THE MONEY MACHINE & POETRY...OR NOT

Just read Inside the Money Machine by Minnie Bruce Pratt (Carolina Wren Press, Durham, NC, 2011). It's like a poetry version of what Barbara Ehrenreich explored in her NICKEL AND DIMED and BAIT & SWITCHED books on the working class. One of the depressing reminders I take away from Pratt's book is how the typical price of a poetry book -- $15? $16? -- is really a hardship for many people.

That reminder, though, is another reason why I continue to be so impressed by a poet I know who dedicates 10% of hir total income a year to purchasing poetry books. I--who plan to read every poem every written--don't even do that.

But I try, and here's my latest BOUGHT POETRY list:

FIELD WORK -- NOTES, SONGS, POEMS 1997-2010 by David Hadbawnik

SO LATE, SO SOON: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Carol Moldaw

CULTURE OF ONE by Alice Notley

FABULAE by Joy Katz

GRAVE RADIANCE: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS 1990-2010 by Elizabeth Alexander

UNPROTECTED TEXTS by Tom Beckett

SILK EGG: COLLECTED NOVELS (2009-2009) by Eileen R. Tabios (As this blog is about Moi, I non-apologetically suggest you buy it, too! GO HERE for the ordering links through various venues)

BOYS WILL BE BOYS

Michael cracks Moi up so many times! So we visited Mom in the hospital this evening. As soon as he entered the hospital room, he said Hi to Mom and went to the computer in the corner of the room. That's the computer where the medical staff checks hospital records, updates them, etc. But, what do you know? He found he could upload computer games on 'em and began playing:



That's my brother -- really! -- next to Michael. Such a lucky guy to have a sister like Moi, even if I back up against his car. Eventually, one of the medical technicians stuck his head in and booted Michael off of the computer. I probably should have been the one to tell Michael to get off but I got such a kick of seeing these colorful games juxtaposed against the medical equipment.

As for Mom? She continues to recover. Good color tonight. Always good for color to be good...

MOM UPDATE

Mom's cancer surgery went well today. Went so well that the surgeon said he must share that he is quite proud of his own job. Well, as my brother said, we wanted a surgeon who takes pride in his work.

Speaking of the brother, he came up from southern California for the surgery. And whilst we were catching up with each other's lives, he said that some work-related acquaintance had Googled him and came up with my name. When said acquaintance mentioned it to the brother, he said, "She's my sister."

Acquaintance didn't believe my brother. Apparently, laugh, it's hard to believe my brother would have such a sister as me. Never mind that anybody can tweak the internet to generate a seemingly big presence. Anyway, that provided a welcome bit of comic relief to the day. (It was an unnerving day: I began it by backing my car right onto my brother's car and smashed a taillight into smithereens. I told him the mountain lion likes to eat cars' headlights and taillights and, for at least several minutes there (hah), he believed me...)

Maraming Salamat to the Babaylans for their prayers for a speedy recovery for Mom.

SING MOI

She's setting my poems to music. Omoigawd what an honor. She ... is Geej Langlois!


Some poets aspire to have their poems read, assigned in university courses, published, awarded, reviewed....


I aspire to have my poems sung in your shower from your own hollering-cause-no-one-can-hear-you mouth.

Have at it, Geej!

'

MOI MOVES AND SHAKES

and often most colorfully when other Flips are involved. E.g., here's Barbara Jane Reyes and I earlier this century in front of Manuel Ocampo's painting "Die Kreuzigung Christi" (oh I miss those silver shoes! which were chewed up by Achilles-as-a-puppy):



And this is all part of Barbara's Maraming Salamat over at Poetry Foundation's HARRIET. I'm really touched that Barbara chose to take the time to say Thank You. You're welcome, Barbara -- y tambien Siac met ti agibaga: Agyamanac Unay!

RADIANT HEAT

I enjoy the radiant heat beneath the floors. Makes it all warm and toasty to walk about the house. But it's not good for books which happen to be stacked on said floors! Over time, it'd dry those pages, make 'em curl... So I've been reading as much poetry as I can, too, because reading a book then -- according to moi own unique library system -- allows me to place said book on a shelf.

Well, I do have shelves of "To-Read" books but they're mostly fiction, non-fiction, history, art....but the poetry books, while still unread, must be stacked on the floor. Because poetry, you see, prefers Heat...

Kapischkie? Okay. so, here's my latest Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. Note that if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects. And I'm looking looking looking for reviewers to get books offa moi floors and to hit 100 new reviews for the next issue! Yeah! More info on that HERE.

PUBLICATIONS
A WORLDLY COUNTRY, poems by John Ashbery (ah, so many things one can say about John Ashbery. For now, let me just note that scale matters and the prolonged tonal consistency in his poems signify something important, though not sure exactly what ... except that it's also impressive)

LOVELY, RASPBERRY, poems by Aaron Belz (a lotta fun, e.g. that friends-with-benefits poem "my chiquita"--at least, how I read it)

THE LONG BIRTH, poems by Jan Vanstavern

60 TEXTOS, poems by Sarah Riggs (enchanting)

PO DOOM, poems by Jim McCrary (like that "hay(na)ku interlude"! you crank and crankster!)

A BEAUTIFUL NAME FOR A GIRL, poems by Kirsten Kaschock

IMMEDIATE EMPIRE, poems by Raymond L. Bianchi and visual art by Waltraud Haas (moving)

THE HOT GARMENT OF LOVE IS INSECURE, poems by Elizabeth Reddin

ABSURD GOOD NEWS, poems by Julien Poirier

THREE COLUMN TABLE, poems by Harold Abramowitz (nicely imaginative. like the lengthily sinuous lines and use of M-dashes)

INFO RATION, poems by Stan Apps (powerful and timely)

YES WE ARE STILL DANCING, collaboration between a poet and two painters by Susan Amstater, Connie Dillman and Jacquelyn Stroud Spier

* ENJOY HOT OR ICED: POEMS IN CONVERSATION AND A CONVERSATION by Denise Duhamel & Amy Lemmon

THE SWEETNESS OF HERBERT, poems by Stuart Krimko

PARROT ON A MOTORCYCLE: ON POETIC CRAFT, poems by Vitezslav Nezval, trans. by Jennifer Rogers

THE NEIGHBORHOODS OF MY PAST SORROW, poems by Jesse Millner

THE BOOK OF OCEAN, poems by Maryrose Larkin

THE NAME OF THIS INTERSECTION IS FROST, poems by Maryrose Larkin

SENTENCES, poems by Charles O. Hartman and Hugh Kenner

* VAUXHALL, poems by Catherine Daly

THE COLOR OF DUSK, poems by Robin Caton

THE ARAKAKI PERMUTATIONS, poems by James Maughn

* PP/FF: AN ANTHOLOGY (of prose poetry &/or flash fiction), Ed. Peter Conners

THE ASIAN AMERICAN LITERARY REVIEW, Winter/Spring 2011, eds.Gerald Maa and Lawrence-Minh Bui Davis (I always enjoy Eric Gamalinda's writings and he's got a short story in this issue that's just hilarious!)

THE POST-ADOPTION BLUES, psychology by Karen J. Foli and John R. Thompson
(no, I'm not post-adoption depressed; I just read anything I can on adoption)

THE CHILDREN'S STORY...BUT NOT JUST FOR CHILDREN, novella by James Clavell

THE COLLECTORS, novel by David Baldacci

TORRENT FALLS, novel by Jan Watson

ON THE RUN, novel by Iris Johansen


WINES
2008 Tuscan Blend di Biserno Insoglio
2008 AMOUREUX Lasseter Family Winery
2005 Hobbs Grenache Barossa Ranges
2002 Dominique Laurent Nuits-Saint-Georges

IN THAT MOST MAPLESS SPACE

and I'm not just talking poetry but the adoption experience. One of the challenges of curating POETS ON ADOPTION is the balancing act of what can or cannot be revealed and/or articulated. There are privacy issues, and there are anguishes too much to yet be captured in words. The latest contributor, Phillippa Yaa de Villiers, was adopted as a biracial baby in South Africa in 1966, at the height of apartheid. Phillippa did not have to say anything more than one sentence -- "Under apartheid people of colour were ruthlessly segregated -- to bring forth all the complications and pain of her (and her birth country's) experience.

And if you look at Nick Carbo's memory of elementary schoolmates' response to being picked up by his adoptive parents at his school in Manila, thus making his classmates aware for the first time of his white parents, you can glean so much more when he also observes that such was his "first inkling about racism" and that such came from U.S.-Americans but not the Filipino or Spanish communities in which he lived.

I'm plucking out these two examples which show just how much circumstances and histories out of our (individual) controls become ... controlling factors in one's lives. This is true beyond adoption, and yet its risks are heightened by adoption.

I sometimes learn more than what gets posted in the blog. I appreciate that you poets are trusting me, whom you've mostly never met, with your stories.

So far, ten new poets have shared contributions in April (almost one poet per day!). And there are more poets still to come! I'm loving how the site can feature a range from a poet laureate to someone never published before. Do visit the site -- there's much to learn, and not just about poetry but (among many other things) about the effects of love, or its lack, on human development.

Last but not least, Joy Katz's fabulous--just FABULOUS!--contribution puts forth another motivation for adoption that's not as prevalent in the adoption world. She also writes what is arguably my favorite poem yet featured on the site: "HABIT." Indeed, adoption aside, her contribution is a wonderful example of poetry-in-progress (a subject close to my heart as that was what my very first book, BLACK LIGHTNING, explored). And how she conflates the heroin experience with mothering is a wonderful example of the imagination's fertile expanse as well as, simply, brilliant. Check it out! Check them all out!

WINNING POETRY MONTH

BakitWhy takes the hay(na)ku to new levels with this announcement of a poetry contest judged American Idol style. You peeps crack Moi up. Scroll down the announcement to see what Barbara calls "best. hay(na)ku. ever."

WTF?!

But nice cloud, yeah....

LOOKING FOR 100 NEW REVIEWS

or to top a hundred, why not?! To wit, I just finished my first review for the next issue of Galatea Resurrects--'twill be of Sarah Rigg's enchanting 60 TEXTOS. Yep, I'm starting early as I'd like to set a record and hit three figures with next issue's number of new reviews. Why? Because poetry should be ambitious!

Join me, why dontcha! Go HERE for available review copies.

P.S.
Please consider this post encouragement to you all who've held onto review copies for years now to actually write those reviews! I mean, I can wait years since poetry is eternal, but don't you want to be part of this upcoming epochal issue?!

SINGING IN THE MARGINS

I interrupt moiself to do a blog-file (if I don't, I forget all about it). New poetry manuscript developed today:

SINGING IN THE MARGINS

It might be my next Marsh Hawk Press book; I'm due to release one in 2013. But we'll see how that goes.

Yawn.

THE GREATER SUM

Did you know that Ron Silliman--with that very recognizeable NAME!--got his name "Silliman" through the adoption of his grandfather? I didn't ... or perhaps had forgotten (didn't he mention this detail in one of his books?)

Anyway, it's heartening to see POETS ON ADOPTION get so much attention. For many years, I'd not found the complexities of poetry to be matched by any single issue (I found it matched only by the larger "life"). But a few years ago when I started getting involved with orphans and adoption, I also found an issue that I thought finally mirrors poetry's complicated expanse.

One of the topics not as explored in depth as other (more hip) poetry topics is healing--indeed, redemption. And one of the more meaningful responses I've received to POETS ON ADOPTION is the following comment:

[the site allows] an important fact to be shown: that we're all happy differently, but we suffer the same. And that realization is the beginning of compassion, and healing.

This touches on how I hope readers read ALL of the contributions on the site. What will surface is how the sum is greater than its already great parts. The combination of everyone's stories surfaces a forest that's just ... well, to quote someone else, "BIG."

Yep. I know each of the contributions is powerful. But, together? No less than BIG, Baby.

I just uploaded five more poets onto the site (and more power is coming!):

Jim Benz April 2011
(was adopted as an infant domestically in the U.S.    brother to adopted sister)

Mary Anne Cohen April 2011
(surrendered baby son for adoption and is an adoption reform activist)

CB Follett April 2011
(adopted two baby boys and one baby girl domestically within the U.S.)

Joy Katz April 2011
(adopted a baby boy from Vietnam)

Dee Thompson April 2011
(adopted 13-year-old girl from Russia. 3 years later, adopted 10-year-old boy from Kazakhstan)

Don't just read one or a few. Do yourself a favor and read them all!

*****

There's a humongous amount of adoption-related poems out there. Tons. But it takes a special backbone to be able to answer the two simple questions that infrastructure-izes (yay: made another verb out of a noun! now, that's a poetics!) the site: What is your adoption experience? How has your adoption experience affected your poetry? So, I want to thank again--and list again the inaugural issue's poets. They dug deep and were the first to reveal, together, the possibilities of the project. Read them all, too!

Ned Balbo March 2011
(placed as a baby with his birth mother's sister and raised as her son)

Nick Carbo March 2011
(in the Philippines, was adopted as an infant. later, his parents adopted his biological younger sister)

Dana Collins March 2011
(was adopted as a baby from Korea by U.S.-American parents. sister to adopted brother)

Marcella Durand March 2011
(adopted an infant domestically within the U.S.)

Lee Herrick March 2011
(was adopted as a baby from Korea by U.S.-American parents. brother to adopted sister. as a parent, adopted baby from China)

Natalie Knight March 2011
(was adopted as an infant domestically in U.S.    became sister at age five to adopted brother)

Michele Leavitt March 2011
(was adopted as an infant domestically in the U.S.)

Amanda Mason March 2011
(in process of adopting 11-year-old boy from Colombia)

Sharon Mesmer March 2011
(sister to adopted sibling)

Allison Moreno March 2011
(was adopted as a baby domestically in the U.S.    sister to two adopted brothers)

Christina Pacosz March 2011
(gave up infant daughter for adoption)

Judith Roitman March 2011
(was half-adopted. adopted two baby boys domestically within the U.S.    relatives also adopted)

Susan M. Schultz March 2011
(adopted 12-month-old boy (now 11 years old) from Cambodia and 3-year-old girl (now 9 years old) from Nepal. husband and a number of other relatives were adopted)

Michael D Snediker March 2011
(brother to a sister adopted as an infant from Korea. became close to someone who adopted a son from Vietnam)

Rosemary Starace March 2011
(was adopted as a baby domestically within the U.S.    three years later became sister to adopted brother)

Eileen R. Tabios March 2011
(adopted a 13-year-old boy (now 15) from Colombia. in process of new adoption process for a 12-year-old girl also from Colombia)

Craig Watson March 2011
(adopted 1-year-old girl from Ecuador)

The best part? There are more poets to come! Adoption, for poetry, is a motherlode!

MOI IS NOMINATED FOR THE NOBEL

by Richard Lopez. All very good.

But that's just a nomination. I'd actually like to win the dang thing. Here's how I have a shot: help me get the next issue of Galatea Resurrects--that'd be Issue #17--feature 100 new reviews. Yep: ONE HUNDRED.

The record is currently for 87 new reviews, which was for Issue #12. So this is not a far-fetched goal.

And if I get the Nobel Prize as a result, I promise to split the Nobel prize money with all the critics in that issue!

Get to it, ye poets, critics and fallen angels. Review copies are available HERE!

HARRIET WEIGHS IN ON "POETS ON ADOPTION"

over at The Poetry Foundation. Great to see the Word being passed around. And more poets soon to come! Here's an excerpt from Alan Gilbert's write-up on POETS ON ADOPTION:

Some writers, such as Dana Collins and Michele Leavitt, describe reuniting with their biological families, while Nick Carbò says he has no interest in doing so. Many of the entries place the experience of adoption within frameworks of ethnicity and class. Christina Pacosz unsentimentally writes, “Now I see clearly that most adoptions are moving from one class to another. From a lack of resources/finances to more abundance and opportunity. This has nothing, necessarily, to do with love.” A number of contributors talk about nation. Marcella Durand discusses what it’s like as a white parent to have adopted an African American child: “Maybe because our story is also political in that we are a transracial family, but with a twist, in that my son, while a domestic adoption, has a birthmother from other colonized and colonizing countries and, because of my connection to the colonizing country, she chose us.”

Along with Pacosz, Sharon Mesmer contributes the longest post—a haunting and vivid narrative about her adopted sister who may or may not have been molested by their father. The piece provides an insight into her work I’d never had before. Susan Schultz provides the most theoretical framework for discussing the relationship between poetry and adoption—and in the process outlines a poetics of adoption: “Just as no poem is utterly original, so no poem is not without its adopted language.”

I'm always looking for more participants. You are invited to read the Call to Participation for POETS ON ADOPTION.

GALATEA IS RESURRECTED FOR THE 16TH TIME!

Yes Dears....the dogs have been on reading chairs reading poems and eager to read more! Meanwhile, Galatea Resurrects is fresh! With Issue No. 16, GR has provided 921 publications with new reviews (covering 387 publishers in 17 countries)! Here's announcement below photo of the bibliophilic dawgs:



[Please Feel Free to Forward]

Galatea Resurrects is pleased to announce the release of its 16th issue, featuring 73 publications receiving new reviews, among other features. You are invited to the issue at http://galatearesurrection16.blogspot.com

For your convenience, I cutnpaste the Table of Contents below. Happy Reading,
Eileen Tabios
Editor, Galatea Resurrects (A Poetry Engagement)



Issue No. 16 TABLE OF CONTENTS

EDITOR’S INTRODUCTION
Eileen Tabios


NEW REVIEWS
John Herbert Cunningham reviews THE CAMBRIDGE COMPANION TO WALLACE STEVENS edited, and with an introduction by, John N. Serio; WALLACE STEVENS: SELECTED POEMS edited, and with an introduction by, John N. Serio; and WALLACE STEVENS AND THE AESTHETICS OF ABSTRACTION by Edward Ragg

Andrew Durbin reviews THE DIHEDRONS GAZELLE-DIHEDRALS ZOOM by Leslie Scalapino

Allen Bramhall reviews DOGGY DOO by Bob Brueckl & Jukka-Pekka Kervinen

Marthe Reed reviews SONJA SEKULA: GRACE IN A COW’S eye : A MEMOIR : by Kathrin Schaeppi

Eileen Tabios engages SONJA SEKULA: GRACE IN A COW’S eye : A MEMOIR : by Kathrin Schaeppi

Allen Edwin Butt reviews PETALS, EMBLEMS by Lynn Behrendt

Eileen Tabios engages FOR THE ORDINARY ARTIST: SHORT REVIEWS, OCCASIONAL PIECES & MORE by Bill Berkson

T.C. Marshall reviews THE ARAKAKI PERMUTATIONS and WORLDBOOK: 1925—A POEM, both by James Maughn

Nicholas T. Spatafora reviews DAYS POEM, Volume I and Volume II by Allen Bramhall

Peg Duthie engages THE GODDESS OF GOODBYE by James R. Whitley and IGNOBLE TRUTHS by Gail White

Catherine Daly reviews HOW MANY MORE OF THEM ARE YOU? and VICINITIES, both by Lisa Lubasch

Eileen Tabios engages THE NEW POETICS by Mathew Timmons

Caleb Puckett reviews HOW TO BE PERFECT and HOW LONG, both by Ron Padgett

Kimberly Wine reviews CUNTIONARY / REPENT AT YOUR LEISURE (OR THE FOLKLORE OF HELL) by Benjamin Perez

Nicholas T. Spatafora reviews THE CHAINED HAY(NA)KU PROJECT curated by Ivy Alvarez, John Bloomberg-Rissman, Ernesto Priego and Eileen Tabios

Andrew Durbin reviews THIS TIME WE ARE BOTH by Clark Coolidge

T.C. Marshall reviews OPENING DAY and THE WHALEN POEM, both by William Corbett

Harry Thorne reviews THE ECO LANGUAGE READER edited by Brenda Iijima and IF NOT METAMORPHIC by Brenda Iijima

Tom Beckett reviews IF NOT METAMORPHIC by Brenda Iijima

Eileen Tabios engages 100 SCENES by Tim Gaze

Simon Perchik reviews CREATURELY DRIFT, NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Allen Planz; EROS DESCENDING, POEMS by Edward Butscher; THE DISCOURSE LETTERS by Anselm Parlatore; THAT NOD TOWARD LOVE, NEW POEMS by Graham Everett; SILVER FISH, POEMS by Ray Freed; SHARPSBURG by Joel Chace; and BLUE EDGE by Susan Tepper

Allen Edwin Butt reviews TERMINAL HUMMING by K. Lorraine Graham

Micah Cavaleri reviews ENGLISH FRAGMENTS: A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SOUL by Martin Corless-Smith

Jessica Bozek reviews SUM OF EVERY LOST SHIP by Allison Titus

John Bloomberg-Rissman reviews NOTES ON CONCEPTUALISMS by Vanessa Place and Robert Fitterman

Eileen Tabios engages THE SOURCE by Noah Eli Gordon; THUS & by Derek Henderson; and DOG EAR by Erica Baum

Tammi McCune reviews ITERATION NETS by Karla Kelsey

Jim McCrary reviews PITCH – DRAFTS 77-95 by Rachel Blau DuPlessis and DAY OUT OF DAYS (STORIES) by Sam Shepard

Jonathan Lohr reviews DUTIES OF AN ENGLISH FOREIGN SECRETARY by Macgregor Card

Steven Johannes Fowler reviews IN THE ASSARTS by Jeff Hilson

Peg Duthie engages THE BOOK OF WHISPERING IN THE PROJECTION BOOK by Joshua Marie Wilkinson

Guillermo Parra reviews YOU AND THREE OTHERS ARE APPROACHING A LAKE by Anna Moschovakis

Eileen Tabios engages X (ANGEL CITY) by Joseph Lease

Steven Johannes Fowler reviews CLERICAL WORK by Wayne Clements

Genevieve Kaplan reviews VENTRAKL by Christian Hawkey

Crag Hill reviews AD FINITUM by P. Inman

Eileen Tabios engages BONE BOUQUET: A JOURNAL OF POETRY BY WOMEN, Vol. 1, Issue 1, Winter 2011

Jerry Brunoe reviews A THIRST THAT'S PARTLY MINE by Liz Ahl

John Herbert Cunningham reviews THE SELECTED POEMS OF TED BERRIGAN edited by Alice Notley, Anselm Berrigan and Edmund Berrigan

Jim Tolan reviews AS IF FREE by Burt Kimmelman

Fiona Sze-Lorrain reviews AIRS & VOICES by Paula Bonnel

Eileen Tabios engages THE HISTORY OF VIOLETS by Marosa Di Giorgio, Trans. By Jeannine Marie Pitas

T.C. Marshall reviews ARRANGING THE BLAZE and PARABLE OF HIDE AND SEEK, both by Chad Sweeney

Bill Scalia reviews THE PACKAGE INSERT OF SORROWS by Angela Genusa

Micah Cavaleri reviews SCENIC FENCES | HOUSES INNUMERABLE by Aby Kaupang

Michael Boughn engages the article "THE HERO AND THE GUNSLINGER: DID ROBERT CREELEY AND ED DORN LOSE THEIR WAY IN MIDDLE AGE?" by Aram Saroyan

Marianne Villanueva reviews SONNETS by Camille Martin

Eileen Tabios engages NOVALESS (ELEMENTS TOWARDS A METAPHYSICS) by Nicholas Manning

Jerry Brunoe reviews ISHMAEL AMONG THE BUSHES by William Allegrezza

Jeff Harrison engages COMPLICATIONS by Garrett Caples

G. Justin Hulog reviews DIWATA by Barbara Jane Reyes

Aileen Ibardaloza engages BABAYLAN: AN ANTHOLOGY OF FILIPINA AND FILIPINA AMERICAN WRITERS, co-edited by Nick Carbo and Eileen Tabios and THE NORTON ANTHOLOGY OF LITERATURE BY WOMEN: THE TRADITIONS IN ENGLISH, Third Edition, volume 2, co-edited by Sandra M. Gilbert and Susan Gubar

Eileen Tabios engages CHAPTER & VERSE: POEMS OF JEWISH IDENTITY edited by Sim Warkov, Rose Black, Margaret Kaufman, Melanie Maier & Susan Terris, and BLOOD HONEY by Chana Bloch


FEATURE ARTICLES
The Quincouplet: a Matter of Words
by Benjamin C. Krause

Kingdom by the Harbor by Nicholas T. Spatafora


THE CRITICS WRITE POEMS
Marthe Reed

Simon Perchik



FROM OFFLINE TO ONLINE: REPRINTED REVIEWS
Moira Richards reviews CARRYING THE FIRE and BURNT OFFERING, both by Joan Metelerkamp

Richard Kostelanetz reviews the article "Re: Print: Poems from Ten Exciting New Books,"


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

Poets On Adoption:
Poetry: it inevitably relates to -- among others -- identity, history, culture, class, race, community, economics, politics, power, loss, health, desire, regret, language, form and genre disruption, love ... as well as the absences thereofs. The same may be said about Adoption."


BACK COVER
Let Sleeping Dogs Lie...

COUNTDOWN TO GALATEA R...

Marianne Villanueva is rare--a non-poet who's writing poetry reviews, and we're lucky to have her at Galatea Resurrects! Slam it, Marianne!

And here's the rest of my latest Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. Note that if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects. I'll probably release the next issue later this week, but the next review submission deadline is Nov. 15. Please do go HERE to see which poetry books you'd just love -- love! -- to review!

PUBLICATIONS
* UTOPIA MINUS, poems by Susan Briante (powerful yet finely-wrought. impressive and, more importantly, moving)

* X (ANGEL CITY), chap-length poem by Joseph Lease (wonderful political lyricism)

DOG EAR, poetry/visual art by Erica Baum (fabulous)

THUS &, poems by Derek Henderson (surprisingly deft)

NO FACE: SELECTED & NEW POEMS by Judith Roitman

NOTES FROM THE DIVIDED COUNTRY, poems by Suji Kwock Kim

THE SOURCE, book-length poem by Noah Eli Gordon (interesting. results from poet's process of reading page 26 of nearly 10,000 books in the Denver Public Library)

* A TOAST IN THE HOUSE OF FRIENDS, poems by Akilah Oliver

* ENJOY HOT OR ICED: POEMS IN CONVERSATION AND A CONVERSATION by Denise Duhamel & Amy Lemmon

THE STRESS OF MEANING, poem by Judith Roitman

THE MIDDLE by Carla Harryman

WHAT THE RAVEN SAID, poems by Robert Alexander

THE URGE TO BELIEVE IS STRONGER THAN BELIEF ITSELF, poems by Erin M. Bertram

BEAT THING, poems by David Meltzer

GOWANUS ATROPOLIS, poems by Julian T. Brolaski

THE RETURN OF THE NATIVE, poems by Kate Colby

PUNISH HONEY, poems by Karen Leona Anderson

100 SCENES, a novel as asemic poetry by Tim Gaze (brilliant!)

THE GIFT OF TONGUES: TWENTY-FIVE YEARS OF POETRY FROM COPPER CANYON PRESS, poetry anthology edited by Sam Hamill

TALISMAN: A JOURNAL OF CONTEMPORARY POETRY AND POETICS, FALL 1988 / THE ALICE NOTLEY ISSUE, edited by Ed Foster

SENTENCE: A JOURNAL OF PROSE POETICS No. 8, edited by Brian Clements

* HOUSE ORGAN, No. 74, Spring 2011, literary zine edited by Kenneth Warren (I so admire the commitment in this project)

GODDESS OF TURNIPS, handmade art/poetry mini-book by Daniel de Culla (muchas gracias, senor en Espana. es muy bonita!)

LIFE's special issue on THE ROYAL WEDDING: PRINCE WILLIAM AND KATE MIDDLETON (don't get on me; Mom picked it up as we were exiting a supermarket cash register....and I ended up reading it while being frustrated in my search for la casa's copy of Machiavelli....yeah, right...)

TAKE THIS BREAD, memoir by Sara Miles

FATAL ERROR, novel by J.A. Jance

IN TOO DEEP, novel by Jayne Ann Krentz

FIRED UP, novel by Jayne Ann Krentz

LONE STAR WINTER, two novels by Diana Palmer

MAIL ORDER BROOD, novel by Arlene James

FINDING HER WAY HOME, novel by Linda Goodnight


WINES
2008 Goldschmidt Crazy Creek Vineyard cabernet
2008 Lassiter Family Vineyards
Travigne house cabernet
2004 Trevor Jones Dry Grown Barossa Shiraz
Casa Lapostolle Sauvignon blanc

SOME BABY POEMS

are cooing for you to coo at them on MOI DESK.

You know, at least one editor of a literary journal has expressed disappointment that I moved away from my "baby poems" to what I've been writing in recent years. Since I never (or try never) to dispute any reaction to my poems, I'll just mention that with a ... chuckle.