2009: WHEN MOI = MOM!

PRE-2009: A BOY VISITED AND TOOK OUR HEARTS!


"GOTCHA DAY!"
(Bogota, Colombia, March)


DOGS AND ABUELITA "WELCOME HOME"!


YOSEMITE


SAFARI PARK


DISNEYLAND


WITH JASPER JOHNS' FLAG at SF MOMA


POOLSIDE


WITH COLOMBIAN TUTOR JULIANA


POOLSIDE WITH ACHILLES


FIRST DAY OF FIRST U.S. SCHOOL


SCHOOL PROJECT


SOCCER CHAMP


HALLOWEEN


HALLOWEEN COSTUME


ST. HELENA ALL-STARS


NAPA VALLEY ALL-STARS


AT GIANTS-DODGERS GAME


A FRONTRUNNER


AFTER DECORATING CHRISTMAS TREES


CHESS WITH AJAX & ACHILLES


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

A BITE

Before we embarked on adopting Michael, we hosted him through Kidsave (a program where U.S. families can host "older" children who are available for adoption -- I recommend this program!). Well, as soon as Michael walked off that plane, we had to run to take him to our dentist as his face was ballooned up with some sort of dental crisis. The dentist took a look into his mouth, and immediately called up an oral surgeon. Shortly thereafter, the surgeon was deep in Michael's mouth taking out a molar that had gotten all absessed and such...I couldn't hack it moiself; I sent the hubby in there to hold Michael's hand and comfort him across the language barrier as tears flowed...

I've always joked to the dentist about her ambassadorial skills, or lack thereof: "Great, welcome to the United States and here's a man to yank out your tooth!"

The best part? All of it UNINSURED! If the kid would have waited until adoption to have a dental blow-up, we'd have the first year of college all financed!

Anyway, catch-up dental care was an immediate challenge. Fortunately, dogs provide succor:



I didn't grow up in a culture that relied on braces...I just don't get these train tracks...

Happy New Year! Be careful out there and take care of your teeth!

HAPPY TENTH BIRTHDAY TO OurOwnVoice!

With its just-released issue, OurOwnVoice (OOV) is completing its tenth year! Wow! It seems like yesterday when I was meeting its editor/publisher Reme Grefalda in San Francisco to discuss this new diasporic journal for Filipino voices. And I had no clue that THIS was what our meeting meant to Reme -- it's interesting how I don't have any sense in my memory that I was being generous, but my involvement apparently meant a lot to Reme. And reading this came on the heels of reading Barbara's recollection of my input in her early years as a poet. Well, now I know what this all means: I'm OLD. Mano a Moi, why dontcha!

Seriously, it's nice to see seeds blossom, as both OOV and Barbara have done with such impact. Perhaps relatedly, here is a drawing given to me by an SFSU student; I think she made it while standing in line for a book signing I was doing after a reading/lecture there a few months back. I'm sorry to say I can't recall her name -- but thank you, Dear, for the image I'm titling "Moon and Mistress" because, mayhap, it might be a good title for a future poem...:



Meanwhile, though I'd gotten involved with OOV specifically to help promote visual art (as Contributing Editor for the Arts), OOV is gracious enough not to ignore my core love. They've asked me to be OOV's Resident Poet for 2010, which means, among other things, THESE POEMS representing recent books and in-progress manuscripts. Thank YOU, OOV -- I am the one to thank you.

HOLA Y ALOHA HAWAI'I!

Something for you Hawaiian Peeps: this is from "Aloha Shorts" on Hawai'i's Public Radio:

Mabuhay and Happy New Year!

Aloha Shorts' first live taping of 2010 honors FILIPINO WRITERS.

Featuring a reading from the recently released Bamboo Ridge publication of Michelle Cruz Skinner's collection In the Company of Strangers and special musical guests the University of Hawai'i Filipino Rondalla, with Bernard Ellorin (bandurya), Stuart Nago (guitar), and Ricardo D. Trimillos (oktavina).

SUNDAY, January 10. 6:45 pm Taping begins with music from the University of Hawai'i Filipino Rondalla

Atherton Performing Arts Studio, Hawai'i Public Radio, 738 Kaheka St.

Admission FREE

Reservations required -- call during business hours 955-8821.

(There are always no-shows so don't be discouraged if you're put on the waiting list! Please allow enough time for parking; reservations released at 6:55pm.)

The readings will include:
An excerpt from "Beautiful" by Michelle Cruz Skinner, read by Donalyn Dela Cruz

Eileen Tabios' "Force Majeure" read by Stephanie Kong; also from Tabios "'The Autobiography of Commodities' Installment No. 9: Filipina Brides"

"Waipahu One Morning" by Normie Saldovar, read by Cheyne Gallarde

Noel Abubo Mateo's "Accent Reduction" (read by Cheyne Gallarde) and "Beautiful Ilocano"

"My Grandfather, the New American" by Jennifer Santos Madriaga

"The Islands" by Kenneth Zamora Damacion

"Drinking Games" by Darlene M. Javar, read by Stephanie Kong

Thanks to Craig Howes, Sammie Choy and Phyllis Look of Aloha Shorts for thinking to include one of my old short stories and a poem that also will appear in THE THORN ROSARY.

$750 GETS YA...

If you're just dying for a chance to spend $750 on a poetry book, I'm here for you.

Which is to say, Marsh Hawk Press has just put up the Book Page for moi forthcoming THE THORN ROSARY.

That price would have gone up to $1,000 if it weren't for this Great Recession. After all, $750 got you THIS two years earlier. Aren't you lucky inflation is nonexistent for now.

Personally, I think that's a bargain since a drawing is involved. Though, not as much a bargain as Meritage Press' "Cold Water Flat" etching. That's always been one of the collecting secrets by art lovers who happen to traffic (so to speak) in the poetry market, too. That is, that works acquired viz poetry instead of the *art world* can be less costly (that's how I got the only Elizabeth Murray I have). Heck, the last purchaser of "Cold Water Flat" was a professional art dealer! That's right -- this blog is here to serve one of the denizens of the New Normal: the frugal art collector. As ever, Moi is here to serve...

NEWBIE PARENTING #10,000

It's inevitable. Sooner or later, Michael will figure out that not all of the "Gems of Wisdom" I've been lovingly -- and with stylish verve -- flinging at him are worth their weight in blather. So, the revelation du jour is his realization that Moi is not, after all, a ... Great Chef.

Yes, Moi -- who considers all the kitchen aids to be sculptures vs. things to be used -- actually told Michael months back, "Not to worry. I am a Fabulous Cook! Extraordinary really..."

The crime occurred when I was forced to make something culinary for one of his homework projects. FIRST, AN IMPORTANT DIGRESSION -- math tutoring is not easy for me, but cooking is simply TORTURE! WHAT IS UP WITH ALL OF THESE "PROJECTS" THAT REQUIRE PARENTS TO USE ALL THE KITCHEN SCULPTURES?!!! I DON'T RECALL MOM COOKING DIDDLEY-SQUAT FOR ME WHEN I WAS MICHAEL'S AGE -- THIS IS REALLY ONE OF THE MOST RIDICULOUS OFF-SHOOTS OF GOVERNMENT BUDGET CUTBACKS...

Anyway, so a few months ago I made one of the five dishes I know to make for Michael's Spanish class. While many other parent were whipping up enchiladas or whatever in five seconds, there I was torturing Michael with the process of making my deliriously-dreamy coq au vin (I really don't cook, but I do know five wine-affectionate dinner recipes. Michael might aptly laugh at me frying two eggs but I can do these utterly sublime veal chops in lemon sauce...but I digress again).

So, more recently, I had to make a cake for one of Michael's science classes, with said cake to be the edible metaphor for some sort of cellular organism. Okay. I don't do cakes. But I gamely bought those boxed cake-making sets, okay? Good thing I bought two. Because though the instructions are simpler than Cake-Making For Dummies, I actually screwed up the first attempt. But I did manage to get a cake done with the second try.

Well, it's only recently that Michael finally whispered to me -- after he watched me botch up the frying of two eggs -- that Nobody in his science class ate my cake. NOBODY.

Aw c'mon! It's middle school! How can no one eat cake?!

Folks, I was about to get really depressed. But you know what perked Moi up? It's that Michael still believes Yo es muy famosa poeta!

Famous, I tell you! And none of you -- especially you, lurker-hubby! -- better disavow him of that notion!

Speaking of which (I think), here's Michael when we visited Alcatraz. He is shaking the hand of the last living guard at Alcatraz when it was still operating as a prison. Apparently, said guard wrote a memoir -- I actually bought it for Michael because I wanted to model the notion of buying books (yeah!).



But I don't recall the author's name -- he just spends his days now hanging out at Alcatraz's gift store signing his books for the tourists who buys them. Well, whoever you are, Mr. Whats-Your-Face, not to worry: I concede you are more famous than Moi. After all, an ex-prison gift store's got your back. What poet can match that?

NEXT DEADLINE FOR GALATEA RESURRECTS

Receiving a review copy of Joanna Fuhrman's PAGEANT with its perfectly- and purrrr-fectly-pitched poems reminds me to remind you all of the many wonderful poetry books just looking for your engagement or review! And also to say, the next review submission deadline for Galatea Resurrects has been set at April 15, 2010.

For more information on sending reviews or review copies, please go HERE! You won't be sorry -- there are so many great poetry books on the review copy list!

THE BRAIN'S HOLIDAY

Yesterday, after the longest Christmas morning of opening presents ever (what a pleasure to watch a child relish the experience), I finally gave the hubby, the son and the Abuelita what I characterized as my "major present" to each of them. I made them open their packets simultaneously. Each received a copy of ROMAN HOLIDAY. Everybody was tickled by it, as I had not told them previously about the chapbook that featured Michael's drawing on the front cover, and the back cover photo which is of the four of us presumably Roman-holidaying...

...After the oohs and aaaahs, Mom asked how I managed to get Michael's drawing on the front cover and our family photo on the back. I modestly said that I'm a "famous poet" and such tend to get what they want from their publishers. After everyone snorted over my claim to fame (even my son, which means, Dear Hubby isn't providing good modeling...tsk, tsk) (if you're a newbie peep reading this and thus unaware of moi sense of humor, of course I was joking anyway), I turned everyone's attention again to Michael's achievement -- his first publication as an artist!

In so doing, I turned to the copyright page where Michael's name was featured..."Right next," Moi-the-Proud-Mama proclaimed, "to where it said 'pen on ink', the art's medium!"

Pause. The hubby turned to me with a rising eyebrow and repeated, "Pen on ink?"

Aw shitski. Did I state "Pen on ink" instead of "...on paper"? Yes, I did! And, groaning, I acknowledged the typo to the hubby who wouldn't let it go: "Would that be like pencil on lead?

"Did all that fame leach something from your head?"

So, okay: if you'd like to order a copy of MOI BRAIN'S HOLIDAY, do go HERE (scroll down). That typo, of course, will make the chap ever more valuable someday on E-bay.

*****

I gave away nine poetry books for holiday presents. I -- of all people, that be I -- got not a single poetry book for a holiday present. I just don't get this pattern. I got a variety of books, but not a single poetry book! What be that about?

Anyway, here's my latest BOUGHT POETRY list:

ROMAN HOLIDAY by Eileen Tabios (HIGHLY RECOMMENDED-grin)

1,000 VIEWS OF GIRL SINGING, Ed. by John Bloomberg-Rissman (HIGHLY RECOM...etcetera)

TRANSCENDENTAL STUDIES: A TRILOGY by Keith Waldrop

WORLD BALL NOTEBOOK by Sesshu Foster

KA-CHING! by Denise Duhamel

CHRISTMAS POEM (book & CD) by Maya Angelou

FRAGILE REPLACEMENTS by William Allegrezza

KALI'S BLADE by Michelle Bautista

It's 11 p.m. as I finish this post. Have you supported a poetry press today?

FROM A LINE-PLUCKER'S LIFE

Because Moi is crazy enough to want to read every poem ever written, she responded strangely to a request while in the crazed midst of trying to release GR #13. She was asked to judge a poetry contest. If she hadn't been distracted by GR #13, she would have automatically replied, "No thank you" while diplomatically hiding a grimace. But, embroiled in poems, she paused ... and had a thought.

So she said she'd judge this contest if she saw every book submitted for it -- i.e., as she told the contest coordinator, "no winnowing". See, Moi thought it might be interesting to see what happens if she was forced to sit down and read through hundreds (will be it thousands...?) of books and ....

The contest coordinator said, Okay...though he knew Moi well enough to say, "As long as you don't pluck lines from the books to string up a cento..."

Cackle. Well, as is often my modus operandi for poem-making, Let's see what happens...
*****

One of the reasons putting out GR #13 was so crazed was because the chill of the last couple of weeks apparently adversely impacted my internet infrastructure -- not to mention that Sprint (Google me, you Sprint) has got to IMPROVE its cell-phone towers in my area (St. Helena/Calistoga border--google me, Sprint!). Said infrastructure is in a cold storage space somewhere in the mountain. After failing to find cashmere blankets to swaddle the various electronic components, I had to find a heater, hire an electrician to install a plug, and then run the dang heater to warm up said components and get me internet. All this made me forget until this morning about the Galatea Resurrects Publishers' Prize! So, official proclamation:

Hail to the recipient of GR #13's Galatea Resurrects Publishers' Prize!

Moria Books, Ed. William Allegrezza and based in Chicago

May this honor get you at least one book ordered!

*****

Now, speaking of line-pluckers, John Bloomberg-Rissman alerts Moi that 1000 VIEWS OF 'GIRL SINGING' made an Editor's Pick over at the U.K.'s Stride Magazine. Moreover, he has a discounted RELEASE OFFER available per below. So, go hear Moi's Avatar sing...a thousand times, why dontcha!

From JBR:

First, our anthology made Stride Magazine's The Editor's Picks 2009 list:

Poetry
1000 Views of 'Girl Singing', ed. John Bloomberg-Rissman (Leafe)
Nowhere's Far, Phil Bowen (Salt)
The Hunt in the Forest, John Burnside (Cape)
Songbook, Ken Edwards (Shearsman)
The Migraine Hotel, Luke Kennard (Salt)
Ascension Notes, Sarah Law (Shearsman)
Catalyctic Exteriorisation Phenomenon, Mel Nichols (Edge)
London: Ghost Autopsy, Nick Scammell (Kitchen Door)
American Hybrid, eds. Cole Swensen & David St. John (Norton)

Second, Richard Lopez writes, "my copy arrived a few days ago and it is most probably the liveliest and original anthols i've read in some time. this is a book that makes me happy in mind and body."

Thanks, Richard, and thanks, Rupert Loydell, ed. of Stride. Thanks most of all to the contributors, who made this happen.

As posted previously, reiterated here, now that your mouth is watering:

1,000 Views of ³Girl Singing²
John Bloomberg-Rissman (ed.)
ISBN: 978-0-9561919-1-5
Since there's lots of color. the book¹s kinda expensive. It will list for £23.00/$45.00. BUT: if you buy it from us, instead of Amazon or wherever else it's listed, we'll sell it for cost plus a little to help cover postage:

£16.00/$27.00

Just contact me at j at johnbr dot com and we'll get the ball rolling.

*****

Just as I was finishing this post, another query came through wanting to know if I'd judge a poetry contest. I replied, "No thank you...."

GALATEA RESURRECTS FOR THE 13TH TIME!

Fifty-five new reviews and several feature articles! Am exhausted!



But we did it! With Issue No. 13, we are pleased to note that GR has provided 712 new reviews (covering 326 publishers in 16 countries so far) and 62 reprinted reviews (to bring online reviews previously available only viz print).



HAPPY HOLIDAYS with the new issue of Galatea Resurrects! You can access the issue directly HERE, but I'll also cutnpaste the Table of Contents below to further spread the holiday cheer!

GALATEA RESURRECTION #13
Dec. 22, 2009

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
By Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
Crg Hill reviews DICK OF THE DEAD by Rachel Loden

Patrick James Dunagan reviews YOUR WILDERNESS & MINE by David Highsmith

Troy Jollimore reviews OHIO VIOLENCE by Alison Stine

Crg Hill reviews LANDSCAPES OF DISSENT: GUERRILLA POETRY & PUBLIC SPACE by Jules Boykoff and Kaia Sand

Thomas Fink reviews HOUSECAT KUNG FU: STRANGE POEMS FOR WILD CHILDREN by Geoffrey Gatza

Patrick Rosal reviews THE LONG LOST STARTLE by Joel Toledo

Emong de Borja reviews YOU ARE HERE by Mabi David

Denise Dooley reviews ELDERS SERIES #3 by Chris Kraus and Tisa Bryant

Jade Hudson reviews COLLAPSIBLE POETICS THEATER by Rodrigo Toscano

Eileen Tabios engages ANALFABETO / AN ALPHABET by Ellen Baxt

Denise Dooley reviews CLASSIFICATION OF A SPIT STAIN by Ellie Ga

Rebecca Loudon reviews WITH DEER by Aase Berg, Translated by Johannes Göransson

Gabriel Lovatt reviews WITH DEER by Aase Berg, translated by Johannes Göransson

Tom Hibbard reviews CHOOSE, SELECTED POEMS by Michael Rothenberg

Amanda Reynolds reviews THE LOST COUNTRY OF SIGHT by Neil Aitken

Virginia Konchan reviews IDENTITY THEFT by Catherine Daly

Kristin Berkey-Abbott reviews TORCHED VERSE ENDS by Steven D. Schroeder

Eileen Tabios engages WATER THE MOON by Fiona Sze-Lorraine

Virginia Konchan reviews ZERO READERSHIP, AN EPIC by Filip Marinovich

Nicholas T. Spatafora reviews MANHATTAN MAN AND OTHER POEMS by Jack Lynch

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews NAVIGATE, AMELIA EARHARTS’ LETTERS TO HOME and CADAVER DOGS, both by Rebecca Loudon

Eileen Tabios engages HI HIGHER HYPERBOLE by Nicholas Manning

Amanda Reynolds reviews TO THE BONE by Sebastian Agudelo

Virginia Konchan reviews THE BOATLOADS by Dan Albergotti

Crg Hill reviews CARAMBOLES by Alexander Dickow

Jim McCrary engages A MAN ABOUT TOWN by Robert J. Baumann

Kristin Berkey-Abbott reviews LETTERS TO POETS: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT POETICS, POLITICS, AND COMMUNITY, Eds. Jennifer Firestone and Dana Teen Lomax

James Sanders reviews PLAYING WITH WORDS: THE SPOKEN WORD IN ARTISTIC PRACTICE, Ed. Cathy Lane

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews SUPER 8 and HALLUCINATING CALIFORNIA by Richard Lopez and Jonathan Hayes

John Herbert Cunningham reviews THE PROSODY HANDBOOK: A GUIDE TO POETIC FORM by Robert Beum and Karl Shapiro

Jeroen Nieuwland reviews POETRY AND CULTURAL STUDIES: A READER, Eds. Maria Damon and Ira Livingston

Jon Curley reviews TERRA LUCIDA by Joseph Donahue

Dana Ward reviews WOW WOW WOW WOW by Kevin Killian

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews ONE AND TWENTY by Paavo Haavikko, Trans. By Anselm Hollo

Virginia Konchan reviews TUNED DROVES by Eric Baus

Jeff Harrison reviews GHOST DANCE IN 33 MOVEMENTS by Anny Ballardini

Eileen Tabios engages TRUST by Liz Waldner

Lisa Mahle-Grisez reviews EROS & (FILL IN THE BLANK) by Charles Freeland

Jon Curley reviews TRUE CRIME by Donna de la Perriére

Virginia Konchan reviews INTERVENING ABSENCE by Carrie Olivia Adams

James Stotts reviews THE BRITTLE AGE AND RETURNING UPLAND by René Char, translated by Gustaf Sobin

Virginia Konchan reviews CLOSE CALLS WITH NONSENSE by Stephen Burt

Jim McCrary reviews HOUSE ORGAN SUMMER 2009 edited by Kenneth Warren; RUGH STUFFby Steve Tills; HYPERGLOSSIA by Stacy Szymaszek; SOME SPECULATIONS AROUND GEORGE OPPEN’S PAROUSIA by Rob Halpern; WELL MEANING WHITE GIRL by Alli Warren; SPRUNG FORMAL LITERARY MAGAZINE; GET THE FUCK BACK INTO THAT BURNING PLANE by Lawrence Giffin; and MY DAY WALKING FROM MT. TABOR TO THE ZOO and MY DAY by James Yeary and illustrated by Nate Orton

Virginia Konchan reviews HAVE A GOOD ONE Anselm Berrigan

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews THE METHOD by Sasha Steensen


THE CRITIC WRITES POEMS
Virginia Konchan


FEATURED POET
Tom Beckett interviews Rebecca Loudon


FEATURE ARTICLE
"’That all of us may write better’: Gatekeeping, the Literary Establishment, and Marianne Moore as Editor of The Dial” by Kristina Marie Darling


FEATURE ARTICLE
On the Philippines' 2009 National Artist Awards


FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEW
Martin Edmonds reviews PELICAN DREAMING: POEMS 1959-2008 by Mark Young


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


BACK COVER
Yeah, yeah, Happy Holidays…am exhausted!

THE BIG APPLE CAME TO GALATEA

Yes, I am working on releasing the next issue of Galatea Resurrects. Will definitely come out soon. I know the waiting is hard, and it possibly might have come out today but I had to share holiday libations and cornmeal pizza with some visitors; FAMILY matters! Until then, here's a view between the bars:

HOUSEKEEPING, PART II

Was slogging away earlier at the public library trying to figure out what's wrong with my mountain internet that I thought had been fixed. Finally figured out that the problem is our cell phone provider -- been full of interrupted services of late, and while said interruptions might last less than a second each, that's enough to prevent me from uploading files....while testing such, I generated these links. So I thought might as well share these self-explanatory ones:

MERITAGE PRESS' NINTH ANNUAL HOLIDAY POETRY CONTEST!

Ninth annual? Wow. Just another idea with ... long legs, she cackles to hoiself...

Anyway, Moi am back on the mountain internet. Whilst I was gone, this went live--Attn: Filipino Poets: It's Meritage Press doing that speakin' Babaylan thing with

9th Annual Fun Holiday Poetry Contest!

Surely you want to have something in common with this impressive list of previous poetry winners:

PREVIOUS WINNERS:
2008: Rodrigo V. Dela Pena Jr. (Judge: Bino A. Realuyo)
2007: Naya S. Valdellon & Marcel L. MiIliam (Judge: Eric Gamalinda)
2006: Joel M. Toledo (Judge: Michelle Bautista)
2005: Arkaye Velasquez Kierulf (Judge: Jean Vengua)
2004: Joel H. Vega (Judge: Sarah Gambito)
2003: Luisa A. Igloria (Judge: Patrick Rosal)
2002: Naya S. Valdellon & Michella Rivera-Gravage (Judge: Oliver de la Paz)
2001: Carlomar Arcangel Daoana (Judge: Nick Carbo)

So CLICK ON THE LINK and send Moi a poem or two!

THE PARADOX OF THIEVES WHO DON'T APPROPRIATE

Once upon a time, a poet submitted a manuscript to "The Filamore Tabios, Sr. Memorial Poetry Prize". He was chosen as a Finalist and, as said Finalist, received a gift box of poetry books.

Moi, who administers Dad’s Memorial Prize, sent the Finalist his books in a recycled Amazon.com box. That box came to be sitting one day in the Finalist’s car. A couple of thieves happened to stroll by the car, looked through the window, and saw the Amazon.com box.

Said thieves broke through the car to retrieve the box, perhaps thinking the contents to be some electronics, toys, bath products, or whatever else Amazon.com hawks nowadays.

Well, they opened the box and discovered the priceless cache of poetry books. Displaying unbelievably bad taste, the thieves dropped the box and ran away.

*****

The above is a true story. The long-suffering hubby dropped off three boxes of PINOY POETICS (being taught at Sonoma State University this semester—you teachers also should check out this VERY UNIQUE and HISTORIC anthology) at SPD today and the Finalist, who happened to be there, overheard him identify himself as “Eileen Tabios’ husband.” So the Finalist introduced himself to the hubby and relayed the above tale. Geez: I hope the Finalist didn’t incur major car repairs as a result. Poetry—it’s not for the weak.

Which is to say, this tale is the kind of stuff that happens when one is empire-building (oh work with Moi here). Which is further to say, do peruse this—and hope to see you there, on May 7 and hopefully at the other dates menched:

FROM SMALL PRESS TRAFFIC

For over 35 years SPT has been at the heart of where experimentation and community intersect. This season we continue to present a multi-pronged conversation that highlights some of the concerns of our readers’ work. These conversations include: bodies, communities and empires.

Our Spring lineup is as follows:

Jan 15: Poets Theater
Jan 22: Poets Theater
Jan 24: Poets Theater
As part of SPT's annual fundraiser, we will be staging several works from the anthology, along with new plays, performances, and surprises by Julie Patton, Dodie Bellamy, Tonya Foster, Brent Cunningham, Cassandra Smith, Stephen Boyer, and a celebration of the release of the epic Kenning Anthology of Poets Theater: 1945-1985, edited by Kevin Killian and David Brazil. . In addition, on Sunday the 24th we will present the first ever off-site Poets Theater event, with multiple simultaneous performances staged in and around the CCA campus. Please check out the SPT website and blog in January for details!

Jan 30: Brenda Coultas and Cedar Sigo on communities

Feb 12: Evelyn Reilly and Angela Carr on empires
at Nahl Hall

Feb 20: Spring Ulmer and Jen Hofer and Erica Hunt on empires

Feb 26: Lasana Sekou and Taylor Brady on empires

March 6: an evening with Harryette Mullen on bodies

March 12: on communities
Immortal Cupboard in Search of Lorine Neidecker
with filmmaker Cathy Cook
and a lecture on ecopoetics by Jonathan Skinner: Thoughts on Things:Poetics of the Third Landscape
co-sponsored by Kino 21, Artists Television Access and Poetry Center

March 13: an evening with Ronaldo Wilson on bodies
a reading and discussion of The Visible Black Body: An Interventionist's Reflection

March 20: Bruce Andrews and Leslie Scalapino on bodies

April 9: an eveing with Ammiel Alcalay on empires
with special guest Charming Hostess singing Sarajevo Blues

April 17: Aaron Vidaver and Dorothy Trujillo Lusk on empires

Apri 23: Pamela Lu and Mary Burger on bodies

April 25: Kindergarde: Avant Garde Poems, Plays, Stories and Song for Children on communities

April 30: Laynie Browne and Lee Ann Brown on bodies
at Nahl Hall

May 7: Eileen Tabios and Susan Gervitz on empires

May 13: Charles Bernstein and Norman Fischer on communities
Radical Poetics and Secular Jewish Culture
Co-sponsored by Taube Center for Jewish Life

May 22: SPECIAL EVENT: the Relequarium (a fundraiser and party for SPT)

I'M ONLINE! WELL, NOT REALLY...

It'll take at least a week to fix my Sonic Wall. Until then, a Big, Burly Man put me on Dial-Up, which on the mountain means I can't do much hefty work online (e.g. Galatea Resurrects). So I can only do quickies for now -- you know, like cutnpaste. So, here's my latest blurb done for another writer:

Gaha (babes) Noas (of the abyss) Zorge (become friendly) by Jesse Glass

Rollicking jesterous spawn of ... who knows? Here, the Q might as well be A and the A might as well be Q for Jesse Glass' “Gaha (babes)…” upends language...and if the receptive reader loses linguistic preconceptions such as cause-and-effect, what then results is music’s seduction into senselessness because the punchline can be: "IN THE LAND OF MY FORMER ENEMIES / a shaft resets time." Such wondrous things occur when a skull gives up its identity to a crystal ball.

Well, doesn't that make you want to read Jesse's forthcoming pub?

Anyhoo, and here's my latest Relished W(h)ine List :

WINTER GARDEN (to date)
7 Meyer lemons
88 persimmons
46 green figs & 4 purple figs (they should be out of season now but Mom's managing to eke 'em out)
18 red, yellow and green peppers
136 tomatoes (mom keeps eking them out...)


PUBLICATIONS
TRAJE DE BODA, poems (in manuscript form) by Aileen Ibardaloza (this was a finalist for The Filamore Tabios, Sr. Memorial Poetry Prize, which I've also decided to publish next year with Meritage Press)

BHARAT JIVA, poems by kari edwards

NO GENDER: REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE & WORK OF kari edwards, Edited by Julian Brolaski, erica kaufman & E. Tracy Grinnell. Includes Cara Benson, Frances Blau, Mark Brasuell, Julian T. Brolaski, Reed Bye, Marcus Civin, CAConrad, Donna de la Perrière, E. Tracy Grinnell, Rob Halpern, Jen Hofer, Brenda Iijima, Lisa Jarnot, erica kaufman, Kevin Killian, Wendy Kramer, Joseph Lease, Rachel Levitsky, Joan MacDonald, Bill Marsh, Chris Martin, Yedda Morrison, Eileen Myles, Akilah Oliver, Tim Peterson, Ellen Redbird, Leslie Scalapino, Michael Smoler, Sherman Souther, Eleni Stecopoulos, and Anne Waldman

THE GINKGO LIGHT, poems by Arthur Sze (as ever, masterful. What would be interesting is if Arthur ever did a single, million-page poem with his signature interconnections managing to seem effortless/weightless)

WATER THE MOON, poems (in manuscript form) by Fiona Sze-Lorrain (more than a cut above many Asian diasporic poems)

WALLS (ANAMNESES), poems by Marcel Cohen, Trans. by Brian Evenson & Joanna Howard

WORLD BALL NOTEBOOK, poems by Sesshu Foster

KA-CHING, poems by Denise Duhamel

PERSONATIONSKIN, poems by Karl Parker

ITINERARY, poems by Reginald Shepherd

BOOMERANG, poems by Brenda Cardenas

NOW SHOWING, poems by Jim Daniels

POEM, HOME: AN ANTHOLOGY OF ARS POETICA, Eds. Jennifer Hill and Dan Waber (a unique and lovely project!)

ABOUT ALICE, memoir by Calvin Trillin

FARM CITY: THE EDUCATION OF AN URBAN FARMER, memoir by Novella Carpenter

ABOUT AIBEK! A JOURNEY OF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION, memoir by Kevin Quirk

DAUGHTER FROM AFAR, memoir by Sarah Lynn Woodard

ABANDONED, novel by Cody McFadyen

PRAYERS FOR SALE, novel by Sandra Dallas

RAINWATER, novel by Sandra Brown


WINES
2006 Dutch Henry chardonnay Los Carneros
1998 Clarendon Hills Grenache Kangaroola Vineyard
2000 Sloan cabernet[-blend]
2001 St. Clement
1997 Napa Valley Reserve
1995 Artadi Vina El Pison Reserva
2002 Newton Unfiltered Chardonnay
2007 Luna Sangiovese
2000 Behrens & Hitchcock Las Amigas merlot Beckstoffer Vineyard NV
____ Arietta merlot
____ Chaffen Family Vineyards cabernet
2006 Dancing hares
____ Larkmead cabernet
2005 Buccella cabernet
2002 Jean Brullot Pugliny Montrachet
1989 Sandrone Cannubi Boschiis
2002 Hundred acres
2004 Saxum James Berry Vineyard
2005 Mollydooker "The Boxer" Shiraz
2002 Behrens & Hitchcock merlot NV

GALATEA HOUSEKEEPING

The "sonic wall" -- whatever that is -- is having problems on the mountain. Thus, I don't have internet access (I'm writing this from the local library). Which precludes me from doing e-business such as releasing the next issue of Galatea Resurrects. I hope to fix the problem next week and then back to bidness and Moi's blatherful e-holiday spirit.

CHESS WITH AJAX & ACHILLES

....meanwhile, running around on end-of-the-year hoo-haa with Big, Burly Men here at Galatea before winter ends all major construction until next Spring. A recently completed project reflects how we occasionally try to do what Poetry allows us to do: blur the boundaries between myth and reality: here's Michael with Achilles and Gabriela hanging out with Ajax and Achilles as they play draughts:



We treasure the fountain for honoring one of our favorite works of art:



We naturally localized the original with poetry: along the octagonal base of the fountain are etched hay(na)ku about some of Galatea's most beloved citizens: Achilles, Gabriela, Scarlet, Artemis, Michael ... and Galatea herself, as feminist human instead of a frozen man's gaze. Yep: Poetry as a way of life...

"O CHRISTMAS TREE..."

As the country began visibly preparing for the Holidays, Michael took it all in, especially all the cars that began appearing capped with netted Xmas trees. One day, he whispered to me, "The [orphanage] had a tree, but it was always plastic..."

Well, as a result of that whisper we decided to make a big deal of getting this year's trees. Today, we went to a tree farm and chose our lovely firs. I'd never visited a tree farm before and it was just lovely to sip the warm apple cider, watching the romping dogs, romping boy, and the hubby (ahem) trying to keep up. Here is Michael right after we trimmed the trees today with the help of Galatea's elves who, upon coming out of hibernation, were ecstatic to find a child in the household:



Yes, I said trees as the cats and dogs, of course, must have their own -- albeit a smaller one in my and the hubby's attempts (so far failed) to persuade them that we are the Alphas.



Matter of fact, here are some of our ornaments. Michael, a natural photographer, took the images before hanging them up on the trees:









It's so special to experience the Holidays through the eyes of a child...

GALATEA RESURRECTS' LAST EXTENSION

Still working on it. Mommying is a lot of time! But this is also to say that the last deadline extension for sending reviews for Galatea Resurrects will be this coming Monday, Dec. 7. Isn't that great that you reviewers have another weekend to attempt to finish yours?!

Meanwhile, here's Michael above and below with Achilles and wearing his brand spankin' new FRONTRUNNER t-shirt! What's FRONTRUNNER Toi asks? It signifies that he is now among the fastest-runners of a mile in his P.E. class! Isn't that special?! I think his latest time is something like 6 minutes, 27 seconds. That's quite an improvement because he began the semester 4 months ago running an over 8-minute mile!

It's just great to see a child blossom. Michael is a child who knows neglect. Now, he knows Mama Moi and moithinks he loves the experience despite my math tutorials! What a great kid! I need no Holiday Gift besides what I already have:

POETRY VS. POEM? NOT!

I've long thought this insular poetry-world debate of "Poetry Vs. Poem" is another one of those false binaries (that sometimes come up too often because some poets love to hear themselves talk -- I say that with affection, of course).

Reading now through two books by and on kari edwards, I recall again just how impressed I've always been by kari -- I've always thought kari to be special for, among many other things, making irrelevant this "Poetry vs. Poem" debate, for showing just how small this debate is. kari embodies for me what I strive for in "Poetry as a Way of Life." I suspect I'm preparing a longer essay on this topic, but meanwhile:

I suggest you check out the two books just lovingly released from A Venn Diagram Production between Litmus Press & Belladonna Books:

BHARAT JIVA by kari edwards

NO GENDER: REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE & WORK OF kari edwards, Eds. Julian T. Brolaski, erica kaufman, and E. Tracy Grinnell (including Cara Benson, Frances Blau, Mark Brasuell, Julian T. Brolaski, Reed Bye, Marcus Civin, CAConrad, Donna de la Perrière, E. Tracy Grinnell, Rob Halpern, Jen Hofer, Brenda Iijima, Lisa Jarnot, erica kaufman, Kevin Killian, Wendy Kramer, Joseph Lease, Rachel Levitsky, Joan MacDonald, Bill Marsh, Chris Martin, Yedda Morrison, Eileen Myles, Akilah Oliver, Tim Peterson, Ellen Redbird, Leslie Scalapino, Michael Smoler, Sherman Souther, Eleni Stecopoulos, and Anne Waldman)

As the saying goes, HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

DECEMBER'S WATER BUFFALO IS FROM YOU TO YOU!

See, the kitty Artemis would like to think otherwise as she loves to play with colored ribbons and paper. But the holiday spirit is not about receiving gifts but Giving. So, with Michael's kitty (pun intended) recently depleted from his piggy bank as I introduced him to the concept of having a savings account at a bank, I am focusing Michael on giving drawings as presents this holiday. His artistry needs to be encouraged, as you can judge by his latest "Thank You Drawing" to his New York Family:



And here's an early gift for you Peeps -- don't you love his sense of humor? It's a fish with braces!!! Chewing out (laugh) the skeleton of a chewed-up, smaller fish:



And speaking of Holiday Giving, thank you to those who've bought my book SECRET PUNCTUATIONS ... as well as the Tiny Books Poetry-Feeds-The-World Project. Along with funds pathetically raised from my newbie-parenting project "Belching For Hunger", we all have managed to donate funds to Heifer International this year sufficient to give someone...a water buffalo! How's about that! You all are special, too!

!