"OH GOOD: MOI CAN CONTINUE TO DEGENERATE..."

for some reason, was one of my initial responses to Barry Schwabsky's contribution to a celebration of the 90th birthday of his teacher, Daniel Hoffman, over HERE. 

A more important reaction was my thought of how complicated it can be to teach/model compassion ... and I'm glad Mr. Hoffman was successful with Mr. Schwabsky. 

I once wrote to Mr. Hoffman.  He replied.  Utterly gracious of him.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Daniel Hoffman.

And Barry Schwabsky?  Bless you, dear ...

Oh, and Jose Garcia Villa?  Calm down: you know I love you.

CHARLES BUKOWSKI-ISH

Ahhhh....those Bukowski imitations.  A genre all its own, yah?  Grab a beer and go giggle snort over HERE!

CARLOS VILLA MEMORIAL

More details forthcoming but venue details available now over HERE.

POETRY SEEDS FROM POEMS-FOR-ALL!

Oh joy!  I received 38 -- yes, THIRTY-EIGHT!!!!! -- mini-books today in the mail for SitWithMoi's "Books on Chairs" project!  Here's a photo (I added a 39th by Ed Baker as his book comes from the same series):

These gems are from the wonderful poetry project, Poems-For-All curated by Richard Hansen.  Thanks, Richard, for the gift!

The group includes some unexpected gems.  Like, I was going to make a mini-book (using a Sixteen Rivers catalogue) over "16th & VALENCIA" by San Francisco poet lariat Alejandro Murgula.  But PFA beat me to it, which is okay and just illustrates how great minds (can) think alike!  I also noticed some "Rimbaud poems" by Sean Finney which I would end up publishing in Sean's first poetry book, THE OBEDIENT DOOR!  What a small world, a mini-world!

Anyway, please remember that you, too, are invited to SitWithMoi's "Books on Chairs" project!

CARLOS VILLA, R.I.P.

Manong and Tata, it was an HONOR.

R.I.P.

AND THEN THERE'S ALCHEMY

... and so I'm reading THE GRAND PIANO by reading one poet at a time through his/her contributions in the series' ten volumes. The idea is, if I'm moved to do so after the individual reads, to then compare this type of reading with reading each volume as published in order to determine the significance of "collective autobiography," the terms upon which the project presents itself to the world. The fifth poet I read (after Lyn Hejinian, Ron Silliman, Tom Mandel and Bob Perelman) is Kit Robinson.

By the way, I'm not reading the poets in any particular order. It's the advantage (and I do consider it an advantage here) of not knowing any of THE GRAND PIANO poets, though I've met (and read) with Ron Silliman.

So, Kit Robinson. I respond with AWE. From his first word, I was just bowled over. There is a huge amount of charisma in his prose. Except for his contributions in Volume 8 (which was good but felt flatter than the other nine volumes), I just felt like his prose was as PURRRRR-FECT as prose writing could be. Such effortless elegance. Not a single word felt unnecessary, which is something one usually says about poetry rather than prose. Especially the first few volumes -- the writing was just so smooth (gads: I'm trying to remember that male jazz singer who sings, for me, exactly the way this writing seems to me ... ah well, I'll come back and note it when I remember). Frankly, at the end of Volume 10 I wished the series consisted of a hundred volumes (a thousand!) just so I could keep reading Kit Robinson's contributions.

Indeed, the quality of his prose was such that he could pull off (from Volume 5) something like the following paragraph which, in the hands of less masterful prose writers, would come off as just ridiculous with that ending:

Later, when "Song" was published in "Bob's Talks book, Ted Berrigan told me that Alice Notley had asked him what I was trying to say and Ted told her, "He's just having some fun." Which was both true and undoubtedly false. It's a tossed bag, which is OK with me, as I naturally incline to the incidental. Or as Ahni said once in regard to another context (the war in Bosnia), "Everything pure is weak."

In the above paragraph, the parenthetical of "the war in Bosnia" (and despite it being a parenthetical) should have struck a false note. But it doesn't in the context of Kit Robinson's writing. (Reminds me of how Ron Silliman aptly observed that the same words -- "brat guts" etc. (I recalled it as "bratwurst" at first) -- would mean different things if penned by different writers.)

And: his contribution to Volume 1. There's something impressive he pulled off in there that I can't yet fully describe. Was it related to the lack of names of various key protagonists (which then ironically-but-in-a-delicious-way contrasted with the various "I"s due to the "I remember..." aspects of his contribution to Volume 2)?

Anyway, I'd not paid much attention to Kit Robinson before though I notice I have one of this books in my library. After THE GRAND PIANO, I'm a fan.

Still, I will say that I was left a tad flat by some of the poems he cited within his prose contributions. I felt like -- in light of his magnificent prose -- those poems are mostly (though not all) exercises ... for the poems he has yet to write. I apologize in advance for being presumptuous now, but I feel like he should embrace lyricism as a gift as it seems to me he possesses that gift? Anyway, how old is this dude? I hope he's got decades left to live. I'd like to read his future poems.

This brief post doesn't do any justice to Kit Robinson's contributions to THE GRAND PIANO (I keep yammering about writing form and haven't even addressed his substantive content!). Well, none of my prior posts do justice really to the contributions of the other poets I've so far read. But it's the first time I feel bad about my fragmentary blog postings on this series. I apologize -- but hope I do succeed in conveying what I hope will be your takeaway from reading this post: a huge enthusiasm for Kit Robinson's contribution for a fineness that I generally associate with deeply-held intelligence held internally instead of released to the "noisy" and noisily-social universe where its dilution would prevent alchemy.

MINI GRATITUDE WITH A MAXI HEART

Whenever the world sends JOY moi way, I am always grateful.  THANK YOU.

RON SILLLIMAN IS GRAND

I used to have 9 billion peeps.  I now officially have 10 billion peeps as my readership apparently rose from my less-than-scholarly notations on THE GRAND PIANO.  Whatever.  That's the internet.  But one thing I'd like to note -- one Peep interpreted my post on Ron Silliman's contributions as less than complimentary.  I want to note for the record that I thought Ron's contributions are absolutely ... grand. 

That is, I was posting on what I perceived to be his equanimic writing style and my emotional bounce off of such, not quality of writing, when I graphed his contribution out as

So I suppose I should clarify that graph -- a more accurate graph would be the same linear profile but with a baseline, as follows:

See how high my reading profile is above that baseline?  That's high quality writing, in other words. So to the Peep who said he felt "more highs than lows" in Ron's contributions, I agree.  Indeed, as I write this post, I can't recall a single "low" (or "lull") in Ron's writings therein...

I know, meanwhile: The GraphMakers of the World Are Uniting Against Moi!  C'est la vie...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MICHAEL!!!

I can't believe I'm Mom to a 17-year-old!!!  Here's Michael before he opens his birthday presents, pretending to be a surly advocate of his beloved VANS:

Moi hearts my surly son!

GALATEA RESURRECTS

The deadline for submitting reviews for the next issue of Galatea Resurrects is April 10.  I'm likely to extend it for a week or two.  But this is to remind those with review copies that the deadline is impending.  And to note to us all that I keep getting wonderful review copies -- list is over HERE -- and would love to hear from more reviewers!

THE OPPOSITE OF RICHARD SERRA

I'm reading THE GRAND PIANO by reading one poet at a time through his/her contributions in the series' ten volumes. The idea is, if I'm moved to do so after the individual reads, to then compare this type of reading with reading each volume as published in order to determine the significance of "collective autobiography," the terms upon which the project presents itself to the world. The fourth poet I read (after Lyn Hejinian,Ron Silliman and Tom Mandel) is Bob Perelman.

Okay (and I'm sure I'll be kicking myself in the future for writing this in public, but ...) Bob Perelman. How to articulate my reactions to his contributions....okay, picture a circle. Make that a circle fashioned from a circular band of metal -- like if Richard Serra did a closed circle sculpture. Now, picture Bob Perelman standing within the circle. Then, picture him reciting or talking out the words he contributed to THE GRAND PIANO. If you happened to be within this close circle, his words would be of interest. If you were outside this circle -- as I feel I am -- his words mostly create walls before the (this) reader ...

I don't know if Serra has ever created a closed circle. The sculptures I've seen by Serra always had openings so one can circle his sculptures, rather than that his sculptures would enclose you. But the circle I envision a la Perelman presents no such openings for a stranger to enter.

What do I mean by closed circle? Well, I'm not actually referring to, say, the circle of his cohorts, e.g. other Language poets. I'm talking about his prose. Any subject can be welcoming if the prose is interestingly-written. The problem -- and indeed the problem may be Moi rather than his writings -- is that I found his prose deadening. The prose is instructional but so is an instruction manual.

Actually, to be fair or more specific, I've been talking about 8 out of 10 contributions by Perelman. The exceptions to my feeling put-off would be his contribution to Volume 1 which is worthy of being the first of the first to begin the series -- it's relatively (and delightfully) succinct and it's hard not to be charmed by love. I also enjoyed much of his contribution to Volume 9--those engagements with David Bromige.

But I'm sorry to say that Perelman's contributions are the first (among the four poets I've read) that would make me not wish to re-read the ten volumes as individual volumes. Having said that, I suspect that his individual contributions might be elevated by being read in the company of the nine others since so much of what he writes refers to their shared contexts. Nonetheless, the idea of re-reading his insomnia-curing contributions does elicit the thought: Isn't life too short for such when there are so many things one has not yet tried?

AWED OVER THIS AWESOME ANTICS!

Reading THE GRAND PIANO, for me, also elicits more awe at another project: ANTIC VIEW by Allen Bramhall and Jeff Harrison. These guys have been discussing poetry on blog since 2005. The ambition. The commitment. The love. The helplessness. All for Poetry.


These guys get it.  And got it.

To witness is to be humbled ... and blessed.

TOM MANDEL'S EYES

So I'm reading THE GRAND PIANO by reading one poet at a time through his/her contributions in the series' ten volumes. The idea is, if I'm moved to do so after the individual reads, to then compare this type of reading with reading each volume as published in order to determine the significance of "collective autobiography," the terms upon which the project presents itself to the world.  So the third poet I read (after Lyn Hejinian and Ron Silliman) is Tom Mandel.

Tom Mandel. When I was just beginning my attempts at poetry -- in my first year perhaps so this could be 1996/7 -- I stumbled across a poem by a poet named Tom Mandel. That poem -- I don't recall its title now -- it could have been in the prose poem form of a single paragraph -- had such an intense effect on me that I wrote a poem inspired by it (which then was published in a small journal whose title -- my poem or journal -- I also have forgotten). I adored -- nay, I loved/love -- that Tom Mandel poem. Long after my memory can't retain its words, my memory holds dear the affection it bore in me for it. 

Also, since that poem, I haven't had much occasion to notice/read Tom Mandel so I was more curious than normal to read of him.

And yes o yes, Tom Mandel's contribution to Volume 5 is just fi...i...ine. It has all the luminosity of the poem I've forgotten but whose impact I still feel. It's also sweet. Lovely lovely Volume 5 writing by Tom Mandel.

As for his contributions to the other nine volumes? Well, I guess I have to say that I'm understanding some of the criticism that's apparently been levied by others on The Grand Piano (yes dears, I've received backchannel some links to what others have written on The Grand Piano -- why are you sending these? Do you think it'd affect my read? Tsk. Do you not know of the insult you are showing my intelligence if you do believe that? Anyway...). Specifically, I found myself in a kind of wait-mode for the first four volumes -- of course, Volume 5 was worth the wait. But then, except for one moment which I describe below, I read through the rest of his contributions in Vol. 6-10 with some impatience ... I mean, one had to be really interested, it seems to me, in Tom Mandel to find them interesting ... and that's coming from someone who was so impressed by one particular poem that I was curious about him.

Anyway, nuff of that. Suffice it to say that because of Volume 5, I just bought Tom Mandel's book, Realism (Burning Deck). It was published in 1990 and I'm hoping the poem I first read by him is in it, and/or its poem-peers will evoke a similar passion to how I responded to that first poem I read by him...

Oh, wait -- there is that one moment in his contribution to Volume 8 worth noting (by Moi to Moi). Tom Mandel begins his contribution with:

On the train home, we sat across a table in the cafe car and I said, "I'm having trouble getting started on number 8; what should I write about?" "All there is to write about is sex and death," Ron [Silliman] replied. His eyes moved through some pain to a moment of impassive humor. I've often thought that I would write an essay on my friends' eyes. Yet, no matter the angle from which I view my own eyes in a mirror, they show me nothing--that is, I can see that they are looking at me, but no more. They are in the way of self-knowledge.

Three responses to the above -- it's an intriguing topic and I'd love to see what Tom or any other fine writer might essay about such. Secondly, this brief passage shows how well this Dude can write when he's on.  Thirdly, that note about Ron's eyes moving "through some pain to a moment of impassive humor"--that "impassive"-ness, I wonder/feel, relates to what I was calling "equanimity" in my earlier write-up on Ron's contributions. I don't know if I'm right or, even if I'm right, what that would mean.  Possibly, I would know what such would mean (for me in terms of my private project on how an observer observes and then re-observes), if I actually began reading more of Ron's books instead of leaving them on my To-Read-Shelf.

So much to do; so little time ...

CUBIST POETICS

I'm sitting with David Hockney and Picasso over HERE, relishing the relationship to poetry.  You're invited to come over!

ON RON SILLIMAN'S ... EQUIPOISE (?)

I'm reading -- and misreading -- THE GRAND PIANO by reading one poet through his/her contributions in the series' ten volumes. The second poet I'm reading (after Lyn Hejinian) is Ron Silliman. I don't know if I'll post reading notes on all the poets but when I do, please note these are notes just for moi own porpoises versus for some sort of critique, review or what-not. Or, I should say, my critical attention is not the same as yours/others (nor should it be).

Anyway, to Ron Silliman: by the time I've read Ron's contributions through the first four volumes, I'm noticing (many things but am talking now only about the facet of) an equanimity across his writings ... here's actually a graph I scratched out over how I bounced (or not) off Ron's contribution:

For some reason, I wasn't expecting this thing I'm calling "equanimity" -- but that's what I gleaned and such made me wonder if it results from how one has looked back often and considered at length something in history (including one's history). So that by the time Ron as writer pens his words, he brings to his writing less of the ruminating process ... and more the fully-formed thoughts ... which generally (not necessarily specifically to Ron) can be such slippery slopes (these fully-formed thoughts) as one engages in autobiography ...

... this impression, which I'm not yet articulating well, may have more to do with me than Ron's writing, of course. (I note it here tho to file something niggling at me about the cleansing effect of distance that affects the energy level of the writing. But I'm doing a parenthetical here as I have to think more about this ... )

But let me go for now to the spikes in the graph above -- the spikes here symbolize emotional engagement on moi part. My first emotional reaction to Ron's contributions came towards the end of Vol. 5 when he wrote this very intelligent paragraph:

"I can imagine every poet associated with The Grand Piano, plus quite a few others, having written Instead of ant wort I saw brat guts. Which is to say that I can envision a place in the writing of each in which this sentence becomes necessary. In every instance, however, it would mean something quite different. Those words in a poem by Ron Padgett would carry a different weight than they would in a work by Linh Dinh, Elizabeth Willis, or Bruce Andrews. What those differing meanings might be is what concerns me most."

Yes, I responded as regards those "differing meanings" by the same words. Yes, I thought intensely. It may be an old story by now but, still, I reacted: Yes.

There's a second higher spike there re Vol. 6 which I'll get to below. For now, let me just say that the graph shows that I most enjoyed Vols. 9 and 10. As an "ending," they are open-ended. It shows him open/ing to the world, which I vaguely recall was one of his goals as stated earlier in his contributions. And that "ending" occurred just as Ron launched his famous and infamous blog.

**

So, as to that second spike mid-way through the volumes and my reading? Well, it happened in Volume 6. I'm not entirely sure how it happened -- maybe I turned 2 pages instead of 1 -- but somehow I ended up towards the end of Ron's Vol. 6 contribution "continuing" my read onto the pages of the next contributor who happened here to be Steve Benson. So I was very surprised to be reading that Ron came out as a gay man in 1976 -- I didn't know that! -- and was avidly reading more ... until I realized, this wasn't Ron Silliman anymore. And here is what's interesting (to me about me): the revelation that I turned the pages erroneously and Ron wasn't the gay man didn't strike me as strongly as realizing, Oh, that's why the writing style here (in Steve Benson's) did not have the same equanimity as before ...

**

May 23 Update/Clarification over HERE.

GOT AWOKEN TO A REVIEW!

THE AWAKENING... just got a review in Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene.  Thanks to reviewer Zvi Sesling -- who sums up my book by quoting Bette Davis, "Fasten your seatbelt you're in for a bumpy ride." Hey: why not?!

Hope you wake up to moi latest book...!

"O HELPLESS FEW IN MY COUNTRY"... AS REGARDS CURSIVE!

Well, now.  I surely did not expect that this evening, as I drove El Hijo home from school, that he would be declaiming an Ezra Pound poem -- "The Rest":  O helpless few in my country / O remnant enslaved! ... etcetera!  He likes this poem, he sez, which made moi day.

This was all in preparation for tonight's homework -- Michael and his classmates are charged with writing out a poem in cursive, which apparently put his entire English class in fright as ... who among these texters handwrite nowadays! 

Then, after handwriting the poem, they're supposed to give brief analyses.

So of course I said I'm pleased he's doing Ezra Pound.  But he replied, "Do you know this poet Dad was talking about?  Robert something?  Dad said I should check him out."

I didn't have to be a genius to reply, "Robert Frost?"

"Yes," said the son.  "Does Dad have one of his books in the library?"

Dad?  Dad?  Who's the poet here?  I swallowed back my irritation and calmly said, "I'll help you find the book."  Well of course I found the book -- it is in MY, MY, MY poetry library!

He's just like the rest of the furry animals -- privileging the Hubby because he's not around the house as much as I am.  Sheeesh.

Anyway, to make a long story short, yes, he's writing his poem on "The Road Not Taken."  Sigh.  Speaking of sighs, Frost uses that word "sigh" in the poem and I had to explain what that meant.  By sighing.

I did wish he focused on Pound instead because, as I told Michael exaggeratedly, "Every high school student writes on that Robert Frost poem!"

Michael looked at me and said, "Uh, no.  My classmates never heard of it ..."

Ah, yes.  I've forgotten about Prop 13's effect on public school education.  Anyway, so Michael's writing on that poem ...

...and, I suppose, it's just as well.  You see, experts say it takes someone 5-7 years to master "academic language" in a new language.  Michael will end his 4th year in English next week when he turns 17.  So.  Robert Frost it is ... and, actually, I will be the first to concede that as someone who introduces poetry, Mr. Frost acquits himself very well.

Indeed, I hadn't read "The Road Not Taken" in years.  Looking at it this evening, I realize I'd forgotten how wonderful a poem it is.  Mr. Frost -- to ye, I bow.

P.S.  I just helped Michael begin writing the poem in cursive.  It took three minutes for him to handwrite "The".  "Yes," I affirmed to him, "Try to connect the letters..." Oy vey -- it is going to be a long night.

LYN HEJINIAN HAD ME EVEN BEFORE THE WORD "LOVE"

I've been and am interested in The Grand Piano because of its described structure as a "collective autobiography." Ten different authors. Ten volumes. I had anticipated reading each volume as it was released but, after the first volume, failed to kept up. Now, I have all ten volumes at once.

I had no intention to do so, but this evening, I read through all of Lyn Hejinian's contributions in Volumes 1-10. No intention, I say, because I ended up caught in her contribution -- for me, they were page-turners and suddenly I was going through Volumes 2, 3, 4, 5 .... thought to pause after Vol. 5 coz it was late, then thought, what the heck, and continued on through to Volume 10. A very satisfactory read with an (to me) unexpected "ending" (Vol. 10) in what narrative thread I was threading through Volumes 1-9. I really need to re-read her contributions again. But on first read, my most powerful engagement was probably with Vol. 3 when she pissed me off -- well, not she; perhaps it's more accurate to say, I got pissed off (rather than she pissed me off) -- because something she wrote triggered several extremely uncomfortable memories I have as regards my mother. This is all just a testament, of course, to the power of her writing.

Oh, and there was another incident noted in Vol. 3 where two of the male poets asked her if she'd read this other author and she'd felt the question to be a "test" .... I get this. I know this. While not proposing acrimony, I am reminded of several conversations with males and male poets, including one with an older, male poet wherein, at one point, I told him, "You do not know more than I do. I simply know different things from what you know."

Anyway, I think I'm going to continue to read The Grand Piano this way -- i.e., each poet indivually. Then, depending on how I respond to what I've read, I might read the books the way the authors (I assume) intended, a volume at a time so as to get that "collective autobiography" point of view. Because the structure interests me and I want to see what's in that comparison of reading them individually vs collectively.

Huh. As it turns out, I think it's just as well (for me) that I ended up waiting to read The Grand Piano until all volumes were released.

MOI BUYS POETRY ... FOR FODDER

Thanks to an earlier Ron Silliman announcement (I think on Facebook; Ron is one of only 12 of my friends as I only joined FB to monitor my son ... then I decided to friend Ron coz I was bored of teen knuckleheadedness on my Timeline), I picked up the Grand Piano Series for $75 -- a good enough deal to move the topic from the horizon to the under-my-nose spot for attention. I'd bought and read the first volume when it just came out but then failed to keep up as Life interfered. Anyway, it arrived all bundled up from Lyn Hejinian, one of the poets in the series. And now it's sitting, complete with its packaging material, on one of my kitchen counters like so:

I keep looking at the still life. I kinda have this hankering to create a mini-book from the packaging. I've done so before (and did it again on another mini-book that I've yet to blog about). As I write this, I'm wondering how to do a book cover that won't be ... brown. The other two mini-books' covers also rely on brown pieces of paper. Can't people send mail in scarlet or lavender?

Anyway, let Moi huddle with the Muse. They should be able to do something ... especially if they'd actually read the rest of the books (hah: what an idea!) ...

***

...and this all reminds me to do another update on my Recently Bought Poetry List, to wit:

THE RESERVOIR by Donna Stonecipher

BOUGH BREAKS by Tamiko Beyer

FLUX, CLOTH & FROTH, Vol. 1 (text) by John Bloomberg-Rissman

FLUX, CLOTH & FROTH, Vol. 2 (notes to poems) by John Bloomberg-Rissman

THE GRAND PIANO: AN EXPERIMENT IN COLLECTIVE AUTOBIOGRAPHY, SAN FRANCISCO 1975-1980, Volumes 1-20, by Rae Armantrout, Steve Benson, Alan Bernheimer, Carla Harryman, Lyn Hejinian, Tom Mandel, Ted Pearson, Bob Perelman, Kit Robinson, Ron Silliman and Barrett Watten,

FRAGILE REPLACEMENTS by William Allegrezza

UNPROTECTED TEXTS (SELECTED POEMS 1978-2006) by Tom Beckett

BLOOD SISTER, I AM TO THESE FIELDS: NEW AND SELECTED POEMS by Linda Hussa

Onward!

ARSENIC LOBSTER AND MORE!

Gave two visitors yesterday a tour of Moi's mini-chair/mini-book museum and they were … awed. Tee-Hee. So, curating that museum’s collection of course is taking up much of my time. But I still manage to read non-mini books, and here then is the latest update of my Recently Relished W(h)ine List below. As ever, please note that in the Publications section, if you see an asterisk before the title, that means a review copy is available for Galatea Resurrects! More info on that HERE.



PUBLICATIONS
COUNTERPART, poems by Elizabeth Robinson (Wow: powerful stuff. I think it’s my favorite book of hers yet … and no doubt will be one of my favorite poetry reads for 2013—it’s sumthin’ that I say that and it’s only early March!)

YRTEMMYS & OTHER POEMS by Edric Mesmer (it’s not unusual sometimes to respond to a poem(s) by saying it’s difficult to understand; but with these poems, which I MUCH ENJOYED, I (also) had the reaction: these poems were difficult to make! All the more kudos to the poet!)

WORK FROM MEMORY. Poetry by Dan Beachy-Quick and Matthew Goulish (excellent!)

* POKING THROUGH THE FABRIC OF THE LIGHT THAT FORMED US: SONGS AND STORIES TO READ IN THE MIRROR, poems by Lora Bloom (laden with charisma)

*  KEPT WOMEN, poems by Kate Durbin (a fabulous deadpan-ness …)

CATASTROPHE THEORY, poems by Susan Yount (energetic and quirky in a good way. a bouncy read)

HANDBOOK FOR WITHDRAWAL, poetry by Erin Virgil (fabulous! go to link)

MINI BOOK, poem by Susan Yount (fabulous! go to link)

THE AUCTION, poem by Aileen Ibardaloza (fabulous! go to link)

LUCK, poem by Charles Bukowski (killer elegiac)

SANCTA, poems by Andrew Grace

3 CAST AFTER BASINSKI, poems by Nava Fader

3 FORMS, poems by Marten Clibbens

GALLOWGLASS, poems by Susan Tichy

OVERPASS, poems by Steve Davenport

* TRAMPS EVERYWHERE, poems by Amina Cain

* FRIED CHICKEN DINNER, poems by Janice Lee

* FUR BIRDS, poems by Michelle Detorie

* SACRILEGION, poems by L. Lamar Wilson

* SAY THAT, poems by Felecia Caton Garcia

* SOLECISM, poems by Rosebud Ben-Oni

* JACK LONDON IS DEAD: CONTEMPORARY EURO-AMERICAN POETRY OF HAWAI’I (AND SOME STORIES), Edited by Susan M. Schultz (a surprising-that-shouldn’t-be-surprising, and pleasing, calmness underpinning this project. A refreshing calmness…)

ARSENIC LOBSTER: POETRY JOURNAL 2013 edited by Susan Yount (I liked every single on of its 52 poems—a treat!)

ECCOLINGUISTICS 2.1, literary journal edited by Jared Schickling (fabulous zine)

YELLOW FIELD 7, literary and arts zine edited by Eric Mesmer (fabulous, as always. So present!)

ON A CLEAR DAY, art monograph by/on Max Gimblett (with one of the best monograph essays I’ve ever read -- this, by another artist, Matt Jones)

CHAIRMANIA: FANTASTIC MINIATURES by George M. Beylerian

CLEAN, novel by Alex Hughes

THE BLACK BOX, novel by Michael Connelly

THE PANTHER, novel by Nelson DeMille

THE LION, novel by Nelson DeMille

TOUCH & GO, novel by Lisa Gardner


WINES
2010 Laura Hartwig cabernet reserva Colchagua Valley
2009 Tarima Hill monastrell Alicante
2009 Dancing Hares cabernet NV
2008 Birbanera Amantis Montecucco Rosso
2010 Layer Cake cabernet
2010 Tres Picos Borsao garnacha
2010 Catena cabernet High Mountain Vines
2009 Domaine De La Janasse Terre D’Argile Cotes Du Rhone

KILLER ELEGIAC

Charles Bukowski joins the SitWithMoi Line-Up!


Yep, got a little sumthin'-sumthin' for everyone ...

And you really should check out Bukowski's poem "Luck" -- it's killer elegiac.

MOI SECOND ENCYCLOPEDIA

If you know I've written books called "BRICK" as well as "SON OF A BRICK!" (by my publisher's very forgiving managing editor-heh), you shouldn't be surprised to know that I also toss off write encyclopedias.  The first draft of my first encyclopedia took me about 16 years to complete (with tinkering on that first draft, it should take more than two decades to get to the final draft). 

However.  It took but six minutes to create my second encyclopedia.  Curious?  Then GO HERE for details. Granted, it's only eight volumes.

Not to worry, my first encyclopedia -- once released -- will have the ability to sink a shipping tanker ...

THE EMPTY CHAIR =====> POETRY

Of course it was always Moi intent for SitWithMoi to simply be a new way to generate and/or discuss poetry.  AS IS THE CASE HERE with my cohort-in-crime, poet and engineer S.S. Prasad.  Recommended reading for any poetry lover...

ONE OF MOI 9 BILLION PEEPS COMMENTED

recently at -- and about -- SitWithMoi:

Eileen, what a wonderful past time to make beautiful little mini books and then share them page by page on your Moi blog. Luuuhhhhv it. In this day and age when electronic books and blogs are becoming more and more popular, it's nice of you to make, hold, read and share, here online, your hand made, hand held mini books

Yes, and I replied that what's great about the internet is its ability to share information about one-of-a-kind projects, like the mini-books. 

Anyway, talk about doing it slant.  I created that blog to focus on a mini-chair collection.  It will continue that focus but, so far, its more popular facet seems to be "Books on Chairs."  Well, click on the link for your invitation to participate!

Here's a running tally so far for BOC's Library-in-Progress.  It's a great link -- often showing how each mini-book is made.  Such sheer Joy!

THE 4TH ALLEGREZZA MULTIPLE

Well, I wondered in a previous post how next William Allegrezza shall multiply!  And yesterday's snailmail prolvided the answer!  To wit:

That's right!  Believe moi hand and ruler!  Bill sent over five -- FIVE! -- mini-books for SitWithMoi's "Books on Chairs" project!  Not expecting that bounty, I was absolutely (what's a phrase I never use?) gobsmacked!  That's right: gobsmacked! 

But thank you, Bill.  And do please notice how all of his books use a single staple binding.  Which is to say, it need not be complicated to create a mini-book and avail yourself of Moi invitation HERE!

Do join the Party!  So far, Ed Baker, John and Kathy Bloomberg-Rissman, Tom Beckett, Susan Yountz, Aileen Ibardaloza, Erin Virgil, the Holy Bible (thrice), Marton Koppany, jim mccrary, Marthe Reed, Alice Brody, Leny M. Strobel, Jennnifer Donovan, artist Cynthia, Ten Thousand Villages in Bangladesh, Elizabeth Marraffino and Jukka-Pekka Kervinen have joined the avatars for my dead grandmother, my live brother, my dead mother, the restaurant Coi, Joanne Kyger, Eleni Sikelanios, Juliet Cook, Perla Paredes Daly, among many many others.  Doesn't this sound like a party to crash? 

But no need to crash!  You are invited!  To Sit With Moi ...

... and the vino is always excellent!

I CALL POETS "BORING"

over HERE WHERE I SIT. 

After all, Moi's got nothing better to do ...

Yawn ...