losse reviews FORMS OF INTERCESSION by Jayne Pupek

Steven Karl reviews LOST WORK BOOK W/ LETTERS TO DEER by Catherine Meng

Kristin Berkey-Abbott reviews A BIGGER BOAT: THE UNLIKELY SUCCESS OF THE ALBUQUERQUE POETRY SLAM SCENE edited by Susan McAllister, Don McIver, Mikaela Renz, and Daniel S. Solis

Steve Tills reviews THIS POEM/WHATSPEAKS?/ADAY by Tom Beckett

Ruth Lepson reviews (B)ITS by Joel Chace

Eileen Tabios engages PLAGIARISM/OUTSOURCE by Tan Lin


TAN LIN INTERVIEWED
by Chris Alexander, Kristen Gallagher and Gordon Tapper, with interview edited by Gordon Tapper


THE CRITIC WRITES POEMS
Elizabeth Kate Switaj


FEATURED POET
Tom Beckett interviews Reb Livingston


FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEWS
John Olson reviews COMPLICATIONS by Garrett Caples


ADVERTISEMENT
Tiny Poetry Books Feeding the World...Literally!

BACK COVER
Boy And Dog

GALATEA BE WORKIN' IT!

Wow. Everytime I think Galatea Resurrects is losing steam, you peeping reviewers come through to amaze Moi! So far, we've got 87 reviews skedded for the next issue!

And, yes, this is just a brief coffee-break note...I'm workin' as hard as I can to finalize its release! Just whettin' your anticipation....

STANFORD FAILED

THIS does not include

V.C. Igarta
Alfonso Ossorrio
Mario Yrisarry

?!

Ridiculous.

ARTICHOKE POETICS

Ach: all of the careful pruning of sharp edges...all of the barely-there nibbling for something edible...all of the mounting trash pile exponentially larger than its largesse....until, finally, you get to the HEART of the artichoke...

I wrote a gardening poem. That's a historic event to check out HERE, featured as part of the Fieralingue Summer issue curated by the summery Anny Ballardini! Meanwhile, here's the latest Relished W(h)ine List:


CITY SLICKER'S SPRING/SUMMER GARDEN HARVEST (to date)
an artichoke
four scallions
a strawberry (yes: one strawberry. Just. one. strawberry. NOW pipe down ye peepsqueaks -- I hear you with your editorializing comments....)


PUBLICATIONS
TAU BY PHILIP LAMANTIA AND JOURNEY TO THE END BY JOHN HOFFMAN, Ed. by Garrett Caples (book explains why, when I once asked Philip to write in my journal, he drew a bird. As for the poetry -- Philip is one of its most pure manifestations of ecstasy...and Hoffman's, as Philip puts it, "swings"! as in: "A piece of the sky thru the hole in my side // wanted to breathe a purer air"...)

MAGDALENE & THE MERMAIDS, poems by Elizabeth Kate Switaj (a lovely swoon)

OPEN NIGHT, poems by Aaron Lowinger (dude was in some zone when he wrote these wonderful poems)

DISCLOSURE, conceptual poetry by Dana Teen Lomax (smart stuff!)

NEGATIVE INVENTORY, poems by Shannon Smith (lovely. makes me look forward to future works by this young, promising poet!)

THE BIG NECESSITY: THE UNMENTIONABLE WORLD OF HUMAN WASTE AND WHY IT MATTERS, investigative journalism by Rose George

THIS ORGANIC LIFE: CONFESSIONS OF A SUBURBAN HOMESTEADER, memoir/analysis by Joan Dye Gussow

LOOK AGAIN, novel by Lisa Scottoline

FIRST FAMILY, novel by David Baldacci

HIDE, novel by Lisa Gardner

HEART OF THE WORLD, novel by Linda Barnes

DEEP POCKETS, novel by Linda Barnes


WINES
1994 Tasca D'Almerita cabernet
2006 August Briggs charbono "Frediani" NV
1997 Behrens & Hitchcock merlot NV
2___ Trefethen riesling NV
2005 JJ Prum Grancher Himmelreich Auslese
1959 Castillo Ygay Gran Reserva Especiale Rioja
2000 Majella The Mallea
2003 Ch Rauzan Despagne
2003 Sequum Kidd Ranch Zinfandel
1986 Cos d'Estournel

ON TOP OF THE WORLD

Here's Michael photographing Yosemite (as it turns out, he also turns out to be a talented photographer!).

And I'm also on top of the world because I just got my son's first report card: one A+, two As, one A-, and a B. Not bad at all, eh? He's been in sixth grade not even 3 months and before that was (artificially) categorized as 4th grade. Not bad at all! And, here's one of his stellar photos (check out the waterfall as it was the vaunted waterfall season in Yosemite while we visited):



Some of you are asking about my parenting strategies for "someone of his background." I don't want to claim I have a fixed strategy or that I even know what I'm doing. But the one thing about which I and the hubby have been hyper-aware for years is how human history shows how the difference between those in power and those who get abused is often the difference between being well-educated and not. And from a conversation I had with the kid last week, I told him, "You have a choice. You can aim to better yourself or you can make excuses for yourself because of where you come from."

My son knows exactly what I'm saying. Though, as a 13-year-old, he often lapses to age-typical behavior (like his adolescent sense of humor which leaves him clutching his belly in laughter while I just scratch moi head failing to see what's funny), he is also prematurely adult on many levels (I found out more details about his horrific past just today as family history is often incomplete for many orphans). Suffering resonates.

My son knows too much about too many wrong things. This means he shows strong empathy for the impoverished and the dispossessed. But it also means, he knows he needs to be the one to save himself. And as a parent, the last thing I want to do is contradict that wisdom.

I'MA JES SAYIN'

IN BOX, THE BLIND CHATELAINE'S KEYS, PLAIGARISM/OUTSOURCE, DISCLOSURE ... which are, respectively, by Noah Eli Gordon, Moi, Tan Lin and Dana Teen Lomax provide grist for graduate study (though not necessarily by a grad student). Something different in each but, to my point, something shared by all four.

Anyway, what I love about my goal to read every poem ever written is that one never knows the revelations that come up, as in the above. For instance, it wouldn't surprise me if there were more than the aforementioned four poets interested in a certain approach (though this is not to say that such is the only approach per poet). Got to this revelation, btw, only after reading most recently Lomax's DISCLOSURE (nicely done, Dana!).

SECOND GALATEA RESURRECTS POETRY PUBLISHER PRIZE!

I'm delighted to announce the recipients of the Second Galatea Resurrects Poetry Publisher Prize:

Bloof Books founded/edited by Shanna Compton

and Marsh Hawk Press, a collective of wise poets

This Prize is awarded to honor poetry presses that Galatea Resurrects wishes to support by raising attention to their books. Congratulations to the recipients. More information about the Prize is HERE.

Speaking of Galatea Resurrects, I -- of course since Moi is now a Mom -- am running a tad behind schedule and so, while I'll be working on the issue this week, I can take more reviews until Sunday for you true laggards. I hope to release the next issue next week! Do anticipate yet another record number of reviews/engagements coming up!

MOTHER'S DAY WITH VICENTE HUIDOBRO

Amo la noche, sombrero de todos los dias.
La noche, la noche del dia, del dia al dia siguiente.
Mi madre hablaba como la aurora y como los dirigibles que van a caer. Tenia cabellos color de bandera y ojos llenos de navios lejanos.
Una tarde, cogi mi paracaidas y diej: "Entre una estrella y dos golondrinas." He aqui la muerte que se acerca como la tierra al globo que cae.
Mi madre bordaba lagrimas deseiertas en los primeros arcosiris.
Y ahora mi paracaidas cae des ueno en sueno por los espacios de la muerte.
--Vicente Huidobro [N.B. Due to being HTML-challenged, accent marks are missing from all the espanol]


I love the night, the hat of every day.
The night, the night of day, from one day to the next.
My mother spoke like the dawn, like blimps about to fall. Her hair was the color of a flag and her eyes were full of far-off ships.
One day I gathered up my parachute and said: "Between two swallows and a star." Here is death approaching like the earth to a falling balloon.
My mother embroidered abandoned tears on the first rainbows.
And now my parachute drops from dream to dream through the spaces of death.
--Trans. by Eliot Weinberger

So, as I described in the prior post, Michael had asked a family friend, Juliana, for help in getting me a Mother's Day Gift...and I chose

ALTAZOR: THE POEM BY VICENTE HUIDOBRO

translated by Eliot Weinberger and published as a Palabra Sur book (series editor Cecilia Vicuna) by Graywolf in 1988. What's wonderful about this book by the Chilean poet Huidobro is that it is in a bilingual edition. And, as I suggested to Juliana he suggest to Michael, he then can read the book with me by reading the Spanish and I reading the English.

Well, when Juliana gave the book to Michael and explained why she thought it would be a wonderful gift and realizing his Mama is a poeta, Michael apparently exclaimed, "What a brilliant idea!"

Chuckle. Then, per another suggestion to Juliana that I asked her to pass on, he wrote the following words in colored pens on the flyleaf:

I hope you licke (stet) it I love Mom

Espero que te guste mucho mama

Michael

I love it -- All the accoutrements of Mama-hood!

And right there at the Ahwahnee Lodge during their fabulous Mother's Day Brunch, I opened the page at random and he read:

El hombre se desgarra
Y se rompe en aullidos mortales por todos los poros de su tierra
Yo estoy aqui de pie entre vosotros
Se me caen las ansias al vacio

which I read in English translation as

Man leads a wicked life
And breaks down into a mortal howling through all the pores of the earth

and here I mentally interrupted moiself to think, Oh great--this is what you have your child reading? before continuing,

I am here standing among you
My longings falling through space

This is the same Vicente Huidobro who writes elsewhere in ALTAZOR:

All this is so sad like the child who's left an orphan

BUT ALSO

The earth has just given birth to a tree

BLISS aka MOI CONSIDERATE SON!

Among other things, I've been teaching Michael about the connections between working -> earning money -> saving money -> and acquiring things because one has earned/saved money to do so. Which is to say, a few weeks back, I gave him a piggy bank. (In a few weeks, I plan to bring him to the local bank to open up a savings account; the customer service peeps there already have been alerted that I want to make a big To-Do about the whole thing of having him write his info down on the application, getting a bank book, et al.)

Then we started creating situations where he would earn money, from chores to good grades (his Abuelita -- who now realizes she might become broke -- has promised $10 per "A" and a $5 bonus when there's a "+" appended to an "A"). I think he has saved nearly $40.00 in the past three weeks.

Anyway, he has asked a family friend, Juliana, that Juliana buy me a Mother's Day Gift this afternoon since he won't have time to go shopping between today and Sunday because of school and the traveling to Yosemite for the weekend. Juliana, of course, told me what's up.

Entonces, this afternoon, I hit the stores to buy myself a Mother's Day Gift...to give Juliana who then will give it Michael who then no doubt will give it to me this Sunday with a very loving flourish!

I am going to shop for a poetry book! Because I also want to show Michael the importance of poetry in little ways, such as that it makes for great gifts!

And because he's so considerate, I'm going to tell Juliana to tell him that the book only cost $3.00 (like the book was on sale!) so that the purchase doesn't diminish too much his hard-earned piggy funds. (Yes, I'm also teaching him never to lie -- don't worry, I try not to pass on my vices...)

Dear Peeps -- can you all tell that Moi is very HAPPY?

My son is brilliant and compassionate and fills the lives of people around him with much JOY. I tell ya (Didacticism alert coming up!): People should adopt more! Wishing all of us a HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

ON WALLS

It's often not about bringing down a wall. It could be that no wall actually exists. And other thoughts. I appreciate the struggle HERE. As for my struggle, I am blessed it also has been a romance.

WELL, I GUESS I DO WRITE MOI OWN REALITY....

If you scroll down the BRICK's Book Page at the Marsh Hawk Press website, you will see my poem "Helen". Apparently, "Helen" was studied in-depth by an English course this semester at CUNY-La Guardia (taught by poet-professor Thomas Fink).

Well, two essays on "Helen" are newly-reprinted on the Marsh Hawk Press Blog, the first by Athena Clarke and the second by Neliza Abad. First and foremost, I am grateful to Athena and Neliza for honoring my poem with their engagements, their attention. Thank you!

And now, I turn to why this post is entitled "...I...write moi own reality..." That is, at the time I write a poem I am, or try to be, authentically in the poem." But "Helen" is an old poem and at its writing I wasn't then conscious of any desire to be a parent. But here's an excerpt from Neliza's essay (italics mine):

Tabios uses a metaphor for new life when she compares the “white bloom” with a “newborn’s brow”. She uses the color white to signify purity, just as a newborn is also considered pure at birth. This trope also exposes the arousal of Helen’s maternal intuition. She yearns to have a child that she can create a pure bond with and love him/her unconditionally.

So I wrote "Helen" years before I would come to go down the adoption path -- and I am now one happy mother! Many people have asked me about how I don't separate poetry from my life. Well, part (and only part) of the answer is that, quite often, my best poems anticipate.

Um, ... also (wink). What's interesting to me is how Neliza references the first deep reading of "Helen" which is by Ron Silliman (thanks again, Ron, for the attention) as she writes her essay. Very. Interesting.

(Ron's essay was first printed in his blog, then reprinted in the BRICK and then The Blind Chatelaine's Keys).

It's all good. "Helen" has been among my happiest poems for having received several lives through a variety of readers.

MOI BRILLIANT SON!

I had my first parent-teacher conference this week. As this was the first time we would have some assessment of how Michael is doing in school, I was a bit nervous. Remember that Michael's schooling had been sporadic and didn't even start until he was 8 years old, that he was in fourth grade in Colombia (though the quality of orphanage schooling is difficult), and that we placed him in sixth grade here in the U.S. primarily due to his age (13 years).

Well.

Not only did he get fulsome compliments from everyone on his work ethic, intelligence and personality, two classes were able to share some grades. To wit:

Science: A+ (not just an "A", mind you -- an A+!)
Math: A (and not just an "A", mind you, but he is apparently the second-best student in the whole math class! And, yes, he is going to an excellent school.)

To move from someone who'd never multiplied a number as of March to someone today who is the second-best math student in a grade two years ahead of where he had been studying...?! MY SON IS BRILLIANT!

And the principal confirmed: though he only will have spent about two months in sixth grade, he will advance to 7th grade in the Fall!

My son is brilliant...but, once, he was considered disposable. How many tragedies exist in orphanages? There are hundreds of millions of orphans worldwide, and the most difficult to adopt are the older children ("older" being defined as low as over 4 years of age). [Contact me if you or someone you know may be interested in older child adoption.]

Michael's result just shows what children (humans) are capable of with appropriate nurturing.

And now, if you will excuse Moi, I am off to CELEBRATE! Meanwhile, here is Michael with Achilles:

MOI GREW AN ARTICHOKE!

I didn't know the newly-planted garden was, uh, newly-planted and that it included artichokes! Which is to say, with this post, I inaugurate the biannual Fiasco known as the results of my gardening attempts. To wit, moi latest Relished W(h)ine List:

CITY SLICKER'S SPRING/SUMMER GARDEN HARVEST (to date)
an artichoke
four scallions


PUBLICATIONS
PORTRAIT AND DREAM: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Bill Berkson (very satisfying read)

LUNCH POEMS by Mark Young (at his peak; writing masterfully)

DELTA BLUES, poems by Skip Fox (again: at his peak; writing masterfully)

KENMORE: POEM UNLIMITED, poems by Geoffrey Gatza (well now: didn't know a mystic lurked in Geoffrey's hot bod until I read this book...)

NEIGHBOR, poems by Rachel Levitsky

AND AENEAS STARES INTO HER HELMET, poems by Tiffany Higgins

[LAPSED INSEL WEARY], poems by Susana Gardner

RAINBOWS FROM HEAVEN: A STORY OF FAITH, HOPE AND LOVE THAT CREATED A FAMILY, memoir by Lynn Ellen Doxon

EARLY SPRING: AN ECOLOGIST AND HER CHILDREN WAKE TO A WARMING WORLD, memoir by Amy Seidl

TO LOVE WHAT IS: A MARRIAGE TRANSFORMED, memoir by Alix Kates Shulman

RICH LIKE THEM: MY DOOR-TO-DOOR SEARCH FOR THE SECRETS OF THE WEALTHY IN AMERICA'S RICHEST NEIGHBORHOODS, investigative journalism by Ryan D'Agostino

THESE IS MY WORDS: THE DIARY OF SARAH AGNES PRINE 1881-1901 ARIZONA TERRITORIES, novel by Nancy E. Turner

THE DEVIL'S TEARDROP, novel by Jeffery Deaver

ANOTHER LIFE, novel by Andrew Vacchs

PANDORA'S BOX, novel by John J. Nance

MOUNTING FEARS, novel by Stuart Woods


WINES
2007 Evangeline pinot noir Russian River Valley
2001 Behrens & Hitchcock merlot NV
1985 La Rioja Alta Gran Reserva 904
2001 Paraiso pinot noir West Terrace Santa Lucia Highlands Monterey County
2004 Dutch Henry Argos NV Hillside
2005 J.J. Prum Wehlener Sonnenuhr Spatlese
2007 Mondavi cabernet NV
2005 Abadia Returta Rivoli
1998 Wild Duck Creek Estate "Heathcote" Springflat shiraz
1990 Figeac

AL ROBLES, R.I.P.

The last time I saw you in person, DEAR POET, I bumped into you in Chinatown as you were taking lunches to some senior citizens there. What a fitting memory -- to see you in service. You, Al Robles, were/are Poetry in Motion.


UPDATE: Actually, it occurs to me: Chinatown wasn't the last time I saw Al. The last time I saw him, I had done a poetry reading with him in Berkeley. But I think it's meaningful that the more permanent memory of him in my mind is one of witnessing him helping others. There's more poetry in that...when the poetry leaves the page and becomes action.