Sunday, March 18, 2018
seize this this (1999)
seize this this poem as evidence
of the worlds inside which collide
with clashing scimitars resounding
muffled by a buffalo hide
seize this this home as evidence
of the love of the air and the tree
breathe the fragrance of your own doings
exemplify the peace of one, free
seize this his body as evidence
limb by limb fold me into thy cell
only then could i awaken
from relentless consumer spell
seize this this entire universe
stick a barcode on the moon
buy grafted simu-cool reality
with microscopic digital spoons
seize this this flagrant evidence
a pile of consumer's bones
shred the passive neuroses to smithereens
burn quaint Timorese in their homes
seize this this wrapper by providence
left on the smudge of the hook
them heathen needs be crucified
but spare 'em if they can cook
seize this this moment as medicine
for the soul of the earth is food
acorn, creekmint, broccoli
feed flesh as well as its mood
1999 Swale Canyon, Wa
Friday, March 16, 2018
Tattoo Tears and the Ladder Not Taken or Offered
http://www.calibanonline.com/store.html
#9 includes an art portfolio by Kisoon Griffith, interviews with zydeco musicians Wayne Toups and Nathan Williams, and work by Gerald Vizenor, Wanda Coleman, Dionisio Martinez, Diane Wakoski, Antonio Porta, Spencer Selby, Forest Bloodgood, Dieter Weslowski, Christopher Davis, John M. Bennett, Melissa Monroe, Ronnie Burk, Ray DiPalma, Edouard Roditi, Simon Perchick, Louise Erdrich, Michael Dorris, John Bradley, Sonya Hess, Joel Lewis, Amanda Yskamp, Edward Smallfield, Sheila E. Murphy, Stephen Ratcliffe, Kevin Walker, John Lindgren, Silvia Curbelo, Greg Mulcahy, George Kalamaras, Raymond Federman, David Huerta, Jeanne M. Beaumont, Edward Mycue, Nico Vassilakis, Jay Passer, Christina-Marie, John Bell, Jose Quiroga, Judith Roitman, Gaspar Aguilera Diaz, Lisa Cooper, B.Z. Niditch, Tyrone Williams, and Guy R. Beining.
___________
#9 Issue of Caliban has my poem "hairbrain," about my friend Ann, who underwent
emergency brain surgery for an aneurysm. I had been publishing poetry by sending small
manuscripts to magazines, and got a tip from that Caliban wanted a submission. It was
particularly rewarding to be published alongside established "names."
I hadn't looked up Caliban online in awhile, not knowing it continued in some form. Yesterday,
I was thinking of Sherman Alexie, who at present is in the news from multiple women
accusing him of bad behavior (in a nutshell.)
"Writer Sherman Alexie last week issued a statement admitting he "has harmed" others, after rumors and allegations began to circulate about sexual harassment. Without providing details, Alexie said "there are women telling the truth," and he apologized to the people he has hurt. "
https://www.npr.org/2018/03/05/589909379/it-just-felt-very-wrong-sherman-alexies-accusers-go-on-the-record
Issue #10 of Caliban has several Alexie poems; the first is "Tattoo Tears," which is
dedicated "for Joy Harjo." It begins with "1. No one will believe the story I'm telling, so it must
be true." The poem explains that the tattooed tears for the woman exist as the "real ones
failed to convince."
Caliban print issues featured a Free Speech Corner, wherein contributors are given an
additional chance for publishing unedited comments. Sherman Alexie wrote,
"I'm a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Indian
from the Spokane Indian Reservation.
Nearly full-blood, which means I can play
in the all-Indian basketball tournaments,
but still not sure which parts of me
are federally recognized as white."
NOW we know which parts are recognized as white: the shamed part.
""It's a story about power, and abuse of power," says Jeanine Walker, one of three women who came forward on the record, and whose stories NPR has corroborated with several sources. In all, 10 women spoke to NPR about Alexie, who is a married man. Most of the women wanted to remain anonymous, but a clear pattern emerged:
The women reported behavior ranging from inappropriate comments both in private and in public, to flirting that veered suddenly into sexual territory, unwanted sexual advances and consensual sexual relations that ended abruptly.
The women said Alexie had traded on his literary celebrity to lure them into uncomfortable sexual situations."
Friday, February 2, 2018
return deposits (1994)
flipflops on hot sand
that's why dolphins ditched their hands
to ignore the urge to forge
adopting sonar giggles,
undersea nipples, while whale
had backbone to regress
floating beauty's bulk
backwards for return
time deposits
Maui, Hi
1994
stone treehome (1994)
time builds home outta vacant
utopias, sprouted plywood
sunflowers, raku parking lots,
volcanic sun song land.
tranquil memory glue
suffices Present, delving
toward relentless baby
love, art galore,
accentuated
situational lava
Maui, Hi
1994
kami (1994)
wilted under a shell torn
off the 8th tangle these kami whisper
cricket freeway feeder
sounds around oahu's go cart track,
vroom vrooms
indulge the diligence of spiritual acts,
logical face full of water marbles
speaking high
over the apartment tower
familiar in seventies TV
Oahu Hawaii
1994
expired halo (1994)
honor beautiful longevity,
words expire halos.
send in the innocents,
make them communicate via chopsticks
of avarice and indolence,
peck at keys blind chicken
chanting in the rafters,
high quality meanderings,
rented homage,
used diplomas
1994
hawaii
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