Thursday, August 23, 2012

slow day

i  had a slow day too.  jean vengua published a marvelous poem-essay yesterday about having a slow day which inspired me.  i love slow days when the mind is free to wander and the stress of life lifts for a while.  esp. as the weather and light changes to fall.  i think of halloween and pumpkin pie.  two of life's greatest pleasures.

today i clicked around a bit at the poetry foundation blog harriet.  the usual po-biz shit but there were a few cool pieces.  like this informative post about mexican poet-activist javier sicilia on a month-long peace caravan in the u.s. about the stupidities of the war against drugs and the escalating gang violence in mexico.  sicilia lost his son to the violence.  i have no words to add but offer up peace of my own.

there was also this story about poets and their day jobs.  all i have to add is duh!  no surprise that poets need to eat too and pay mortgages.  i think the myth of the romantic poet suffering in his/her garrett for their art is way past moldy.  as the cuban-born poet jose kozer said of himself [i'm paraphrasing cuz i'm too lazy to get up and find a direct quote], i'm a poet who worries about how his pension will rise.  i had a shower this morning.  etc. etc.  i bought the messianic trees: selected poems by kit robinson at city lights bookstore a couple weeks ago.  robinson works, as you might recall, in the computer industry.  many of his texts are about the language of work and how the lingo changes the life.  in one marvelous prose poem robinson iterates the details of his day and the poem is for me an utter delight.  so as a poet who has a day job too what i say to younger poets: stop worrying.  if poetry is your life then you'll make that life happen whether you have to punch a clock or no.  in fact, having a job can get you out of  yourself and open you and your texts to happy accident and surprise.  the poetry does not die even if you are on the assembly line.

finally i saw this piece on writer roxane gay.  this was my first encounter with gay's name and her writing so i can't comment on her work.  i did enjoy her guide to becoming a writer.  and i fell in love with the photo of her.  click on the link above to see it.  can't quite explain my feelings regarding the pic but she has this absolutely wonderful presence.  perhaps it's her tattoos, as i'm fond of the ink, which marry well with her sensible blue shirt and khakis.  a doubling of bohemia and intellect.  whatever i'm reaching for it's a great photo of a singular woman. 

okay that's it.  time again to go slow.

peace

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