THE CHATELAINE WISHES SHE IS DR. DOOLITTLE

Ever seen a cat with a cast? Does she look unhappy, surly, bored, irritated, or All of the Above?



But have you ever seen a cat's cast with a pasted-on-HEART because, as the surgeons note, "she's such a sweet kitty!"? Apparently, she took the operating table experience in zen stride...



But there's more! Now, my baby Gabriela has spinal arthritis (NOPE. UPDATE: it's a slipped disc, not spinal arthritis). Geeeeez! It can come up, apparently, with big, active dogs and Gabriela certainly enjoys her ball! Tomorrow, she has an appointment with a neuro-surgeon. Sigh...



Well, lookit. Here's the hijo with an animal not costing me a dime! Huz-zah! This was Michael in December is at a nearby stable feeding candy canes to rescued horses:



And another one!



May the animals recover and spend the rest of their lives enjoying Seasons of Cheer!

FOCUS: POET-EDITORS!

Serendipity -- that's truly a hallmark of my favorite poetry projects, including poetry-editing projects. Ekleksographia--that very kewl exercise in "asymmetrical publishing"--had been asking me for a while to guest-edit an issue. I admit to continuously ducking their request because, really, over the past year or so I just felt fresh out of fresh ideas. And it showed. My first two ideas for guest-editing an issue got 3 poets interested. Hah. Then, I thought of an issue devoted to Poet-Editors and in less than a month received enough contributions from 43 POET-EDITORS to put together an issue. Who'da thunk. FORTY-THREE VERY BUSY POET-EDITORS! And it wasn't even my first choice of a theme-idea.

Well, so watch for it. And since I just finished a first draft of my Editor's Introduction, I'ma gonna blog-file it here -- which means you 9 billion Peeps get to benefit as well from the luminosity ever-emanating from this blog. That's right!

POET-EDITOR ISSUE: INTRODUCTION

I've been an editor for as long as I've been a poet, which results partly from the round-about way into which I became a poet. At age 35, I switched "careers" from finance to poetry, which is also to say I never formally studied poetry. What I know about poetry-writing, I mostly gleaned from reading poetry. And editing: at age 35, feeling I was starting anew when I’d already gone through several professions, I was in a hurry to write well (whatever that meant) and one way to do that was asking admired poets how they came to write specific poems. I think it was 1996 when I thought of the idea of finding an admired poem, asking its author for early drafts so I can see how the poem evolved into its "final" form, then interviewing the poet about the process of making that poem.

My first such "poetry-in-progress" article was on Arthur Sze, a last-minute article idea I conceived to fill some pages in the (now-defunct) The Asian Pacific American Journal (APA Journal) where I was volunteering in New York in the late 1990s. Perhaps I'd always had good instincts, though, because the idea came up as a result of our receiving a review copy (it was sent in manuscript form, versus book form) of Archipelago (Copper Canyon Press, 1995). I'd never heard of Arthur Sze, but admired the title poem "Archipelago”—even as I couldn't really articulate then why I loved it so much. So, thinking It never hurts to ask, I telephoned Arthur at his home in New Mexico and, much to my surprise, he agreed to talk to me—and discuss specifically the nuts and bolts of how he came to write "Archipelago." The article itself became "hot" as, almost immediately after my phone call, Arthur began receiving all sorts of national poetry awards which brought attention, not just to him but later to my article.

The article was published in The APA Journal and sparked a widely enthusiastic response. Separate from Arthur's prominence, readers were delighted/astounded/intrigued by its poetry-in-progress approach. In each article, I went through a specific poem and asked questions about its making, from the standard "what inspired the poem" questions to why a line break was chosen here or a word was changed there. Featuring early drafts of the same poem allowed readers to see how the poem evolved as it was written and then edited by its author. After the article on Arthur Sze, I was asked to do more such poetry-in-progress articles. Shortly thereafter, those articles became collected (even as I was rushing to do the last four or so) into my first U.S.-published book, BLACK LIGHTNING: Poetry in Progress (Asian American Writers Workshop / later distributed by Temple University Press, 1998). The book, which received early and needed support through a grant from the Witter Bynner Foundation, came to number 15 poets. While a group of 15 cannot be considered "representative" of Asian American poetry, the group nonetheless represents a variety of aesthetic styles (a deliberate result as I did not want an Asian American poetry project to abide by certain issues in the "poetry world" that often results in aesthetic cliques). BLACK LIGHTNING's poets are Meena Alexander, Indran Amirthanayagam, Mei-Mei Berssenbrugge, Luis Cabalquinto, Marilyn Chin, Sesshu Foster, Jessica Hagedorn, Kimiko Hahn, Garrett Hongo, Li-Young Lee, Tan Lin, Timothy Liu, David Mura, Arthur Sze (who also provides an introductory essay) and John Yau.

BLACK LIGHTNING remains my favorite editing projects, partly because it also reflects what I like about my favorite editing projects—that it came about through serendipity as well as organically from an audience's desire for its concept (rather than that it's a book I needed to pitch to readers); that it is hybrid in form (it's an anthology but I didn't just edit it but also wrote its articles); that it was unique and possibly a first of its type (it's certainly the first ever poetry-in-progress anthology on Asian American poets); and that the entirety of its experience was just replete with positive energy (other worthwhile editing projects will have periods of angst, problems, etc. but I never found this to be the case with BLACK LIGHTNING). But perhaps the reason I most favor BLACK LIGHTNING is that all of the poets (most of whom I’d not met before doing the project) showed me (parts of) their best selves—they were not just generous but very tender with my ignorance as regards poetry. I started the first article when I was barely a year into writing poems and so my inexperience was obvious. But I believe my love was also evident, and to that love, everyone responded carefully and often lovingly.

Since BLACK LIGHTNING, I came to co-edit The APA Journal, edit or co-edit six poetry/literary anthologies, conceptualize three other anthologies that would be edited by other poet-editors, edit two single-poet collections, edit special themed issues for a variety of literary journals, and currently edit what is the most fun poetry review party online, GALATEA RESURRECTS. As publisher of Meritage Press, I’ve also been editing poetry collections and literary/performing arts anthologies since 2001. I wouldn't have continued as an editor if the experience didn't provide so much personal satisfaction even as the results advocated on behalf of literature—and, thus, I come to Ekleksographia's Special Issue Focused on Poet-Editors. I wanted to do this issue because I wanted to know a little bit about the types of minds who would (care to) edit. And I also wanted to do this issue because poets who care to work as editors often do not get the following two words which I now publicly state: THANK YOU.

I asked several admired contemporary poet-editors the question, "What is your favorite editing project?" Then I asked for 1-2 some samples of their works (mostly, though not all, poems). I thought to offer a combination of editing views and the poet-editors' writings so that a reader can see the type of work generated by poet-editors who presumably learn from editing others. Well, as it turns out, in my read anyway, any such relationship is not particularly clear (reflecting the editing process’ occupational hazard of not always manifesting original intention)—but hopefully you'll still enjoy the sample writings. As you can see in the above, I've also answered the same question.

I'm grateful to the 43 poet-editors who've taken the time to respond to my query. I chose to contact experienced poet-editors as well as poets just beginning their editing forays. Their responses show a diverse social/aesthetic/political approach to editing, ranging over Joi Barrios’ historic street theater’-influenced anthology in support of a labor picketline that would become the first book of the "flash publication series" published by the the Alliance of Concerned Teachers in the Philippines; Ivy Alvarez conceptualizing a chap anthology based on David Lynch films; Ana Božičević co-curating the Stain of Poetry reading series in Brooklyn; hearing from Garrett Caples as the newest editor at the renowned City Lights in San Francisco; Elaine Equi’s witty editing of “greeting card” poems addressing such holidays as Easter, Elvis Week, the Veneralia and the Bride of Frankenstein’s Birthday; Crg Hill’s co-editing (with Nikos Vassilakis) the ambitious “The Lastvispo Anthology”, an international compilation of visual poetry; Aileen Ibardaloza's "ploughing" through history by editing bibliographies; Vincent Katz's organization of an exhibition on Black Mountain College; avant-garde writer-composer-visual artist Jukka-Pekka Kervinen’s use of e-technology to facilitate collaborative publishing efforts with other poets; Timothy Liu's meditation on "The Masterpiece"; Joey Madia's editing of the new genre "Euphiction" which marries musical inspiration with the written word; catching Patrick Rosal just as this "aging b-boy" embarks on his first editing project; Guillermo Parra's translations of Venezuelan surrealist poet Juan Sánchez Peláez; Ernesto Priego's memory of his first editing experience involving a horror comics fanzine; Barbara Jane Reyes' affectionate recollections of editing a fledgling literary review in college; Chris Rizzo's educational history of editing broadsides and chaps through Anchorite Press; Mark Young's useful history-by-letters (rather, emails) nuts-and-bolts editing process for the creation of Leads by the late and beloved Rochelle Ratner (and through which I get a belated kiss whose desire I'd not known of until I came to edit this issue); among many--many!--others.

I'd also like to note Burt Kimmelman's very special contribution: a three-part section that offers his loving memory of having edited William Bronk, and how the experience led him to delve deeply into Bronk's correspondences with Charles Olson (Bronk's "(for now) complete correspondence" with Olson is also featured) and Robert Meyer ("a school teacher living in the Bronx whom Bronk had met in his travels, and who proved to be a suitable and intellectually worthy interlocutor for Bronk over the course of many years"). Burt's experience shows just how editing can contribute to the poet's own development in luminous ways. A luminosity akin to the poem after which I titled my first anthology and editing project:

Black Lightning
By Arthur Sze

A blind girl
stares at me,
then types out ten lines
in Braille.

The air has a scent
of sandalwood and
arsenic; a night-blooming cereus
blooms on a dark path.

I look at the
short and long flow
of the lines:
and guess at garlic,
the sun, a silver desert rain,
and palms.

Or is it simply
about hands, a river of light,
the ear of a snail,
or rags?

And, stunned, I feel
the nerves of my hand flashing
in the dark, feel
the world as black
lightning.

MOI HEART DISCOVERING FABULOUS POETS/POEMS

I sometimes check out poetry books from the local library, just to prove there is demand for poetry books. That's how I came to read a poetry collection ANOTHER AMERICA / OTRA AMERICA by Barbara Kingsolver who is more familiar to me as a novelist. Kingsolver's poetry book was one of six poetry books I checked out that day, with the other authors more widely known as poets. Well, all I can say is that Kingsolver's poetry blew away the poems of others who are more lauded as poets. Here is a sample by Barbara Kingsolver--an unexpected relished discovery for, among other things, practicing "social poetry" before 'twas hip enough to be so labeled:

REFUGE
for Juana, raped by immigration officers and deported

Give me your hand,
he will tell you. Reach
across seasons of barbed wire
and desert. Use the last
of your hunger
to reach me. I will
take your hand.
Take it.

First
he will spread its
fingers from palm
to look inside,
see it offers nothing.

Then
with a sharp blade
sever it.

The rest he throws back
to the sea of your
blood brothers.
But he will keep your hand,
clean, preserved in a glass case
under lights:
            Proof
he will say
of the great
desirability
of my country.

And here's moi latest Relished W(h)ine List:

PUBLICATIONS
ANOTHER AMERICA / OTRA AMERICA by Barbara Kingsolver, with translations by Rebeca Cartes

ARCHIPELAGO DUST, poems by Karen Llagas (in manuscript)

POEMS SINGKWENTA'Y CINCO by Alfred Yuson (excellent energy for an old man (wink))

GOD DAMSEL, poems by Reb Livingston (a welcome, and all-too-rare sophistication in its poetic approach)

COOKING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES, poems by Francis Raven (witty and smart)

MONDO CRAMPO, poems by Juliet Cook (nice harmony in concept and design that supports text)

NO CHOICE BUT TO FOLLOW, "Linked poems" by Jean Yamasaki Toyama, Juliet S. Kono, Ann Inoshita and Christy Passion (in manuscript form. A project where the sum is greater than its parts--befitting how these poems were written to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the wonderful Bamboo Ridge! And speaking of poet-discoveries (or at least poets new to me), this Christy Passion's poetics and poems are wonderful!)

HEARTH, poems by Simon Pettet

SILVERONDA, poems by Lucy Harvest Clarke

TOURMALINE, poems by Dorothea Lasky

EITHER SHE WAS, poems by Karin Randolph

HORSE DANCE UNDERWATER, poems by Helena Mesa

THE CONTORTIONS, poems by Nicole Mauro

GOODNIGHT VOICE, poems by Dana Ward

QUANTUM JITTERS, poems by Patricia Carlin

THE DOORS OF THE BODY, poems by Mary Alexandra Agner

NIGHTBIRDS, poems by Garin Cycholl

GIVEN SUGAR, GIVE SUGAR, poems by Jane Hirshfield

SAVED: RESCUED ANIMALS AND THE LIVES THEY TRANSFORM by Karin Winegar with photographs by Judy Olausen

VANISHED, novel by Joseph Finder


WINES
1994 Tinto Pesquera Ribera Del Duero
2002 JP Belle Terroir
Weisinger's of Ashland Mescolare Red Wine Lot 17 (Yummy! Thanks Meredith!)

GO (TO) LULU BEFORE JANUARY ENDS!

Maybe I should have blogged this last weekend when Lulu was running a 20% discount on all orders. But I'll blog this now to say that if you order a poetry book (or any book) from Lulu during month of January, you can get 10% off. Just insert the coupon code

READMORE2010

Recent Lulu releases, that I recommend, include GOD DAMSEL by Reb Livingston. Old Lulu releases that I recommend include this BABY.

And here's latest update to my BOUGHT POETRY LIST:

TRAJE DE BODA by Aileen Ibardaloza (await details of SPECIAL RELEASE OFFER! Forthcoming from Meritage Press)

AUTOPSY TURVY, poems by Thomas Fink & Maya Diablo Mason (await details of SPECIAL RELEASE OFFER! Forthcoming from Meritage Press)

OPEN CLOSED OPEN by Yehuda Amichai

IOWA by Travis Nichols

TEXTURE NOTES by Sawako Nakayasu

NIGHTBIRDS by Garin Cycholl (through Galatea Resurrects' Publisher's Prize)

COOKING WITH ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURES by Francis Raven Galatea Resurrects' Publisher's Prize)

DAYS POEM, VOL. 1 and VOL. 2 by Allen Bramhall (this is one of the most ambitious and successful poetry projects about -- y'all should check it out)

KALI'S BLADE, poems by Michelle Bautista

UNPROTECTED TEXTS: SELECTED POEMS 1978-2007 by Tom Beckett

STAGE PRESENCE: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AMERICAN DANCE & THEATER ARTISTS (featuring, among others, Jessica Hagedorn), Ed. Theo Gonsalvez

POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS, essays by Susan G. Wooldridge

May my recent economic stimulation save a job or two because that's what Poetry also does: saves you!

CORRECTION: KITTY = 2; POETRY BOOKS = 0

Remember when I said Artemis' injury wreaked financial havoc on the poetry world by causing me to drop one book from Meritage Press' financial budget? Well, it looks more like it'll have to be two books. Here are the x-rays of Artemis' leg -- note the joints the surgeons placed around her elbow:


Well, thing is, the cat also has to return weekly to the hospital for about six weeks worth of massage and therapy. So when I calculate the therapy's cost, there go another poetry book evaporating from Meritage Press' future ... hmmm: if someone(s) want to help defray the impact of Artemis' injury, you could always buy all or as many of Meritage Press' fabulous books.

Moronic poetry economics -- to use a cat's injury to market poetry books. No purring in this post -- just sighs.

REVIEW FOR GALATEA & I'LL POST YOUR PET'S VISAGE

The Galatea Familia -- and Artemis in particular -- is very thankful for your Good Wishes as regards Artemis' plight (as I write this, she's under and being operated on by a crack team of surgeons). In particular, good thoughts came from Jim McCrary's cat, Iris....which is a good reason to post Iris' beautiful whiskers here for your enjoyment!



Speacking of McCrary, eight review copies from Galatea Resurrects are winging their way over for his engagement. Won't you also peruse GR's LIST OF REVIEW COPIES and participate in the most fun poetry review party in the internet?! Purrrr-ty please?

And if you review for GR, I will post your pet's picture on moi blog which has 9 billion peeps reading. How can you resist that offer!

Thank you in advance as I know some of you will come through.

KITTY = 1 ; POETRY BOOK = 0

Well, the injured Artemis will be undergoing surgery this Friday to sew back some ripped ligaments to fractured elbow/knee bone, as well as clear out some bone chips. Then she'll have to recuperate for 6-8 weeks with a cast and that most dreaded Medieval torture instrument known to both dogs and cats as: "Elizabethan Collar"!

Ugh. But may the little one soon be haunting la casa again, clearing out those country insects from el interior...:



This all relates to po-biz, of course, since the cat didn't have health insurance. The costs of her surgery, therefore, will be a major sacrifice -- MAJOR SACRIFICE! -- for the poetry world. That is, Meritage Press will have to publish one less book this year. That's the problem with money -- it's fungible (as an aside to Washington politicians, the polis does understand the fungibility of money so cut the crap. Anyhoo...).

Nonetheless, Moi has more than enough poetic love with which to swaddle the entire planet. Despite the kitty-caused setback, Meritage Press is still scheduled to publish four books in 2010: one anthology, two first books, and another poetry collection. I actually think that's a hefty output for a one-and-a-half person press ran by a blind peep.

Moronic poetry economics: so fragile a cat's meow could topple it.

WEARING HEELS, I WAS AN ANIMAL!

When I took flamenco lessons many years ago, I basically was a kalabaw in skirt and heels--yes, not a pretty sight. But in order to write poems about it, I knew I had to physically perform it (to the best of my ability) vs just writing about it. I had to involve my body so: Clomp clomp clomp...sigh.

But, anyway, certain poets really should attempt the flamenco -- it just might loosen 'em up (never mind any damange to witnessing eyes). I just read a poetry collection where moithinks one of the *topics* is passion....but it's as ugly a sight as me doing flamenco to read a would-be-passionate poem and just end up concluding this poet writes like there's a stick up hir ass.

Which is all to say, here's my latest Relished W(h)ine List (if you share moi sense of humor, you can try to guess which poet I'm talking about):

PUBLICATIONS
DESTRUCTION MYTH, poems by Mathias Svalina (Brilliant!!)

TRANSCENDENTAL STUDIES: A TRILOGY, poems by Keith Waldrop

TRACKS, poems by Logan Ryan Smith

PAGEANT, poems by Joanna Fuhrman

HEATHEN, poems by Lesley Wheeler

THE WONDER BREAD YEARS, poems by Susan Terris

DOUBLE-EDGED, poems by Susan Terris

THE SEVEN AGES, poems by Louise Gluck

LIVE MAG!, literary & arts journal, Ed. (not identified but i think is) Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

HALF OF THE SKY: TURNING OPPRESSION INTO OPPORTUNITY FOR WOMEN WORLDWIDE, journalism by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn

ADOPTION HEALING: A PATH TO RECOVERY, psychotherapy by Joe Soll

A FAMILY OF CHOICE: A GAY MAN'S STORY OF INTERNATIONAL ADOPTION, memoir by Paul Hampsch

SOMEBODY'S CHILD: STORIES FROM THE PRIVATE FILES OF AN ADOPTION ATTORNEY by Randi Barrow

THE OTHER BLUE BOOK: ON THE HIGH SEAS OF DISCOVERY, novel by Reme Grefalda

RETRIBUTION, novel by Jilliane Hoffman

LAST WITNESS, novel by Jillliane Hoffman

TRIAL BY FIRE, novel by J.A.Jance

FLESH AND BLOOD, novel by Jonathan Kellerman


WINES
2005 Dutch Henry Merlot Yountville NV
2002 Penfolds Shiraz "Koonunga Hill"
1999 Gaja Sori Tildin

"...AS A WAY OF LIFE"

What intrigues me about the flamenco videos in my prior post are how they present open-ended narratives that inevitably become open-ended poetry due to their subject matter. I think even the order of the videos the way I posted them presents a hidden subtext that might not exist if one were, say, simply to view the third video by itself....

One can't discuss flamenco, of course, without the legendary Carmen Amaya. She didn't dance flamenco; she became flamenco:



No wonder she inspired such homages as:

From NOTA BENE EISWEIN:

Waves
tap out
the Morse Code

intricately
embroidered by
Carmen Amaya’s heels.

*

Carmen was “Gypsy
on four
sides.”

Blood is flamenco
is blood
is.

Carmen’s blood gave
her life
and

it also killed
her. She
possessed

“infantile kidneys,’ unable
to grow
larger

than a baby’s.
Carmen lived
as

long as she
did only
from

sweating so much
when she
danced.

At the end
of each
performance

her costumes were
drenched. You
could

pour sweat out
of her
shoes.

That was how
her body
cleansed

itself: the sweat
from a
dance.

Bailar o morir.
Dancing kept
her

alive. Ocean
mirrors ocean.
Poetry

as a way
of flesh-and-blood
living.

*

Documenting
the last
year of Carmen

reveals
the feral
lines of her

face
swollen with
fluid her infantile

kidneys
could not
eliminate. She sits

at
a rickety
table in a

dusty
neighborhood, like
her childhood slum.

She
taps the
table. One knock,

two.
Sufficient for
announcing the palo.

In
flamenco’s code
of rhythm, Carmen

rapped
the symphony
of a history

bleeding,
remembering all
the secrets her

tribe
kept from
outsiders. The secrets

translated
into rhythms
so bewilderingly beautiful

they
lured you
in like Midas-ed

drops
of nectar.
But you remained

hungry, could never
find your
way

back out again.
All you
wanted

was more burrowing
deep into
deepening

code. All you
wanted was
one

more secret of
the siren
Flamenco!

"THE SINGER AND OTHERS"

A head's up: February 21, Sunday afternoon (about 2 p.m.), I'll be in San Francisco doing a Flamenco Poetry Reading. With flamenco artist-poet Ed Lozada, Sandy McIntosh whose new release hails ERNESTA, IN THE STYLE OF THE FLAMENCO, and Gura Michelle who'll likely do a hybrid flamenco-kali (martial arts) presentation. Probably be flamenco guitar live, too....Hope that intrigues you to pencil it into your calendar -- it won't be a typical poetry reading...

Authenticity in song is the same for flamenco as it is for poetry -- necessarily complicated. Like:



Yeah -- what matters is not the costume, but ...



That sound of a rusty nail in song -- hence, THE SINGER. And NOTA BENE EISWEIN.

You've been alerted...you've been forewarned. February 21.

Uno mas. Why not?

TO ARTEMIS' RECOVERY

When I adopted kitty Artemis from the local wonderful We Care animal shelter, the shelter workers said her name is "Ruth." I took one look at that kitty and inexplicably but absolutely knew she was no Ruth-ie!

We named her "Artemis", and it turned out to befit her nature -- we've woken up many mornings to scores of bug corpses stark against our white windowsills, victims of her nocturnal wanderings...not to mention the many times she's cleared the entire house of country mice -- you do not want to mess with that mouth:



But being quite active had its downfall today. This afternoon, she was negotiating for the Cornish hen, which is to say, she was atop a kitchen counter. Well, after telling her she wasn't getting moi dinner, she jumped off the counter. But on the way down, she ended up trapping a leg against/over/under a kitchen towel rod and broke it. She also may have strained ligaments. As I write this, she's being treated at one of the premier animal hospitals in the country: UC Davis. As I write this, they've finished straightening out her leg to face the correct way (don't ask--let's just say the cat scared the entire household, including 2 German shepherds, with the caterwaul she let loose from her injury)...and a surgeon is about to look into her ligaments.

Needless to say, the kitty was uninsured...sigh. But she's worth it -- Artemis is a great Gift! Have a speedy recovery, Little One. As for that Cornish hen, I lost my appetite and offered it to Abuelita.

PROFITING OFF POEMS...BY CHANGING POEMS?

Small, independent and nonprofit presses have perhaps the most to gain from the eBook revolution..."
--from "The Making of an eBook" By Craig Morgan Teicher

What is the market for poetry ebooks? Well, at the moment, it's constrained by technology. Specifically, when readers enlarge the text on their screens, original line breaks get dropped (OH HO! THE GAZE AFFECTS THE SUBJECT!). When Meritage Press published Michelle Bautista's KALI'S BLADE viz ebook, it looks great on Kindle but crappy on, say, the Iphone screen.

It's the same issue as when poems are published on the web. As people change the size of the reading font, the page adjusts the text. Which leads to an interesting question. As Michelle puts it, "As with any new technology we shall see how it continues to influence writing. Will poets need to use more punctuation to delineate their intended pauses, for example."

I haven't looked at "Twitter poetry" or other such things, but it seems to me that if your Muse is techie-sensitive, the effect of reading screens on poems may be a significant source of future muse-grappling.

Right now, some poetry publishers are just publishing prose or prose poetry until this issue is resolved. And, since everything is about Moi, Moi will also insert herself in here to say that we're currently exploring how to digitize THE THORN ROSARY since, synchronistically, it's a prose poem collection.

By the way, the Kindle edition of KALI'S BLADE is priced at $0.99 (a 94% discount!) because we at Meritage Press are still at the experimental stage on these ebooks....but, if you do have ebook capacity, that makes it one of the all-time bargains out there...so: Go on--whatchoo waiting for?

Fortunately, until I'm able to reap the gazillions from the ebook revolution, Meritage Press is holding its own. To wit:

Yes dears: I continue to make history! I am pleased to announce that I've just estimated my 2009 Poet's Income Statement and 2009 is my second profitable year in a row! This was 2008's results (my first profitable year as a poet); this is 2009's results:

TOTAL REVENUES $2,324.98
TOTAL COSTS $1,708.36
NET PROFIT $616.62

All that suffering for a mere six hundred bucks? Nonetheless, I order Toi to be impressed. I apply for no grants and it took seven years for Meritage Press to break into the black! The key factor? Lowering costs by resorting to short print runs and POD technology.

Having said that, 2009 of course was the year of the Great Recession, and poetry sales plummeted. Here's a comparison of sales figures over the last three years:

2009 REVENUES $2,324.98
2008 REVENUES $9,117.92
2007 REVENUES $7,721.88

But I am profitable! It's the least I should achieve for forgoing the MFA for an MBA in economics and international business.

Finally, on all this poetry economics bidness, congratulations to Garrett Caples whose COMPLICATIONS was Meritage Press' 2009 bestseller. And I haven't even digitized it!! And if you haven't read that book to determine why it's gotten a fabulous following, get up to date and purchase a copy! Let's all keep up with 21st century revolutions, okay?!

HELPING OUT

If you want advice on which organization to use for your Haiti donation, I recommend Doctors Without Borders – Haiti Earthquake Response. Their global scope and effectiveness will deliver the immediate assistance needed in Haiti by providing health care where the local medical infrastructure has been devastated.

***

On another type of helping out, I was quite moved to get my first review for the next issue of Galatea Resurrects. It's a review written by someone I've LONG admired -- I didn't know he had heard of Galatea! Anyway, quite honored to receive words from Richard Kostelanetz.

If Kostelanetz can contribute to GR, you might consider doing so as well! There are new review copies on Galatea's Review Copy List just dying for your engagement!

NOTA BENE: FLAMENCO!!!!

Lolabola just sent me a fabulous FLAMENCO poster that she'd designed and hand silk-screened for a festival a few years ago. Gracias!

And which reminds me to post this from the daughter of a friend -- an adopted girl (I mention said adoption because there are so many treasures out there awaiting adoption) who blew them away at the Spanish Embassy in Washington D.C...



Moi heart Flamenco! And if you do, too, that'd be another reason to check out NOTA BENE EISWEIN!

HIGHLY AMUSED

In response to a query, I am discussing (read: introducing) Ron Silliman with a poet in Manila. First, I correct said poet's assumption: "No, he's not related to Silliman University..."

IDEAL READERS #2

My prior post reminds that Lars Palm apparently once wrote about 25 poems in response to my footnote poems. Five of them are still available HERE. Sadly, the rest of them seem to be lost from a computer crash. Ah well...

...nonetheless, some of my favorite poems are actually lost poems -- so thank you Lars for also being ideal!

IDEAL READERS

I've been blessed recently with the experience of ideal readers. Noting and relishing...

(I notice, because poets don't get a lot of ideal readers. For instance, nowadays, when a poetry book is on some bestseller list, it’s often because its many readers were assigned that book. I have nothing against poets who benefit against having their books assigned for classes—I’ve been lucky to benefit from that practice, too. But readers forced to read a poetry book are just one source of audience. And, of late, it seems like my poet’s “ideal readers” are coming from somewhere else. A somewhere else where the reading is not labor or homework but a mutual gift-making.)

One ideal reader who made herself recently known to me is someone I don’t know, but who sent me some questions for an interview. I am finding it is requiring more time than I usually give to interviewers to answer this person’s questions—precisely because her questions relate to her read of specific poems (rather than abstractions re., say, poetics). This ex-stranger is now very precious to me: an ideal reader because her questions show how she deeply engaged with my poems.

Another ideal reader is someone I’ve met before but whose poetry pleasantly surprised me. Aileen Ibardaloza sent me a body of work as a manuscript entitled traje de boda. I read it, and immediately felt compelled to (offer to) publish it. And so her traje de boda will be forthcoming later this year from Meritage Press. But, right now, I am thinking of Aileen as an “ideal reader” because she took me up on an offer I made in my book I TAKE THEE, ENGLISH… In this Brick-of-A-Book, I had included footnote poems designed to appear on their pages as footnotes. This means the majority of space on the pages are blank, a design-decision for encouraging a reader to be the one to write a text which presumably would relate to (my) footnote on the bottom of the page.

While I heard many favorable comments about my footnote poems -- my favorite being how the late Rochelle Rattner had used the section for a workshop at a senior citizens' home -- I've not actually seen many examples of people responding to my footnote poems. Well, here is one example--here's an excerpt from Aileen’s poem “Taffetta”; the footnote below was one I wrote and from which she wrote:

The Book of Vows4


Delicate and familiar is
the secret language

of hands. There is, for
instance, the piña, (un)spoken

by the weavers of
Aklan. Nu shu,

by the wives of ancient
China. Chope,

by the grandmothers
of Punjab. Nakis,

by the women of Anatolia.
Soft, wispy, red and endless,

is the sum of their symbols.
The quivered touch, stitch

by stitch, meant, simply,
this: I live, unimagined.

_____
4. In exchange for electricity, they accepted a colonizer’s alphabet.

There’s a lot of blather out there regarding poetry—I contribute to said blather because I know Poetry can survive our numerous inanities. But it bears repeating sometimes: none matters without the poem. If the poem is written; if the poem is read. What is written. What is read.

MERITAGE PRESS HOLIDAY POETRY CONTEST WINNER: MICHELLE A. PENALOZA

Meritage Press is delighted to announce the winner of the 2009 Meritage Press Holiday Poetry Contest for Filipino Poets, judged this year by Aileen Ibardaloza.

“Butiki” by Michelle A. Penaloza

"Butiki" may be viewed at http://meritagepress.com/babaylan/?p=25

ABOUT THE WINNING POET: Michelle Peñaloza graduated from Vanderbilt University and is currently pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing at the University of Oregon. She is a carnivore and a sometimes omnivore. Her work has been published in Kartika Review.

Meritage Press congratulates Michelle, while thanking all of the poets who sent in entries. This year's contest was among the toughest to judge in the history of this contest, with many submitted poems deserving of praise. It is wonderful to see so many wonderful Filipino poets at work.

All Best,

Eileen Tabios
Publisher, Meritage Press

*****
*****
FIRST PLACE WINNERS of the MERITAGE PRESS HOLIDAY POETRY CONTESTS:

2009: Michelle A. Penaloza (Judge: Aileen Ibardaloza)
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)

GROWING A READER...INSTEAD OF A LEMON

Yes, I am quite delighted that I am growing a Reader--here's Achilles guarding Michael who now reads himself to sleep every night, with No. 2 in Philip Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy:


And the reason I'm delighted at growing a Reader is because I can't seem to grow a garden without embarrassing moiself. Here is my latest Relished W(h)ine List with its Final Winter Garden Tally-- I live in one of the most fertile spots on earth but you wouldn't know it by what fruits and vegetables I eke out:

WINTER GARDEN (Final)
4 blood oranges (Uh...I don't know where they came from...)
30 Meyer lemons (Typical Moi the Gardener -- got two lemon trees and the total harvest for the season is a mere 30 lemons. As a gardener, I am a lemon...well, except for growing a reader, but of course!)
88 persimmons
46 green figs & 4 purple figs (they should have been out of season now but Mom managed to eke 'em out)
18 red, yellow and green peppers
141 tomatoes (Mom kept eking them out...)


PUBLICATIONS
AUTOPSY TURVY, poems by Thomas Fink & Maya Diablo Mason

THE PRESENT DAY, poems by Ernesto Priego (in manuscript)

THE BLACK AUTOMATON, poems by Douglas Kearney (loved this wonderful wonderful collection with its fabulous energy!)

(SOME OF THE) BEST LESBIAN POETRY by Amanda Laughtland

LOVE POEMS by Karl Marx (this publication of juvenalia is a bit of a capitalist gesture...but I did enjoy reading it!)

REMAINDERS FOR THE EARTH: POEMS by James Stotts

AS IF FREE, poems by Burt Kimmelman

BOOK MADE OF FOREST, poems by Jared Stanley

IRRATIONAL DUDE, collaborative poetry by Nico Vassilakis & Robert Mittenthal

THE SWEETNESS OF HERBERT, poems by Stuart Krimko

SELF-PORTRAIT WITH CRAYON by Allison Benis White

MY NEW JOB, poems by Catherine Wagner

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

HOUSE ORGAN, No. 69, literary journal edited by Kenneth Warren

THE ENIGMATIST, Dec. 2009, poetry journal edited by Mike & Joyce Gullickson

"WISHING YOU A GREEN CHRISTMAS" holiday chap featuring "Wind Farm" by Mark Lamoreaux

POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS, essays by Susan G. Wooldridge

MIDNIGHT ON THE LINE: THE SECRET LIFE OF THE U.S.-MEXICO BORDER, investigative journalism by Tim Gaynor

LIVING WITH WINE by Samantha Nester with Alice Feiring and photos by Andrew French

THE CHEATER, novel by Nancy Taylor Rosenberg

ICE, novel by Linda Howard

A CHRISTMAS SECRET, novel by Anne Perry


WINES
2005 Dutch Henry Merlot Yountville NV
2005 Dutch Henry "Argos"
2007 Acacia pinot noir
2005 JJ Prum Wehlenur Sonnenuhr Spatlese
2003 Rauzan Despagne
2006 Ojai syrah
2004 Clare Luce Abbey Cabernet
1996 Etienne Sauzet Montrachet
2005 William Downie pinot noir Yarra Valley
2008 Trefethen Dry Riesling
2007 Trefethen Late Harvest Riesling
2007 Trefethen Double T Red Wine
2005 Trefethen cabernet sauvignon
2007 Trefethen Harmony chardonnay
Schramsberg sparkling wine
Vega Sicilia Unico Reserva Especial Lot 019/94

2010 FIRSTS

include

First Poem Read:
first page of "The Present Day" by Ernesto Priego


First Poetry Collection Read:
(SOME OF THE) BEST LESBIAN POETRY by Amanda Laughtland (Teeny Tiny)


First Poetry Book (and Book!) Bought:
OPEN CLOSED OPEN by Yehuda Amichai


First Prose-on-Poetry Book Bought (and Read):
POEMCRAZY: FREEING YOUR LIFE WITH WORDS by Susan G. Wooldridge


First Prose on Poetry Written
"Afterward: An Afterword" as Afterword for a poet's forthcoming collection (I don't mention which poet/book as I don't know if the news is public)


First Poem-ic Experience Viz a Movie:
INVICTUS: Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) recites "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley. How it resonates.


First Poetry Editing Project:
An issue on Poet-Editors for and forthcoming from Ekleksographia


As a Poetry Publisher (viz Meritage Press), First Book Released:
AUTOPSY TURVY, collaborative poems by Thomas Fink and Maya Diablo Mason (details are forthcoming)


As a Poetry Publisher, First Books Sold:
OPERA: POEMS 1981-2002 by Barry Schwabsky
STAGE PRESENCE: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTISTS, Ed. Theodore S. Gonzalves


First Poetry Books Received as Gifts:
FRACTUS CORPUS by Ric Carfagna
LOVE POEMS by Karl Marx
SINCE by James Stotts
REMAINDERS FOR THE EARTH: POEMS by James Stotts
(SOME OF THE) BEST LESBIAN POETRY by Amanda Laughtland
THE OTHER BLUEBOOK: ON THE HIGH SEAS OF DISCOVERY "as told to Reme Grefalda" by Quill Berenkoff (not a poetry book, though a quick skim shows it includes poems!). This is a series of stories about working as a legal assistant; poet-publisher Reme Grefalda has worked as such. I haven't read it yet but it includes a hilarious poem "Lackeyship: An Honorable Profession" makes me want to pick up another copy as a present for The Hubby, Esq -- the poem begins

There once was a Lackey named Marjorie
Whose main expertise was Discovery.
She went after documents
Like a tourist for monuments.
For her, overtime was recovery.

First Poetry Manuscript Being Worked On:
[also the Last 2009 Poetry Manuscript Worked On]
THE THORN ROSARY (forthcoming soon from Marsh Hawk Press)


First Poem Written:
As of January 5, still a non-event (I'm such a slacker...)

MOI INVICTUS SON

This weekend we saw "Invictus", thus giving me my first 2010 poetry experience involving a movie. But what was also wild about this experience is that when Nelson Mandela (played by Morgan Freeman) began reciting "Invictus", a poem by William Ernest Henley, Mom began reciting the poem out loud as well. Now, Mom is one of those who believes her age -- she turns 80 next month -- allows her to do things like talk out loud in movie theaters or in church, often to the embarassment of Moi-her-chauffeur. But I stilled my elbow at the movie theater -- I think she impressed a lot of people as she recited "Invictus" along with Mandela. How many of you poets could have done that, had you attended the movie?

Later, Mom would say that she remembered the poem from her high school days in the Philippines! Oh, would that California public schools still allowed for these kinds of resonant arts experiences for every child, and not just the few... I still remember myself as a third-grader vying to appear on radio by having memorized what felt-like a ten-page poem (drat it: I was beat by another kid who memorized what might have been a twenty-page poem -- of course I'm not embittered by the experience though I remember her ugly haircut to this day...but Anyhoo...)

But what was best about seeing "Invictus" was being able to introduce Nelson Mandela to Michael. As shown on the movie, Mandela was a person who (among other things) was in this tiny prison cell for 30 years, but he came out with a spirit large enough to deserve his election to lead South Africa. In other words, this was a person who was not felled by difficult circumstances, and what this means is that a person can be what the poem, which I replicate below, notes in its last two lines.

It is complicated to parent a teenager who comes to you with a history of suffering. But one thing we're adamant about is not having him take on the *victim-mentality* (not that he was really inclined to taking that one--an off-shoot of his own strength as a survivor). When something comes up that's really difficult, we simply tell him "No complaints!" and just do the job at hand, "No excuses!" (I'm not really being harsh on him -- we're mostly talking about algebra...)

But I can tell that the notion of a man jailed for 30 years and then coming out to head up a country where he was imprisoned....really moved Michael. Then, today, there was an article in the New York Times about Harold A. Fernandez, now a cardiac surgeon, who graduated magna cum laude from Princeton, AFTER he came to the U.S. illegally as a 13-year-old. A 13-year-old from Colombia who couldn't speak English, like Michael. Well. My son eagerly took that newspaper article to keep with him in his room....

Mandela and Fernandez -- these are the kind of stories I want my son to know. The kind of models I want him to have. So that he can look back at what he's suffered and know there's no reason nonetheless why he shouldn't be able to excel in life. Life may prove otherwise, but my job as a parent is to tell him as a child that he can still be what this poem is talking about:

[INVICTUS]
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

What a keeper of a poem, by the way. Invictus - Latin for Unconquered.

NON-COTERIE READING (2009)

In 2009, I read at least 184 poetry books/collections, 9 poetry or poetry-related anthologies, 8 poetry/literary journals and 16 other books/publications involving poetry. The Blog's capacity as Filing Cabinet allow Moi to list them all below.

The list is not a portrayal of the type of poetry I favor. In reading poems partly as a practitioner, I just want to know what's out there. I've found that POV to be more elucidating than trying to read through some defined aesthetic gate. The process is not just more educational and makes for the fabulous moments of welcome discoveries (e.g. Laura Carter, Michael Leong, Douglas Kearney, poets whose works were previously unknown to Moi) but given me many moments of humor--e.g., I once read a nationally prestigious prize-winning book hailed partly for doing something "new", but in fact was very similar to a book from a small press which, I don't think, bothers to enter its books in poetry contests. The latter example, of course, bespeaks the communicative inefficiency of a world that often moves based on cultural capital.

The list is also incomplete; for one, it excludes another 50 or so manuscripts I've read but which I can't reveal. The list also excludes my voluminous online reading of poems.

But I stand by my reading record as, in part, a reflection of what underpins the occasional activities I engage in that requires me to make some sort of judgment. At a minimum, this means I can tell a certain someone (who I know reads moi blog--Happy New Year!) that he's full of it whenever he goes on a rampage over at the Silliman comment section about the lack of quality of Lulu-published poetry books. How many of these books have you actually read, Sir?

The list does reveal certain personal tendencies -- I prefer to read a body of work rather than a single poem or two by a poet. This means I don't really go out of my way to read many anthologies or journals. I prefer to read poetry collections.

Last but not least, my choice of what to read is often serendipitous. In Poetry, I don't often get curious about a particular book and so must obtain it/read it, though peeps in this category in 2009 are the books listed by Sarah Gambito, Sesshu Foster, Arthur Sze, Abelardo & Tarrosa Subido, Amy King, Brenda Hillman, Bill Berkson, Brenda Cardenas, Eileen Myles....perhaps there's a few more but this is logically a short list. My ethical desire is to read every poem, which means a lot of times, I randomly grab from a huge TO-READ pile (which includes but is not limited to THIS and THIS ). I also end up reading a few books for unique reasons--like if my local library stocks a new poetry book, I check it out in order to prove there's demand for poetry...and then inevitably read it before I return it (e.g. Billy Collins).

Did I like every book I read on this list? Nope, but that's irrelevant. Even the most banal poem has a place in this wonderland-landscape of Poetry. All poems are welcome to Moi. And contrary to would-be pundits' proclamations, THERE ARE NEVER ENOUGH POEMS.

There are, however, a few authors whose books I meant to read but didn't get to in 2009--these are books that I wish to read when I'm not in the midst of a multi-tasking fever. For instance, the COLLECTED POEMS and a biography on Amy Carmichael, Ron Silliman's poetry, Sheila Murphy's COLLECTED CHAPS, John Olson's writings, Ann Lauterbach's essays, John Yau's latest book on Jasper Johns, Vicente Huidobro's ALTAZOR, among many others. But since I'm always in the midst of multi-tasking, I can see that I'll have to do a conscious revamp of that intention as I'm rarely able to clear space...

And, yes, I could be reading more poetry books. But the murder mysteries need Moi attention, too. Still, if you think I should be reading your poetry book sooner than later, say so in a cover letter (wink). Galatea's Iron Gate never bars ... poetry.

Here's the poetic Relished W(h)ine List for 2009
(UPDATE: I just added a few more that earlier slipped Moi mind...):

Poetry Books (184)
INTERVENING ABSENCE by Carrie Olivia Adams
TO THE BONE by Sebastian Agudelo
THE LOST COUNTRY OF SIGHT by Neil Aitken
LIGHT FILLING MY BONES, poems by Dorothy B. Anderson with cut-paper illustrations by Donna Bruhl
NARROW ROAD TO THE INTERIOR, haibun by Matsuo Basho & Translated by Sam Hamill
ALL MY EGGS ARE BROKEN by Michael Basinski
TUNE DROVES by Eric Baus
ANALFABETO: AN ALPHABET by Ellen Baxt
STEPS: A NOTEBOOK by Tom Beckett
TAKE IT by Joshua Beckman
SHY GREEN FIELDS by Hugh Behm-Steinberg
PORTRAIT AND DREAM: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Bill Berkson
HAVE A GOOD ONE by Anselm Berrigan
GLAD STONE CHILDREN by Edmund Berrigan
AIRS & VOICES by Paula Bonnel
THE STARS ON THE 7:18 TO PENN, poems by Ana Bozicevic
A STRANGER'S TABLE by Anne Brooke
WASTE by Thierry Brunet
THE SHUNT by David Buuck
SONG OF A LIVING ROOM by Brigitte Byrd
BOOMERANG by Brenda Cardenas
AT THE PULSE by Laura Carter
SITUATIONS by Laura Carter
(B)ITS by Joel Chace
THE BRITTLE AGE and RETURNING UPLAND by Rene Char, Trans. by Gustaf Sobin
RHAPSODY IN PLAIN YELLOW by Marilyn Chin
AND HOW TO END IT by Brian Clements
WALLS (ANAMNESES) by Marcel Cohen, Trans. by Brian Evenson & Joanna Howard
BALLISTICS by Billy Collins
IDENTITY THEFT by Catherine Daly
NOW SHOWING by Jim Daniels
THE CURVATURE OF BLUE by Lucille Lang Day
TRUE CRIME by Donna de la Perriere
THIRD BODY by Michel Delville, Trans. by Gian Lombardo
TERRA LUCIDA by Joseph Donahue
WEAVING THE LIGHT by Mary Ruth Donnelly
KA-CHING by Denise Duhamel
237 MORE REASONS TO HAVE SEX by Denise Duhamel and Sandy McIntosh
FROM CHANSONNIERS by Patrick Dunagan
BHARAT JIVA by kari edwards
LOVED LETTERS: MAILED WITHOUT A SCENT OF HOME (in manuscript) by Niki Eskobar
THE ANGELS OF BREAD by Martin Espada
THE RUSSIAN VERSION by Elene Fanailova, Trans. by Genya Turovskaya & Stephanie Sandler
HOW TO PAINT SUNLIGHT, NEW POEMS by Lawrence Ferlinghetti
CHIMES by Adam Fieled
GENERIC WHISTLE STOP by Thomas Fink
AUTOPSY TURVY by Thomas Fink & Maya Diablo Mason
WORLD BALL NOTEBOOK by Sesshu Foster
DARK CARD by Rebecca Foust
MOM'S CANOE by Rebecca Foust
DELTA BLUES by Skip Fox
THAT TINY INSANE VOLUPTUOUSNESS by Elisa Gabbert and Kathleen Rooney
DELIVERED by Sarah Gambito
[LAPSED INSEL WEARY] by Susana Gardner
KENMORE: POEM UNLIMITED by Geoffrey Gatza
BLACK DIAMOND GOLDEN BOY TAKES BULL BY HORNS by Geoffrey Gatza
HOUSECAT KUNG FU: STRANGE POEMS FOR WILD CHILDREN by Geoffrey Gatza
TO AFTER THAT (TOAF) by Renee Gladman
NEWCOMER CAN'T SWIM by Renee Gladman
GAHA (BABES0 NOAS (OF THE ABYSS0 ZORGE (BECOME FRIENDLY) by Jesse Glass (in manuscript)
QUATERNITY by Scott Glassman and Sheila Murphy
THE SEVEN AGES by Louise Gluck
TERMINAL HUMMING by K. Lorraine Graham
THE LAST 4 THINGS by Kate Greenstreet
TINDERBOX LAWN by Carol Guess
OBSOLETE--AN ALPHABET OF POEMS INSPIRED BY DEAD WORDS by Katie Haegele
IN SEARCH OF SMALL GODS by Jim Harrison
SING, MONGREL by Claire Hero
AND AENEAS STARES INTO HER HELMET by Tiffany Higgins
BRIGHT EXISTENCE by Brenda Hillman
JOURNEY TO THE END, by John Hoffman, edited by Garrett Caples
TRAJE DE BODA (in manuscript) by Aileen Ibardaloza
NEW EXERCISES by Franck Andre Jamme
SPEAK WHICH: HAY(NA)KU POEMS by Jill Jones
HUMANIMAL by Bhanu Kapil
THE BLACK AUTOMATON by Douglas Kearney
MAID OF HEAVEN: THE STORY OF SAINT JOAN OF ARC in verse by Ben D. Kennedy
RANDION SCREPTS by Jukka-Pekka Kervinen
SLAVES TO DO THESE THINGS by Amy King
RINGING by Rauan Klassnik
SUNNY WEDNESDAY by Noelle Kocot
EVEN BEFORE MY OWN NAME by Tracy Koretsky
THE ELDER SERIES 3 by Chris Kraus and Tisa Bryant
THE SWEETNESS OF HERBERT by Stuart Krimko
A DARK CONTINENT COMPANION (in manuscript) by Sean Labrador y Manzano
MARCH 18, 2003 by Michael Lally
DESTROYED WORKS by Philip Lamantia
TAU by Philip Lamantia, edited by Garrett Caples
POSTCARDS TO BOX 464 (in manuscript) by Amanda Laughtland
e.s.p. by Michael Leong
NEIGHBOR by Rachel Levitsky
PLAGIARISM / OUTSOURCE by Tan Lin
POLYTHEOGAMY, poems by Timothy Liu and paintings by Greg Drasler
ARCHIPELAGO DUST (in manuscript) by Karen Llagas
DICK OF THE DEAD by Rachel Loden
NAVIGATE, AMELIA EARHART'S LETTERS HOME by Rebecca Loudon
CADAVER DOGS by Rebeca Loudon
DISCLOSURE, conceptual poetry by Dana Teen Lomax
AT THE END OF THE DAY: SELECTED POEMS AND AN INTRODUCTORY ESSAY by Phillip Lopate
OPEN NIGHT by Aaron Lowinger
BOSQUEJOS / SKETCHES by Edwin Agustin Lozada
SUENOS ANONIMOS / ANONYMOUS DREAMS by Edwin Agustin Lozada
SALT LICK: A RETROSPECTIVE OF POETRY by Glenna Luschei
SEE HOW WE ALMOST FLY by Alison Luterman
WAITING FOR SWEET BETTY by Clarence Major
HI HIGHER HYPERBOLE by Nicholas Manning
ZERO READERSHIP; AN EPIC by Filip Marinovich
ERNESTA, IN THE STYLE OF THE FLAMENCO by Sandy McIntosh
INSTANTS by Philip Metres
FOR LOVE OF AN ARMADILLO, poems by Didi Menendez, illustrations by Jeremy Baum
FORT DAD by Stephen Paul Miller
WORK IS LOVE MADE VISIBLE: POETRY AND FAMILY PHOTOGRAPHS by Jeanetta Calhoun Mish
HOW TO SPELL THE SOUND OF EVERYTHING, poetry -- visual and text -- collaboration by Sheila Murphy & mIEKAL aND
SORRY TREE by Eileen Myles
BIRD EATING BIRD by Kristin Naca
BY WAY OF, four-chap collection of poems by Matthew Nienow, Emily Carr, Diana Woodcock and Diana Alvarez
CATCH LIGHT by Sarah O'Brien
UNSWEPT ROOMS by Sharon Olds
A TOAST IN THE HOUSE OF FRIENDS by Akilah Oliver
SWARM OF EDGES by John Olson
RIZAL IN SAN FRANCISCO AND OTHER POEMS (in manuscript) by Don Pacis
SOME HAY by Lars Palm
FOR GOOD BEHAVIOR (in manuscript) by Lars Palm
CANTAR DE MIO CORMAN by Lars Palm
PERSONATIONSKIN by Karl Parker
LAST CALL AT THE TIN PALACE by Paul Pines
“…AND THEN THE WIND DID BLOW: JAINAKU POEMS by Ernesto Priego
GRAVITY & GRACE by Ernesto Priego
FORMS OF INTERCESSION by Jayne Pupek
LEAFLETS: POEMS 1965-1968 by Adrienne Rich
CORPORATE GEESE by Christopher William Purdom
THERE'S THE HAND AND THERE'S THE ARID CHAIR by Tomaz Salamun
BOOK LEFT OPEN IN THE RAIN by Barry Schwabsky
FOR COLORED GIRLS WHO HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE / WHEN THE RAINBOW IS ENUF by Ntozake Shange
ITINERARY by Reginald Shepherd
THE ALPS by Brandon Shimoda
FROM HERE, poems by Zoe Skoulding and images by Simonetta Moro
NEGATIVE INVENTORY by Shannon Smith
MYTHS & TEXTS by Gary Snyder
from THE TRADITION by Juliana Spahr
THE UNDERWATER HOSPITAL by Jan Steckel
THE METHOD by Sasha Steensen
OHIO VIOLENCE by Allison Stine
JOINT (in manuscript) by Angelo Suarez
SONNETS FROM A GARDENER AND OTHER POEMS by Abelardo Subido
PRIVATE EDITION: SONNETS AND OTHER POEMS by Tarrosa Subido
THE SPACE BETWEEN by Aimee Suzara
ARRANGING THE BLAZE by Chad Sweeney
MAGDALENE & THE MERMAIDS by Elizabeth Kate Switaj
THE GINKGO LIGHT by Arthur Sze
WATER THE MOON (in manuscript) by Fiona Sze-Lorrain
HYPERGLOSSIA by Stacy Szymaszek
A CONCISE BIOGRAPHY OF SIN by John Samuel Tieman
THE LONG LOST STARTLE by Joel Toledo
THE PARIS HILTON by Keith Tuma
ATLAS by Katrina Vandenberg
IRRATIONAL DUDE by Nico Vassilakis & Robert Mittenthal
TATTOO (in manuscript) by Joel Vega
ROCK CANDY by Jenifer Rae Vernon
ALL ALONE AGAIN by Dan Waber
MY NEW JOB by Catherine Wagner
SMUDGING by Diane Wakoski
THE BUTCHER'S APRON by Diane Wakoski
PLAY by Liz Waldner
TRUST by Liz Waldner
THE AMPUTEE'S GUIDE TO SEX by Jillian Weise
TO LIGHT OUT by Karen Weiser
HEATHEN by Lesley Wheeler
SELF-PORTRAIT WITH CRAYON by Allison Benis White
TANSEN DONNER: A WOMAN'S JOURNEY by Ruth Whitman
GOD'S SILENCE by Franz Wright
OCTOBER CENTERFOLD by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright and images by Nathaniel Hester
AIM STRAIGHT AT THE FOUNTAIN AND PRESS VAPORIZE by Elizabeth Marie Young
TERRACOTTA WORRIERS by Mark Young
LUNCH POEMS by Mark Young
MORE FROM SERIES MAGRITTE by Mark Young
ODES TO ANGER by Jason L.Yurcic
CIRCA by Hannah Zeavin
GUARDIANES DEL SECRETO / GUARDIANS OF THE SECRET by Lila Zemborain, trans. by Rosa Alcala


Poetry(-related) Anthologies (9)
1000 VIEWS OF "GIRL SINGING", multi-genre anthology of translations/collaborations edited by John Bloomberg-Rissman
ANTHOLOGY SPIDERTANGLE, visual poetry anthology Edited by mIEKAL aND
BEATS OF NAROPA edited by Anne Waldman and Laura Wright
THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU ANTHOLOGY, curated by Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego and Eileen Tabios (in manuscript)
INCLINED TO SPEAK: AN ANTHOLOGY OF CONTEMPORARY ARAB AMERICAN POETRY, edited by Hayan Charam
POEM, HOME: AN ANTHOLOGY OF ARS POETICA edited by Jennifer Hill and Dan Waber
SALU-SALO: IN CONVERSATION WITH FILIPINOS, AN ANTHOLOGY OF PHILIPPINE-AUSTRALIAN WRITINGS, edited by Jose Wendell P. Capili and John Cheeseman
THE INNER LIVES OF WOMEN: NOT A MUSE: A WORLD POETRY ANTHOLOGY, edited by Kate Rogers & Viki Holmes
THE WINE OF ENDLESS LIFE: TAOIST DRINKING SONGS FROM THE YUAN DYNASTY, poems translated by Jerome P. Seaton


Poetry/Literary/Arts Journals (8)
"DARK TIMES\FILLED WITH LIGHT": A TRIBUTE TO JUAN GELMAN (Special Issue of THE CAFE REVIEW), poetry/visual art/reminiscences Edited by Paul Pines)
THE ENIGMATIST, Dec. 2009, poetry journal edited by Mike & Joyce Gullickson
HOUSE ORGAN, Summer 2009, literary journal edited by Kenneth Warren
HOUSE ORGAN, Fall 2009, literary journal edited by Kenneth Warren
SPIRITS, Spring 2009 (Indiana University Northwest literary journal), edited by Dylan McKee
TEENY TINY # 11, poetry zine edited by Amanda Laughtland and featuring fabulous poems by Katie Haegele, Marvin Cata DuPlessis, Jessica Ritchey, June Sawyers, Laura-Marie Taylor and Charline Bozek
TEENY TINY #12, Aug. 2009, edited by Amanda Laughtland
VANITAS 4 (TRANSLATION ISSUE), literary/arts journal edited by Vincent Katz


Other Books/Publications Involving Poetry (16)
THE ANTHOLOGIST, novel by Nicholson Baker
INTERPENETRATIONS, poetry conversation by Tom Beckett and Geof Huth (in manuscript)
BARF MANIFESTO by Dodie Bellamy
LANDSCAPES OF DISSENT: GUERRILLA POETRY & PUBLIC SPACE by Jules Boykoff and Kaia Sand
LENINGRAD: AMERICAN WRITERS IN THE SOVIET UNION, 1991 collective memoir by Michael Davidson, Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman and Barrett Watten
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
MADE-UP INTERVIEWS WITH IMAGINARY ARTISTS featuring Pat Ament, Lorna Dee Cervantes, Joanne Greenberg, Peter Granbois and Cecilia Vicuna by Alex Stein)
AS A FRIEND, novel by Forrest Gander
THE WINTER SUN: NOTES ON A VOCATION, poetry/memoir by Fanny Howe
"WISHING YOU A GREEN CHRISTMAS" 2009 holiday broadside featuring "Wind Farm" by Mark Lamoreaux
2008 HOLIDAY CARD POEM -- "Vierzehnten Dezember" -- by Mark Lamoreaux
2008 HOLIDAY CARD POEM --"Upon the Year 2009" -- by Sheila Murphy
ARTS OF THE POSSIBLE: ESSAYS AND CONVERSATIONS by Adrienne Rich
AURA: LAST ESSAYS by Gustaf Sobin
"IN MEMORY OF REV. MARLEA J. CONRAD WABER", mail art by Dan Waber
MAKE IT HAPPEN, poem broadside by Jeffrey Cyphers Wright

"JUNK DRAWER POEM-BOOK OF THE YEAR"

Steven Fama's YEAR-END REVIEW is up at the Glade! I'm tickled to see that I've got the best "junk drawer" of poems, by his read. But do check out the results: Steven is one of those ideal poem-readers...!

Piensa: consider what I might have outside of that junk drawer...!