Tuesday, January 31, 2006

"Flee" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

Flee,
let down
your air. Be

where
you will
to be. There

in
the sadness
of summer -- we

gorge
ourselves on
all the tree.



* Pilot your own flights of fancy a minute at a time in OneWord.

"Belonging" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

Belonging
to those
we love sucks

juice
from plums,
life lemons, sweat

sex
in summer
daze. I belong;


none
named by
you, a will.

~~~~~~~
* Be your badger OneWord at a time in time.

Monday, January 30, 2006

Recent Search That Led to This Blog y mas

sad tearful gothic poetry that has been published

The funny part is that -- whomever -- stayed to read for 16 minutes. Musta found what s/he was lookin' for. (BWAHAHAHA!) Someone was once in search for Trueheart Fences in Montana, and stayed for 22. A bullet outa hell, if you ask me.

Wind.
~~~~~~

Been writing alot, exercises, these snippets -- maybe trying to get my mind off of yearly and recent & not so recent torrent of events. Justice and The Supreme. Power and the language of silence. Power-Over versus Power-With. Depleted Democracy.

I don't see a lot of movies. Going to a theater by myself is not something I like to do alone, so I don't, and my partners have all been homebodies. SO . . . I've discovered Netflix. I love it! It's for me. Especially since I've had my own movie rattling and reeling off in my head for a couple of decades (sigh...). Also, I just bought a bunch of used movies from a local video stores -- now that I look at them on the shelf: all bummers. (list to follow) It works well to read a really depressing book (Doestoevsky) in order to feel happy. I'm all about counting blessings: "las nubes se van pasando. . ." and all, but, I don't know, there's something about the primacy of the visual image.

One of the movies on the shelf was Hotel Rwanda. I thought I was steeled enough for the watch. I don't know. I spent a long time with silent tears for the history of the rest after the movie -- watching and not-watching the credits crawl. Knowing. Imag-in-ing. I had just reread the "Coffee" poem: so many poems, so many massacres to write. That was a while ago, probably around the time of the Publisher's Weekly review, something "up" -- and I still haven't gotten over it. Stalled in the reel. And the enthrall of Justice Lost.

"Unconscious Mutterings #156 On 1/30/06"

  1. Long distance:: running of the heart
  2. Meant to be:: a part
  3. Here:: in the mist of autumn,
  4. Endless:: summer ended,
  5. Resentment:: resent,
  6. Insipid:: silly
  7. Bunny:: in the maw of a
  8. Slogan:: sold to a single - ton.
  9. Naked:: and unafraid, I ask you now:
  10. Sarcasm::? Or the blade.



Run your own mouth off at La Luna Niña's

"Hail" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

Hail
all railing
payers, make the

money
shakers. Crack
your money sunday.

Hail
to shot
stones of sky.

Hail.
~~~~~~~~~

* Mind your own minute minute OneWord at a time.

Sunday, January 29, 2006

"Coffee" by Lorna Dee Cervantes - Poetas y Pintores Exhibit Online

My long poem, "Coffee" which was read at the Dodge Poetry Festival and appeared on a Bill Moyer's documentary was presented in part over NPR's Latino USA program this past week. I read Section II of the poem which was excerpted slightly. You can now read the entire poem -- accents and all -- somewhere besides my new book, DRIVE and a limited edition chapbook which has the first two poems in a series of four, thanks to this wonderful exhibit of Poetas y Pintores, a joint effort of St. Mary's College and Francisco Aragón at Notre Dame. And, check out the incredible woodcut by René Arceo.
René Arceo -
If anyone is in the area: I'll be presenting a performance of the poem and a talk on the relation of the arts in February at St. Mary's College in Notre Dame, IN, possibly on the 23; I'll be updating my calendar links soon. It'd be great to meet some of y'all.

  • Read my poem, "Coffee" here.
  • Saturday, January 28, 2006

    "Snap" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    Snap:
    the red
    corset world zings

    and
    metal sings
    in your teeth,

    spit
    snaps its
    gums, seethes into

    meat.
    Snap: the
    agency of tribe.

    Snap
    errant haze;
    the wave survives.


    * Make your own minute count in one word.

    "Flash" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    Flash
    card words --
    he loves you

    not,
    the whir
    of heart, motionless

    Word
    stilled pride,
    the side of

    heart,
    a flash --
    this side: worn.



    * Fly your own flag in a flash one word at a time.

    Friday, January 27, 2006

    Lorna Dee Cervantes, DRIVE: The First Quartet Reviewed in SPEAKEASY & New Pub Pics

    Lorna Dee Cervantes - 10/17/05

    Lorna Dee Cervantes - Signing DRIVE
    This could be me signing your book if you order direct from the horse's hands. (Me: Born Year of the Horse in Chinese calendar. And, Ahau, Yellow Sun in the Tzolkin, the Mayan calendar -- which is the one I follow. Ha! Yellow Sun-Horse.)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    * Note: Click on the pics to go to my flickr site. I have foto hay(na)ku poems there -- some from pics taken days after Wilma hit Isla Mujeres, Mexico.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Bryce has revamped my webpage on Wings, and added the review copy along with these pics he took of me at the Texas debut of DRIVE: The First Quartet. These were taken Oct. 17, 2005 at Trinity University yukkin' it up with new and old buds, by the look of the grin, this must be after the performance: "YEA! It's OVER!" You can go to the Wings website if you're looking for bio info in a hurry. Otherwise, search this site for more than anyone would possibly want to know.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Lorna Dee Cervantes

    Drive_new cover
    Drive: The First Quartet

    DRIVE INCLUDES FIVE SEPARATE WORKS:

    How Far's the War? • BIRD AVE
    Play • Letters to David • Hard Drive

    NOTE: Cover art by Irving Norman.
    Interior paintings by Dylan Morgan.
    Photos by Bryce Milligan.

    TRADE EDITION PUBLICATION DATE: JANUARY 2006

    DRIVE • ISBN: 0-930324-54-4 • 308 pages • Hardback • $24.95
    Converted ISBN: 978-0-930324-54-4

    A SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION AVAILBLE IN APRIL 2006:

    DRIVE • ISBN: 0-916727-14-9 • $250 • Limited to 100 numbered
    and signed, specially bound, in a hand-made wooden box
    Advance pre-paid orders are being taken now.
    Reserve your copy before they are all gone.

    "This is a landmark work." – Mart’n Espada

    Drive "reestablishes Cervantes as a singular voice."
    – Publishers Weekly

    " This is what it means to be a poet." – Ana Castillo


    "She taught us that poetry can change the world." – Sandra Cisneros

    "Cervantes is a poetic force to be reckoned with." - Women in the Arts (publication of The National Museum of Women In the Arts)

    About DRIVE:

    This is a landmark work. Lorna Dee Cervantes is not only an important Chicana poet; she is an important American poet, and her voice comes to us again, after many years, at a time when we desperately need to hear that voice. In fact, there are many voices here: the voice of protest against the atrocities committed in the name of coffee and bananas, the voice of the suffocated poor in the barrio and Latin America, the voice of girls fighting to survive on the street, the voice of jazz from the 78s of the past, the voice of praise for ancestors and the next generation, all voices of the most profound energy, compassion, strength, wisdom. "Come and see the blood in the streets," Neruda wrote. Lorna Dee Cervantes knows the blood in the streets and the blood of the heart, the blood that spills and the blood that keeps us alive. Come and see.
    ~ Martín Espada

    This is what it means to be a poet, I tell myself, reading the thick, rich poems of Lorna Dee Cervantes' new collection. A poet is a "one winged dove." She is a "copper kettle," a "tuna-tamed tiger" and the "thundering of a hummingbird's wings." These images and many more are among Cervantes' treasure trove of poetic labors. If you love poetry, you've come to the right place. Throughout these pages, be prepared to feast your heart.
    – Ana Castillo

    About Lorna Dee :

    As young writers we grew up alongside Lorna Dee Cervantes. When no one else was listening, she published us, encouraged us, guided us. Her work was the light we turned towards directing us towards a poetry of lyricism and social activism. She taught us that poetry can change the world.
    ~ Sandra Cisneros

    Lorna Dee Cervantes is a daredevil.We are transfixed as she juggles rage, cruelties, passion. There is no net. Seven generations uphold the trick of survival. No one is alone in this amazing act of love.
    – Joy Harjo

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

    From Speakeasy Magazine (Reviewed Winter 2005-2006)

    IF Consideration of the Guitar and My Nature Is Hunger say something about the range of Chicano writing in the United States at this juncture, Lorna Dee Cervantes's Drive: The First Quartet on its own presents a wide variety of content, style, and approaches. The first poetry book by Cervantes to be published since 1991, Drive is made up of five distinct sections – most of which could stand on their own as strong books of poems. Across their sections, we find Cervantes as the political poet of witness, Cervantes the young girl in a California barrio, Cervantes in her years as a developing poet, and Cervantes the teacher.

    The collection's first section, "How Far's the War," connects contemporary aggression and war in the Americas to its history of conquest. The poems are enraged yet nuanced. In "Coffee," her anger rises from a general analysis:

    In Quetzaltenango, foreign
    interests plot the futures of Mayan hands
    and Incan gold. While on Wall Street,
    the black sludge of a people trickles through
    cappuccino machines like hissing snakes.

    The poem moves on to witness atrocities – the bloodied mud that "sucks the plastic sandals of a child," the killing floor where "the people / were hacked into pieces the size of a bat"– and to recite a list of names, presumably of those who were brutally killed. Yet she pulls the poem back in its last two sections to scenes from 1940. Here the Jewish poet Hans Sahl is drinking coffee – first in Marseilles, where he assumes he is doomed to leave "in a cattle car," and later in Greenwich Village, to which he has escaped through the efforts of Varian Fry, who saved him and others through persistence and defiance of "the orders / of nations, Nazis, industry, collaborators, / gendarmes, and the United States Consulate." We are reminded as readers that U.S. policies have supported atrocities in the past as well as the present.

    She also takes on atrocities perpetrated at home. In "Murder," she writes of Danny Treviño, a minor who used to live down the street from her and who is shot by the police for being drunk. In "The News," she writes of "3 crossburnings / 3 bodies in a swollen river."

    In "BIRD AVE," we meet the young Cervantes growing up in the barrio. The poems pop with energy: "we wore tease / tight skirts / tough teased hair / talked tough." They celebrate wildness, toughness, and caterwauling, while they mourn their losses: "Two / days after graduation, María / swaying from the limb." In spite of the zing in these lines, the narrator emerges as a shy character who is self-conscious about her looks, "pretty / smart, but not pretty," gradually moving from being a street kid to being a poet among poets, an academic among academics. In the section's final poem she begs,

    Save me
    from a stupid life! I prayed.
    Leave me anything but
    a stupid life.

    The section "Play" grows out of a writing exercise, adopted from Natalie Goldberg, that Cervantes conducts with her creative writing students. In her workshop they write down the first thing they think of – a word or a phrase – and place it in a hat. They pull out a slip of paper and she time-keeps for seven minutes. They then each read their poems aloud, going in rounds of four or five without comments and without rewriting. Hence, the poems in "Play" present themselves without deliberation. They show fluidity in Cervantes's voice, an ability to work with wide-ranging vocabulary. They are playful poems, but not slight.

    While "How Far's the War" seemed to me to be the most mature and ambitious section of the book, "Letters to David: An Elegiac Mass in the Form of a Train," was the most intriguing. Cervantes dedicated a series of fourteen poems to Robert Kennedy's son David A. Kennedy, who drank himself to death in a Palm Beach hotel room in 1984. As a twelve-year-old boy, David had watched his father's assassination on television, one day after the senator had saved him from being swept away in an undertow. Why this particular project? Cervantes writes that she was in seventh grade when Robert Kennedy was shot, and she remembered it as the year she was first aware of politics or wars of the world.

    Each of the poems is slender and centered on the page. They are swift-moving (Cervantes refers to them as being in the form of a train) but reverent, echoing the fourteen Stations of the Cross. And Cervantes enters the poems, in conversation with David – at once feeling for him and feeling estranged from his privilege.

    Cervantes closes this rich, far-reaching book with "Hard Drive," poems covering nearly twenty years of her life and ranging in tone and form of address, adding up to a complex portrait. Like the collected works of Ray Gonzalez and Luis Rodriguez, her writings continue to move outward, developing in complexity and nuance. We have so much before us in these three books. It's thrilling to read the signs that we can expect even more from these writers.

    ________

    Copyright Speakeasy Magazine (www.speakeasymagazine.org). Used by permission. All rights reserved.
    (Frances Phillips teaches creative writing at San Francisco State University and is a member of Northern California Book Reviewers.)
    -------

    From Library Journal (Reviewed January 2006)

    In her first collection since 1991, Cervantes presents five books bound together that can stand alone or be read as a series. Many pieces are political, while several others are intensely personal. Some poems are playful; some are love or lost-love poems or small snapshots of residents of a neighborhood not unlike Sandra Cisneros's poetic vignettes in House on Mango Street. A seminal contributor to the Latino movement of the 1970s, Cervantes published, in her journal Mango, many important Latino writers including Cisneros. In one "book," Cervantes exposes readers to wordplay, imagery she refers to as "seven minute" poems. In another, she addresses David Kennedy, doomed son of Robert Kennedy, who took his own sad life in 1984, some 20 years after witnessing his father's death on national television. Cervantes's language is accessible, her diction plain, yet her poems are often lyrical and full of rich imagery: "She was striving/ for a dream that was already/ broken, off the cuff,/ in the rough, and off the key/ of Freedom." Enhancing the musicality of her diction, she slips from English to Spanish and back--with ease. Recommended for general collections and also those that feature Latino, Chicano, and Native American poets.
    -Karla Huston, Appleton Art Ctr., WI


    From Publishers Weekly (Reviewed 2005-12-19)

    One of the first Chicana poets to achieve wide U.S. recognition, Cervantes did so with just two books, Emplumada (1981) and From the Cables of Genocide (1991); this substantial, versatile follow-up consists (subtitle not withstanding) of five distinct collections, that can be considered as discrete works. All show fire and range, and all draw on Cervantes's life on the streets as a teen and on her left-wing activism as an adult. The first, How Far's the War?, comprises poems of activism and protest against a global spate of injustices, from Latin American dictatorships to shortages in Eastern Europe: "La plumage de justicia hangs from the broken/ arrows of palabras [words] breaking the media block/ Of Truth and Consequences of Free Trade Agreements." The last, Hard Drive, collects warmly convincing poems of erotic and parental love, remembered, promised and achieved: "Come,/ and let us eat/ up the hours/ between us." BIRD AVE, perhaps the strongest, concentrates on Cervantes's youth, recalling "what girls/ did in/ the barrio/ to get/ their 15/ minutes of fame." About 10 poems are abbreviated appropriations of very famous poems by Bishop, Williams and others, with new titles. But this five-in-one volume reestablishes Cervantes as a singular voice. (Jan.)

    Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

    "Widespread" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    WIDESPREAD


    Widespread
    panic in
    field blossoming pollen.

    Widespread
    marsh mauling
    the meadow, larks

    tumble
    out the
    blades, returning. Flushed.



    *Make your own maidenhead by the minute at OneWord.

    Thursday, January 26, 2006

    No! No NoMojo??

    "Appeal" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    Appeal
    the word.
    Freak trial amuck.

    Be
    the word.
    Reap miles' shuck.

    River
    water rising --
    seal the crack.

    Reel
    in you
    the dry repair.


    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Make your own mind up in a minute at One Word.

    Wednesday, January 25, 2006

    On the Craft of Poetry - Dougie MacLean for Anthony Robinson - Poetica Xicanerati

    This bit of Chicano poetics from Dougie MacLean's introduction to "The Scythe Song" on his "LIVE" CD for would be Chicano poet, Anthony Robinson who asked me a while back to define "craft" in poetry.

    "I come from a very, kind of, rural background and, uh, this song came from watching my father when I was little boy working with a scythe. I used to be fascinated at this sort of beautiful motion of it all and, uh, it's just got this lovely sort of noise, with this sort of "whoosh," you know? And then the grass 'was go "ffffT!" Like that. [laughs] "Whiiisssh!" "FfffT!" And he'd leave it in this kind of beautiful lane behind him, you know? All the grass the same kind of, lined up the same kind of way, you know? And sometimes he'd give me a wee shot at it and I would take the scythe and it, it would be like wrestling with this kind of wild animal, you know? And, uh, the point of the scythe, I'd stick it in the ground or get, hit a stone or something. I would be, like, you know, just sweatin'. And he 'd be going: "No, no, Baby". And he'd take the scythe back from me. And, and he'd be, "Whiiisssh!" "FfffT!" You know? "Whiiisssh!" "FfffT!" And I'd be going, 'HOW DO YOU DO THAT?' You know? Well, eventually I learned how to work the scythe, and it took me years and years and years. It's one of them things that you just can't learn [snaps fingers] immediately, like that. You can't go out and buy the video, "Scythe In A Day." You know? [audience laughs] It just doesn't work like that. And it's, it's like a lot of the old kind of skills and trades, like the old woodworking skills, old stone, eh, mason trades. There's almost a magical sort of element to the knowledge that you can't actually even be taught. And the only way that you learn it is by actually being in the company who's a master and somehow, magically [laughs] the knowledge gets transferred. And I thought that was a wee bit like life as well."

    O, wild are the ways we run
    when at last, untethered,
    out we fly
    (. . .)
    Need no direction,
    No, not I!

    But it is not a thing
    to learn inside a day

    (. . .)
    You've got to hold it right
    Feel the distance to the sound
    Move with a touch so light
    Until its rhythm you have found,

    then you'll know
    what I know (. . .)

    Well, 'tis not a thing
    to learn inside a day.


    ~ Dougie MacLean
    from "Scythe Song"
    copyright Dunkeld Records
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    "sin cera" = without wax
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    To read a new interview with Dougie MacLean click here.
    To hear my favorite, "Caledonia," & other Dougie MacLean songs visit me at My Space and click on Dougie link on my Friend's list.

    HAPPY BIRTHDAY, Kelly Dougall! And...

    Happy Birthday to An Awfully Serious Girl who has an awfully good book of new poetry. May you both have peace and growth.

    "Coffee" by Lorna Dee Cervantes - Link to Poem Excerpt Read on Latino USA

    Here's the link to an earlier version of my long poem, "Coffee," which I posted at the beginning of the blog. I'll be placing the text of the poem from my book, DRIVE: The First Quartet at my new site: "The Poems, the Whole Poem, And Nothing But The Poem" soon.

    NPR - Latino USA is airing an excerpt of Section II of this poem throughout the country all this week until Friday.

    *NOTE: There's no stanza or section breaks or accents on this version. The poem, for its content, is -- evidently -- highly unpublishable and highly excerptable. Both new words to my 'puter's dictionary. But such is the life of Xicanerati con tinta.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    link to definitive text until I get poem back up:
  • Coffee

  • fragmento del poema "Café" en Español desde Carmen Esconde:
  • Cafe_fragmento
  • Tuesday, January 24, 2006

    "Know" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    KNOW


    Know
    the saying
    way, the mercury

    flight
    of clay,
    the burned ware.

    Know
    shadow laws,
    caramel sands. Clause.


    * Mind your own mind a minute at One Word

    Monday, January 23, 2006

    Link to My Poem Excerpt on NPR - Latino USA Broadcast Schedule - And, What? Me Tell A Blonde Joke?

    I've been fighting off the flu this week - weakened and flemmy, I feel like Proust. My son was home all last week after break with it. We both sound like characters in a Dostoevsky novel. And that's where my novel's gone this month. Consumption. Me to Elisabeth Sheffield this week: "I'm afraid that I'm going to open the door and they'll all be gone home." That, and starting teaching again after a year. It didn't take me long to rediscover that I love it. I DO NOT LOVE FIRST DAY! Yikes, all those people looking at you. I hate first day of class. I wish I was a waitress in a Filipino restaurant again, I would go hide in the back until the customers gave up and went away.

    I'm just glad the worst of it waited until after my readings & the NPR Latino USA taping. They were going to run snippets of hay(na)ku poems as fillers between pieces on the New Year's show last week and throughout the year, but decided to run Section II of the "Coffee" poem this week. I had a feeling that's what would happen. I really like the way the last section (there are 6) came out, and I'll probably try and podcast it on my My Space site soon. They might still air it at the end of the year, to also remember the massacre. I heard it Sunday, listening, as always, to Cancion Mexicana and Flo aired it. (Thanks, Flo! It meant more because it was you.) Who knows what will air when, as stations and people pick up and use what they want. Here's a list of stations that air it in its entirety (29 minutes). My poems airs towards the end, or is the end of the program. Scroll down this blog to link to hear my poem excerpt only. After hearing it on a brilliant sunday afternoon, I turned to T and said, "Well, that must have bummed out someone's sunday." Interesting, what they ended up cutting. Search this site for "Coffee" for a link to an earlier version of the poem. I may post the whole poem at the MySpace site, a place where I'll be posting poems and links to my poems.

    You can also order a copy of DRIVE: The First Quartet, my new book which is a literary pentych of five books in one clothbound edition directly from me for a mere $25. You can use my Amazon Honor link or paypal. Or send it to my university address for an autographed copy. You can also order from Wings Press or your favorite distributor (Small Press Distribution - SPD) or local bookstore. (Classroom orders, best to order directly from Wings for quick attention.) Reviewers: email me and I'll pass it on to Bryce.

    And, as always - now that my health has improved: Have poems. Will travel! Then you can hear the whole poem live.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    And, what? Me tell a blonde joke? Not my cup of peroxide, but . . .
    I'll let a blonde tell it: my favorite blonde, my astrologer (really!) Fishing Guide to the Stars, Kramer Wetzel:
    Guaranteed Best Blonde Joke. This one is worth following the link. Be patient.

    "Click" - A 'One Word' Hay(na)ku Poem

    CLICK


    Click
    said the
    quick ax. Crack

    said
    the sane
    one slandering nature.

    Slick,
    the stuff
    of poverty, shade

    dust,
    wake of
    rust. You there

    darkening,
    clouding into
    memory's fluff: someone.


    * Make your own minute muse at One Word

    "Unconscious Mutterings #155 On 1/23/06"

    IT'S THERE


    1. Alone:: in a forest of wake/ you discover the
    2. Science:: of take, the anatomy of giving.
    3. Deposit:: a bone in the bank of heart,
    4. Faithful:: to a core, defining
    5. Tender:: in the mash, in the cross-hatch of memory:
    6. Chocolate:: and caramel poetry,
    7. Homework:: and hanks of hair, the
    8. Tamper:: proof profit of a lie.
    9. Friend::, would summer lie?/ We try, a
    10. Wire:: between us fine as the unseen dream.


    Type your own typecasts, cast your own casings at The Subliminal Luna Niña.

    Sunday, January 22, 2006

    Who Am I On That Stairway to Heaven?

    Friday, January 20, 2006

    Lorna Dee Cervantes - "Coffee" On NPR - Latino USA - Today

    You can hear an exerpt from part 2 of my poem, "Coffee" on NPR's Latino USA with an intro by Maria Martin beginning today. You can check the schedule for when it might air near you. Elsewise, you can podcast just the poem or the show. You can listen to it here, I think. They will be airing it all week and more links are at their website.

    My Cat Is Terrified of My Computer - Ravished By the Radish King

    It's this pic from Radish King. Must be, I'm listening to Carlos Santana so it can't be that. Last time I pulled it up she snagged my slacks (still in my teacher clothes). What's up with that? I thought cats couldn't see fotos. Evidently, my cat can. She sees snakes.

    By the way, check out Rebecca's poetry. I LOVE it! It's ravishing. Rebecca, you're a bloody genius! If you ever need a letter for whatever, let me know, I'll tell whomever so. Send me a manuscript, I just want to read it.

    Somebody send her a check and a space heater. And, please, no taxidermy.

    Four For MeMe Meme

    Because no one ever tags me to play:(

    Four jobs you’ve had in your life
    1) bindery person at San Jose City College print shop 2) Printer in union print shop 3) World's worst waitress in Filipino Restaurant 4) Director of literature component for community cultural center (not counting my avocation as poet/ publisher/ editor & my current position as Associate Professor of English)

    Four movies you could watch over and over
    1) Smoke Signals 2) 'Round Midnight 3) Little Big Man 4) Wizard of Oz (It's the monkeys, man!) (If I knew you well enough to be my goofy self, I'd admit it: Sleepless In Seattle)

    Four places you’ve lived
    1) San Francisco, San Jose, Santa Cruz, CA 2) Provincetown, MA 3) Lyons, Colorado 4) Isla Mujeres, Mexico

    Four TV shows you love to watch
    I lived for decades without that Eve of Distraction; but these past couple of years, I like to zone out nuzzling my sweetie on the sofa on wednesdays
    1) Lost 2) George Lopez 3) American Idol - just for the semiotics of it 4) House (can't help it, always a sucker for a brainiac with a sense of irony -- all politics aside which isn't very likely) (I'm not sure I love to watch it, but Extreme Home Makeover where they build someone a house designed just for them makes me cry through a box of tissues -- but it's a good cry, like when the little6 year old girl who was sleeping on her mother's couch with her two year old brother says, when they ask her what's the favorite part of her new 3 story house with the fantasy animal bedroom: "The bed! It's so soft!" Gosh, I'm crying right now -- what a phenomena! I can't think of any other movie or show that does that to me, like a switch)

    Four places you’ve been on vacation
    (HA! "Chicanos don't go on vacation." Sometimes for a laugh I ask hubby: "Where did your family go on vacation?" We laugh. He gets it. George Lopez would get it, too: "Where did your family go camping?" "Same place we went on vacation." "By the firepit in the backyard when mom was unemployed again." Yesterday, my son had to do a project where I had to list all the states I've been in: 35. I won't count readings or other obligations, be they blood, love or money; just places I traveled to just for the halibut: Chicanos are the original travelers & troubadours)
    1) Denver, Colorado 2) Santa Cruz, CA (SJ, too, see my poem "I'm Going Away to Where I'm From" in From the Cables of Genocide) 3) hiking the Tetons in Montana 4) Isla Mujeres

    Four websites you visit daily
    Blogger: all po'blogs (I'm a creature of habit and one is clicking on all the links down to the hurricane ones beginning with who's cooking in my cocina -- I gotta update! -- every morning and night. I know I could roll it, if I knew how, but I like the ceremony and serendipity.) Lately, in a pinch of time, I've noticed that these are the ones I click on first
    1) Eduardo Corral 2) Claudia Millian 3) Poetry Hut 4) A.D. Thomas
    And then, since I can't stop there: y'all, and I often click on your links weaving the warp of the web

    Four of your favorite foods
    4) the lobster - pan seared scallop risotto I just had was pretty durn good ("There's not a day that goes by when I don't think about rice." ~ Phil Chang 3) lamb, though I don't eat it anymore for the prions and the compassion 2) mangos! (mango mousse, mango lahssi, mango cheesecake, mango tart, dried mangos, mango & pumpkin pancakes, Mango Passion soy drink which they don't sell here anymore -- just to bug me) 1) CHAYA!

    Four places you’d rather be
    1) rollin' in my sweet baby's arms 2) out over my mountain 3) La Isla bonita! 4) oh, I'd love to be home in my piney wood hills

    Four albums you can’t live without
    1) Dougie MacLean - "Live" 2) Bonnie Raitt - "Nick of Time" 3) Susan Tedeschi - "Wait On Me" 4) The Essential Memphis Minnie - though in a fire I'd save all 20 of her cd collections first - WOW - That was really really hard! (Billy Bragg - "Must I Paint You a Picture?", Billie Holliday - "Love Songs", Bob Marley - Legend, Los Lobos - Will the Wolf Survive? Santana - "Supernatural", B. Raitt - "Souls Alike")

    Bonus four:

    Four (poetry) books you can't live without
    1) Pablo Neruda - Residencia en la tierra/ Residence on Earth 2) César Vallejo - Poemas Humanos/ Human Poems 3) Pablo Neruda - 100 Love Sonnets (my translation) 4) José Gorostiza - Muerte sin fin/ Death Without End (my translation) (PROSE POEMS: Eduardo Galeano - Century of the Wind) (and, sure, T.S. Eliot - The Four Quartets) (Once, I could only take one book, so I cheated and brought the Fourth Edition of the Norton Anthology of American Poetry, the one that begins with Whitman and ends with me, I've read it cover to cover five times already)

    Four people you'll tag for this meme
    First four people who say: "I'd tag you if someone tagged me!"

    Wednesday, January 18, 2006

    The New Sincerity (Don't Flog Blog the Messenger!)

    Ten Top Trivia Tips about The New Sincerity!

    1. In Japan, New Sincerity can only be prepared by chefs specially trained and certified by the government!
    2. Over half of Americans are officially the New Sincerity.
    3. The New Sincerity can give birth ten days after being born, and is born pregnant.
    4. A New Sincerityometer is used to measure the New Sincerity.
    5. The Aztec Indians of Mexico believed the New Sincerity would protect them from physical harm, and so warriors used it to decorate their battle shields!
    6. The New Sincerity can drink over 25 gallons of water at a time.
    7. While sleeping, fifteen percent of men snore, and ten percent grind their New Sincerity.
    8. The New Sincerity was invented in China in the eleventh century, but was only used for fireworks, never for weapons.
    9. The New Sincerity once lost a Dolly Parton lookalike contest.
    10. If the New Sincerity was life size, it would stand 7 ft 2 inches tall and have a neck twice the size of a human!
    I am interested in - do tell me about

    Ten Top Trivia Tips about The New Sincerist!

    1. In 1982 Time Magazine named The New Sincerist its 'Man of the Year'.
    2. The word 'samba' means 'to rub The New Sincerist'.
    3. A chimpanzee can learn to recognize itself in a mirror, but The New Sincerist can not.
    4. Duelling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are New Sincerists!
    5. The New Sinceristology is the study of The New Sincerist!
    6. The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armour raised their visors to reveal The New Sincerist.
    7. The International Space Station weighs about 500 tons and is the same size as The New Sincerist.
    8. Julius Caesar wore a laurel wreath to cover up The New Sincerist.
    9. Ninety-six percent of all candles sold are purchased by The New Sincerist.
    10. The state nickname of Iowa is 'The New Sincerist state'!
    I am interested in - do tell me about

    "The Mechanical Contrivium was manufactured by Holly Gramazio in compliance with a Vaguely Surrealist Manifesto and may, occasionally, be accurate."
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Posted by MONS - Might be Original New Sincerist (circa 1982)

    Monday, January 16, 2006

    "Unconscious Mutterings #154 On 1/16/06"

    1. Paralyzed:: eyes, the look,
    2. Bossy:: and new, the
    3. Worth:: of you cut-up into
    4. Breathing:: and mane.
    5. Uneventful:: to a Tee, the sound of you
    6. Return::s to the source, enlightened
    7. Splint:: and shingle.
    8. Notice:: the heart busted on the pavement, a
    9. Hero:: Delilah busting at the bit,
    10. Vulnerable:: and sure

    and lit.


    Light your own match and blow on it at La Luna Niña.

    "Unconscious Mutterings #153 On 1/16/06"

    1. Better off:: than ice, these hard
    2. Girls:: cutting a life out of
    3. Uniform:: All the same icicles,
    4. Classified:: and carved anew.
    5. Hard:: in a hard time, the
    6. Kitty:: mew deep inside them, a
    7. Team:: of exasperation, the touch:
    8. Massive:: heart-stroke and blast.
    9. Depressed:: for days, these dazed saviors
    10. Award:: and prey.



    Be your own mind blaster at La Luna Nina.

    "Unconscious Mutterings #152 On 1/16/06"

    1. Celebrate:: the need to grate.
    2. Resolve: to rasp, to better.
    3. I need to:: feel the thumb on the spine,
    4. Call:: the feather weight home to my
    5. Token:: thigh -- with high hope, I
    6. Brand:: and balm.
    7. Comparison::s aside, so
    8. Far away:: on the other side of an
    9. Artful:: dodge, the gassed up tank:
    10. Fantastic:: to a core

    and safe.



    (* oops, forgot all about this, thanks to Pamela for the reminder -- Get your own goat tamed with subliminal pleasures at the sublimely subliminal, La Luna Niña.

    I Believe

    ". . . that unarmed truth and unconditional love
    will have the final word.”

    Martin Luther King, Jr

    Saturday, January 14, 2006

    Lorna Dee's Singular Surreal

    This from Eduardo. I like being the only bird who can swim but not fly (one of the lost tribes of Atlantis!) and that all the swans in England belong to me. BTW, that's quite accurate: Lorna was declared extinct in 1902.



    Ten Top Trivia Tips about Lorna!



    1. When Lorna is swallowed, she will enter the blood stream within twenty minutes.

    2. A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find Lorna!

    3. Lorna was declared extinct in 1902.

    4. Lorna is 1500 years older than the pyramids.

    5. Lorna is the only bird that can swim but not fly!

    6. All swans in England belong to Lorna.

    7. Fifty-two percent of Americans drink Lorna.

    8. Lorna is the last letter of the Greek alphabet!

    9. The deepest part of Lorna is over 35,000 feet deep.

    10. Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by Lorna.




    I am interested in - do tell me about



    Friday, January 13, 2006

    Call for Papers on Lorna Dee Cervantes - SF May 25-28

    From one of today's searches that led to this blog.

    Hey, can I go? ~ LDC
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    This is G o o g l e's cache of http://cfp.english.upenn.edu/archive/Poetry/0218.html
    as retrieved on Dec 31, 2005 23:58:03 GMT.

    CFP: Lorna Dee Cervantes (1/16/06; ALA, 5/25/06-5/28/06)

    From: Rodriguezygibson, Eliza
    Date: Tue, 20 Dec 2005 17:05:36 -0800

    CFP: Latina/o Literature and Culture Society of the American Literature=20
    Hyatt Regency San Francisco=20
    May 25-28, 2006=20
    Lorna Dee Cervantes
    The Latina/o Literature and Culture society is seeking papers on any
    aspects of the work of poet Lorna Dee Cervantes. Please submit a
    one-page abstract and short vita with contact information and
    affiliation to the session chair, Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson at
    eliza_rodriguezygibson_at_redlands.edu by January 16, 2006.=20



    Eliza Rodriguez y Gibson
    Assistant Professor
    Department of English
    University of Redlands
             ==========================================================
                  From the Literary Calls for Papers Mailing List
                            CFP_at_english.upenn.edu
                             Full Information at
                         http://cfp.english.upenn.edu
             or write Jennifer Higginbotham: higginbj_at_english.upenn.edu
             ==========================================================
    Received on Wed Dec 21 2005 - 14:05:20 EST

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    A Note From My Publisher This Morning Regarding DRIVE: The First Quartet

    Hi  again,

    Just got this from [KL] at Poets & Writers:

    We would like to include Drive: The First Quartet by Lorna Dee Cervantes in a section of our News & Trends department called "Page One: Where New and Noteworthy Books Begin." I'm wondering if you could provide the name of her editor and her publicist at Wings Press, the name of her agent, and confirm that this is her fourth book. We will also include the first line of poetry that appears in the book ("The bones that hold the holy.") in the listing. Thanks very much.

    ----

    I had to laugh  at that, being as I'm the publisher / editor / designer / accountant / publicist and occasional shipping clerk for Wings.

    This is getting very interesting. SPD called this afternoon. They  have already  sold the 200 copies I sent them in October and wanted 200 more. I  think, my  dear, that we are going to do very well with DRIVE. You are going  to be a national figure (again) as you deserve, and me, well, I'm just one happy camper.

    -- Bryce

    Thursday, January 12, 2006

    DRIVE: The First Quartet Reviewed in Library Journal

    From the Current Library Journal

    Cervantes, Lorna Dee. Drive: The First Quartet.
    Wings Pr. 2006. 308p. ISBN 0-930324-54-4.
    $24.95. POETRY

    In her first collection since 1991, Cervantes presents five books bound
    together that can stand alone or be read as a series. Many pieces are
    political, while several others are intensely personal. Some poems are
    playful; some are love or lost-love poems or small snapshots of
    residents of a neighborhood not unlike Sandra Cisneros's poetic
    vignettes in House on Mango Street. A seminal contributor to the
    Latino movement of the 1970s, Cervantes published, in her journal
    Mango, many important Latino writers including Cisneros. In one
    "book," Cervantes exposes readers to wordplay, imagery she refers
    to as "seven minute" poems. In another, she addresses David
    Kennedy, doomed son of Robert Kennedy, who took his own sad
    life in 1984, some 20 years after witnessing his father's death on
    national television. Cervantes's language is accessible, her diction
    plain, yet her poems are often lyrical and full of rich imagery:
    "She was striving/ for a dream that was already/ broken, off the cuff,
    / in the rough, and off the key/ of Freedom." Enhancing the
    musicality of her diction, she slips from English to Spanish and
    back-with ease. Recommended for general collections and also those
    that feature Latino, Chicano, and Native American poets.

    -Karla Huston, Appleton Art Ctr., WI

    Wednesday, January 11, 2006

    "Auto- Bio"/ Dylan Thomas Poem/ Poets & Writers/ NYT/ Publisher's Weekly/ Po'Biz & Fooeey!

    *UPDATE: I just fixed this link to the auto-bio. (1/19/06)
    ~~~~~~~~~~~
    The first installment of my "Auto - Bio" is up at my other site, the LDC "Official Website", in answer to that eternal question I seem to get from students at all stages these years:

    "Tell me something about your life."

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    And, a Dylan Thomas poem popped out today in answer to Didi's challenge at Cafe Cafe to write a "response poem" to one of his. I did a Dylan Thomas a la a Eskeletonada. Do you know I used to believe I was him reincarnated. He died around the same day as my conception. Seems darned dharma to be reborn a poor brown girl in the barrio with nothing with which to record it all but dirt and a leaf.

    ~~~~~~~~~~~

    Someone from Poets & Writers emailed me for an interview last monday, which seemed weird since it was for a 20-page profile on my work that was to appear in the March-April issue, in time for the AWP. I had a photo shoot already scheduled for yesterday at 1 pm with a photographer from Denver. My publisher had been talking about it for months. I tried not to think about it. (blog link to follow) Same with the New York Times Book Review review that was supposed to run in December. (Do you know that they decide who gets reviewed before they even see copy or a byline? (?!) Not to mention, the Book.) My publisher was excited about it passing the second committee. But, no. So the Poets & Writers profile seemed a pretty sure thing, considering photo shoots and all. Well, I got a call in the afternoon from the same person at P & W who said that there had been a "scheduling problem" and that the profile would not appear in the Mar-April issue; and probably not at all. Ever. Evidently, the writer wrote a profile without ever having interviewed me and was now "out of the country." Okay, maybe it's quite possible to write a profile on my work based upon existing interviews and the book itself. After all, that's my whole intention -- the Book itself.

    But, it sucks. Bums me out. Not as much as my publisher who had already taken out ads based upon the existence of the profile. For him, it's business. For me, well, it's not as if a profile (more maid & garbage man stuff?) in Poets & Writers is going to make or break my reputation as a poet -- at this point in my career. But, dang, that's the point, you know? It's hard not to have it become political. I had a sinking sense when I saw Sandra on the cover for National Hispanic Month. Yikes! That'll never do. The unspoken rule of the universe for "people of experience" (~ LDC circa 1968) is "Two's quota. Three's a horde." ("We just did one!")

    Or, something.

    I try not to think about it. It's the secret of my happiness.

    I had just come back from taping some short poems and pieces from "Coffee" at KGNU for NPR's Latino USA to use as fillers in this week's show, or whenever the various affiliated stations choose to air them beginning this friday. So, had just opened the email about the interview. then the phone call. Bryce called later, bummed. He'd heard less than I about it, but he had an email in the end of December from P & W assuring him that the feature was definitely going to run in the Mar/Apr issue. It could have sold a lot of books for the press at the AWP, especially for a (dare i dare to say a word?) (an evidently) marginalized writer like myself.

    So, well.

    Truth is, to this old small pressman and former publisher, it's all sweetened with the review in Publisher Weekly. ("Publisher's Weekly!") A favorable review. Means more as it's a trade review. And upchuck the politics of po'biz. Bah! Hum bug.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    So, yesterday, I spent the day mulling over Bryce's request to come up with names of people who can come up with a 20 page profile in a day, preferably by yesterday. (There are them, right away I suggested Roberta Fernandez (because she's good) and a new critic, the best when it comes to my work, and Helena Viramontez's former student at Cornell, Eliza Rodríguez y Gibson in San Bernadino. I thought of others later: Juan Bruce, Ray Gonzalez, Nick Kanellos, Alfred Arteaga, Jose Saldivar. . . . But who wants to impose? Not me.

    So I wrote one myself. Besides, people keep asking.

    ~~~~~~~~~~

    I hope y'all are holding up well under the influence of submission season. "For now it is September/ And the killing has begun. . .". (song on the Isle of Man)

    Monday, January 09, 2006

    Lorna Dee Cervantes - Featured Reader In Denver - Cafe Cultura - Friday the 13th

    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Please forward........and bring your friends!!!!!!

     Note:  Since we continue to grow in size, make sure to come on time to sign up and get a good seat.  We will be getting together after the event for food, coffee, etc to foster a continued sense of community and just chill. Please feel free to join us.  As always, we welcome anybody who is willing to help in the organization of the event.

    See you Friday!!

    Café Cultura (www.myspace.com/cafecultura)

    Open Mic Night   Spoken Word   Hip Hop   Visual Arts   Poesia/Poetry FREE!!!!

    Red and Brown Unity


    WHEN:        2nd Fri. of every month @ 7:30 pm
                      (January 13th, February 10th, March 10th)

    WHERE:      Denver Inner City Parish
                       9th Ave & Galapago St.
                       (2 blks east of Santa Fe on the NE corner)

    WHAT:         All ages Open Mic Night

    Jan. features: Lorna Dee Cervantes (poet)
    Audyn Quintana (photographer),
    David Garcia (artist)

     Come express yourself creatively or just chill with your people.

    Everyone is welcome!

     For more info: cafe_cultura@yahoo.com; 720-436-1830  www.myspace.com/cafecultura

    Please forward and spread the word! (if you would like to print and distribute flyers, go for it; especially if you work with youth!!!)

     Interested in helping with this youth focused unity project (planning, promotion, etc.)? Let us know (you have the contact info)?Some of us started the fire?Help us keep it going!

    Sunday, January 08, 2006

    Dream Horse Soul





    You Are a Dreaming Soul





    Your vivid emotions and imagination takes you awy from this world
    So much so that you tend to live in your head most of the time
    You have great dreams and ambitions that could be the envy of all...
    But for you, following through with your dreams is a bit difficult

    You are charming, endearing, and people tend to love you.
    Forgiving and tolerant, you see the world through rose colored glasses.
    Underneath it all, you have a ton of passion that you hide from others.
    Always hopeful, you tend to expect positive outcomes in your life.

    Souls you are most compatible with: Newborn Soul, Prophet Soul, and Traveler Soul


    Saturday, January 07, 2006

    Lorna Dee Cervantes - DRIVE: The First Quartet - Reviewed in Publisher's Weekly

    ". . . this five-in-one volume reestablishes Cervantes as a singular voice." ~ Publisher's Weekly

    Copyright December 19, 2005 by Publisher's Weekly
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
     
    Drive: The First Quartet
    Cervantes, Lorna Dee (Author)

    ISBN: 0930324544
    Wings Press (TX)
    Published 2006-01
    Boxed Set, $49.95 (320p)
    Poetry | American | Hispanic American

    [note: pre-publication price is for boxed set. The 320p cloth-bound book (red with Chumash symbol intaglio on front) is only $24.95]

    Reviewed 2005-12-19
    PW

    One of the first Chicana poets to achieve wide U.S. recognition, Cervantes did so with just two books, Emplumada (1981) and From the Cables of Genocide (1991); this substantial, versatile follow-up consists (subtitle not withstanding) of five distinct collections, that can be considered as discrete works. All show fire and range, and all draw on Cervantes's life on the streets as a teen and on her left-wing activism as an adult. The first, How Far's the War? , comprises poems of activism and protest against a global spate of injustices, from Latin American dictatorships to shortages in Eastern Europe: "La plumage de justicia hangs from the broken/ arrows of palabras [words] breaking the media block/ Of Truth and Consequences of Free Trade Agreements." The last, Hard Drive , collects warmly convincing poems of erotic and parental love, remembered, promised and achieved: "Come,/ and let us eat/ up the hours/ between us." BIRD AVE, perhaps the strongest, concentrates on Cervantes's youth, recalling "what girls/ did in/ the barrio/ to get/ their 15/ minutes of fame." About 10 poems are abbreviated appropriations of very famous poems by Bishop, Williams and others, with new titles. But this five-in-one volume reestablishes Cervantes as a singular voice. (Jan.)

    Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

    Friday, January 06, 2006

    iMacExplosion

    Early wednesday morning, about 7 am, my computer exploded while I was online. (Me to Apple techie: So, it isn't an exageration, me telling my friends that my computer exploded? TechSupport: Nope.) After I explained in detail exactly what happened, what it smelled like, looked like, sounded like (shrill alarm when I finally got it to turn back on) my tech support person didn't say anything for a long time, and then just said, "Gosh!" I had to laugh. "Ugh, that's not a very reassuring sound coming from my technical support person." Then he had to run me through an injury report: "Did you experience any discomfort or stress due to or during the incidence?' "Well, yeah!"

    Of course I didn't back up.

    But I bought a 3 year tech protection plan even though I'm covered by the U if I bring it in to my office. I like Apple techies because they're paid well to be super nice to me 24 hours a day and not laugh in my face when I say "that thingy." And they come to your house. I tell the guy sighing loudly and unscrewing motherboards and logic boards and power supply boards from the base, "what causes this?" "I have no idea." "Uh, it's not because I was using it too much?"

    Don't you hate it when you say something really really stupid?

    I love Apple. All my other macs have lasted forever. I've got Apples in the basement as old as some of my students. The cord jacks (those thingys) wear out before they do. But I bought a computer timed to explode in a year, just when my work load is heaviest. I'm afraid I've missed some deadlines because of this; I was just checking my "lifelines" bookmarks which I had just organized in order to send out more manuscripts when everything died.

    There must be some kind of law.

    Cheers and endless power supply to you! ~ LDC

    Tuesday, January 03, 2006

    Don't Believe Everything You Read

    H. D. Thoreau - Still Poetry After All These Years

    This from Greg's Henry David Thoreau Blog. Feel free to substitute you know what for "grammarian."
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Monday, January 02, 2006


    Thoreau's Journal: 02-Jan-1859

    Essentially your truest poetic sentence is as free and lawless as a lamb’s bleat. The grammarian is often one who can neither cry nor laugh, yet thinks that he can express human emotions. So the posture-masters tell you how you shall walk,—turning your toes out, perhaps, excessively,—but so the beautiful walkers are not made.


    posted by Greg at 2:45 AM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Posting this for one of my favorite beautiful walkers: Rebecca Louden. Here's hoping that in the coming year she bleats more and deletes less -- unless it's for a new book of her stunning and energetic poetry. It's like finding fresh powder snow every morning if you're planning to ski.
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    And, another, closing of the year reflection:

    Thursday, December 29, 2005


    Thoreau's Journal: 29-Dec-1853

    We survive, in one sense, in our posterity and in the continuance of our race, but when a race of men, of Indians for instance, becomes extinct, is that not the end of the world for them? Is not the world forever beginning and coming to an end, both to men and races? Suppose we were to foresee that the Saxon race to which we belong would become extinct the present winter,—disappear from the face of the earth,—would it not look to us like the end of the world? Such is the prospect of the Indians.


    posted by Greg at 7:37 PM
    ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
    Dear Henry,

    Been there. Done that. Have the hair shirt to prove it and a ribbon one to stitch. With all due respect: Still here. Still beginning. Still coming to an end, both women and races. Such is prospect. We survive

    and continue to crush on you.

    Sincerely,


    Your Daughter of an "Extinct Tribe"

    Monday, January 02, 2006

    Lorna Dee On "Mammatus" and The Me And Not-Me of Poetry

    Barbara's Borderline Rant

    Read it here first.

    I'll have to get back to this (it's a bootyfull day for a new year's hike). Grrl, we gotta talk!

    Especially in light of these new poems in the new manuscript, ESKELETONADA. This is what I've been sending out. To me, not a radical departure at all but a diversion off the main trail, that ole familiar path. These are, yes, deconstructions of my previous work, but I think of them as critical reconstructions in a way that will take the next quarter of my life to figure out. I can't think about what people or the gente will say about them. I like them. And, it's for a reason.

    The essence of freedom is free choice to range among the conditions of possibility. And, perhaps, only those -- people of experience -- whose choices have been severely and historically limited understand this.

    Ms. B, fíjate, we may be among the first writers to actually have a constituency. Or, as my former chair once said to me: "Community is nothing more than an abstract term; not an actuality." "Ah! But one still knows what side of the tracks one was born on," and pays. Or doesn't.

    ¿Que no?

    "i tell ya, there's some comfort in feeling overlooked, unrecognized, hence somewhat unaccountable." ~ Barbara Jane Reyes

    Sunday, January 01, 2006

    HAPPY NEW YEAR!

    "I hope the next year is better for you than the last." ~ New Year's greeting on Isla Mujeres

    Yesterday Was My Grandmother's Birthday

    and I've been missing my brother. May I one day be a fraction of what she was. We miss her. I hear her New Year's bell -- still. May she rest in peace and sing with birds.
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