My bracket?

So busted.

Though I’ve only lost one game so far today. I picked a major upset that didn’t happen. Damn you, North Texas! I shake my tiny fists in your general direction.

Ken Harrelson? KEN HARRELSON!

I’m trying to watch pre-season baseball on WGN, and my old, dormant hatred of him is erupting.

My god. I don’t think it would be possible for another play-by-play guy to out-obnoxious Hawk Harrelson.

He’s on mute. Which reminds me, baseball sure is purty and green, even in the desert.

Beau Blue suggested I record some poems in order to stop being (in my words, not his) such a weenie. He suggested a dozen. I ran out of steam after 7.

The audio should stream if you click on the blue arrows. Clicking on the names will launch your default mp3 player instead.

Arrest
Aside
Batlet
Legend
Lens
Rung
Sprung

I don’t normally dedicate poems to anyone. I have a handful that were written and dedicated at the time, and of those a couple baffle me. Why did I dedicate them? Why these particular poems for these particular people?

It’s hard to know what I was thinking five minutes ago, let alone five years. Gah!

So my mother asked me when my next book was coming out, and I didn’t have much of an answer since I’m not doing much writing.

Then she said, “Oh, well, everyone is really looking forward to it, if it’s more cheerful.”

Nothing like a little “if” to brighten your day.

Some days, I’m proud of my book. Other days, I regret doing it. Today is one of the regretful days. Thanks, Mom.

I probably won’t be participating this year, as my desire just isn’t there.

But those of you who are feeling all poetic and stuff should start sharpening your pencils. A poem a day for a month. You can do it!

Well, the obvious answer is that I’m an obsessive freak.

But I think the truer answer is just that I’m bored and I need a project. But it needs to be a project I can do with a broken, whimpering brain.

I could have crocheted Larry some slippers, but then Rik made me kill him.

Larry was driving Rik crazy, and I’d prefer not to drive people crazy, so he’s been banished!

Designing the perfect poetry board is a contentious issue. I’m going to take a couple of unpopular stands. Debate is welcome.

Resolved: Most people who stick with a single board will eventually stagnate.

When you’re new to writing, hearing all of the different voices and ideas is intoxicating. Like newborns, we grow so quickly at this stage just from exposure to all of that stimuli.

But I think there comes a point for most of us where we have to leave the workshop, or at least leave any particular workshop where we’ve established ourselves, and change things up.

It seems sometimes as if poetry skill is almost like a gelatin. The constant heat of the workshop makes it liquid, able to conform to various shapes but unable to withstand pressure. Leaving the workshop allows a poet to firm up her own thoughts in the absence of so much noise. At that point, the workshop changes, becoming more of a taste test for the lime Jell-O in the shape of a penguin. (I will stretch this analogy until it breaks!)

I don’t think poets outgrow workshops in general, though I do think some workshops foster a sense of childish dependence and paternalism through condescending moderation and rigid hierarchies. The constant refrain of “You can’t…” or “You must…” or “Only we can…” becomes an excuse to avoid risk. Eventually we all have to learn that simply following the rules won’t net art, and only some of us can do that within the comforting confines of a workshop.

Designing the perfect poetry board is a contentious issue. I’m going to take a couple of unpopular stands. Debate is welcome.

Resolved: Nothing ruins a board faster than bad moderators.

I know. I was one.

Actually, I doubt this is an unpopular stand. I think we all know that bad moderating is deadly, but we might all disagree what bad moderating is.

What might be unpopular is my contention that moderators shouldn’t post poetry or crits. Their words get too much weight by the power of the name tag, and many if not most mods aren’t especially gifted in either poetry or critique.

The best solution I’ve seen for the problem of moderating is on a board where I am a paid moderator. The level of professionalism there is very high. No one wants to lose their position, and real money is way more fun than fake power.