THE DIFFICULTY OF SWEETNESS

Galatea--where nature, art, poetry and wine converge... Sounds good, but now: CITY SLICKER ALERT! To wit,



To wit, the hubby has decided that he and Michael (well, they asked Moi but Moi ran screaming out of the room) will be beekeepers; that's the Hijo above, obviously, trying on his new buzz suit. Colony Collapse Disorder, the hubby noted as ponderously as CNN's Rick Sanchez, is a big problem and we should all do our bit to make the planet more welcoming to these precious pollen distributors.

Fine sounding but lookit: we're the city slickers living in one of earth's most fertile places and we can count the tomatoes we manage to grow (sometimes in one hand!) and I often round up said number to lessen my shame over the matter! I can just see adjusting my Relished W(h)ine list to account for, say, half-a-teaspoon full of honey harvested. But, fine, onward to battling Colony Collapse Disorder!

Meanwhile, here's latest update on Relished W(h)ine List:

PUBLICATIONS
Hay(na)ku for Haiti:
#1: PARTICLE AND WAVE and FROM THE CHAIR, two hay(na)ku sequences by Jean Vengua
#2: On A Pyre: An Ars Poetica by Eileen R. Tabios
#3: Hay(na)ku for Haiti by Tom Beckett
#4: when the earth moves by Lars Palm
#5: After René Depestre’s “My Definition of Poetry”, as translated by Edwidge Danticat, with lines at the end by Lafcadio Hearn by John Bloomberg-Rissman
(Please click HERE for your participation!)

THE HOUSE OF MAE RIM / LA CASA DE MAE RIM, poems by Mariano Zaro (beautifully spare)

AFTER RIMBAUD'S ILLUMINATIONS, poem by David-Baptiste Chirot (beautifully resonant)

SUBMISSIONS, poems by Jared Schickling (beautifully intriguing)

SHOULDER SEASON, poems by Ange Mlinko

INSIDES SHE SWALLOWED, poems by Sasha Pimentel Chacon

GREEN CAMMIE, poems by Crysta Casey

AGE OF THE DEMON TOOLS, poems by Mark Spitzer

STARTING TODAY: 100 POEMS FOR OBAMA'S FIRST 100 DAYS, edited by Rachel Zucker and Arielle Greenberg (it's really moving to see the Hope For Change undertones--this note of cautious optimism, much more than revelry, is also poetically refreshing)

GURLESQUE: THE NEW GRRRLY, GROTESQUE, BURLESQUE POETICS, edited by Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg

GIVING THEIR WORLD: CONVERSATIONS WITH CONTEMPORARY POETS, interviews of William Stafford, Mary Oliver, John Montague, Charles Simic, Seamus Heaney, Donald Hall, Maxine Kumin, Carolyn Forche, Martin Espada, Marge Piercy, Rita Dove, Bei Dao, edited by Steven Ratiner

THE OTHER BLUEBOOK: ON THE HIGH SEAS OF DISCOVERY, novel by Quill Berenkoff "As told to Reme Grefalda"

JUST ONE LOOK, novel by Harlan Coben (it's very kewl how the author incorporated poems by a child-relative -- daughter? -- into the character of a tween in the novel)

PROMISE ME, novel by Harlan Coben

DEAL BREAKER, novel by Harlan Coben

FADE AWAY, novel by Harlan Coben

THE LAST BRIDGE, novel by Teri Coyne

SIX, novel by Rick Mofina


WINES
2007 Salmon Creek pinot noir
2007 Tra Vigne cabernet
1995 Togni Cabernet
2004 Saxum "Bone Rock" James Berry Vineyard Paso Robles
2008 Frei Brothers Reserve Dry Creek zinfandel (lovingly served at the Flamenco Poetry reading--thank you Edwin!)
2006 Long Meadow "house red" cabernet blend
2004 3 Rings Shiraz Barossa Valley