Category: essays and commentary

Collin Kelley introduces Cherryl Floyd-Miller at Wordsmith

The Atlanta poetry scene has a gift, and his name is Collin Kelley. Actually, Collin is a treasured friend to poets and writers all over the globe, from England to France (setting of his soon to be released novel, Conquering Venus, Vanilla Heart Publishing), to many parts of the United States.

I first contacted Collin after reading his work in MiPoesias’ The Oldest Profession. Wowed by his poems included in that issue, I shyly asked him if he would be willing to contribute a poem or two to the first issue of ouroboros, and not only did he do just that, he also spread the word about the magazine to some of the best poets in Atlanta. Jo and I will be forever grateful to Collin.

Since this past summer, I’ve found out about all kinds of poetry readings and events that Collin organizes and promotes in our city. The latest was a fabulous reading by Cherryl Floyd-Miller, who shared poems from her new collection, Exquisite Heats, Salt Publishing, 2008.

Floyd-Miller gave an entertaining, moving reading of a wide variety of poems, including villanelles, prose poems, and a new form called the Bop. After the reading she took questions from the audience, explaining her outlook on poetic form. She said that she studies the works of the poets who have come before her, and has learned the forms, but reserves the right to break the rules to allow her own voice to come through. It was validating to hear her words, because she gave voice to some of my own ideas about learning from the writers who have come before me, and about rule breaking.

Floyd-Miller spoke about the integral role music plays in her life and her work, and how it stems from her father’s gift for gospel singing. She also explained how she developed the art of listening from the Gullah language of the US southeastern coastal area where she grew up as a child. Her poems flow with a melodic, tongue rolling energy that casts a spell over the listener. She makes it seem effortless, and reads in a natural, spontaneous manner – she explained that music is such a basic part of her life that the rhythms have infused themselves into her writing.

Floyd-Miller acknowledged her long-standing friendship with Collin Kelley, stating he had been one of the first to read the manuscript of Exquisite Heats, and how happy she was to launch her new collection in Atlanta, with Kelley as the host.

If you want to find out about the next poetry event in metro Atlanta, make sure you check out Collin’s blog. In the meantime, maybe you’d like to write a bop? Floyd-Miller has used lines from songs as the refrain in her bops, a detail which she shared with us at the reading. I think I’m going to try one myself. Any song suggestions?

January 26, 2009

Cherryl-Floyd Miller, Collin Kelley, Exquisite Heats
Terry Gross interviews Natasha Trethewey on Fresh Air

Terry Gross, host of National Public Radio’s show Fresh Air, interviewed poet Natasha Trethewey the day before Barack Obama’s inauguration.

During the interview Trethewey speaks as both a poet and as a biracial American. Terry Gross asks Trethewey what it means for her to live in a country with a biracial president, highlighting how 40 years ago interracial marriage was against the law in her native state of Mississippi. As I listened to the interview, it naturally came to mind the current struggles gay Americans are now living, and the discrimination they face in their desire to marry. Will it take another 40 years for all Americans to enjoy equal civil rights?

The interview is fourteen minutes long, but in the first three minutes Trethewey recites her poem, My Mother Dreams Another Country, from her collection Native Guard, for which she won the Pulitzer prize in 2007.

Fresh Air, Terry Gross interview with Natasha Trethewey

If you follow this link to Online NewsHour you can read and listen to Myth and Miscegenation, also from her collection Native Guard.

Natasha Trethewey teaches poetry in metro Atlanta, at Emory University. Maybe I’m biased toward a poet from my hometown, but I must say Natasha Trethewey would have made an excellent choice to write a poem for Barack Obama’s inauguration, not only because of her skill as a poet and a historian, but also because of her melodic voice. Which is not to slight Elizabeth Alexander, who I think did a wonderful job, considering the challenges she faced.

Edward Byrne, on his blog One Poet’s Notes, discusses the various responses to Alexander’s poem, and he includes the video of her performance, as well as her finished poem. There’s also a long banner of comments from different writers that might be of interest.

January 22, 2009

Elizabeth Alexander, Fresh Air, Natasha Trethewey, Terry Gross
Fun stuff on the web
During January I get very sleepy, just like a possum or a bear. Three things help shake off the lethargy: creativity, laughter, and long walks in the sunshine. I can’t take you on a walk with me, but I can share a few things that might make you smile.
- Do you admit to others that you watch American Idol? I won’t tell anyone, I promise. But you must go to Collin Kelley’s Modern Cofessional to read his ‘snark’ as he calls it, about last night’s program. Collin has a tradition of blogging about Idol, so stay tuned for his appraisals each week during the season.
- I have a post up at Read Write Poem about how I began making video poems. There’s a link to a video I made for qarrtsiluni. Why not let a video poem be your next fun project? Or, I dare you to record yourself reading a poem, and post it to your blog. Hey, maybe I’ll do that. But first I need to get out of my bathrobe and go for a walk.
- Do you prefer static images to write about? There’s an image prompt at Read Write Poem for you. We have everything you need for writing poems these days. One-stop poem shopping.
- One of my favorite new sites is Postal Poetry. I usually submit one or two postcard poems a month to Dave and Dana, and they’ve been most gracious in publishing my wee lines. Here’s a link to the latest, called ‘The little robot that couldn’t.’ After you see the photo, you’ll understand how Dana’s friend Feldman inspired me to write.
- This postcard poem below was too small for Postal to use (I took it with my cell phone), so I thought I’d post it here. The photo is a detail of of the Crown Fountain in Millennium Park, by Jaume Plensa
January 14, 2009

Collin Kelley, postal poetry, read write poem, Winter blues
looking for poems and art

Jo and I are revving up for a new reading period for ouroboros. We are thrilled with the success of the first issue – over 2,500 readers to date, and hope for continued interest in the project. Head over to our submissions page to read the particulars of when, where, and how to send us your poems and artwork.

spiral by grzesiek

The lovely and talented Dana Guthrie Martin has published a poem I wrote for her project, Shore Tags. The website, a blending of science, literature, and art, publishes poems and and articles that touch on the plight of hermit crabs and how they are having a tough time finding new shells to live in as they grow bigger.

There are so many social and spiritual parallels between humans and the other animals that inhabit the planet with us, but the little hermit crab is an especially endearing creature that has elicited some wonderful poems by children and adults alike. Dana has gathered all kinds of ideas involving shells, poems, photographs, links, and lesson plans for teachers.

Of course, Shore Tags is only one of Dana’s many projects. The latest one involves poetry, Seattle, and brothels. I’m not sure, but feather boas might be a part of this too.

January 7, 2009

dana guthrie martin, Jo Hemmant, My gorgeous somewhere, ouroboros review, Shore Tags
Blogging sickness cured by 32 Poems

It’s January and I have blog-itis. Post election, post holiday blog-itis. I’m sure some of you have experienced this dreaded malaise, in which the fingers on the keyboard don’t know where to begin. My own particular life is very mundane, not dramatic, at least not on the outside. Should I write about what kind of salad I prepared last night, or how I cried after I took down the Christmas tree? Or how all I want to do these days is play Scrabble on my computer, read, and write driveling, whining rants in my journal, stuff I hope will one day be recycled and turned into a cardboard box?

I have been reading some great poetry lately. Next to my computer rests my first copy of 32 Poems, Volume 6, No. 2, published and edited by Deborah Ager, and I’ve got to say, it’s the best $14.00 I’ve spent on poetry in over a month. I’m not familiar with the names of all the poets included in this volume, but of course I recognized Billy Collins, whose tiny poem The Pencil is almost what I’d call a cameo, as it turns the very words of the poem into a metaphor in the quintessential style Collins is known for.

The name David Bottoms is also well-known to me, since he comes from my neck of the woods in Georgia. His poem, Walking the Floor Over You, has that Southern twang to it, with references to honky tonks, cotton mills, cowboys, and beer, a poem I can relate to, about a woman swinging her bony hips (although mine are curvy) who needs to hear the same song over and over. It’s a poem with empathy.

There is a wide variety of poems included in this round number of 32. There are sonnets, a villanelle, a prose poem, free verse, a poem about lymph nodes (gooey and very good), one about bats, diminutive, and another about pineapples.

The Toads and Thumbelina, Hans Christian Andersen, Fairy Tales

The second and third poems, starring Thumbelina’s mother, captured my imagination the most. They are both modern sonnets, with slant rhyme, except at the final couplet. I love poems that mess with the rules. But even more, I love how the author, Bernadette Geyer, entered into a secret world and made it come alive for me. She went inside Thumbelina’s realm and painted the myth, as if on a miniature Flemish canvas in egg tempera, with all it’s dark, psychic power.

Yes, I think I’ll renew my subscription to 32 poems, in case anyone is wondering. What an exciting life. Feeling much better now.

January 6, 2009

32 Poems, Bernadette Geyer, Billy collins, David Bottoms, Deborah Ager, Thumbelina
Censorship

Every burned book enlightens the world. ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

Censorship both repels and fascinates me as a phenomenon, because it attacks from so many angles. In the US the evangelical far right is often the source of book banning, or the boycotting of certain movies because of the ideas portrayed, often concerning sexuality. A few years ago there was even a big uproar over the Harry Potter series.

I asked one of my high school students, who had told me her pastor forbade the children from reading the Harry Potter books, “what about The Lord of the Rings? That’s a work of fantasy and magic.”

“Oh, he says it’s alright to read a book if it’s a classic.” The pastor was deferring his authority to an unseen literary board, but I let the subject go. There’s no arguing with people whose ideas are based on faulty logic.

There is pressure to censor one’s thoughts and words from the far left, or from advocacy watchdogs. Most comedians or satirists feel the wrath from different groups from time to time. For example, a scene in Tropic Thunder, in which the character played by Robert Downey Jr. tells the Ben Stiller character he shouldn’t have “gone full retard,” received negative attention from advocates for people with Down Syndrome. I understand their viewpoint, that the wording in the film promoted negative stereotypes and was extremely disrespectful, but I also wonder, should the filmmakers not have included the scene because of the perceived insult? They were building a character and a plot point in that scene, as well as satirizing actors who take themselves and their roles too seriously.

In his essay, The Censor in the Mirror, novelist and poet Ha Jin writes about how the Chinese Propaganda Department shapes the themes writers produce in China. Chinese writers stop themselves from exploring taboo themes from the outset (such as the Tienanmen Square massacre) because they know their work will either not be published, or will invite punishment from the authorities.

In most western countries we enjoy freedom of speech, and even take this freedom for granted. But even though we ostensibly have the right to say whatever we want to, there are subtle forces that keep writers from expressing their thoughts. There are editorial and consumer tastes – sometimes we succumb to peer pressure, either in the form of editors who are uncomfortable with our ideas, or critics who might have misunderstood our intentions.

Sometimes it’s a fear of what family members will say about us. There’s a certain sense of decorum we want to maintain among our friends and relations that can inhibit us from revealing our deepest truths. In my own case, I think I censor myself most often because I’m shielding myself from the darker thoughts that contribute to the person I am. There’s a certain place in my thinking where I stop myself, more than likely because of societal conditioning and upbringing. This is why free-writing is so important to the process of writing for me.

I’d be interested to know if and how you censor your writing, and why. Leave me a comment!

December 28, 2008

book banning, Ha Jin, self-censorship, Tropic Thunder
Email the Obama Team to Voice Concerns about Rick Warren

Dear President-Elect Obama,

In your acceptance speech in Grant Park you included gays in your words of inclusion. I was filled with hope that our country was embarking on a new era.

Now that Rick Warren has been announced as the paster who is to give the invocation at your inaugural ceremony, the bloom is fast fading from my rose of hope. In Rick Warren’s interview with Ann Curry, he claimed that being gay is an impulse one must work to overcome, a mindset that is not only outdated and incorrect, it is bigoted. On Warren’s web site it clearly stated that gays are not allowed as members of his church.

Why has your team chosen a man of bigotry to seal your presidency in the name of God?

Our country needs to move toward ever-increasing freedoms, not pander to those who live in fear, ignorance, and hatred.

Please reconsider the choice of Rick Warren. There are other pastors who base their beliefs on love and compassion for all.

If you are inclined to voice your opinion about Barack Obama’s choice of pastor for his inauguration, you can go to the web site for the transition team and write a letter. Remember to write Rick Warren in the subject area.

December 23, 2008

Barack Obama, Inauguration, Rick Warren
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Team of Rivals

I’ll admit it, one reason why I’m reading Team of Rivals is because Barack Obama read it. What can I say? I love Barack. I’d marry him if I could. Sorry, Michelle, but you’re probably used to it, right?

A year ago my friend had seen the tome on my bookcase, and asked me if I liked it, and I had to admit the thought of reading it hadn’t crossed my mind. My father had dropped the book off at my house, thinking my son might like it, but it remained on the shelf collecting dust. When I saw CNN use the caption, ‘team of rivals’ to describe Barack Obama’s emerging cabinet, I figured I’d bite the bullet. I had to find out why this particular history book appealed to Obama.

After fifty pages into the story of Abraham Lincoln and the four other politicians who were his rivals I thought, wait a minute, are you really going to finish this thing? I mean, it’s straight history, over 900 pages, and you don’t read history. It’s a subject that tends to repeat itself, you know?

But Doris Kearns Goodwin, who won a Pulitzer Prize for this volume, has compiled a compelling story of these five men, their friends and their wives during the years leading up to Lincoln’s presidency. Yes, I’ve found many similarities between Obama’s campaign for president and Lincoln’s, and I’m learning about the benefits of keeping friends close and enemies, or rivals, closer, but what interests me the most are the letters Kearns Goodwin uses to illustrate the relationships between the characters, and to reveal the social mores of the time.

Some of you might know about Lincoln’s relationship with hottie Joshua Speed, a wealthy young man who befriended a penniless Lincoln in the beginning of his career in Springfield Illinois. The two shared the same bed for four years, sleeping in Jacob’s room above his place of business.

The words they and many other men used to describe their longing for each other when apart sound like the most of torrid love letters. And it seems that this type of close bond between men was very common. Kearns Goodwin says there is no evidence to suggest that these relationships were sexual, that it was a sanctioned form of pair bonding for educated men, who developed strong ties of romantic love without the ensuing touch twenty-first century inhabitants enjoy or practice.

It’s hard to say what the truth about those relationships really was. Are humans so different now than we were 150 years ago? I prefer to think that people back then expressed love in a variety of ways, with the person who happened to be nearby, much as we do today. I know my opinion isn’t based on fact, but then I also know I’d make a terrible historian.

December 15, 2008

Abraham Lincoln, Barack Obama, Doris Kearns goodwin, ninteenth century love relationships, Team of Rivals
Round-up of inspiration

Feeling like your insides are drying up like the last leaves to fall from the trees? If you’re in need of a shot of creativity, in addition to your vitamin B check out Robin Reagler’s blog, Big Window. I haven’t visited Big Window in a while, since I moved to this new blog, and she has been busy sharing all kind of visual art, including photography, paintings, and even logos. There’s also a wonderful poem called Some Feel Rain by Joanna Klink.

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I was going to write my reaction to Cecila Woloch’s chapbook, Narcissus, a truly lovely book, but Collin Kelley already did such a fabulous job that I’d rather send you to his review. Collin is a personal friend of Ceclia’s and is familiar with the history of her development as a poet. I heard both of them read at Wordsmith books in Decatur, Georgia. Collin’s poems are passionate and elemental in a uniquely masculine way. There is power in the words, and a smooth resonance to his voice. Cecilia has a soft voice, like silk, and her words flutter like the white moths she writes about in Postcard to Myself from the Lower Carpathians, Spring.

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If you haven’t already done so, check out Peony Moon, a new blog by Michelle McGrane. Besides writing stunning poetry, which you can read on her blog and in many other places on the web, including ouroboros review, Michelle is a voracious reader. She generously shares the tidbits of wisdom and beauty she finds on Peony Moon. It’s a great place for a daily dose of inspiration.

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The Bookshelf Muse, by writers Becca Puglisi and Angela Ackerman, provides a very useful service for poets ands story writers alike – a thesaurus of words compiled by the authors. My favorite one so far is Sarcasm and Emotional Disrespect. What can I say? I have a mean streak. Even now I’m rubbing my hands together, cackling maniacally.

December 13, 2008

blogging, Cecilia Wolloch, Collin Kelley, inspiration, Michelle McGrane, Robin Reagler