CURRENT(S)

Reading/Rereading

1. Superfecta--Clay Matthews (which I wholeheartedly recommend.  He does narrative poems the right way, the Clay way).

2. Amulet--Roberto Bolano

3. The Lumberyard #2 (great journal out of Louisville, KY)

4. After Dark--Haruki Murakami

5. The Dharma Bums (for The Beat Gen vs. The NY School class that I'm teaching in the Fall)

Listening

1. Stay Positive--The Hold Steady

2. Modern Guilt--Beck

3. A Brief History of the 20th Century--Gang of Four

4. Boo Human--Joan of Arc

5. Vanhandled--a mix by my pal Vandoren Wheeler (Thanks Van!)

*****

The new CD by my band Travel, =Writes, is now available to order from Travel guitarist, keyboardist, and producer Darren Callahan's site (click on the link above, then scroll down to the Travel records, click on =Writes, and that'll take you to Paypal).  I hope you'll check it out. Eventually it'll be up on the Travel site, but knowing us it might be a while.

LAKE LAKE LAKE!

We're headed to an undisclosed location and will return in 10 days or so, hopefully re-charged!

Until then, here's a poem of mine that's just up at The Harvard Review site: Captain America.

And this: "...poetry, it's easy/ And impossible--like stealing from yourself." -- Paul Violi

Finally: reckless = 1. marked by lack of proper caution : careless of consequences  2. In law: characterized by the creation of a substantial and unjustifiable risk to the lives, safety, or rights of others and by a conscious and sometimes wanton and willful disregard for or indifference to that risk that is a gross deviation from the standard of care a reasonable person would exercise in like circumstances.  Now, how to relate this to poetry...

In poetry, one has to be open, willing, and able to fail every second.  One has to court it, failure. Something's at stake.  And this has nothing to do with objectivity, standards, or anything remotely crafty.  Rather it's about tuning into the music in the making and the making in the music--to a certain way of paying attention. 

Good summering to all of you.

M