Poetry News:

1. — Much closer to home, Wingard also doesn’t know who puts the shells on H.D.’s grave; he guesses it can only be fans who know her work —
2. — ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘The Iliad’ are giving up new secrets about the ancient world —
3. — There is a long tradition of poems written in response to paintings —
4. — Manchester University’s John Rylands Library will be digitising much of its renowned collection of medieval manuscripts, including parts of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales —
5. — When asked for advice on how the city can heal and progress in the wake of scandal, the city’s poet laureate Naomi Long Madgett, responded with a poem [sidebar] —
6. — Seeking the next N.H. poet laureate —

The lit mag reviews at New Pages are fresh. Isn’t it nice of them to keep publishing that? Why don’t you buy ‘em a beer?

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I used to get HD an AE mixed up haha. When I was writing that Ted Williams Frozen Head poem I kept thinking/writing Ted Hughes instead of Ted Williams too.

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My hand hurts, so I am taking a break. I have news scheduled for tomorrow, though and an appt in the pain clinic today so maybe that will help.

Poetry News:

1. — The 5-minute Interview: Felix Dennis, publisher and author —
2. — Poetry workshop: David Morley finds variety and accomplishment in equal measure in the nature poetry prompted by his March poetry ‘field trip’ —
3. — First mantra of the Rig Veda is the first known poem in the world —
4. — 2008 is the 120th anniversary year of poet T. S. Eliot’s birth —
5. — For many career lawyers, poetry isn’t simply a weekend hobby; it’s a second calling —
6. — Are Smart People Drawn To The Arts Or Does Arts Training Make People Smarter? —
7. — Telegraph.co.uk’s week-long series celebrating the great poets of the English canon —

I’m going to Lulu.com my poetry manuscript. I don’t want to have my poems checked for dingleberries - I don’t like the contest system.

I need some help with the cover. If you are an artist & are interested, please email me. I can’t pay much, because of my medical bills.

Also, if you have any advice re: lulu.com layouts — fonts, etc — so the book doesn’t look stupid, that would be appreciated.

Thanks.

Poetry News:

1. — “That letters, words and sentences are all involved in reading is nothing new, but finding that their contributions to reading rate is additive is startling” —
2. — Borges and Lowell —
3. — Shhh, the ‘poetry librarian’ is in town —
4. — Eight Poems by Pierre Reverdy —
5. — English literature, as we know it, begins with the works of two great poets who wrote in London during the second half of the 14th century: Geoffrey Chaucer and William Langland —
6. — Complete Minimal Poems by Aram Saroyan —
7. — For example, here is a fairly recent Simic self-portrait —
8. — Saginaw celebrates poet —
9. — why are Nick Laird’s poems so sombre? —

My web host moved this site to a newer server. I think everything is working OK?

“In a stunning follow-up to the attack on Taslima Nasreen by Muslim activists, the Hyderabad police on Saturday booked the exiled Bangladeshi author for promoting enmity between different groups on grounds of religion, race, language ” a charge that can get her two years in prison, if proven. The attackers are roaming freely, charged with minor misdemeanours.” [more]

Got my hair CUT OFF Saturday. Maybe it isn’t such a good idea to go to the salon when you have slid into surgical menopause hahaha? Speaking of which, I am taking a break from the internet for a bit because the world is really starting to piss me off (more) & I need to hibernate & straighten my brain. See you in a bit. Have a poem xoxo:

Remedy
(for Sylvia Plath)

This cure is a quake of the brain. In a cracked
room sits a cracked bell, convalescent. Shaken
until erased, I seek a grand plan, yet

fail without ceremony. I’m simply an immigrant
in a monochrome country. The doctors are delinquent
to tender this gift (spark-volts,

spark-lids): even the shadows sleepwalk
inside the ruinous afternoon. Suddenly I am
at the kitchen table. Suddenly I am

an oracle, inconsequent. In an electric
mist, I smell hot wire and I smell possession.
The ink of my pen is shaping a rook,

arranging and rearranging his feathers
in the rain. I feel the flare of an angel
at my elbow. I feel her random descent.