Thursday, October 09, 2003
Greg Fuchs & Carol Mirakove.............& tomorrow
my hope is that Frank Sherlock or hassen will fill in my BIG blanks. when i go to poetry readings, i never seem to be able to regurgitate the same sort of exacting references of what happened as others can. my fractured accounts are all emotional.
and so for last night i felt like i was sitting in the room where history was being created. history for poetry's sake, which is the sake of all creative force, which is the root of change, be it political change, emotional, spiritual....
last night, for me, proved how powerful and lasting poets like Fuchs and Mirakove are in this age. hearing them made me nothing short of grateful for being alive to hear them, be with them in their time of sharing, and a room filled with listeners.
Anselm Berrigan is whipping up the new era of The Poetry Project with no hesitation to bring us WHAT and WHO is out there right now MAKING the poetry move forward! it was an exciting night! i wish the hell i could throw some lines back to you.
but my point is the COMMUNITY of poets at hand! there is without a doubt a loyalty to the spirit and drive for change in the world of poetry, which is the world at large. it's the generous poets, generous in every sense, who keep the circle honest, and free.
hassen and i arrived for the reading after an extended weekend in Salem, where hassen was researching the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 for a rather disturbing but beautiful series of poems she's writing. my hope is that she reads at least some of them tomorrow night at the 215 festival. if anyone can really CAPTURE the essence of what it means for us now to fully absorb the horror of 1692, it's hassen.
Frank asked those of us reading tomorrow night to also read a poem by another PHILLY SOUND POET who is not participating. i had already said that i will be reading a poem by Buck Downs. and i intend to. but i have been rereading ANOTHER STRANGE ISLAND by Mirana Ruiz Firmat, and think i'll also read a poem from that book. wasn't sure if i was going to read "Surveillance Steals Another Memory" or "The Long J Sound" but have finally decided on "The Long J Sound"
here it is for those of you who don't yet know the poem:
The Long J Sound
maybe this wake is only memory
we are greater than
which road we try
I have no conversation
missing my hands
day is losing the battle
last august moon
healthy interior
a year's work
sensible walls
cash in
this blue blue bottle
your pink striped shirt
succeeding in losing yourself
-------------
anyone interested in purchasing a copy of ANOTHER STRANGE ISLAND can write to John Coletti & Open 24 Hours Press at acoldgobot@hotmail.com
it's an amazing book!
CAConrad
and so for last night i felt like i was sitting in the room where history was being created. history for poetry's sake, which is the sake of all creative force, which is the root of change, be it political change, emotional, spiritual....
last night, for me, proved how powerful and lasting poets like Fuchs and Mirakove are in this age. hearing them made me nothing short of grateful for being alive to hear them, be with them in their time of sharing, and a room filled with listeners.
Anselm Berrigan is whipping up the new era of The Poetry Project with no hesitation to bring us WHAT and WHO is out there right now MAKING the poetry move forward! it was an exciting night! i wish the hell i could throw some lines back to you.
but my point is the COMMUNITY of poets at hand! there is without a doubt a loyalty to the spirit and drive for change in the world of poetry, which is the world at large. it's the generous poets, generous in every sense, who keep the circle honest, and free.
hassen and i arrived for the reading after an extended weekend in Salem, where hassen was researching the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692 for a rather disturbing but beautiful series of poems she's writing. my hope is that she reads at least some of them tomorrow night at the 215 festival. if anyone can really CAPTURE the essence of what it means for us now to fully absorb the horror of 1692, it's hassen.
Frank asked those of us reading tomorrow night to also read a poem by another PHILLY SOUND POET who is not participating. i had already said that i will be reading a poem by Buck Downs. and i intend to. but i have been rereading ANOTHER STRANGE ISLAND by Mirana Ruiz Firmat, and think i'll also read a poem from that book. wasn't sure if i was going to read "Surveillance Steals Another Memory" or "The Long J Sound" but have finally decided on "The Long J Sound"
here it is for those of you who don't yet know the poem:
The Long J Sound
maybe this wake is only memory
we are greater than
which road we try
I have no conversation
missing my hands
day is losing the battle
last august moon
healthy interior
a year's work
sensible walls
cash in
this blue blue bottle
your pink striped shirt
succeeding in losing yourself
-------------
anyone interested in purchasing a copy of ANOTHER STRANGE ISLAND can write to John Coletti & Open 24 Hours Press at acoldgobot@hotmail.com
it's an amazing book!
CAConrad
