#Collected Poems of James Wright

[undinesea]

Night with its darkness, solitude with its peace,

James Wright, “I Want to Sleep,” from Collected Poems

#james wright #poetry

[poetrysmackdown]

hi hiii i wanted to say that your account is so refreshing to see, esp with the passion you have for the arts. as someone who's been meaning to read (and write) more poetry, do you have any recommendations? some classics that everyone and their mothers know? perhaps some underrated pieces that changed you? or even just authors you like, I'm very open to suggestions :]]

Hi! Thank you so much for this kind ask :) So exciting that you’re looking to delve deeper into reading and writing! I had to take a little time to answer this because my thoughts were all over the place lol.

For a review of notable/classic poems/poets, I honestly just recommend looking at lists online or, hell, just binging Wikipedia pages for different countries’ poetry if that’s something you’re into, just to get a sense of the chronology. I read one of those little Oxford Very Short Introductions on American Poetry and thought it was pretty good, but online is quicker if you’re just searching for poets or movements to hone in on. Poetry Foundation also has lots of resources, in addition to all the poems in their database. I guess my one big classic recommendation would have to be Emily Dickinson (<3), but really the best move is just to find a poet you already enjoy and then look around to see who their peers were/are, who they were inspired by, who they’ve maybe translated here and there, etc. and follow it down the line as far as you can.

For some personal recs, here are some collections I’ve really enjoyed over the past two years or so. Bolded favorites, and linking where select poems from the book have been published online. But also, if you want a preview of a couple poems from another of the books to see if they interest you, DM me and I can send them over! You can also feel free to pilfer through my poetry tag for more stuff lol

Autobiography of Death by Kim Hyesoon trans. Don Mee Choi

Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings by Joy Harjo

DMZ Colony by Don Mee Choi

Hardly War by Don Mee Choi

Whereas by Layli Long Soldier

Geography III by Elizabeth Bishop

Dictee by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha

Don’t Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric by Claudia Rankine

Mouth: Eats Color—Sagawa Chika Translations, Anti-Translations, & Originals by Sawako Nakayasu

The Selected Poems of Osip Mandelstam trans. W.S. Merwin and Clarence Brown

The Branch Will Not Break by James Wright

This Journey by James Wright

God’s Silence by Franz Wright

Duino Elegies by Rainer Maria Rilke (the translation I read was by Alfred Corn—I thought it was great, but idk if there are better ones out there!)

DMZ Colony, Hardly War, Dictee, Don’t Let Me Be Lonely, and partially Whereas are all book-length poems with some prose poetry and varying levels of weirdness/denseness/multilingualism—if you were to pick one to start with, I’d say do Don’t Let Me Be Lonely or Whereas. Mouth: Eats Color is some experimental translations of Japanese modernist poet Chika Sagawa, with other translations and some of Nakayasu’s original stuff mixed in—it's definitely a bit disorienting but ultimately I remember having such fun with it, as much fun as Nakayasu probably had making it. It’s a book that emphasizes co-creation and a spirit of play, and completely changed my attitude towards translation.

If you’re less interested in that kind of formal fuckery stuff though (I get it), can’t go wrong with the other books! Conflict Resolution for Holy Beings is the one I read most recently, and it’s great—Harjo also featured in Round 1! Franz Wright also featured, and God's Silence is the collection which "Night Walk" comes from. James Wright (father of Franz) is one of my favorite poets of all time, though his poetry isn’t perfect. Even so, I’m honestly surprised he’s not doing numbers on Tumblr—Mary Oliver was a big fan of his, even wrote her "Three Poems for James Wright" after his death.

I mentioned in another post that one of my favorite poets is Paul Celan, so I’ll also recommend him here. I read Memory Rose into Threshold Speech which is a translated collection of his earlier poems, but it’s quite long if you’re just getting to know him as a poet—fortunately, both Poetry Foundation and Poets.org have a ton of his poems in their collections. There’s also an article by Ilya Kaminsky about him titled “Of Strangeness That Wakes Us” (!!!!!) that’s a great place to start, and is honestly kind of my whole mission statement when I’m reading and writing poetry. Looking at the books I’ve recommended above, a lot of them share feelings of separateness or alienation—from others, from oneself, from one’s country, from language—that breed strange, private modes of expression. That tends to be what I’m drawn to personally, and that’s some of what Kaminsky talks about.

Sorry of the length of this—I hope it's useful as a jumping-off point! And if you or anyone ends up exploring any of these poets, let me know what you think! If folks wanna reply with recommendations themselves too that'd be great :)

#ask #not a poll #i originally was going to link to previews of the books directly on this post but for some reason I suddenly feel very paranoid about #copyright LMAO. ik this blog is already like copyright infringement central but I feel like I can at least make an argument for the polls #being fair use lol. in the way that i could not for the pdf previews I made. (i also have a full pdf of hardly war if anyone wants lol) #and i know it's not entirely rational bc this is tumblr and nobody looks on tumblr. but i'm not used to having this many followers lol so i #admittedly just getting anxious about silly things #but please please feel free to DM me! or send an ask off anon #discussion

[noelcollection]

An American Voice

Since the events of 2020, we have attempted to be more active and reach out to LSU Shreveport campus. This action of outreach is meant to help student, faculty, and campus personnel be aware of a rare and unique resource that is available to them, and any visiting persons to the campus. We have just started our 2024 J.S. Noel Collection Pop-up Exhibits, we aim to highlight a vary small section of the James Smith Noel Collection that might interest various research. This time we focused on one person, Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Paul Laurence Dunbar was born in June in 1872 after the United States’ Civil War, his parents were former slaves. He was born and raised in Dayton, Ohio; and started writing from a young age. He wrote is first poem at the age of 6 and read it aloud at the age of nine for a local church congregation, “An Easter Ode.” Dunbar was 16 when he published two poems in the Dayton’s newspaper The Herald; “Our Martyred Soldiers” and “On the River” in 1888. A few years later he would write and edit Dayton’s first weekly African-American newspaper, The Tattler. Paul L. Dunbar worked with two brothers that were his high-school acquaintances to print the paper that lasted six weeks. Those brothers were Wilbur and Orville Wright, the fathers of American aviation. Dunbar was the only African-American student at Central High School in Dayton.

Dunbar’s parents had been slaves in Kentucky, following the emancipation, his mother moved to Ohio, and his father escaped before the Civil War ended. Joshua Dunbar went to Massachusetts and volunteered with the 55th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment. His parents, Matilda and Joshua, were married on Christmas Eve and Paul L. Dunbar arrived six months later. His parents had a troubled union, they separated after the birth on Paul’s sister; but his father would pass away in August in 1885 when Paul was only 13 years old. His mother played a key role in his education, she hoped her son would become a minister. He was elected president of his high school’s literary society which lead to him to become editor of the school newspaper and debate club member.

Paul Laurence Dunbar finished school in 1891 and took a job as an elevator operator to earn money for college where he hoped to study law. Dunbar had continued to write and soon a collection of poems he wanted to publish. He revisited the Wright brothers, but they no longer had a printing faculty and lead his to the United Brethren Publishing House in 1893. Oak and Ivy was soon published and he busied himself selling copies as he operated the elevator. The book contained two sections, Oak with its traditional verse; and Ivy was written in dialect.

His literary talents were recognized and Attorney Charles A. Thatcher offered to pay for college; however, his interest in law had shift to his writing. Dunbar had been encouraged by the sell of his poetry, and Thatcher helped by arranging for Dunbar to do readings in a nearby city. Psychiatrist Henry A. Tobey also took an interest and assisted in distributing Dunbar’s first book. The two contained to support Dunbar through the publication of his second collection of verse, Major and Minors, in 1896. While he was consistent at publishing, he was a reckless spender resulting in debt. He was a traditional struggling artist as he tried to support himself and his mother.

There was hope in the summer of 1896 when his second book received a positive review in Harper’s Weekly, William Dean Howells brought national attention to his poems; calling them “honest thinking and true feeling” and praising his dialectic poems. There was a growing appreciation for folk culture and black dialect. His popular works were written in the “Negro dialect” that is commonly associated with the antebellum South; though he also wrote in the Midwestern dialect that he grew-up hearing. Dunbar would write in various styles, including conversational English in poetry and novels. He is considered to be the first important African American sonnet writer. His use of the “Black dialect” in writing has been criticized as pan-handling to readers.

Dunbar was a diverse writer, he experimented with poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and a musical. He even ventured beyond the lens of the lives of African Americans and attempted to explore the struggles of a white minister. The Uncalled, Dunbar’s first novel, held similar names and themes of Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter and was not well favored. It was with his venture into novel writing that he dared to cross the “color line” with his first novel which focused solely on white society. He continued to try to capture white culture but the critics found them lacking.

He moved past novel writing and began to work with two composers, Dunbar wrote the lyrics for the first musical that would be preformed by an all African-American cast on Broadway; In Dahomey. Beyond his writing career, Dunbar was also active the early civil rights movements happening in 1897. He married after a trip to the United Kingdom in 1898, Alice Ruth Moore was also a poet and teacher from New Orleans. She also published a collection of short stories, and they wrote companion poems together. There was a play in 2001 based on their relationship.

Dunbar had taken a traditional job with the Library of Congress in D.C. and with his wife in tow they moved there. However, with his wife’s urging, he left his job to focus on his writings and his public readings. This also allowed him to attend Howard University for a time. However, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1900 and his doctors suggested that drinking whisky would alleviate the symptoms. They also moved to the cold dry mountains of Colorado for his health. This resulted in trouble in Paul and Alice’s marriage, they separated in 1902 but never formally divorced.

Dunbar returned to his hometown of Dayton, Ohio in 1904 to be with his mother, his health continued to decline and depression consumed his mind. Paul Laurence Dunbar died from tuberculosis at age 33 on February 9, 1906 and was interred in Dayton.

Dunbar did not become one of the forgotten poets of literature, his use of dialect in his poetry allowed for his works to remain relevant and important in poetic criticism. We of the James Smith Noel Collection at LSU Shreveport are proud to retain and maintain a small collection of his works and show case their importance.

#special collections #rare books #books and libraries #poetry #black history month

[firstfullmoon]

hi! do you have any recommendations for books that have emphasised the beauty of life or nature or people? anything that has stuck out to you in terms of the style that reiterates an idea of love being everywhere? also any of your favourite reads :)

i feel like i always rec the same books on this theme but beauty of the world here we go: upstream & any poetry collection by mary oliver, the book of delights & catalog of unabashed gratitude by ross gay, gilead & home by marilynne robinson, walking to martha’s vineyard by franz wright, anything by ada limón but especially bright dead things & the hurting kind, mrs dalloway by virginia woolf, kingdom animalia by aracelis girmay, letters to a young poet by rainer maria rilke, the friend by sigrid nunez, how to love the world: poems of gratitude and hope & the path to kindness: poems of connection and joy both edited by james crews

[septembersung]

Poetry pquestion: what should I have for breakfast this morning?

She saw the berries, paused and sampled them

From: “My Grandmother’s Ghost” by James Wright (collected poems, Wesleyan 1972, p.46)

The context:

#April is national poetry month #ask game: send me a question and i will answer with a line of poetry #poetry #james wright #I was reading wright today because I was thinking about how I forgot to read Saint Judas on Spy Wednesday

[greensparty]

2022: The Year in Green’s Party

This has been another great year on this blog of me sharing a thought or two about pop culture! This was a year I needed pop culture, entertainment and escapism more than ever. I got to do so many awesome things and I can’t believe that in early 2023 this blog turns 10! Here are some of the highlights of 2022:

Retweets and Social Media: There were numerous retweets and shares of my posts this year on social media including 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza sharing my coverage, Dana Carvey liked my tweet about Wayne’s World at Nice a Fest, David Spade liked my tweet about my interview with Siobhan Fallon Hogan, and Sean Baker liked my tweet about Red Rocket being my Best 2021 Movie I Saw in 2022.

Interviews: I got to interview numerous people including Jon “Bermuda” Schwartz of Weird Al Yankovic’s band (plus a bonus portion of the interview), Nice a Fest founder Alex Pickert, musician Colleen Green, actor / director James Morosini, director Marq Evans, director April Wright, director Ryan White, musician Kay Hanley, and actors Brian O’Halloran and Jeff Anderson.

Movie Reviews: I got to review A Hero, Sundown, I Want You Back, Studio 666, Jazz Fest: A New Orleans Story, Jurassic World Dominion,  The Beatles and India, George Michael Freedom Uncut, Hallelujah: Leonard Cohen, A Journey, A Song, Thor: Love and Thunder, Clerks III, Sidney, Nothing Compares, Halloween Ends, Let There Be Drums!, Rebel Dread, Weird: The Al Yankovic Story, A Christmas Story Christmas, She Said, Avatar: The Way of Water, and Bablyon.

Album Reviews: I got to review Eddie Vedder’s Earthling and the vinyl reissue of Ukelele Songs, John Carpenter, Cody Carpenter and Daniel Davies’ Firestarter soundtrack and Halloween Ends soundtrack, Florence + The Machine’s Dance Fever, The Rolling Stones’ Live at El Mocambo, The Clash’s Combat Rock / The People’s Hall special edition, Wilco’s Cruel Country, Beabadoobee’s Beatopia, Neil Young and Crazy Horse’s Toast, Neil Young and Promise of the Real’s Noise & Flowers, R.E.M.’s Chronic Town 40th anniversary EP, Oasis’s Be Here Now 25th anniversary edition, Ringo Starr’s EP3, Djo’s Decide, Billy Idol’s The Cage, The Smithereens’ The Lost Album, The Pixies’ Doggerel, L7′s Bricks Are Heavy 30th anniversary reissue, Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Cool It Down, Alvvays’ Blue Rev, Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen, Joe Strummer and The Mescaleros’ Joe Strummer 002: The Mescalero Years box set, The Beatles’ Revolver Special Super Deluxe Edition, Foo Fighters’ The Essential Foo Fighters, the compilation album ‘Life Moves Pretty Fast’ The John Hughes Mixtapes, Guns N’ Roses Use Your Illusion I and II box set, Bruce Springsteen’s Only the Strong Survive, Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Los Angeles Forum: April 26, 1969, and Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers’ Live at the Fillmore, 1997.

Concert Reviews: The year began with a livestream concert review of Mike Garson’s A Bowie Celebration. In person concert reviews came back with reviews of Sheer Mag, Ringo Starr and His All-Starr Band, Paul McCartney, Death Cab for Cutie, Alvvays, and not an official review but I did a semi-review of Cheap Trick at Boston Calling.

DVD and Blu-ray Reviews: I got to review some DVD and blu-rays including The Beatles: Get Back, Neil Young and Promise of the Real: Noise & Flowers, and You Can’t Do That on Film.

Book Reviews: I got to cover numerous books released in 2022 including Olivia Harrison’s Came the Lightening: Twenty Poems for George, Pattie Boyd’s My Life in Pictures, and Jerry Seinfeld’s Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee Book.

Theater Reviews: This year I got to do my first official theater review, for On Beckett.

Music Festivals: I got to cover the 2022 Nice, a Fest festival.

Film Festivals and Film Events: I got to review a virtual film at Sundance Film Festival, my annual guide to the 2022 Oscar Nominated Short Films, my coverage of the 2022 Independent Film Festival Boston, covered the 2022 Collectibles Extravaganza, and the 2022 IFFBoston Fall Focus.

...And the biggest postings and news of the year:

- 1/2/2022: Green’s Party turned 9!

- 1/28/2022: I wrote my tribute to Mighty Mighty Bosstones, who I have been lucky enough to cover since 2017.

- March 2022: I took a breather from the blog for a few weeks due to a death in the family. 

- 3/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Taylor Hawkins. 32 notes, my biggest post of 2022!

- 3/29/22: I posted my This Month In History column for March. 19 notes.

- 4/14/22: I wrote about returning to my first live concert in over 2 years to see LCD Soundsystem.

- 5/26/22: I posted my remembrance of Ray Liotta. 11 notes.

- 6/19/22: I re-shared my 2021 post about Sesame Street’s Juneteenth Song. 28 notes.

- 7/31/22: I posted my remembrance of Bill Russell and Nichelle Nichols. 18 notes.

- 8/7/22: I shared my return to Kim’s Video at NYC’s Alamo Drafthouse. 

- 9/21/22: I shared the big news that my documentary Life on the V: The Story of V66 has been added to the Permanent Collection of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame!

- 10/12/22: I re-shared my 2018 post about This Day in 2018. 15 notes.

- 12/8/22: Tumblr provided their data of Green’s Party Year in Review up until December 8.

- 12/17/22: I re-shared my 2020 Top 5 Seinfeld Episodes During the Holiday Season list. 11 notes.

#green's party #my blog #2022 #year in review #film geek #music nerd #books #concerts #dvd review #theater review #film festival

[poetrywithbrian]

POETRY LIST FROM BRIAN P: This list is made up of English language “lyric” poems by poets from what would become or is now the United States of America. They are in a random arrangement, not alphabetical or chronological. Allow them to play off each other in a variety of ways. Each poet is represented by only one poem.

May Swenson, The Centaur

Archibald MacLeish, Ars Poetica

Oliver Wendell Holmes, The Chambered Nautilus

Lucille Clifton, The Lost Baby Poem

Hart Crane, Voyages

H.D. Elegy and Choros

Wallace Stevens, Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

Amy Lowell, The Garden by Moonlight

N. Scott Momaday, The Delight Song of Tsoai-talee

Francis Scott Key, Defense of Fort M’Henry

Langston Hughes, The Negro Speaks of Rivers

Adrienne Rich, Diving into the Wreck

Robert Hayden, Letter from Phyllis Wheatley

Bob Dylan, The Times They Are A-Changin’

James Dickey, Cherrylog Road

Chen Chen, I Invite My Parents to a Dinner Party

Joy Harjo, She Had Some Horses

Bonnie Larson Staiger, Grassland

Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

e.e. cummings, “anyone lived in a pretty how town”

Carl Sandburg, Chicago

James Russell Lowell, The Present Crisis

Ralph Waldo Emerson, The Snowstorm

Robert Lowell, For the Union Dead

Tommy Pico, I See the Fire that Burns Inside You

Emily Dickinson, “I started early – took my dog””

T.S. Eliot, The Hollow Men

Louise Gluck, The Wild Iris

Anonymous, Swing Low, Sweet Chariot

Gary Snyder, The Bath

Gwendolyn Brooks, We Real Cool

James Whitcomb Riley, L’il Orphant Annie

James Merrill, The Victor Dog

James Welch, Harlem, Montana: Just Off the Reservation

Frank O’Hara, Why I Am Not a Painter

John Ashbery, Self-Portrait in a Convex Mirror

William Carlos Williams, XXII, from Spring and All, The Red Wheelbarrow

Tupac Shakur, Changes

George Oppen, Five Poems about Poetry

Robert Bly, Driving to Town Late to Mail a Letter

Edwin Arlington Robinson, Mr. Flood’s Party

Richard Wright, Between the World and Me

John Greenleaf Whittier, Snowbound: A Winter’s Idyl

Phyllis Wheatley, His Excellency General Washington

Walt Whitman, When lilacs last by the dooryard bloom’d

Patricia Smith, The Stuff of Astounding: A Poem for Juneteenth

Edgar Allen Poe, The Raven

R.W. Wilson, Poemable

Marianne Moore, The Mind Is an Enchanting Thing

Julia Ward Howe, Battle Hymn of the Republic

Sylvia Plath, Tulips

Patricia Smith, The Stuff of Astounding: A Poem for Juneteenth

Thomas McGrath, A Coal Fire in Winter

Growing Concern Poetry Collective, Come to Me Open

Denise Lajimodiere, Dragonfly Dance

Edward Taylor, Housewifery

Jay Wright, Benjamin Banneker Sends His “Almanac” to Thomas Jefferson

Allen Ginsberg, Howl

David Solheim, In Moonlight

William Stafford, At the Bomb Testing Site

Ronald Johnson, Letters to Walt Whitman

Marge Piercy, To Be of Use

Mary Oliver, The Wild Geese

Wendell Berry, The Peace of Wild Things

W.H. Auden, Epitaph on a Tyrant

Richard Blanco, On Today

Timothy Murphy, Mortal Stakes

Lauryn Hill, Lost One

Don J. Lee/Haki Madhubuti, A Poem to Complement Other Poems

Louise Erdrich, The Strange People

Jericho Brown, Psalm 150

John Berryman, 11 Addresses to the Lord

Thomas Merton, Love Winter When the Plant Says Nothing

Anne Bradstreet, Before the Birth of One of Her Children

Frances E. W. Harper, Learning to Read

Randall Jarrell, Mail Call, and the children’s book “The Bat Poet”

Herman Melville, The Maldive Shark

Gertrude Stein, How She Bowed to Her Brother

Anne Sexton, In Celebration of My Uterus

Theodore Roethke, In a Dark Time

Edna St. Vincent Millay, “What lips my lips have kissed, and where and why”

Stephen Crane, A Man Saw a Ball of Gold

Robert Penn Warren, The Moonlight’s Dream

Paul Laurence Dunbar, The Colored Band

Henry David Thoreau, “The moon now rises to her absolute rule”

Emma Lazarus. The New Colossus

Sugar Hill Gang, Rapper’s Delight

Allen Tate, Ode to the Confederate Dead

Muriel Rukeyser, Ballad of Orange and Grape

Elizabeth Bishop, Sestina, “September rain falls on the house”

Judy Grahn, The Common Woman Poems (complete)

Lawrence Ferlinghetti, I Am Waiting

May Sarton, The Gift of Thyme

George Moses Horton, On Liberty and Slavery

Ezra Pound, The River-Merchant’s Wife: A Letter

Robinson Jeffers, Hurt Hawks

James Weldon Johnson, The Creation

Sherman Alexie, Sonnet, with Pride

Kenneth Koch, In Love With You

Jupiter Hammon, An Address to Miss Phillis Wheatley

A.R. Ammons, The Brook Has Worked Out the Prominence of a Bend

Anonymous, Go Down, Moses

Yusef Komunyakaa. Facing It

W.S. Merwin, After the Alphabets

Richard Wilbur, A Baroque Wall-Fountain in the Villa Sciarra

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Day Is Done

Natalie Diaz, My Brother at 3 AM

Maya Angelou, On the Pulse of Morning

Raymond Roseliep, The Morning Glory

Rita Dove, Dawn Revisted

#class 3

[kforourke]

Speaking of Endings

A truism of writing in the digital age is how little time people spend on any page, and how infrequently they read (or even scroll) to the end. Stats: 35% of readers leave pages without scrolling at all, 45% who load an article/page leave within the first fifteen seconds, and most people only view the top of a given page. But also, super interestingly, readers who make it below the fold tend to stick around.

Which brings to me endings.

Endings have always struck me as the most important part of a piece of writing, after (maybe?) the title & lede. It's the ending that sticks with the reader and leads to rereading & reexamining. And of course endings, outside of writing, can color how you think of an entire experience.

A famous example from poetry is the final line of James Wright's "Lying in a Hammock in William Duffy's Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota," in which the ending turns the entire bucolic-before-the-last-line poem on its head. Here are the last seven lines (from a thirteen-line poem):

To my right, In a field of sunlight between two pines, The droppings of last year's horses Blaze up into golden stones. I lean back, as the evening darkens and comes on. A chicken hawk floats over, looking for home. I have wasted my life.

Oof.

Then there are the sorts of endings that the generally intense post-punk band Protomartyr excels at, the ending that everything builds toward. This sort of songwriting—writing for the end—may be the most defining characteristic of their new album Formal Growth in the Desert, the band's sixth full-length.*

A good example of this is "Polacrilex Kid," a song named after one of the ingredients in nicotine gum that includes the lyrics "keep the hate in your mouth / buy it drinks / keep it fed." The last two minutes of the song, in which Protomartyr's singer Joe Casey shifts from shouting to almost crooning the lines "can you / hate yourself / and still deserve love?" are particularly devastating.

Likewise, the last minute of "We Know the Rats" is the reason I keep coming back to that song. I actually don't love the first ~2 minutes of the WKtR; my main criticism of the Formal Growth in the Desert overall is that a number of the songs seem to stutter at the start before settling into themselves.

Nonetheless, boy oh boy does "We Know the Rats" ever settle into itself: "so collect those tears / and wash your face / the house is empty / but the work remains."

Finally, there's Kevin Prufer's new collection of poetry, The Fears**, which is forthcoming from Copper Canyon. I've yet to finish reading the book, but so far Prufer's endings are masterful. They're also exactly the sort of endings I was praising above, the kind that lead to reexamination.

Here, to close, are the final few lines of "A Body of Work," which seems an apropos way to end a post about endings.

For instance, I am alive, right here, in the middle of my poem, having had, perhaps, too much to drink. One comes, eventually, to the certainty that one’s body of work is nothing like another man’s progeny, being made of language, which can only veer toward emptiness as years become empty space. For instance, hello? I am calling out to you, folded here between the pages of generations. You don’t know me, but once I was particulate and alive. Now what am I?

...

*Protomartyr rips; they may be my very favorite band of all time.

**I'll absolutely be writing about The Fears at length elsewhere, soon. Stay tuned.

Top photo of Protomartyr via the UT Connewitz Photo Crew's flickr.

Speaking of endings, RIP Cormac McCarthy and Rick Froberg.

#Youtube #protomartyr #writing craft #endings #kevin prufer #poetry

[finishinglinepress]

FLP CHAPBOOK OF THE DAY: Tapestry of Counterpoint by Rosanne Osborne

On SALE now! Pre-order Price Guarantee: https://www.finishinglinepress.com/product/tapestry-of-counterpoint-by-rosanne-osborne/

RESERVE YOUR COPY TODAY

PRAISE FOR Tapestry of Counterpoint by Rosanne Osborne

At times tenacious, other times genteel–notably sardonic and clever, sobering and keen–Rosanne Osborne’s poems explore #spiritual terrains via the objects, artifacts, and the natural landscapes of the physical world. Though faithful, Osborne is not a poet to rest in the ease of inherited beliefs, nor is she satisfied by an easy answer; though earthy, she is not a poet easily enticed into rote carnality, nor is she lured into the minutiae of corporeality. Balanced and clear, her poems sing with genuine simplicity–they hum with a robust intelligence and a spiritual grace as she names our ephemeral wholeness.

–Dave Harrity, author of These Intricacies

When a snake appears in Tapestry of Counterpoint, it does so not as an emblem of evil, but whether as warning or Death’s emissary or a second self is not clear. This suggests that Rosanne Osborne is no ordinary pastor; indeed, she’s also a retired English professor and poet in the aftermath of Katrina, standing before “the mystery of being.” Raised in rural Missouri, the poems’ speaker has left for college in New Orleans during the sixties; a “fundamentalist zealot / from the heartland,” she discovers “the freedom of doubt” while reading Paul Tillich. Now an aging woman, she is jolted physically while shoveling dirt to cover bulbs, an experience not unlike the one she experienced as a twelve-year-old bracing a ewe to help her mother with a breach birth, both incarnations of a sort. You’ll find here not only a mind exerting a counter pull to the forces of gravity and also the earthy and sensual delight in figs and pomegranates, the mouth pleasure in saying “havarti” in anticipation of the first bite of a roast beef sub. Precisely because Tapestry of Counterpoint is shadowed by death and moments of doubt, reading it, I can’t help but think of James Wright’s “brilliant blue jay” that jumps up and down on a branch because it knows “that the branch will not break.” Such faith is necessary to provide a “true account” of a long-life restlessness, an openness to change and uncertainty. Rosanne Osborne has brought to the page her whole self–body, mind, and spirit–to voice these earnest, wry, and wise poems.

–Debra Kang Dean, author of Totem: America

Rosanne Osborne’s first poetry collection, Tapestry of Counterpoint, deftly weaves together the experiences of her fascinating life. These poems reflect her personal and philosophical journey, enriched by the literary influences and poignant lessons gleaned from her tenure as both an English professor and Methodist pastor.

I particularly loved reading poems that capture scenes from a Missouri childhood that were so vivid that I felt myself pulled back in time. When colts and lambs are born, or hunted raccoons tremble in trees, the inseparable alchemy of hope and despair occurs. Yet, unlike her parishioners who gather at a funeral, nervously avoiding the deceased in the coffin, she does not flinch nor look away from death. When the poet experiences Zugunruhe, her own nocturnal restlessness, she retraces the paths she has chosen.

There are poems of intense personal scrutiny, while others celebrate simple joys, such as Havarti cheese or the tart crunch of pomegranate seeds. The reflections in this exquisite collection bring us to “remain at daybreak / to pile its stones.” proclaiming all the ordinary moments that allow us to recognize the holy ground over which we too travel.

–bg Thurston, author of The Many Lives of Cathouse Farm – Tales of a Rural Brothel

Please share/please repost #flpauthor #preorder #AwesomeCoverArt #poetry #chapbook #read #poems

[ronk]

Lying in the Sun

Lying in the sun and almost napping, a #poem, really two poems, come to me.

I almost fall asleep in the backyard lying on the rattan couch looking up at layers – leaves, clouds, Sun, blue heaven. His poem enters and takes me away, then drops me hard onto my life. The poem I reference is “Lying in a Hammock at William Duffy’s Farm in Pine Island, Minnesota” by James Wright, from his Collected Poems. Most of it has pleasant images – bronze butterfly, green shadow.…

View On WordPress

#guilt #idleness #life #napping

[bitcofun]

This is a viewpoint editorial by Alex Lielacher, creator and CEO of Rise Up Media, a material marketing company for Bitcoin start-ups. The Guy Fawkes mask-- promoted by the film "V For Vendetta"-- has actually ended up being a sign of resistance versus the State, used by anti-government protesters of all factions Bitcoiners have actually likewise gotten the mask, highlighting Bitcoin's own resist the powers that be who manage and gain from the corrupt fiat currency financial system. Now that it is the fifth of November, here's a tip that Bitcoin is more than number-go-up innovation. At its core, it's a financial transformation that has the possible to alter the world permanently. Why Does Britain Celebrate The Fifth Of November?" Remember, keep in mind, the fifth of November. Gunpowder, treason, and plot. I see no reason that gunpowder treason ought to ever be forgot." Ask anybody in the U.K. about Guy Fawkes, and they'll more than likely quote you this poem The fifth of November is a day when we keep in mind among the most infamous acts of disobedience versus the state on European soil. On November 5, 1605, a group of Roman Catholic Church fans tried to explode parliament and eliminate King James I. The leader of the plot, Robert Catesby, together with his 4 co-conspirators-- Thomas Winter, Thomas Percy, John Wright and the notorious Guy Fawkes-- were outraged by King James' rejection to give more spiritual toleration to Catholics. Through this plot, they hoped that the confusion, which would follow the murder of the king, his ministers and the members of Parliament, would supply a chance for the English Catholics to take control of the nation. However, their strategy didn't work. They were captured and later on hanged for treason. Their action led to much more penalty versus the Catholic Church. In January 1606, the U.K. Parliament developed November 5 as a day of public thanksgiving. Today we commemorate November 5 as Guy Fawkes Night or Bonfire Night by lighting bonfires, triggering fireworks and bring "Guys" through the streets using the ever-so-famous Guy Fawkes mask. The Changing Symbolism Of The Guy Fawkes Mask The comic and, later on, the motion picture, "V For Vendetta" turned the Guy Fawkes mask into a sign with various significances. It's no longer just souvenirs for the fifth of November, however a sign versus power, corruption and the state device, along with a way to safeguard your identity throughout a time of universal security. One of the most apparent signs of the mask is the uprising versus the powers that be. Throughout the movie "V For Vendetta," the character V's identity is never ever exposed. There was no requirement to understand who he was. The significance in the graphic unique really goes an action even more and makes use of V's facelessness to promote anarchy in the hopes of producing a brand-new world order without leaders. This vision is one that numerous protestors or anarchists share. Whether they are hacktivist collectives like Anonymous, which is eager to reveal corruption and abuse of power, or protestors versus state tyranny in Venezuela, India, Bahrain or Nigeria. Once they place on the mask, they end up being not just a protestor versus power, however likewise a sign for others to follow their lead. Someone alone with the mask on their face is worthless, once a cumulative places on the mask, it ends up being the sign versus tyranny. Obviously, it's a guard to safeguard one's personal privacy too, which is why you see numerous Guy Fawkes masks at demonstrations. And this mixes into online culture. Satoshi Nakamoto is probably among the most popular confidential activists of the past 20 years. One of the most represented variations of Nakamoto is as somebody using a Guy Fawkes mask and hoodie. Like V in the motion picture, it was Nakamoto who released a vendetta with the monetary world. They didn't look for revenge by hacking the tradition monetary system, however rather by producing a system in which everybody has the ability to negotiate easily.

As soon as the task was huge enough and able to survive on its own, Nakamoto left, never ever to return, thus supporting the concept of a motion with no leaders-- a leaderless resistance versus the fiat financial system. One of the primary elements of Bitcoin is its capability to separate cash from the State. This separation is what joins Bitcoiners with protesters on the streets in Venezuela, hacktivists online and Guy Fawkes back in1605 All of them had or have the objective of dismissing effective organizations for a much better and freer society. Why Anon Bitcoiners Wear The Guy Fawkes Mask The Guy Fawkes mask is not just a sign versus tyranny however likewise a guard of defense to conceal your identity. And privacy is a huge part of Bitcoin culture. Anon Bitcoiners wish to safeguard themselves from the facility, and the possible consequences of having their identity related to an innovation that has the possible to fall existing financial structures that benefit the couple of in power. While Bitcoin is gradually being incorporated into the tradition monetary system, contributing to its authenticity in the eyes of federal governments, regulators and huge banking, the capacity for a restriction-- as Bitcoin is a method to prevent the coming reserve bank digital currency (CBDC) security device-- stays a danger. History does not duplicate itself, however it frequently rhymes. If you take a look at what occurred with gold in the United States in 1933, where residents were basically robbed of their gold ownerships, it would be absurd to believe that comparable strategies do not likewise exist for Bitcoin. Now, one might state as long as you have your personal secrets and protect your wallet in a multisig structure, very little can take place. That may be real for your bitcoin. The truth that your identity is connected to a possibly soon-to-be-banned innovation positions a danger. Anons have the ability to pull out of that dystopia by using a metaphorical Guy Fawkes mask and staying confidential. They cut off their real-life personalities from their online personalities, enabling them to continue to stay unlinked to Bitcoin by name. Bear in mind, in the future, CBDCs will exist and will likely become the primary tool of security for the facility. That is another reason the mask ended up being a sign versus the facility, whether that remain in the Bitcoin area or in activist groups like Anonymous. All of these various groups want to withstand tyranny by "placing on the mask." Symbols are just reliable if sufficient individuals defend them. A single Guy Fawkes mask is useless. If thousands of individuals use them at demonstrations or have them on in their profile images online, they're able to put pressure on the facility. Statements like "Bitcoin is a serene transformation" or "Fix the cash, repair the world" have the objective of tranquil anarchy or transformation within them. They do not wish to eliminate or ruin innocent lives. That's what the facility is finishing with its unlimited proxy wars. The objective is to notify people and enable back to the person. Is Bitcoin The Fiat Monetary System's Gunpowder Plot? The basic response to this concern is yes, definitely. However, Bitcoiners do not prepare to explode parliament. I am sure there are Bitcoiners living under genuinely dictatorial state guideline who might be working on toppling their federal governments, Bitcoiners desire to alter the world quietly, without bloodshed or physical damage to anybody. In "V For Vendetta" and the gunpowder plot of 1605, the objective was to fall the existing class structure at all expenses. The characters wanted to compromise human lives to see the modification they imagined. This is extremely various from Bitcoin. Bitcoin does not require a violent uprising. Bitcoin is the uprising. Bitcoin itself is a tranquil transformation. There is no requirement to physically inhabit Wall Street or hold teller captive in a break-in. All anybody needs

to do to participate in the Bitcoin transformation is to enter into the Bitcoin network by running a node and spreading out awareness of the power that Bitcoin holds to alter the world. Bitcoin is antifragile, tough to alter and protect by style. These qualities are the gunpowder of Bitcoin. There were numerous efforts to alter its principles-- the Blocksize Wars, for instance-- however none of the assaulters achieved success in their efforts. Bitcoin's core of followers adhered to Nakamoto's vision, one that is still alive today. Everybody in the world has the chance to participate in the Bitcoin network, gaining from its capability to make it possible for anybody to shop, send out and get worth without censorship or requiring to request approval. That's why the facility fears it. The facility does not desire you to own anything. Its members are the ones informing you what to consume, consume and invest your hard-earned cash on. If you do not comply with, it will implement brand-new guidelines or shut you off by managing your savings account. This is why CBDCs are so unsafe, as they can, in theory, offer this facility total control over all your monetary deals. Just by owning and utilizing bitcoin, you do not need to follow these guidelines. You have the choice to pull out. If there is something the gunpowder plot or "V For Vendetta" has actually taught us, it's the power of cumulative minds. The facility hesitates of more public assistance for Bitcoin due to the fact that it understands that when we struck a specific limit, there will not be any returning. The facility can't turn Bitcoin off like a server. Without recognizing it, it has actually constructed a beast. It was due to the fact that of bad monetary reward structures in the past that Nakamoto produced Bitcoin. The greed of the facility was what led us here. One by one, from the bottom up, we've increased and continue to offer individuals hope, nerve and a vision for a much better tomorrow. Remember, Remember, What Bitcoin Could Really Accomplish In the 3rd act of "V For Vendetta," the character Evey has actually conquered her worry of death. She understands there will not be any returning, and the outlined transformation on the fifth of November is inevitable, no matter her own life. In the real life, the facility has actually gotten to where it is today due to the fact that it has actually had the ability to corrupt the system with fiat cash. If it ever required more, it had the ability to print it. Up up until today, it was rather effective. Its time is running out. You can just print a lot cash prior to it begins pumping up away. The outcome of that extensive costs shows up now. Figureheads like Christine Lagarde of the European Central Bank or Andrew Bailey of the Bank of England do not understand how to stop inflation. They do not see any other service however to print more cash and to toss more cash at the issue. As we understand, nevertheless, that does not work. Bitcoin repairs this. Bitcoin's restricted supply, integrated with its disinflationary financial policy, allows holders to safeguard themselves from the long-lasting results of inflation. That's not all. Bitcoin is likewise flexibility cash. It permits anybody on the planet to take part in a brand-new financial system without the chains of the fiat currency device. No ruler, no regulator and no bank can lock you out of your bitcoin as long as you hold your own secrets. That is the real power of Bitcoin. It supplies us with monetary sovereignty and the power to pick our own fate. This is a visitor post by Andrew Lielacher. Viewpoints revealed are totally their own and do not always show those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine. Read More

[undinesea]

Of air in trees, of shadows in your hair.

James Wright, “A Girl Walking into Shadow,” from Collected Poems

#james wright #poetry

[deepspacedukat]

I'm glad you asked about my favorites when it comes to poetry. Here is my list of favorite authors and works.

"The Day Lady Died" - Frank O'Hara.

"Saint Judas" - James Wright

Robert Hayden. (All his works are phenomenal)

Audre Lorde. "Power" is timely in relation to current events.

"Her Kind" - Anne Sexton

Dorothy Barresi and Leilani Hall (maybe because I'm biased since they were both my professors. They are both amazing poets)

Not a poet, but still amazing: Black Sheep Boy by Martin Pousson

That is my short and sweet list.

I hope you don’t mind that I took a while to respond to this, but I wanted to give these poets a look before I did. (Forgive a non-poet her rather rudimentary observations.) Thank you for expanding the list of poetry that I keep close to my soul. 💙 If I might make a (rather biased) recommendation of my own: The Dauber Wings by Theodore Worozbyt - A collection of poems by the professor I was lucky enough to study under in college. (This response got kinda long, so my thoughts are beneath the “keep reading”.)

Firstly, the poem by Frank O’Hara had such vivid imagery. The form definitely speaks to the content as well. The long, unbroken style of the poem as a single sentence leaves the reader almost breathless by the end, which ties beautifully into the final part of the thought conveyed. Beautiful! I love it!

“Saint Judas” brought a tear to my eye. This conveys such emotion and such transformation in a mere fourteen lines, and so very deeply speaks to the human condition that is empathy. I have no doubt this poem will stay in my mind for a long time to come.

I clearly haven’t had time to go through all of Robert Hayden’s works, but I did peruse a few of them. “Those Winter Sundays” stood out particularly, speaking of such love and acts of devotion, small though they may seem at the time. The sentiment of that poem made me pause...it brought to mind some small acts of love from my own past. I’ll definitely be re-reading this a lot.

“Power” by Audre Lorde is a poem I’ve encountered before - one that is quite relevant today (as you mentioned) and powerful in and of itself. It was one of the first introductions I had to the strength and impact that poetry can have when I was in my first Creative Writing class (the one with the poet prof) and it’s stuck with me ever since. It’s good to meet someone else who was struck by its message.

Anne Sexton has such a unique, strong voice when she puts pen to paper. “Her Kind” reads in a way that is both creative and extremely relatable. I believe I’ve read works from her before, because her tone and style feel familiar... Either way, I thoroughly enjoyed encountering this poem of hers.

First, I am in awe - both Dorothy Barresi and Leilani Hall are wonderful writers. To be able to study under them sounds like an amazing opportunity. Both have such amazing command over imagery, and I look forward to reading more from them!

I haven’t had a chance to read Black Sheep Boy yet, obviously, because it’s a novel, but the summary blurb that I read makes it sound intriguing! I look forward to giving that a read. I’ll be sure to post my thoughts on it once I have!

#deepspacedukat asks #itschellybear

[chandaurwoh]

“All the lovely emptiness on earth is easy enough to find.”

— James Wright, from “The Accusation,” Collected Poems (Wesleyan University Press, 1971)

#jameswright #poems

[thebluesthour]

Ten more miles, it is South Dakota. Somehow, the roads there turn blue, When no one walks down them. One more night of walking, and I could have become A horse, a blue horse, dancing Down a road, alone.

James Wright, from “Sitting in a Small Screenhouse on a Summer Morning”, Collected Poems

#lit #quotes #words #poetry #James Wright #Sitting in a Small Screenhouse on a Summer Morning #Collected Poems of James Wright #the most human colour #m #queued

[firstfullmoon]

sorry if you’ve answered a similar question to this but what were your most memorable reads of ‘21??

here we go! in no particular order:

fiction: milkman by anna burns, wolf hall by hilary mantel, de nos frères blessés by joseph andras, chavirer by lola lafon, swimming home by deborah levy, the friend by sigrid nunez, the group by mary mccarthy, commonwealth by ann patchett, mrs dalloway by virginia woolf, eileen by ottessa moshfegh

non fiction: trick mirror by jia tolentino, the liars’ club & cherry by mary karr, james baldwin’s collected essays, the copenhagen trilogy by tove ditlevsen, becoming a man: half a life story by paul monette, they can’t kill us until they kill us by hanif abdurraqib, letters to a young poet by rainer maria rilke, qui a tué mon père by édouard louis

poetry: a fortune for your disaster by hanif abdurraqib, calling a wolf a wolf by kaveh akbar, space struck by paige lewis, walking to martha’s vineyard by franz wright, kingdom animalia by aracelis girmay, love alone: eighteen elegies for rog by paul monette, the best poems of jane kenyon, grocery list poems by rhiannon mcgavin