RE. THE IRISH IMMIGRATION NARRATIVE...

which is to say, POETS ON THE GREAT RECESSION is fresh with Liam Duffy's contribution! As ever, I welcome more poets' participations....

A POET EDITS WASHINGTON

History is subjective. History is written by victors. History can be a lie. All these are old topics. But none of these imply (recorded) History cannot be redressed.

And it is redressable (is that a word? Nevuh mind, Moi is a Poet...) by education. And it is important that what is learned are not falsehoods. As John Bloomberg-Rissman observes in his participation in the forthcoming POETS ON THE GREAT RECESSION blog,

"The lower the level of education, the more likely a voter is to take seriously racist, sexist, homophobic, anti-science, religiously fanatical, etc etc candidates."

All this is to say, one of the tourist attractions we visited recently was the Memorial to the U.S. Marines. Here's one aspect, the famous coverage of Iwo Jima:



Now, notice the inscriptions beneath the statue. The words refer to all the wars in which Marines have participated. See the reference to the U.S.-Philippine War. They call it the "Philippine Insurrection."

No. Americans: please learn your history. The U.S.-Philippine War was not an "insurrection", which would imply that the Filipinos rebelled against the Americans. The more acccurate term would be "Invasion"--that is, invasion by the United States over the Philippines. That's right, the Philippines already had declared its independence against its prior colonial master Spain. Not only did the Philippines declare its independence, after 300-plus years of colonialism the Filipinos actually had defeated -- that's DEFEATED -- Spain. So it earned its Declaration of Independence. The Philippines was already an independent country.

Then the United States invaded (a lot of money in sugar and coconut in those islands, yah?). And that's how the ex-colony became a colonizer, too.

So. Go ahead. Read this post. And if there were justice in this world (not to mention monies left in the federal budget), that text of "Philippine Insurrection" would be edited to what it actually was and is historically true: "Invasion of the Philippines."

Listen to this Poet who, by the way, donates to the Disabled American Veterans Association (so please don't consider this an unpatriotic rant but an attempt for more Truth).

Hay(na)ku!
Different shit--
Same ol' dawg!

SUPER CEREBELLUM AND OTHER ... CRINGES!

Poof. There go more of moi feathers...! I'm so proud I'm fit to bust! To wit:

Last night Michael's class presented their "Capstone" projects to an audience of parents and friends. These were the final leg of a multi-genre approach to understanding a topic well enough to create several projects around it. For Michael, he chose the topic of what comprises the brain, some positive and negative effects that affects its development, and how alcohol damages the brain. He created a research paper complete with MLA notes (I don't even do MLA notes). Then he taught the brain to a class and made it fun by, after teaching them the brain parts and what it controls, asking the students to create superheroes from brain parts, e.g. Super Cerebellum or stuff like that. He projected drawings of the superheroes on the screen that enlivened what could otherwise have been a hum-drum slide show on what the brain looks like. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL!

Then he presented a short film of himself dissecting a sheep brain! Because a sheep brain is very much like a human brain! We're all sheep! It was ... gross! And all super and lovely at the same time! Here is my Super Son (and now I know why he so wanted to get that t-shirt from the Gap):



Those knees, btw, belong to the head creative honcho of Pixar, a very nice man. Jest sayin'...

Okay, now, proud Mama is left with just one more question: how to dispose of the sheep brain in her refrigerator without El Hijo causing a stink. It's hidden behind the butter dish at the moment so that Mom doesn't cook it by mistake. I've read about this, you know -- having kids' science experiments in the fridge. I feel I've passed yet another major parenting threshold, courtesy of ye olde sheep brain which I did not did not did not want to feel ... until I remembered that I'm a poet and thus supposed to be open to all experiences and so, to my son's delight, I felt said sheep brain ... and it was spongy and cringe-inducing. Just what I needed: more raw material for a spongy and cringe-inducing poem. World, await!

TO WRITE AS GRAVITY

I'm honored that Lantern Review asked me to share a favorite writing "prompt" (writing exercise) as part of their celebration of May as Asian Pacific Islander American Month. In response to their prompt (heee), Moi blathers HERE about how you may write as if you are gravity, or as visually exemplified by this painting!


"Black Lightning" by Theresa Chong

Self as Gravity -- another idea cheerfully concocted by my Type-A insomnia.

GO RICHARD

There's some poets out there trying to max out their cultural capital viz economic commentary. But only one, in my read, has been savvy enough to reference the Glass Steagall Act, specifically its repeal. You go, Richard Lopez!

As for those other poets, they usually make Moi ... laugh.

BASKETBALL AND FLOWERS

Okay: I'm not a soccer mom this year. Instead, I'm a basketball mom. Here's Michael yesterday, in red shorts, at his first practice:



I think I've bragged before that he's a natural athlete. Well, in the few minutes I had a chance to watch him play, he displayed the same speed that made him faboo on the soccer field; for basketball, he enjoys stealing balls.

His only problem is that he can't shoot basketballs into the hoop, which is logical given he didn't really play this sport until a couple of months ago. There's no shortcut to practice, and most of the U.S.-American boys on his team grew up shooting hoops.

Well, fortunately, Mama Moi actually had some wisdom to impart. Yes--ME. Yes--we're still talking about basketball! What you don't know about Moi is that, in 7th grade, I and my good pal Sandy were an undefeated doubles basketball team in the local playground! Yep, we were! It didn't last, however, since I stopped growing and everybody else did to become taller basketball players. I am just a couple of hairs over five feet, fyi.

Anyway, so there I was this evening discussing the concept of a lay-up with Michael, noting how it can be easier to score if one banks the ball against the backboard instead of attempting ... NET! I borrowed one of Achilles' toy balls and banked it against the wall into the nearby laundry basket -- SCORE!!

Michael politely listened to and watched my lesson. Then he turned away to hide what I thought was a smirk that flashed across his face. Ah well...

She brightens up and moves to change the subject: So, speaking of Achilles, here he was this weekend monitoring the florist as the wedding flowers were prepared:



And here was Michael practicing photography on some of the flower decorations:



Well, I'd rather have photographs, after all, of flowers than basketball...as in these final decorated centerpieces, completed with input under Achilles' watchful eye:



Although, I'd like to share, too, one of the most beauteous images I've seen of emptiness. This is a wine decanter that would come to hold the bride's bouquet:



So gorgeous the bride absconded with said decanter (heh). After reading this, no doubt the bride will return it (double heh)... On the other hand, the "theft" shows you probably have good taste after all, notwithstanding your choice for groom!

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!

2009: WHEN MOI = MOM!

PRE-2009: A BOY VISITED AND TOOK OUR HEARTS!


"GOTCHA DAY!"
(Bogota, Colombia, March)


DOGS AND ABUELITA "WELCOME HOME"!


YOSEMITE


SAFARI PARK


DISNEYLAND


WITH JASPER JOHNS' FLAG at SF MOMA


POOLSIDE


WITH COLOMBIAN TUTOR JULIANA


POOLSIDE WITH ACHILLES


FIRST DAY OF FIRST U.S. SCHOOL


SCHOOL PROJECT


SOCCER CHAMP


HALLOWEEN


HALLOWEEN COSTUME


ST. HELENA ALL-STARS


NAPA VALLEY ALL-STARS


AT GIANTS-DODGERS GAME


A FRONTRUNNER


AFTER DECORATING CHRISTMAS TREES


CHESS WITH AJAX & ACHILLES


HAPPY HOLIDAYS!

HALLOWEEN: A POETICS

Meritage Press is featured, along with Momotombo Press, No Tell Books and Omnidawn in an "Indie Publishing" article by Barbara Jane Reyes over at the Poetry Foundation Blog. While I am fine with what I said -- I, after all, said it -- having to summarize Meritage Press (which I consider more to be a project space rather than a print-press) does make me feel a bit in Halloween costume [Pause for a brief pat on back for Moi's timely segue into the current holiday].



To wit, some presses have a vision or goal and they do things to manifest such. Meritage Press has a vision, too, but it's fluid enough to facilitate approaching publishing in the same way I approach the making of a poem, organically with radical flexibility. Which is why I could not have predicted, when I began Meritage Press, how the press would unfold to have done what it has to date (just as I rarely know what my poems will say ahead of their being written).

I don't have the usual submissions-then-assessment/judgement system in Meritage Press. Most of its activities arise organically as a result of at-the-time poetics (meaning, among other things, that much of its projects have ended up being conceptualized and/or commissioned). I'm rarely going to be satisfied with, say, submissions of (finished-ahead-of-Meritage Press' involvement) poetry manuscripts because that process by itself is rarely multi-layered enough to allow the inclusion of other aesthetic/political/cultural elements that far transcend the manifestation of a published book. (In fact, I think, if memory serves correctly, that the only submitted manuscript I've ever published was Bruna Mori's and Matthew Kinney's Derive, which says something about the powerful charm of this collaboration for being plucked offa the transom.

Anyway, speaking of Halloween [Pause for another pat on back and wide grin], our Galatea family is actually commemorating it this year. It falls into the category of previously-ignored activities but which now must have our attention because of our engagement in kid culture. So, this year, our family carved pumpkins for the first time. Yes: first time! That's Michael's first pumpkin up top -- isn't it brilliant!

The hubby had to carve a pumpkin as well in order to show Michael what it is that we U.S.-Americanos do with vegetables when Halloween approaches. Here's the summary photo with Achilles and Gabriela:



If you wish, click on pic for larger image: Don't the holes-instead-of-eyes on moi puppies' faces sorta bespeak Halloween? Whooooo....

Mama Moi proclaims: May yours be scarey...but safe!

MOI "102ND" BOOK

Let’s just forget all this craven watercolor
--John Olson ("The Gob of Agog")

With much thanks to book designer and wind goddess Michelle Bautista, here is the front cover for THE THORN ROSARY: SELECTED PROSE POEMS 1998-2010 (Marsh Hawk Press, Spring 2010):

My first SELECTED is edited with an introduction by poet-painter-critic-scholar Thomas Fink, and features an Afterword by poet-scholar-activist Joi Barrios. I'm grateful for their engagements, and also appreciate Joi's role since her words eliminate all my concerns (which Tom, author of "A DIFFERENT SENSE OF POWER", wisely understands), about being solely contextualized by a white male critic.

The cover image is a photograph of New Orleans by Eric Gamalinda, himself no shirker when it comes to prolificness in poetry, fiction, essays, visual arts, film, translations, et al. 'Twas this all-around Renaissance Man who quipped about moi THORNS, "What is this: your 102nd book?"

Then Eric said other things which made me so happy that presence will adorn my book. After all, he has said this:

The act of poetry involves all the senses, the entire body, the entire mind, and to develop as a poet is to develop body, heart, and mind. Poetry is impossible without this commitment, without this total involvement. The most difficult part about writing a poem is not the writing but the process that leads to it, the process that demands belief, compassion, a sense of hope -- all virtually impossible challenges. All of this takes a lifetime. And at the end of our lifetime, what matters is not what we have written, but what we have become.
--from "+ h E . L a N 9 u A 9 E . 0 f . L / 9 h +"

And isn't Eric's photograph striking and mysterious? That effect -- complete with the unknown Other (back of my head to ya!) -- is something I hoped to achieve in many prose poems. I think I've said before -- in my dreams, my hair is frequently colored blue. I also like that this photograph was not a planned shot -- I think it was a stray street scene that Eric quickly snapped as he was walking by. Poetry is all around us; one just needs to see...

I do wish to thank all the artists who shared their works as possible front cover images to my book. There were more than one image that would have worked and I am sad that only one image could be used.

I hope you will be interested in THE THORN ROSARY. It offers poems that many haven't read before as they include poems from hard-to-find early books and as released in the past twelve years by publishers in the U.S., Philippines, and Finland (love those Radiant Finns!). Thank you Marsh Hawk Press, Anvil Publishing, Giraffe Books, Moria Books, xPress(ed), BlazeVOX [books], and Blue Lion Books.

Last but not least, deep thanks to poet and genius John Olson for some "Advance words" (given John's own poems and approaches, I'm really very grateful):

Tabios is a seamstress of the surreal, combining erudition and art historical references with flourishes of verbal color and surge. She is a generous writer whose enthusiasm for art registers brightly in her energetic conceptions. Propositions make correlative folds in a vividness of amalgamation. Ramifications at the fringe of consciousness thread brocades of textural ardor in a luster of compound interest. Her work (to borrow one of her own phrases) is "a blissful difficulty," a quest akin to threading a letter with a metaphor, a perception with a nerve.

THE TEST OF THE UNCOLLECTED

A side-effect of being so prolific and having had the blessing of interested book publishers (and thank you all) is that I can keep re-testing my assumptions on how to put together a poetry collection. Maybe it was at the tenth or eleventh (or third) or whatever poetry book that I got bored with the constant tinkering of HOW TO ORGANIZE that poetry book. Without at all challenging the wisdom of trying to be disciplined/intelligent with crafting a poetry collection, I've discovered myself less interested in constantly maneuvering a particular poem here, a particular poem there, deleting a poem here, deleting a poem there etcetera -- for me (and I'm just speaking for myself, not other poets), the process has become precious....and tedious.

The paradox (how I love the paradoxes in Poetry) is that once I got relaxed about the whole thing, the nature of poetry reveals itself -- specifically how, like Life, the all of it is interconnected. I recall this debate about how one creates a poetry collection thematically or just as a compilation of individual poems (I've done both). And then there's the approach I tried to take to moi newest book FOOTNOTES TO ALGEBRA -- the deliberate non-approach (though of course that's an approach of sorts, too). I just went through the files to the extent I have "poetry files", yanked out the poems not previously published in a book, and ... put them in book form, Fullstop. I also did this process as rapidly as I could, its hours of organization a deliberate challenge against the days or weeks or months that one could spend mulling over a particular book's formation (I've been there, too). Which leads me to think:

To collect a bunch of uncollected poems is, in a manner of speaking, another test of whether a poet has, as a saying might say, done it right. Does a collection hold together under the random manner in which it was formed? I always suspected that if Poetry is inherently a matter of interconnections (what we Pinoys also call pakikiramdam and what I lately have been calling algebraic as a result of three months of tutoring a 13-year-old boy in four years worth of math), such a book can hold together -- also recall Gertrude Stein's observation (I paraphrase) about how a word arbitrarily placed next to another word will rub together for some unexpected frisson if not generate some meaning. Many poets have written under such an inspiration -- it's not that ambitious, I thought, to create a book on that basis, too.

Well, whether or not I succeeded -- whether or not FOOTNOTES TO ALGEBRA coheres -- is not up for me to say. It's up to you, Dear Reader. So, hopefully, you will read my new book -- INFORMATION HERE. At the moment, it's mostly available through Amazon.com though it should appear in the future at other places like SPD.

(A Special Offer for this Blog's Readers: Email me, at GalateaTen@aol.com, proof that you ordered my new book and I'll send you a free copy of my prior 2009 book, NOTA BENE EISWEIN--slightly dinged copies, thus unsellable by the publisher, but still viable copies.)

*****

FOOTNOTES TO ALGEBRA includes a triptych of poems written during the summer I hung out with Philip Lamantia. These poems, like many of my poems, probably would have evaporated in the ether if Sam Rasnake, had not solicited me for poems in his wonderful Blue Fifth Review (thank you Sam -- many a poet knows that editors matter!). Stumbled across one, which led me to the other two....said Triptych has the only blurb I solicited for this book, from none other than the Ideal Poetry Reader himself, Steven Fama.

And speaking of editors who matter, thanks as well to John Bloomberg-Rissman which took one of the poems in the book to generate 151 multi-genre responses or translations from 47 poets worldwide to create the anthology 1000 Views of "Girl Singing", which is being released (possibly now as we speak) by Leafe Press (U.K.). The anthology should be out soon.

I cite these two examples of the continued algebraic connections Poetry makes possible. May you all experience those connections, too, in loving ways.

THE ALGEBRA COLLECTION

It seems fitting (though personally irritating) that I've been tutoring Michael in math for nearly two months now. Math was never my forte, but I guess I know more (barely) than someone who barely knew subtraction before Moi entered his life. His forthcoming 7th grade's math focus will be pre-algebra.

"Pre-algebra" -- now, that's yet another of those words that literally is unnecessary, ain't it. Poetry teaches that all of Life is inherently algebraic.

In any event...and relatedly, I've been working on finalizing the manuscript for my next book Footnotes to Algebra. As its subtitle will indicate, it collects together "uncollected poems" from 1995-2009 ("uncollected" meaning poems not previously published in earlier books). As I wrote before, this book swiftly jelled after its conceptualization. Which is to say, the book's organization lacks much of the mulling over and editing that often creates a poetry collection as one considers which poem "fits" or not.

But the fast approach (akin to my beloved first draft, last draft) was purposeful. I wanted to test my faith in algebraic affinity -- that these poems would cohere beyond any deliberate organization on my part...just because that's what poems do.

In Poetry, I've found that Faith is always rewarded. I like the book that's come out of this process and hope you will too as it will come out soon. Meanwhile, here's a look at my drafted front cover:



Thanks to book designer Geoffrey Gatza. As for the cover image, this is the acknowledgements for it--thanks John!:

"...a tattoo on the arm of John Bloomberg-Rissman entitled “Secret Life of Angelus Novus (Skinglyph/Twombly View) (Tatt #1)”. A photograph of the tattoo is part of the anthology 1000 Views of “Girl Singing” (Leafe Press, U.K., 2009) featuring responses to, or translations of, Eileen R. Tabios’ poem “The Secret Life of An Angel.” The tattooed text is from Walter Benjamin’s “Über den Begriff der Geschichte” (“On the Concept of History”), Thesis 9. The background is a detail from Cy Twombly’s painting Autunno (no. III of his Quattro Stagioni), taken from the cover of the catalogue to an exhibition at the Tate Modern.

LIST POETRIES

I often begin lists hoping that they ultimately will generate some poetry project (I've also found lists to be a successful manifestation of autobiography without getting all emotionally invested on how to present -- including censor -- autobiography). Some successful list projects appear HERE, HERE, and HERE. I've also had lists that went nowhere, most recently viz a now-defunct blog I'd concocted on the theme of economy-stimulation related spending. Anyway, I just started a new list on the mundane notion of grocery shopping. So, if you nosily want to know what I buy at the grocery store (yes, I naughtily included a donut today), you can go HERE...

...and hopefully some day a poem will result.

JASPER JOHNS POETICS

There is a play in moi ENGLISH Brick entitled "But Seriously, When I Was Jasper Johns' Filipino Lover...". 'Twas a produced play featuring a naked poet, a kali martial-arts sword-wielding poet, and a poet in moi original (now vintage) wedding dress. What it all had to do with Jasper Johns is nothing and everything -- and, certainly, the title was just my homage to an artist whose works have had a profound influence on my poetry.

But things get all seamless...ly unstable, at times, between object and the word(s) attempting to describe said object. Which is all to say, it might also be John Yau's writings on Jasper Johns that have had a profound influence on my poetry. Which is all to say, I am looking forward to A Thing Among Things: The Art of Jasper Johns by John Yau! I have waited for this for years; never was I so sad to hit a book's last page as when I read John's book The United States of Jasper Johns! Go HERE for more information but I'm happy to replicate the publisher D.A.P.'s book description, to wit:

A Thing Among Things: The Art of Jasper Johns
By John Yau

This beautifully illustrated and profoundly original volume of essays by the New York poet and critic John Yau mounts one of the most eloquent defenses of the art and vision of Jasper Johns ever written--going well past tired and traditional Formalist readings of the artist's work to propose a completely new way of reading them: One that is intensely human. Praised by renowned American art historian and critic Jack Flam as, "a brilliantly attentive and original reading of Jasper Johns' work," this volume not only makes many aspects of the artist's work accessible for the first time, but also reveals an emotional tenor to the man whom so many critics have characterized, wrongly, according to Yau, as aloof or hermetic.

Expanding upon the ideas he laid out in The United States of Jasper Johns, published in 1996 by Zoland Books, Yau traces the ways that the artist's work conveys a connection to the common experience--a "sense of life" that encompasses thoughts, memory, consumption, excretion, life, death, time and mortality. Yau's readings of the works are broadened by statements from conversations between the poet and artist that have taken place over the course of the last 30 years. Lending to this sense of intimacy, many of the works collected in this volume come directly from the artist's studio or his private collection, and have rarely been reproduced before. According to Flam, "John Yau focuses his attention on how the artist's pioneering paintings relate to life as it is lived--and on what they tell us about what it means to be mortal and alive in time. Along the way, Yau cuts a much-needed clearing through the tangle of narrowly self-reflexive interpretations that have plagued so much critical writing on Johns' work during the past half century--providing a fresh approach and opening our eyes to Johns' accomplishment in revealing ways. This is a groundbreaking book, written with both precision and passion. It should be read by everyone who cares about modern painting."

John Yau is a poet and critic. He is the author of several books, including The Passionate Spectator: Essays on Art and Poetry, Paradiso Diaspora and Borrowed Love Poems, as well as contributions to monographs and catalogues on Joan Mitchell, Jessica Stockholder, Wifredo Lam and Hiroshi Sugimoto. Since 2004, he has been the Arts Editor of the Brooklyn Rail. He has taught at the University of California, Berkeley, Yale University and the Maryland Institute College of Art, and is currently an Associate Professor of Critical Studies at Mason Gross School of the Arts, Rutgers University. He received a Guggenheim Fellowship in Poetry in 2006-2007.

PUBLISHED BY: D.A.P./Distributed Art Publishers
FORMAT: Hardback, 9 x 7 in. / 208 pgs / 70 color
ISBN: 9781933045627 ISBN10: 1933045620
PUBLICATION DATE: 12/01/2008
AVAILABILITY: Not yet published in the U.S. Retailers may backorder through D.A.P.
Bookseller Price Code: TRADE

That's right: The book is due out on December 1. Seems to me that if you're into holiday gifts, this be a good one. Particularly for yourself!

MY POEM IS BETTER THAN YOURS

I'm pleased to announce that I wrote the Best poem in Issue 1 whose list of "participants" after all is, to quote Ron Silliman, "both long and impressive".

I didn't actually download the issue as it's too big for my landline-constrained e-access here on the mountain. But, nonetheless, I've no doubt that I wrote the best poem in the issue (Someone alert me, please, to what I titled it....if I titled it).

I'm also pleased to see that they didn't include a poem by that poetaster Barack Obama, given that Moi, too, am running for President.

I am less pleased, however, to note a rather significant typo in my great poem. Poetry editors are so lax nowadays. There goes my hope that they have the discrimination to pick my poem for Pisscart Prize nomination...

SIGN OF THE TIMES

I'm back to reading The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times....what's unexpected is that they're not as tediously boring as when I had to read them as a banker*. See how Poetry expands the mind?


(*link amuses me; I just found out about it)

GLOBALIZING POETRY!

Woot! I just received my first order from Belgium for any of my books (that I write or publish), and it's for two from the Tiny Books program! Yes, dears, I live to cover the world with poetry!

Which is to say, here's a reminder that, carpal tunnel syndrome notwithstanding, the Tiny Books series is still available for your pleasure ... all the while feeding the World literally with all proceeds going to the marvelous organization combatting global hunger, Heifer International! So what if Heifer just received $42.8 million from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation! That's a drop when it comes to combatting the need around the world. So, do consider ordering a Tiny Book -- have I mentioned that in your own lifetime, that book will become worth in the thousands?! It's a great nod to your retirement fund!

I'll stop pitching now before it becomes ugly...

THE STAGE INVITES YOUR PRESENCE!

Dear Ones -- An Open Letter:

[Pls Forward]

Folks,
You are all invited to this historic occasion -- at a historic location!

BOOK LAUNCH!

STAGE PRESENCE, CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTISTS!

Saturday, December 15, 3:00PM

Manilatown Center @ the I-Hotel
868 Kearny Street, San Francisco, CA 94108

Come join the celebration for the launching of STAGE PRESENCE: CONVERSATIONS WITH FILIPINO AMERICAN PERFORMING ARTISTS, edited by Theo Gonzalves (San Francisco: Meritage Press, 2007).  This book has been nearly 7 years in the making.

The book features interviews with and essays by Eleanor Academica, Gabe Baltazar Jr., Reme Grefalda, Jessica Hagedorn, Joel Jacinto, Danongan Kalanduyan, Allan S. Manalo, Alleluia Panis, Ralph Pena and Pearl Ubungen, with a special foreword by scholar and musician Ricardo D. Trimillos.

AT THE EVENT: Meet the editor, talk with two of the book's contributor's -- Danny Kalanduyan and Pearl Ubungen -- and get a signed copy as a holiday gift!  Since this is about pinoy performance, of course there'll be some stellar presentations, with a Q&A as required.

Best,
Eileen Tabios
Publisher, Meritage Press

P.S. For those who can't attend, the book may be ordered HERE.

HOW POETRY CAN MAKE ME MISS WALL STREET

My interactions in the poetry world these past few days have been particularly mired in the ever-shifting and consistently-irritating swamp of the ineffable (hint: I've been engaged in some identity poetics/politics). So I was primed to receive this group spam, which also illustrates why maneuvering Moi way in the "poetry world" often makes me miss Wall Street. There is something quite refreshing with dealing with bottom line-oriented Peeps that habituate the business or business-y world, particularly after the various fluctuations inherent in poetry and among its practitioners. To wit, I am happy to share this tale from moi older brother -- Puwetry, sometimes, I wish you'd cut to the chase as indicated by the respondent below:

THIS APPEARED ON CRAIG'S LIST:

What am I doing wrong?
Okay, I'm tired of beating around the bush. I'm a beautiful (spectacularly beautiful) 25 year old girl. I'm articulate and classy. I'm not from New York . I'm looking to get married to a guy who makes at least half a million a year. I know how that sounds, but keep in mind that a million a year is middle class in New York City , so I don't think I'm overreaching at all.

Are there any guys who make 500K or more on this board? Any wives? Could you send me some tips? I dated a business man who makes average around 200 - 250. But that's where I seem to hit a roadblock. 250,000 won't get me to central park west. I know a woman in my yoga class who was married to an investment banker and lives in Tribeca, and she's not as pretty as I am, nor is she a great genius. So what is she doing right? How do I get to her level?

Here are my questions specifically:

- Where do you single rich men hang out? Give me specifics- bars, restaurants, gyms

-What are you looking for in a mate? Be honest guys, you won't hurt my feelings

-Is there an age range I should be targeting (I'm 25)?

- Why are some of the women living lavish lifestyles on the upper east side so plain? I've seen really 'plain jane' boring types who have nothing to offer married to incredibly wealthy guys. I've seen drop dead gorgeous girls in singles bars in the east village. What's the story there?

- Jobs I should look out for? Everyone knows - lawyer, investment banker, doctor. How much do those guys really make? And where do they hang out? Where do the hedge fund guys hang out?

- How you decide marriage vs. just a girlfriend? I am looking for MARRIAGE ONLY

Please hold your insults - I'm putting myself out there in an honest way. Most beautiful women are superficial; at least I'm being up front about it. I wouldn't be searching for these kind of guys if I wasn't able to match them - in looks, culture, sophistication, and keeping a nice home and hearth.

* it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests

PostingID: 432279810


THE ANSWER:

Dear Pers-431649184:
I read your posting with great interest and have thought meaningfully about your dilemma. I offer the following analysis of your predicament. Firstly, I'm not wasting your time, I qualify as a guy who fits your bill; that is I make more than $500K per year. That said, here's how I see it.

Your offer, from the prospective of a guy like me, is plain and simple a cr@ppy business deal. Here's why. Cutting through all the B.S., what you suggest is a simple trade: you bring your looks to the party and I bring my money. Fine, simple. But here's the rub, your looks will fade and my money will likely continue into perpetuity...in fact, it is very likely that my income increases but it is an absolute certainty that you won't be getting any more beautiful!

So, in economic terms you are a depreciating asset and I am an earning asset. Not only are you a depreciating asset, your depreciation accelerates! Let me explain, you're 25 now and will likely stay pretty hot for the next 5 years, but less so each year. Then the fade begins in earnest. By 35 stick a fork in you!

So in Wall Street terms, we would call you a trading position, not a buy and hold...hence the rub...marriage. It doesn't make good business sense to "buy you" (which is what you're asking) so I'd rather lease. In case you think I'm being cruel, I would say the following. If my money were to go away, so would you, so when your beauty fades I need an out. It's as simple as that. So a deal that makes sense is dating, not marriage.

Separately, I was taught early in my career about efficient markets. So, I wonder why a girl as "articulate, classy and spectacularly beautiful" as you has been unable to find your sugar daddy. I find it hard to believe that if you are as gorgeous as you say you are that the $500K hasn't found you, if not only for a tryout.

By the way, you could always find a way to make your own money and then we wouldn't need to have this difficult conversation.

With all that said, I must say you're going about it the right way. Classic "pump and dump."

I hope this is helpful, and if you want to enter into some sort of lease, let me know.

I really enjoyed this! Bottom-line Poetics rule!

MOI NEXT GIGS MAY BE THE LAST

If you scroll down the left-hand column of Moi blog, you'll see a summary of forthcoming gigs. Pencil them in, Peeps. When this CONJURATION goes through, it's likely I won't be doing any more readings after 2007. As Poet, I evaporate...

All to make Moi an even more rarefied event than s/he already is. Sip. From the Golden Chalice of Poetry...