MOI SON HAS 60,000 GIRLFRIENDS

and OMG but they do buzz around!

Okay, it's not what you think. It's that Michael and the hubby picked up the first beehive that we're implanting on the mountain--here they are in matching beesuits. They had to wear them inside the car because 60,000 bees were buzzing around them for the hour-and-a-half car ride back from the beekeeper/seller's abode!



One of the more fascinating facts we're learning is how the bee pros call the bees "the girls" (or at least ours did) because most of the bees in the hive are female except for 200 males who are used simply for their, uh, ... maleness (click on this link to learn more). Here is Michael near our inaugural hive; he helped paint them and of course the colors are Colombian (we are global here at Galatea!):



Anyway, I hope to include honey in future Galatea harvests! Until then, here's my latest Recently Relished W(h)ine List:

SPRING HARVEST:
1 stalk of "miner's weed"
100 stalks of green onion
39 strawberries
2 artichokes
2 cherries (sigh)
1 zucchini (this is the $750-per variety...more sighs)


PUBLICATIONS
HAD SLAVES, poems by Catherine Sasanov (Outstanding! Not only has my highest recommendation but my deepest Respect!)

JUVENILIA, poems by Ken Chen (Far far above the typical poet's first book. Admirably -- and effectively -- ambitious. Sophisticated. Will make you fall in love)

THE WORLD IN A MINUTE, poems by Gary Lenhart (the authenticity is impressively due to the seamlessness between the social and the personal)

PRAYING TO THE BLACK CAT, poems by Henry Israeli (there's a poem in there, "Creation Myth Number One", that has one of the most powerful beginnings I can remember reading in a poem...)

LUMINOUS FLUX, poems by Lynn Behrendt (wonderfully-designed chap and poem possesses wonderful musicality)

PATZCUARO, poems by Joanne Kyger

WITT, poems by Patti Smith

QUINTETS, poems by Iliassa Sequin

TELESCOPE, poems by Sandy Florian

~ V = >, poems by Tom Jenks

NOTES ON CONCEPTUALISMS by Vanessa Place and Robert Fitterman

BLACK SPRING: THE LAWRENCE ISSUE (Winter 2005), literary journal featuring David Baptiste-Chirot, Lee Chapman, Stephen Ellis, Robert Grenier, Hawkman, Kenneth Irby, Maryrose Larkin, Jonathan Mayhew, Jim McCrary, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, John Moritz, Susan Smith Nash, Monica Peck, Judith Roitman, Dale Smith, Steve Tills

THE BOY WHO HARNESSED THE WIND, memoir by William Kamkwamba (with Bryan Mealer)

COLORS OF THE MOUNTAIN, memoir by Da Chen

CAUGHT, novel by Harlan Coben

LONG AFTER MIDNIGHT, novel by Iris Johansen

NO ONE TO TRUST, novel by Iris Johansen

MY SISTER'S KEEPER, novel by Jodi Picoult

STRIP SEARCH, novel by William Bernhardt

KINDRED IN DEATH, novel by J.D. Robb

REMEMBER WHEN, novel by J.D. Robb and Nora Roberts


WINES
2005 Saxum "Broken Stones" Paso Robles
2007 Philip Togni Cabernet
Tra Vigne house chardonnay
2007 Mazzoni Toscana
2009 Dutch Henry sauvignon blanc
2009 Dutch Henry rose
2001 Clerico Ginestra
2001 Brunello do Montalcino
1995 Barca Vehla
1997 Mantus Alpha
1995 JJ Prum Wehlenuhr Sonnenuhr Spatlese Scheurebe Trockenbeerenauslese
2000 Koacher Zwischen den See
2003 Jones Family Cabernet NV
2002 Altagrazzia Araujo

A NICE MEMORY

Whilst cleaning up my studio, stumbled across this--how nice!



Synchronicity--just an hour or so ago, the hubby was quoting John Lennon: "Life is what happens while you're waiting for something to happen."

THANK YOU, GRADY HARP

Of course I like seeing how people respond to my poems...and it's always special when that person(s) is someone you don't know.

Well, there's this Amazon reviewer Grady Harp who, I believe, has written 4,579 reviews for Amazon, garnering him a "New Reviewer Rank" of 25 and a "Classic Reviewer Rank" of 3. Sounds good to me! His reviews also have received, to date, a Helpful Vote 63,305 times out of 71,456 comments. All impressive.

Which is why I'm impressed (and grateful) two of my poetry books have received his attention -- to wit, he sez

About THE THORN ROSARY
For this reader the most powerful section in this very rich book is the section titled 'The Blind Chatelaine's Keys: Her Biography Through Your Poetics' in which Tabios places on apposing pages prose poetry with hay)na)ka, on one page is document like verbiage from government institutions about orphans and on the facing page is some of the most delicately heartfelt emotions from the minds and lives of those orphans been politicized. It is a rare monument. She can be at once as delicate as a breeze or a harsh as a tsunami.
CLICK HERE FOR ENTRE REVIEW


About Nota Bene Eiswein
Tabios is not only a poet, she is also an inventor of variations in style and communication. She invented Hay(na)ku, a poem form she uses in this collection, but at the same time that she unveils all manner of forms of writing her thoughts, her main driver is 'striving for the glint slipping from a dream.'
CLICK HERE FOR ENTIRE REVIEW

It's so nice to be criticized by people with great taste. Grin. Here's a poem for Mr. Harp gleaned from his reviews:

Glint From Demos Oneiroi

I dream of
being as
delicate

as a tsunami
and harsh
as

a breeze...

+

AAWW, IT'S KEN CHEN!

Leaving New York City over ten years ago also meant de facto severing my ties with the marvelous Asian American Writers Workshop. Due simply to lack of proximity, I haven't done much with AAWW in the past decade.

Well, that's about to change.

After all, AAWW Director -- and Yale Series of Younger Poets awardee -- Ken Chen was good enough to come all the way to St. Helena to chat and lunch.

So, what'll I be doing with AAWW in the future? I'll tell you in the future! For now, I just want to post a photo of Ken with THE THORN ROSARY!



This is after wine, handmade-at-the-moment-ordered mozzarella cheese over grilled bruschetta with vestri oliio nuovo; some tagliatelle with olive oil poached tuna, tuna tartare, bottarga, crushed chiles and Meyer lemon for Moi; and some rigatoni with guanciale bacon, onions, organic eggs, cracked pepper and parmesan for Ken. Just don't say Moi doesn't know how to feed her guests--well, with the help this time of Tra Vigne!

MOI HEART MOI "BIG, BURLY MEN"

I've been living with all sorts of assorted "Big, Burly Men" for as long as I've lived in la casa--nearly a decade watching various BBMs pass through as I go through one construction phase after another. Well, it happened again!

This morning, as I happened to be in the same room as one of the BBMs turning off some electrical circuit or other, said BBM shyly asked, "So, you write books...?"

Trying to clamp back the volcanic rush of enthusiasm rushing through moi bod as I didn't want to scare him off, I turned to him and very gently replied, "Yes. I write mostly poetry."

BBM nodded, then ventured forth haltingly, "Where do you sell them?"

Hmm, I thought, as I said, "Various places--bookstores, Amazon..." (I stopped at Amazon as that's all one has to say, right, if they really want to find your book.)

BBM continued, "So what is your last name so maybe we can look one up...? My wife loves to read."

Trying to clamp back the second volcanic rush of enthusiasm threatening to bend moi bod, I said--okay, I proclaimed enthusiastically as I couldn't help moiself!--"Oh! If you're interested! I'd be happy to give you some!"

And less than five seconds later, I was back with a small bag containing Footnotes to Algebra and Nota Bene Eiswein for him.

BBM was so happy. He shared, "We were at Barnes and Noble this weekend -- we must have bought eight books!"

I happily riposted, "Well, they probably didn't stock these books so I hope you like them!"

BBM is a master contractor and BBM's wife is a nurse. Love it -- spreading poetry beyond the po-wurld. Love. It.

Not to mention -- for a couple of poetry books, I just bet he's gonna go the extra mile on the construction work around the house. Sometimes, poetry economics does make sense!

Poetry books--it's moi version of cupcakes to encourage construction workers!

"FEROCIOUS FLOWERS"

I think I got that phrase from Andrew Joron who's one of the poets whose books I bought recently. Let us go then, you and I, and prevent the Double-Dip Recession by ... buying poetry books! Yeah!

So here's my latest Bought Poetry List--too paltry but I persevere with the battle to acquire Ferocious Flowers:


ALL THE WHISKEY IN HEAVEN: Selected Poems of Charles Bernstein

DIARY OF A WAVE OUTSIDE THE SEA by Dunya Mikhail (what a great title!)

THE WAR WORKS HARD by Dunya Mikhail

TRANCE ARCHIVES: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Andrew Joron

WOVEN STONE by Simon J. Ortiz

RADHA SAYS by Reetika Vazirani

THE GOD OF INDETERMINACY by Sandra McPherson

WAITING FOR SWEET BETTY by Clarence Major

GORGEOUS CHAOS: NEW & SELECTED POEMS 1965-2001 by Jack Marshall

***

Not at all ferocious is the latest flower-bounty from moi garden. I hope you enjoy their image as much as I do!



Yes, that's the brilliant German artist Sabine Dehnel with her photographed-sculpture "SKIRT" (C-Print mounted on plexiglass) hanging on the kitchen wall.

Yes, that's the brilliant U.S.-American artist Daniel Douke with a superrealist box painting-sculpture hanging on hallway wall.

Yes, that's Achilles in the background having lunch. Where I go, a dog go...!

MOI LOVES TO VIOLATE YOU!

Okay, nothing so species-endangering. Specifically, Zimbabwean writer Emmanuel Sigauke says my "poetry sort of violates your readerly comfort zone." Naughty poems!

But after the naughtiness, I'm always grateful when people I don't know (this lovely dude thinks I'm a "Southern California poet") get to know--and like!--my puw-ems. I don't take that for granted! So, THANK YOU, Emmanuel!

*****

By the way, Emmanuel also says:

So here is the point. There is a niche I have "discovered" in American poetry, the Filipino-American poets. Like most other hyphenated poetry, this poetry seeks to reconcile, sometimes to make sense of, the America space in which it emerges. That, ladies and gentlemen, is a big deal, because such poetry adds a rich core to the total American experience. And I happen to appreciate, to fall into, it.

Love it of course. But I note it, too, for you over there but also in my heart as Anvil Publishing has now made THE THORN ROSARY available in the Philippines--click here for your copy, also available viz the peso!

MICHAEL THE...UN-GREAT!

This post is for those who've felt themselves suffering as I've been insufferable of late boasting about moi son Michael. To wit:

This evening I attended his school's "Spring Concert". As part of Chorus, he participated in what was a performance of a 55-music sheet presentation of Meryl Streep's greatest achievement otherwise known as "Mamma Mia."

Good Gawd -- the boy just sucked.

To the occasional dance step, he was just five million beats behind.

And the singing?

Well. Naturally I videoed the whole dang thing (that's what parents do, right?). Then when we returned home, we played the whole performance over as background music to dinner. He sang along. Let's just say, he's as tone-deaf as the hubby but with a bigger donkey bray.

And the worst of it all is that I had to keep my face deadpan as I complimented his ... effort.

The hand pouring the wine in my glass was heavy-handed tonight. 2005 Saxum "Broken Stones" Paso Robles. Delish. But not enough to sweeten the sour whenever I told Michael that he did just fine.

No wonder I had him jailed:



KIDDING! Sheesh. Just kidding! That photo is from when we took the lovely baritone to visit Alcatraz this summer. Fortunately, he didn't sing for us then--he otherwise would still be there torturing the pigeons and rats!

With apologies to that bumpersticker:

My Dog Sings Better Than My Honor Student

LOVELY REVIEW COPIES AVAILABLE FROM GALATEA RESURRECTS!

I keep receiving lovely poetry books that are available as review copies for Galatea Resurrects! Please do check the review copy list (which is updated frequently), and hopefully you'd be willing to review/engage one book...or more! Click on link for more information. Next review submission deadline is Nov. 1, 2010...and y'all know how I love to make the puppy festive around the holidays!

I've also already got Michael to do his first poetry engagement for GR! But of course I have! He will be presenting a drawing inspired by one of Edgar Allen Poe's poems! I know you can't wait to see!

A MOMENT

What do you know? Finally, abstract lyricism fails -- is felled! by its -- subject. I read my first example of such ... in a book by a master poet. Not happy to see the failure. But it's noteworthy.

Of course, what could be noteworthy is that it's the first time I've noticed said failure...

MICHAEL THE GREAT!

So blessed! This evening, I go to attend a welcome-to-new-families reception at what will be Michael's new school as of 8th grade this Fall. That's right! Michael, after just over a year of being in the U.S., was just accepted into one of Napa Valley's finest schools. Sniffle. He's had such a tough year--new family, new country, new language--and yet despite being woefully behind academically, he got to be a straight-A student in public school and now has been accepted into a much more rigorous academic setting.

It'll continue to be tough on him -- notwithstanding his A-average, he'll need extensive tutoring to catch up to his peers in his new, more academically-challenging school. But he worked hard for this opportunity and it's a blessing and an honor to be able to provide him this opportunity. I mean, when I think back to just his first summer here with us -- when he had to undergo daily math tutorials for three months from Moi who wasn't exactly in her element -- I'm just amazed he didn't do what most kids would have done in his shoes: fling up his hands, declare a strike from books, and demand to go skateboarding!

Here he is just a couple of months into being part of our family, with Mickey Mouse and a Disney hat and of course the dogs he nicknamed at the beginning "Puppy Monsters" because they are so big:



An institutional upbringing typically causes the kids to lag in development, and we'd been counseled it'd take at least a couple of years for Michael to catch up with his "peers" (he wasn't a real 13-year-old when we adopted him, which is why he could still have an affinity with a stuffed animal like Mickey). Well, it took less time than 2 years for him to catch up and even surpass his peers in terms of school. And am so delighted that he's also managed to grow psychologically as well physically--here he is recently with equally-proud Dad:



Can you compare the two shots and see just how much he's filled out and grown in the past year? If you click on the photos and compare his faces, you'll see how noticeably younger he was in the first photo. I remember that sweatshirt he's wearing--I got it for him in Bogota and, at the time, his sleeves were nearly a foot beyond the tip of his fingers. Now, it fits!

It's such a delight to see a human being blossom. Such. A. Blessing!

WORDS THAT KILL

Last month's Babaylan Conference was so inspiring for Mom that since that weekend, she'd been writing memoir-ish stories. In a matter of weeks, she's written enough for a book! And it'll actually be a useful memoir for others outside the family since much of the vignettes have to do with life during World War II, and many of Mom's peers have died or are dying (Mom is 80 years old). I actually already have a publisher for her first short story...

Well, this morning, the household got awakened by pain-wracked screams from Mom's bedroom. It was so bad the dogs started whining from fear. Michael and I ran to Mom's room, where she was writhing (I first typed, writing) in her bed and pleading for someone to start moving/massaging her legs. We did so....to make a long story short, she's fine now but her edema had spread from her ankles up to just beneath her knees. Why?

Because she'd been hunched over for weeks over the computer, in a non-ergonomic chair...and had forgoed much of her usual exercise to concentrate on just writing out her memories. She was the proverbial dam that broke and for weeks she spent much of her time writing writing writing!

The process could have killed her. At the moment, she's been ordered to return to her exercise regimen (I ordered that quite firmly, even as I've ignored mine) and not to work on the computer again for a while, and then only for limited times. It's okay--by now, she's written enough for what I foresee will be her first book.

This writing bidness can be quite painful on many levels. It's a pain that has killed and will kill many authors. What a life.

And how's this for a postscript--Mom was saying a week or so ago that if her stories began to be published, she wanted to be published under her maiden name. Of course I asked, "Why?"

She said, "I want to avoid the last name 'Tabios'. Because I don't want to write or be published under your shadow."

Geez-us. So first, Mom is late to the news that one can be a "famous poet" (not that I consider myself such, btw) and still be unknown.

But more significantly, there's something ... odd ... isn't there? about the notion of a parent not wanting to be overshadowed by a child? There's a lot to unpack here... but I don't know that I want to begin.

What a life.

And the power of words? It can be quite murderous...

*****

UPDATE: Not death, but a birth HERE: Mom's First and Forthcoming Book!

IF MOI WERE A BARBIE

The second thing I bought shortly after I transitioned from finance to poetry was a Barbie doll to stand in for me. I bought said Barbie because the first thing I purchased was actually doll furniture -- and it happened to be from the Barbie universe -- of a desk with a computer and printer. I ended up creating this whole tableau by my computer where I began to spend most of my time (just as a visual reminder to keep plugging along on the writing), and it's still up by my computer today in the studio I am reclaiming. Anyway, here she is as Moi-Barbie (and don't get on me about her messy fishtank; you should see moi desk!):



and this is her latest “Relished W(h)ine List)”:

SPRING HARVEST:
1 stalk of "miner's weed"
100 stalks of green onion
39 strawberries
2 artichokes (so far, am being consistent as a city slicker gardener by growing these $500-per variety...)


PUBLICATIONS
BENDING THE MIND AROUND THE DREAM'S BLOWN FUSE, poems by Timothy Liu (simply: Magnificent!)

SELECTIONS FROM ENAMEL SKY by Jose Antonio Ramos Sucre, poems Translated by Guillermo Parra (just fabulous!!!)

THE TREES AROUND, poems by Chris Tonelli (marvelous nuances--they seduce with their subtlety)

OCCULTATIONS, poems by David Wolach (powerful and moving)

EL CUERVO 7 otros poemas, Edicion bilingue CONMEMORATIVA DEL BICENTENARIO DEL NATALICIO DE Edgar Allen Poe, Traduccion de Helbardot, con ilustraciones de Gustavo Abascal

THE WAR WORKS HARD, poems by Dunya Mikhail (some of the most compelling “war poems” or political poems I’ve read from contemporary poets)

ALMOST DOROTHY, poems by Neil de la Flor

AT THE END OF THE DAY: SELECTED POEMS AND AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Philip Lopate

THE MORNING NEWS IS EXCITING, poems by Don Mee Choi

100 NOTES ON VIOLENCE, poems by Julie Carr (often haunting--evokes a movie I once saw--“The Secret Lives of Angels,” I think that was the title…)

A MUSICS, poem by Carrie Hunter (wonderful wander-full wanting)

TIME OF SKY CASTLES IN THE AIR, poems by Ayane Kawata, Trans. by Sawako Nakayasu

DESTRUCTION MYTH, poems by Mathias Svalina (Svalina is offering among the most stick-to-Memory reads in my deliberately-random poetry readings)

CREATION MYTHS, poems by Mathias Svalina (ditto)

UNION, poems by Ish Klein

HOLD TIGHT: THE TRUCK DARLING POEMS by Jeni Olin

THESE INDICIUM TALES, poems by Lance Phillips

ROCK VEIN SKY, poems by Charlotte Mandel

SONG OF A LIVING ROOM, poems by Brigitte Byrd

AD FINITUM, poems by P. Inman

MY NEW JOB, poems by Catherine Wagner

THE ORPHAN & ITS RELATIONS, poems by Elizabeth Robinson

ARCA: Revista De Literatura Y Filosofia, literary journal out of Mexico, Ed.Edgar Omar Aviles (mi Espanol es muy malo, pero I tried...)

HOMESTEADING ADVENTURES: A GUIDE FOR DOERS AND DREAMERS by Sue Robishaw

TALES FROM A DOC CATCHER, memoir by Lisa Duffy-Korpics

CALIFORNIA FOCUS ON LIFE SCIENCE, middle school textbook by Michael J. Padilla, Loannis Miaoulis and Martha Cyr

THE UGLY DUCKLING, novel by Iris Johansen

DARK EYE, novel by William Bernhardt

HAVEN, novel by John R. Maxim


WINES
2003 Rauzan Despagne
2005 Greenbank sangiovese
2007 Toulouse pinot noir
2007 Napa Cellars zinfandel
2005 Donhoff Niederhauser Hermannshokle Riesling Auslese
1959 Castillo Ygay Rioja Gean Reserva Especial
2006 Castello Di Monastero chianti Classico Toscana
2006 Allegeini Palazzo Della Torte Veneto
2007 Beringer Cabernet
2005 Cotes du Rhone
2000 Pindar Mythology
2005 Ch Au Grand Paris
2007 Sanford Chardonnay
1997 RBJ Theologicum
2005 Ch. La Bienfaisance St. Emilion (first sip of a 2005 Bordeaux since I, uh, visited Bordeaux. Fabulous--basically, buy any 2005 Bordeaux you can get, even the lesser expensive ones, as this vintage is generally superb)
Lucid Absinthe Superieure

Then, for some reason, the hubby wanted me to blog that he also just drank the 2002 Raveneau Buttreaux (sic), 1975 Vega and 1978 Monfortino. Said hubby said, "They were all real world 98-99 points." All fine and good--but I don't know why I care if I wasn't party to those bottles being emptied....though, of course, Toi don't feel the same way about reading my relished wine list, yah...?

BUT BACK TO SAN FRANCISCO...

But San Francisco was busy, too, while I was in NYC! So thanks to Jai Arun Ravine for covering my SPT reading with Susan Gevirtz over at the Kelsey Street Press Blog. Click on excerpt below for whole coverage:

The orphanage becomes a constellation of disposable friendliness and second-hand toys, of surface presentations and meaningless gestures, where only a certain few have the power to connect the dots [“Dear Government Agency In Charge Of Children...”]. The form of Eileen’s “haybun,” a pairing of prose poem with hay(na)ku, becomes a vehicle that transports emotion and compresses it into compact fists [“...wind smolders song...silk sunders wind...”].

X POETICS also provides both coverage and a poetics essay by Moi over HERE, complete with an illustration by Michael--I'm shameless and insufferable when it comes to giving my son coverage!.

Okay, speaking of Jai, be sure to check out the KUNDIMAN WEST BERKELEY READING where, among other things, a raffle will contain copies of THE THORN ROSARY. I hope you'll go out to support Kundiman, a lovely cause:

KUNDIMAN WEST

invites you to

LOVE & LIBERATION!
KUNDIMAN READING & CHAPBOOK RELEASE PARTY
Celebrating Asian American Poetry!

Featuring:
SUMMI KAIPA and INDIVISIBLE: An Anthology of Contemporary South Asian
American Poetry
JAI ARUN RAVINE and IS THIS JANUARY
MARGARET RHEE
YAEL VILLAFRANCA
TIMOTHY YU

SATURDAY, MAY 29
8:00 – 10:00 PM
UC BERKELEY CAMPUS
BARBARA CHRISTIAN ROOM, 554 BARROWS HALL, 5TH FLOOR

$3 – 10 suggested donation — to benefit Kundiman (no one turned away for lack of funds).

+ SPICY BOOK RAFFLE!
Win a copy of “Here is a Pen: An Anthology of West Coast Kundiman Poets,” Joseph O. Legaspi’s “Imago” or Eileen Tabios’ “The Thorn Rosary”!

NEW YORK -- WHERE I BECAME A BLONDE

‘Twas a lovely trip to New York City. Thank you to all who attended the Marsh Hawk Press book launch. I didn’t know most of the people at the launch (which is great—was C.K. Williams really there? I’m such a fan of his long lines! ). Delight to meet Jack Kimball, Tim Peterson and Neil de la Flor in person for the first time. And I had a brief but most enjoyable chat with fellow reader Phillip Lopate about a novella he once wrote (he's prolific!) that entailed research in the Filipino movie industry—I told him that it actually rivals Bollywood. Oh, and Claudia Carlson was there doing sketches of poets—this is actually a sketch she did of me and Phillip; Claudia has a clever idea: she does the sketches and then asks the poets to autograph them—I think the results in part will be featured in a future online exhibition at the Marsh Hawk Press website’s gallery:



Here’s an earlier sketch Claudia did of David Lehman, Terrance Hayes and someone I can’t identify:


And it’s lovely always to see the artists indeed!

Last but not least, thanks to my hosts Barbara and Sandy McIntosh who took care of Moi whilst I was there. They so graciously picked me up from JFK as soon as I landed and brought me home to an incredible home-cooked meal—it’s the best corn beef I’d ever tasted. Tom Fink was there, too, to partake of Sandy’s culinary skills (Sandy’s not only a poet but a stellar chef!) Here’s Tom before Sandy’s desert: key lime pie!



Unfortunately, (sigh)I was led to update my absinthe imbibing. The last time I was at the McIntosh household, Sandy served a Bulgarian version that stripped the paint off my car, and my car was 3,000 miles away in California. But I'm so pleased that, this trip, they served perhaps the most yummy absinthe I've tasted -- this would be the Lucid Absinthe Superieure brand. So, poets, if you have to imbibe, I recommend this one from France.

So, what happens when poets imbibe absinthe? This ain't Vegas--it's the Chatty One's Blog! Now, Tom Fink didn’t imbibe but when I tipple that absinthe is I turn blonde. Here's the result:


Actually, I mostly post it because none of us had realized in all the years we’d known each other that I and Barbara bear a distinct resemblance to each other—I apparently look exactly like Barbara’s older sister! Whoo-ye news-bearing absinthe.

On that note, thanks Manhattan. You're one big pow-em toiself!

"SHE ATE HIS TESTICLES BETWEEN QUAFFS OF SWEET JEREZ"

Nice headline, yah? I wrote that in a poem "No Title Required"....which is absolutely beautified and beatified in this video by someone (I can't tell the name but if that's him speaking he's got a gawgeous voice) who apparently did it for a class in Skyline College:



I love it -- and THANK YOU TO WHOEVER.

And if you want to meet Moi-who-inspires and you are in New York City this Thursday, please come by the following and let me have you "quaff some sweet jerez"--I promise that if you do, we'll have a good time without me having to "eat your testicles":

MARSH HAWK PRESS SPRING BOOK LAUNCH!

You are all cordially invited to:

Spring Book Launch Party
May 13th, 2010
7:00 PM — 9:00 PM

Celebrating New Titles by Phillip Lopate, Eileen R. Tabios, Sandy McIntosh and Neil de la Flor

Ceres Gallery
547 West 27th, St Suite 201, New York, NY 10001
Phone and fax: 212-947-6100

Wonderful wine and food will be available!

FOR MORE INFORMATION, including directions, please go to the Marsh Hawk Press website HERE.

*****

Actually, the video above reminds me of another text-dance done on another poem, "The Secret Life of an Angel" (which in turn had been inspired by Jose Garcia Villa's poem, "Girl Singing"). This was created by Ernesto Priego--muchas gracias!




Off to New York soon and I hope to see you there!

SMALL PRESS TRAFFICS WITH BIG HEARTS

Because I believe in gratitude, I want to post that last Friday's SPT reading was special for so many reasons besides being able to share Michael's first English-language poem. Like my co-reader Susan Gevirtz who read in part from her new book which I am now enjoying: Aerodrome Orion & Starry Messenger (Kelsey).

--Rebeka who I thought was in Mexico but is in the Bay Area for now and stopped by with, among other things, Spanish and bilingual Spanish-English books for me and Michael to enjoy! Fabulous y gracias. (Rebeka is helping on that bilingual edition of The First Hay(na)ku Anthology which would be lovely as the English first run is out of print.)

--meeting such lovely SPT staff and volunteers, including the gracious Robin Tremblay-McGaw

--the indefatigable Sean Labrador y Manzano who, arriving late but in time for my reading, had to be escorted by security back to the auditorium where the reading was taking place (the security was confused as most of the attention at CCAC that night was on the end-of-year art exhibits by the students). So did the cops stay for poetry...?

--and last but not least, hearing CA Conrad's introduction of Moi, to wit I replicate below:

In her poem "Purity" Eileen Tabios writes, "After the fall of Miletus, the poet Phrynichos staged a drama about it. But the play's performance was forbidden by Athenians who fined him 'for reminding them of afflictions which affected them intimately.' I consider my search for unrelenting intimacy—a search I conduct despite my heart's cocoon of encaustic. I consider how a grid is supposed to eliminate gesture from paint. Although paint, finally, must return to its nature and flow like a menstruation—ooze with a viscous intensity unmitigated by geometry." In the current democratic empire of the United States of America, it is forbidden to be a foreigner of color, without papers, in Arizona, especially if you LOOK Mexican. OF COURSE, if you LOOK British you can destroy one of the most fragile animal wildlife refuges in the world with tens of thousands of gallons of crude oil and no one's going to arrest you. You'll be scolded. You'll be chastised, you may even be called names, but you can still fly to Phoenix if you're British and have lunch, take a stroll, enjoy the lovely day, completely unmolested by police. No holding cell for YOU. No, it's joyous.

I like this intro--there's nothing random at all about it. It gleaned my Babaylan Poetics.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

There is no better present I could have gotten than this drawing from Michael! It's apparently some quasi-Terminator type-of-character, except that this Peep hearts Mama Moi's "book"!



It's a nifty bonus that the "book" he collaged onto the drawing is my Hay(na)ku for Haiti booklet! Here's the hubby and Michael at our celebration last night at Farmstead (highly recommended restaurant in wine country)--Oh Michael pretending to be bored over the whole thang:



So Happy! Or as Aileen and Paul emailed along as a wish (and thank you!):

IT'S REALLY MICHAEL'S DAY!

One of the many pleasures from last night's SPT poetry reading was inflicting--ahem, I mean, sharing--Michael's first English language poem, "Tornados". But then, after the reading when Michael and the hubby came by to pick me up, guess what happened!

I was able to introduce Michael to Norma Cole who then proceeded to compliment Michael on his first poem. Talk about memory-making! How many 14-year-olds can say they they wrote a poem at 14, and then had it praised by Norma Cole! Woot!

And Michael deserves all the accolades. Because we are celebrating Mother's Day early by combining it with the hubby's birthday celebration tonight, given that said hubby has to leave tomorrow on a business trip. So, this morning, Michael came down with his gloriously-designed outfit:



And of course he didn't forget his Dad's birthday. When you turn him around, you'll see what the back of his t-shirt proclaims, and a happy father with Achilles inserting his mug into the happy action:



Then, he took a second photo with my father's photo because my husband and my father share the same birthday. Do you see Abuelita smiling in the background?



Michael is such a pleasure.

Yes folks Google Moi--OLDER CHILD ADOPTION WORKS!

DEAR FACEBOOK FRIENDS

I am a hold-out -- I'm not on Facebook. But there've been multiple conversations apparently to or about Moi. Just be aware I'm ... unaware. You can always email luddite Moi at GalateaTen AT AOL DOT COM.

BEYOND ONE'S SELF

into a larger Self. I'll be HERE TONIGHT. And some notes for tonight are HERE.

GALATEA RESURRECTS FOR THE 14TH TIME

because Kapwa is Shared Life. Just like kitty Artemis and dawgie Achilles sharing their life together



Please go check out the new issue of Galatea Resurrects which was beget in the root of Kapwa. For convenience, the Table of Contents is copied below. You certainly should check it out for Michael's FIRST English-language poem! It's on tornados!!

Galatea Resurrects #14: Table of Contents

May 5, 2010

[N.B. You can click on highlighted names or titles to go directly to the referenced article.]

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
By Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
Crag Hill reviews SHOULDER SEASON by Ange Mlinko

Steven Fama reviews MUCH LIKE YOU SHARK by Logan Ryan Smith

Patrick James Dunagan reviews FROM THE CANYON OUTWARD by Neeli Cherkovski; THE PLEROMA by Vincent Ferrini; THIRSTING FOR PEACE IN A RAGING CENTURY: SELECTED POEMS 1961-1985 (NEW & REVISED EDITION) by Edward Sanders; LET’S NOT KEEP FIGHTING THE TROJAN WAR: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1986-2009 by Edward Sanders; BODY CLOCK by Eleni Sikelianos; and LEAVES OF GRASS, 1860: THE 150TH ANNIVERSARY FACSIMILE EDITION by Walt Whitman, edited by Jason Stacy

Kristen Orser reviews THE LAST 4 THINGS by Kate Greenstreet

Richard Kostelanetz reviews POESIE DER ENTSCHLEUNIGUNG: EIN LESEBUCH by Robert Lax, Ed. Sigrid Hauff

Jim McCrary reviews MONDO CRAMPO by Juliet Cook; SILVERONDA by Lucy Harvest Clarke; THE CONTORTIONS by Nicole Mauro; GOODNIGHT VOICE by Dana Ward; GUTTER CATHOLIC LOVE SONG by Joseph Wood; and MY DAY AIMLESSLY WALKING VANCOUVER, WASH by James Yeary, illustrated by Nate Orton

John Herbert Cunningham reviews SELECTIONS by André Breton, edited and with an introduction by Mark Polizzotti; MARTINIQUE: SNAKE CHARMER by André Breton, translated by David W. Seaman with introduction by Franklin Rosemont; HYPODERMIC LIGHT: THE POETRY OF PHILIP LAMANTIA AND THE QUESTION OF SURREALISM by Steven Frattali; and TAU by Philip Lamantia / JOURNEY TO THE END by John Hoffman, ed. Garrett Caples

Tom Beckett reviews BHARAT JIVA by kari edwards and NO GENDER (REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF kari edwards), Edited by Julian Brolaski, erica kaufman & E. Tracy Grinnell

Eileen Tabios engages BHARAT JIVA by kari edwards and NO GENDER (REFLECTIONS ON THE LIFE AND WORK OF kari edwards), Edited by Julian Brolaski, erica kaufman & E. Tracy Grinnell

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews NEW EXERCISES by Franck André Jamme, Translated from the French by Charles Borkhuis

Joey Madia reviews GRIEF SUITE by Bobbi Lurie

Thomas Fink reviews GENJI MONOGATARI by Mark Young

Eileen Tabios engages GENJI MONOGATARI by Mark Young

Peg Duthie engages THE FAT SHEEP EVERYONE WANTS by Bern Mulvey

Petra Backonja reviews CATALOGUE OF BURNT TEXT by Timothy David Orme

Delia Tramontina reviews MANHATTEN by Sarah Rosenthal

Eileen Tabios engages NTST: THE COLLECTED PWOERMDS OF GEOF HUTH

John Herbert Cunningham reviews CHARLES BAUDELAIRE by Rosemary Lloyd; THE FLOWERS OF EVIL by Charles Baudelaire, translated by Keith Waldrop; ARTHUR RIMBAUD: COMPLETE WORKS, translated by Paul Schmidt; and THE ILLUMINATIONS by Arthur Rimbaud, translated by Donald Revell

Harry Thorne reviews BOOK MADE OF FOREST by Jared Stanley

Jai Arun Ravine reviews POEMS OF THE BLACK OBJECT by Ronaldo V. Wilson

William Allegrezza reviews AS IF FREE by Burt Kimmelman

Crag Hill engages TAKE IT by Joshua Beckman

Eileen Tabios engages DESTRUCTION MYTH and CREATION MYTHS, both by Mathias Svalina

Peg Duthie engages REFUSING DESPAIR: SELECTED POEMS AND JOURNAL WRITINGS by Teresa Anderson

Meredith Caliman reviews POETRY OF THE LAW: FROM CHAUCER TO THE PRESENT, co-edited by David Kader and Michael Stanford

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews AURA: LAST ESSAYS by Gustaf Sobin

Eileen Tabios engages EASY EDEN by Micah Ballard and Patrick James Dunagan

Emmanuel Sigauke reviews INTWASA POETRY [anthology of 15 Zimbabwean poets] edited by Jane Morris

Derek Coyle reviews NEW SHADOWS by Jon Curley

Eileen Tabios engages INSIDES SHE SWALLOWED by Sasha Pimentel Chacon; EASTER SUNDAY by Barbara Jane Reyes; and SIMON J. ORTIZ; A POETIC LEGACY OF INDIGENOUS CONTINUANCE, co-edited by Susan Berry Brill de Ramirez and Evelina Zuni Lucero

Jeff Harrison engages PRAU by Jean Vengua

Marianne Villanueva reviews THE TRANSLATOR’S DIARY by Jon Pineda

Eileen Tabios engages TIME OF SKY / CASTLES IN THE AIR by Ayane Kawata, Translated by Sawako Nakayasu

Julie T. Ewald reviews TONGUE LIKE A STINGER by Juliet Cook

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews GURLESQUE: THE NEW GRRLY, GROTESQUE, BURLESQUE POETICS co-edited by Lara Glenum and Arielle Greenberg

Eileen Tabios engages NINETEEN HOURS (RADIO EDIT) by Jim Wagner

Crag Hill reviews GREEN CAMMIE by Crysta Casey

Tom Hibbard reviews BLUE MOUNT TO 161 and NIGHTBIRDS, both by Garin Cycholl

Kristina Marie Darling reviews FABULOUS ESSENTIAL by Niina Pollari

Eileen Tabios engages A MUSICS by Carrie Hunter

Julie T. Ewald reviews MAKE BELIEVE by Thom Donovan

Eileen Tabios engages THE OTHER BLUEBOOK: ON THE HIGH SEAS OF DISCOVERY by Reme Grefalda


THE CRITIC WRITES POEMS
William Allegrezza


FOCUS ON POETS
Conversation with THOMAS FINK

LYNN BEHRENDT: An Interview

Featured Poet: ANITA MOHAN


FEATURE ARTICLE
Herman Hesse's Siddhartha: A Fictional Account of the Life of Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha by Nicholas T. Spatafora


FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEW
Wilfredo Pascua Sanchez reviews POEMS SINGKWENTA’Y CINCO by Alfred A. Yuson

Erika Moya reviews SLAVES TO DO THESE THINGS by Amy King


2 ADVERTISEMENTS
Hay(na)ku for Haiti--a Haiti Relief Fundraiser

Tiny Poetry Books Feeding the World...Literally!


BACK COVER
Loud Buzzing...and Snores...

HELLO SAN FRANCISCO!

NEW WORTHWHILE BLOG ALERT, courtesy of Elaine Equi:

JEROME SALA IS BLOGGING!

I just read one of Jerome Sala's blog posts entitled "Poetry, Advertising and Cool"! So I am advertising a way for you to be cool in Poetry, to wit--accept the invite:

You are invited to, this Friday:

SMALL PRESS TRAFFIC

May 7, 2010

Eileen Tabios and Susan Gevirtz

Small Press Traffic
Literary Arts Center at CCA
1111 -- 8th Street
San Francisco, California 94107
smallpresstraffic at gmail
415-551-9278

Susan Gevirtz's recent books include Aerodrome Orion & Starry Messenger (Kelsey Street Press), broadcast, and Without Event: Introductory Notes (forthcoming from eohippus labs). Along with teaching locally at various Bay Area institutions, with Greek poet Siarita Kouka she runs The Paros Symposium, on Paros island, an annual meeting of poets and translators from Greece and the United States.

Eileen R. Tabios' publications include 18 poetry collections, two novels, an art essay collection, a poetry essay/interview anthology, and a short story book. She most recently released THE THORN ROSARY: SELECTED PROSE POEMS & NEW (1998-2010), selected with an introduction by Thomas Fink and an afterword by Joi Barrios.

NEW SCHOOL OF POETRY: "POOT-RY"!

You know, I keep trying to expository out some of the gems from Moi brilliance -- but all you Peeps want to do is talk about My Fart. Tsk. But check out the link for the latest school of poetry (an old one, really, but naming/theorizing is important, right Leny?): "Poot-ry"!

Speaking of brilliance, Joi Barrios and Santiago Bose. Joi wrote the afterword to THE THORN ROSARY, and said essay has just been reprinted in the new issue of OurOwnVoice. My Mom has frequently said in the past she doesn't understand many of my poems -- Joi Barrios explains it to her HERE (teachers of Filipino studies, Asian American literature, diasporic and multicultural studies, et al might also be interested). As for Santi, I wrote a poem inspired by one of his drawings for an exhibition in Manila -- drawing and poem are now featured HERE.

The lesson here is that if I want to shine, it's best if I let others do the Windex-ing. Fine -- I'll just go off and do some weeding now....and as we note in our family, if one's going to pass gas, best to do it outdoors...

WHY I LOVINGLY ... TEAR UP POETRY BOOKS

Some of you have shuddered at the thought of ... tearing up a poetry book! I, on the other hand, often do so with much enthusiasm!!! Why? Go HERE where the air is perfumed...

And if you go there, you might see a remembrance of the brilliant poet kari edwards...

as well as the conceptual underpinning to a poem-as-bracelet, as in these two featured on my kitchen island where they repose next to a grocery shopping list, photos of beloved kitties Artemis and Scarlet, and flowers from the spring garden...



I'll see you THERE...!