Hugo House Poetry Class

This sounds like a fantastic class. Elizabeth is a terrific poet, and teacher. Check it out!


Poetry: The Practice of Revision. Wednesdays from 7 to 9p March 14 to May 23 (no class May 16). Registration is open online at Richard Hugo House or via phone at (206) 322-7030.
$360 general public/$324 Hugo House members.
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Class description: You’ve got a first draft. Now what? How do you revise toward a richer, more compelling poem? We’ll work with a variety of craft elements including image, music and form in order to develop strong, flexible tools for revision. We’ll wrestle with the distinction between mystery and confusion, and experiment with making bolder, riskier choices. In-class exercises, take-home assignments and and reading will prompt you to dismantle and re-assemble draft poems with gusto and a sense of inquiry. You’ll leave with a clearer sense of your own aesthetic and tools to sustain your development as a writer. Required books: Next Word, Better Word, by Stephen Dobyns and Art and Fear, by David Bayles and Ted Orland.
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Elizabeth Austen is the author of “Every Dress a Decision” (Blue Begonia Press, 2011), and the chapbooks “The Girl Who Goes Alone” (Floating Bridge Press, 2010) and “Where Currents Meet” (part of the Toadlily Press quartet Sightline). Her poems have been featured on Garrison Keillor’s The Writer’s Almanac and Verse Daily. She was the Washington state “roadshow poet” and is the literary producer for KUOW 94.9 public radio. She has an MFA in poetry from Antioch University Los Angeles, and was part of the 2009 Hugo House Literary Series.More info at elizabethausten.wordpress.com/.

I love this poem from Poem a Day. And such sweetness and light, from Ezra Pound, of all people!


Come My Cantilations
by Ezra Pound

Come my cantilations,
Let us dump our hatreds into one bunch and be done with them,
Hot sun, clear water, fresh wind,
Let me be free of pavements,
Let me be free of the printers.
Let come beautiful people
Wearing raw silk of good colour,
Let come the graceful speakers,
Let come the ready of wit,
Let come the gay of manner, the insolent and the exulting.
We speak of burnished lakes,
And of dry air, as clear as metal.


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Having a great time in Palm Springs. Not quite as sunny as we had hoped. But lovely to see friends, and the Mid-Century Modern homes, and Tennis and golf and spa places. Tomorrow we'll go to Joshua Tree. And Monday, Bingo at the Ace with Linda! Fun fun!


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WA Poet Laureate!

Yay Kathleen!

State names Richland native its poet laureate for 2012-14

This past week, Kathleen Flenniken, a Richland native and Washington State University alumna, was named Washington's poet laureate for 2012-14. She lives in Seattle with her husband and has three children.
full story here

Class Warfare? Get Real.

I love this quote from Al Franken, that I read in the current issue of The Sun:

"In her book A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous Fourteenth Century, Barbara Tuchman writes about a peasant revolt in 1358 that began in the village of St. Leu and spread throughout the Oise Valley. At one estate, the serfs sacked the manor house, killed the knight, and roasted him on a spit in front of his wife and kids. Then, after ten or twelve peasants violated the lady, with the children still watching, they forced her to eat the roasted flesh of her dead husband and then killed her.

That is class warfare.

Arguing over the optimum marginal tax rate for the top one percent is not."

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This video about texters is too funny! Enjoy . . .

GAY MARRIAGE PASSES IN WA STATE!

Yee-haw. Goin' to the chapel and we're . . . gonna get married . . . !

(Probably not, but it's fun to know we could if we wanted)

Cheers!

from the web:

On February 1, the Washington State Senate voted to approve SB 6239, the marriage equality legislation, by a vote of 28-21. Your senator, Adam Kline , voted with the majority to grant loving, committed same-sex families equal civil marriage in the Evergreen State. Please send Sen. Kline a thank you right now by clicking here. 

The senate was considered by most observers as the more difficult chamber to pass the legislation through. Without Sen. Kline 's support, advocates would have failed to make Washington State the 7th in the nation to legalize same-sex marriage.

With the State House expected to vote on the measure in the coming days, it's time to take a moment to recognize the courage and conviction your senator took for standing up and doing the right thing. Thank Sen. Kline today!

Thank you,



Marty Rouse
National Field Director

P.S. Save the Date! Join us in Olympia on February 16th for Washington United’s

Are Conservatives and Racists Less Intelligent?

Intelligence Study Links Low I.Q. To Prejudice, Racism, Conservatism

The study, published in Psychological Science, showed that people who score low on I.Q. tests in childhood are more likely to develop prejudiced beliefs and socially conservative politics in adulthood.
I.Q., or intelligence quotient, is a score determined by standardized tests, but whether the tests truly reveal intelligence remains a topic of hot debate among psychologists.
Dr. Gordon Hodson, a professor of psychology at the university and the study's lead author, said the finding represented evidence of a vicious cycle: People of low intelligence gravitate toward socially conservative ideologies, which stress resistance to change and, in turn, prejudice, he told LiveScience.
Why might less intelligent people be drawn to conservative ideologies? Because such ideologies feature "structure and order" that make it easier to comprehend a complicated world, Dodson said. "Unfortunately, many of these features can also contribute to prejudice," he added.

Jody Aliesan RIP

Jody Aliesan, poet, writer, and feminist, passed away on January 14, 2012, of ovarian cancer. She died in Vancouver, Canada, where she had received her citizenship last July. Jody lived a life dedicated to "telling the truth, and speaking for those who cannot speak for themselves. My community, my culture, is our common humanity. I aspire to speak for that." (see full obit here) Her many dear friends will keep in their hearts memories of her wonderful spirit and powerful voice. Remembrances may be made to Greenpeace or the PCC Farmland Trust. "The poet is the wick in the lamp of the community. Not the oil, and not the flame; but the simple piece of cloth that unites the two so that the people can see their own light." (Irish wisdom) Sign Jody's on-line Guest Book at www.Legacy.com.


from her poem "in beauty it is finished"

that day above wet islands tossed by crosswinds
in a little four-seater shuddering sideways down
shoulder first through racing clouds
desperate for a clearing
. . . . . something drew me away
from the pilot's face to the world below
and said you may die soon so look again
how wind beats the water into a silver sheet
don't miss these last few moments by being afraid
. . .

Cheap Wine & Poetry Hugo House

Cheap Wine and Poetry
Feeds the Hungry!
Thursday January 26, 2012, 7:00 PM
Richard Hugo House
1634 11th Avenue
Seattle WA 98122
(206) 322-7030

Featuring Greg Bem & Amber Flame
plus
Martha Silano & Peter Pereira
Reading New Work
Supported by 4Culture/Individual Artist Projects

Rainier Valley Food Bank Benefit Reading
The first 30 people to bring a donated food item receive a free drink!

Donate Food: The food bank can always use donations of high protein, healthy foods, such as:
Canned chicken, tuna and salmon
Hearty meat soups and stews
Canned vegetables and fruits
Dry and canned beans (kidney, pinto, green, yellow, refried or black beans)
Peanut butter
Pasta and rice
Pancake and baking mixes
Oatmeal
Granola and energy bars
Dried fruits (raisins, dried cranberries, apricots, apples, etc)

Do-Re-Mitt

Check this out. A really funny version of "My Favorite Things" in the voice of uber-rich, über-conceited Mitt Romney:

White folks for neighbors because they're hard workers
Other folks for caddies and legal yard workers
Money and all of the houses its brings
These are a few of my favorite things


Corporate people for my only friends
Ron to stay in til the primary ends
More Touch of Gray so I only have "wings"
These are a few of my favorite things.


When the Newt bites, when the Rick stings
When magic Underoos chafe
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I can feel... quite safe


Here is the link to the video: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/13/mitt-romney-favorite-things_n_1205184.html

Faux Pho!

Dean and I love Vietnamese pho noodle soup, especially on cold wintry days. I've heard it called Vietnamese penicillin, so many people swear by it to keep coughs and colds away.

But on our low carb diet the noodles are just a killer. So, this weekend I invented a "faux pho" soup, using thinly julienned yellow squash and zucchini squash for the noodles. Terrific!

Here is my general Faux Pho recipe:

Saute:
Olive oil
onion or shallot or both
garlic
ginger
mushroom
orange sweet pepper
basil
white wine

Add:
chicken or vegetable broth (hot)
sesame oil
lemon pepper
paprika
salt
red pepper flakes
lime juice
pork or prawns or both

Bring it all to a boil for a couple minutes, until meat is cooked, then add the julienned squash and/or zucchinni "noodles" and cook for about two minutes (you want the squashed cooked, but still somewhat firm) and serve.

The faux noodles are quite satisfying, but have minimal carbs. Enjoy!

From Huff Post Gay Voices:

In searching for a way to give back to the LGBTQ community, Michael Volpatt and Patrick Wallace created a aNoteToMyKid.com, a grassroots movement that gives everyone -- parents, family, and friends -- the opportunity to express unconditional love for the LGBTQ people in their lives. The nonprofit's purpose is to remind people that there is a lot of love out there, to bring family and friends closer together, and to give parents and others who may not know how to broach the subject of sexuality an opportunity to learn from example.

Best Poetry Books of 2011

Happy New Year! I thought I'd look back on 2011 and give a shout out to the ten or so books of poetry from the past year that I enjoyed the most, or found the most memorable. In no particular order:

Woodnote, Christine Deavel: the long-poem pastiche "Economy" culled from her deceased aunt's diary entries was one of the most exhilarating poetry experiences of the year for me.

Every Dress a Decision, Elizabeth Austen: so good to see this important poet from the Seattle scene get her first full length book.

Flies, Michael Dickman: I loved the dream-like black humor and the reference to Emily Dickinson.

Present Vanishing, Dick Allen: Though this book came out in 2008, I didn't read it until this year. I love the Zen poems especially.

The Book of Men, Dorianne Laux: I enjoyed the nostalgia for the 60-70's pop stars. Perfect for my age demographic.

The Hands of Strangers: Janice N. Harrington's wonderful debut collection from BOA about life (and death) in the nursing home does not sound like it would be that engaging. But this book is pretty amazing. Start with the poem about bedsores.

The Captain Asks for a Show of Hands, Nick Flynn : Uneven, but what an amazing cover image, and some really devastating moments in the poems too.

The Little Office of the Immaculate Conception, Martha Silano: a wonderful blending of cosmology, motherhood, and cooking. Even better that Patricia Smith's Life on Mars (which is also one of my faves for 2011, though I really didn't start reading it until the last few days).

Space, In Chains, Laura Kasischke: another book with space, cosmology, in its title. Hmmm, a theme here?

And some from 2011 I am looking forward to reading this year:

Songs of Unreason, Jim Harrison.
Head Off & Split, Nikky Finney
Dear Prudence: New and Selected, David Trinidad.

If you have a suggestion for a book I may have missed, feel free to comment or backchannel.

Cheers!

I love this poem from today's American Life in Poetry:

The Art of Being

The fern in the rain breathes the silver message.
Stay, lie low. Play your dark reeds
and relearn the beauty of absorption.
There is nothing beyond the rotten log
covered with leaves and needles.
Forget the light emerging with its golden wick.
Raise your face to the water-laden frond.
A thousand blossoms will fall into your arms.

 

 Anne Coray is an Alaskan, and in this beautiful meditation on the stillness of nature she shows us how closely she’s studied something that others might simply step over.

   American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation, publisher of Poetry magazine. It is also supported by the Department of English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Poem copyright ©2011 by Anne Coray from her most recent book of poetry, A Measure’s Hush, Boreal Books, 2011. Poem reprinted by permission of Anne Coray and the publisher. Introduction copyright ©2011 by The Poetry Foundation. The introduction's author, Ted Kooser, served as United States Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress from 2004-2006. We do not accept unsolicited manuscripts.

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Great little memorial article for Ruth Stone, written by Philip Levine, in the NY Times yesterday:

"Ruth lived in the only world of poetry that matters, the one without publishers, awards, prestige, competition, jealousy, money — the one  
we might call “poetry eternal,” the same world the great poems live in. Now she is there forever."

Geospatial Poetry Is Here!

Check out this terrific new collaborative poetry project. It is so cool to log on to Google Earth, and zoom in on a location (currently WA state is featured), and find a poem there! Some of the featured poets include Allen Braden, Kathleen Flenniken, Derrick Sheffield, Susan Rich, James Bertolino, and Kathryn Hunt. Visit Katharine Whitcomb's website for more details:

The Center for Geospatial Poetry at Central Washington University. A Sense of Place: The Washington State Geospatial Poetry Anthology, edited by Professor Katharine Whitcomb, Dr. Robert Hickey, and Marco Thompson, is ready for readers and distribution. They are also now accepting submissions for a 2nd edition. Click on the above links and check it out.

Also: A Sense of Place has its first gig at the Cascadia Poetry Festival, March 25, 2012, 4 p.m. Be *there* (no pun intended).

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Love this poem from today's Verse Daily:
White Stork
                                         —Ciconia ciconia

Such jazzy arrhythmia,
                                     the white storks'
Plosive and gorgeous leave-takings suggest
Oracular utterance where the blurred
Danube disperses its silts.
                                         Then the red-
Billed, red-legged creatures begin to spiral,
To float among thermals like the souls, wrote
Pythagoras, praising the expansive
Grandeur of black-tipped wings, of dead poets.
Most Eastern cultures would not allow them
To be struck, not with slung stone or arrow
Or, later, lead bullet—
                                   birds who have learned,
While living, to keep their songs to themselves,
Who return to nests used for centuries,
Nests built on rooftops, haystacks, telegraph
Poles, on wooden wagon wheels placed on cold
Chimneys by peasants who hoped to draw down
Upon plague-struck villages such winged luck.

If the body in its failure remains
A nest, if the soul chooses to return...

Yet not one stork has been born in Britain
Since 1416, the last nest renounced
When Julian of Norwich, anchoress,
Having exhausted all revelations,
Took earthly dispensation, that final
Stork assuring, even while vanishing,
"Sin is behovely, but all shall be well."


Copyright © 2011 Michael Waters All rights reserved
from Gospel Night
BOA Editions
Reprinted by Verse Daily® with permission

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And this one from a few days ago on Poem-A-Day

The Gardenia
by Cornelius Eady

The trouble is, you can never take
That flower from Billie's hair.
She is always walking too fast
and try as we might,

there's no talking her into slowing.
Don't go down into that basement,
we'd like to scream. What will it take
to bargain her blues,

To retire that term when it comes
to her? But the grain and the cigarettes,
the narcs and the fancy-dressed boys,
the sediment in her throat.

That's the soil those petals spring from,
Like a fist, if a fist could sing.

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