Now And Then A Miracle
In the strangest places,
we begin sentences with
nouns, verbs, prepositions --
words; eternity is a place,
but it isn't necessarily
where YOU'LL be placed.
But every now and then,
a miracle: corks keep
fine wine fresh for a while,
and when a cork bangs
out of a bottle, it isn't a death
but a pop,
and the nature
of this room, this poem
is prepositional; I can
sit next to a sound,
and my life will be
fresh next lifetime.
Saturday, August 26, 2006
Thursday, August 24, 2006
AuPoWriMo etceterizes!
The Big Robot Mechanical
Some people (people
like Ann) know fear
comes from the birds
you CAN'T see, not
the mocking birds
outside your window
committing vice after vice
of verse.
Ann crowed with fear
and pride and prayer
when she killed the crow;
her lifelong fear of birds
cowered in the corner
of her momentary mind.
The big robot mechanical bird
rusts and baits his abbreviated breath
and wonders how long he can wait
for the plump crow to land
in his hungry beak, and wonders
how long his love can shine
with a green patina while he waits
for Ann to love him.
Some people (people
like Ann) know fear
comes from the birds
you CAN'T see, not
the mocking birds
outside your window
committing vice after vice
of verse.
Ann crowed with fear
and pride and prayer
when she killed the crow;
her lifelong fear of birds
cowered in the corner
of her momentary mind.
The big robot mechanical bird
rusts and baits his abbreviated breath
and wonders how long he can wait
for the plump crow to land
in his hungry beak, and wonders
how long his love can shine
with a green patina while he waits
for Ann to love him.
Tuesday, August 22, 2006
Another Cosmic Rodeo
We are strapping on our helmets for another cosmic rodeo ride at Pete's Candy Store as CA Conrad and I read poetry with an assortment of Canadian Folk Rockers.
PETE'S CANDY STORE in Brooklyn 8/26, 8pm
Saturday, August 26th @ Pete's Candy Store709 Lorimer St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 11211http://petescandystore.com
Uncle LD Beghtol
So L'il
CAConrad
I Feel Tractor
Shafer Hall
Uncle LD Beghtol is the leader of orchpop collective Flare, one half of the willfully obscurebicoastal experimental duo, Moth Wranglers, and approximately one third of The ThreeTerrors (with Stephin Merritt and Dudley Klute). (He can also be seen singing in Magnetic Fields from time to time, appearing quite a bit on '69 Love Songs').His latest album, LD & The New Criticism recently came out on Darla."Beghtol bends his baroque goth-pop westward in the new band's autotelicdebut, Tragic Realism is a gory, uke-joint country (think Haggard ca. '68 viaLovecraft and horror flix), backwoods folk-gospel raveup sure to bring a Zoloft smile to your face, and often." -- VILLAGE VOICE. File under: Experimental Countrypolitan Deathpop. Please see: http://www.myspace.com/thenewcriticismand: http://thenewcriticism.com
So L'il is Frances Sorensen & Ben Malkin, all harmonies, go-go percussion,waves wash over you melodic juno, rhythmic wings of strummed gibson, at times swing,at times drone, shine-a-light-on simple ambient pop with the cracked eye lyrics of cut-up inside (light shining through the cracks of somewhere behind). In the last four years So L'il has released a 6-song self-titled EP, one split 7-inchwith the band Timesbold (both on Neko Records), the full-length 'Revolution Thumpin', and their most recent full-length, 'Dear Kathy,' both on GoodbyeBetter. They are currently at work on a new EP. "If you think electronic music has gone too far back and needs to move forwarda decade, So L'il are your new heroes." - Mundane Sounds Please see: http://solil.net and: http://www.myspace.com/solil
CAConrad's childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift. He escaped to Philadelphia the first chance he got, where he lives and writes today with the PhillySound poets. He coedits FREQUENCYAudio Journal with Magdalena Zurawski, and edits the 9for9 project. Soft Skull Pressis publishing his first book of poems titled Deviant Propulsion, available in Fallof 2005. His book The Frank Poems is forthcoming from The Jargon Society. He is the author of several chapbooks, including (end-begin w/chants), a collaborationwith Frank Sherlock. Please see: http://caconrad.blogspot.com/
I Feel Tractor. Eddie Berrigan is a New York poet and musician who performs under the name of I Feel Tractor. His songs are playful retakes of traditional folk and country genres& their subtle, funny lyrics and far-flung imagery create unusual landscapes of both physical and emotional territory. The author of the poetry collection Disarming Matter (1999, Owl Press) and several chapbooks, Eddie as I Feel Tractor released a self-titled 7-inch last year (Loudmouth Collective) and just last month released it's first full-length recording, 'Once I Had An Earthquake', on Goodbye Better. Please see: http://www.myspace.com/ifeeltractor
http://goodbyebetter.com for more info.
Shafer Hall used to wear a red glitter crash helmet with a bootleg Playboy bunny logo stickered on the side. Now the bones in his head have hardened into a skull. Please see: http://www.shafervineyards.com/store.html
PETE'S CANDY STORE in Brooklyn 8/26, 8pm
Saturday, August 26th @ Pete's Candy Store709 Lorimer St., Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 11211http://petescandystore.com
Uncle LD Beghtol
So L'il
CAConrad
I Feel Tractor
Shafer Hall
Uncle LD Beghtol is the leader of orchpop collective Flare, one half of the willfully obscurebicoastal experimental duo, Moth Wranglers, and approximately one third of The ThreeTerrors (with Stephin Merritt and Dudley Klute). (He can also be seen singing in Magnetic Fields from time to time, appearing quite a bit on '69 Love Songs').His latest album, LD & The New Criticism recently came out on Darla."Beghtol bends his baroque goth-pop westward in the new band's autotelicdebut, Tragic Realism is a gory, uke-joint country (think Haggard ca. '68 viaLovecraft and horror flix), backwoods folk-gospel raveup sure to bring a Zoloft smile to your face, and often." -- VILLAGE VOICE. File under: Experimental Countrypolitan Deathpop. Please see: http://www.myspace.com/thenewcriticismand: http://thenewcriticism.com
So L'il is Frances Sorensen & Ben Malkin, all harmonies, go-go percussion,waves wash over you melodic juno, rhythmic wings of strummed gibson, at times swing,at times drone, shine-a-light-on simple ambient pop with the cracked eye lyrics of cut-up inside (light shining through the cracks of somewhere behind). In the last four years So L'il has released a 6-song self-titled EP, one split 7-inchwith the band Timesbold (both on Neko Records), the full-length 'Revolution Thumpin', and their most recent full-length, 'Dear Kathy,' both on GoodbyeBetter. They are currently at work on a new EP. "If you think electronic music has gone too far back and needs to move forwarda decade, So L'il are your new heroes." - Mundane Sounds Please see: http://solil.net and: http://www.myspace.com/solil
CAConrad's childhood included selling cut flowers along the highway for his mother and helping her shoplift. He escaped to Philadelphia the first chance he got, where he lives and writes today with the PhillySound poets. He coedits FREQUENCYAudio Journal with Magdalena Zurawski, and edits the 9for9 project. Soft Skull Pressis publishing his first book of poems titled Deviant Propulsion, available in Fallof 2005. His book The Frank Poems is forthcoming from The Jargon Society. He is the author of several chapbooks, including (end-begin w/chants), a collaborationwith Frank Sherlock. Please see: http://caconrad.blogspot.com/
I Feel Tractor. Eddie Berrigan is a New York poet and musician who performs under the name of I Feel Tractor. His songs are playful retakes of traditional folk and country genres& their subtle, funny lyrics and far-flung imagery create unusual landscapes of both physical and emotional territory. The author of the poetry collection Disarming Matter (1999, Owl Press) and several chapbooks, Eddie as I Feel Tractor released a self-titled 7-inch last year (Loudmouth Collective) and just last month released it's first full-length recording, 'Once I Had An Earthquake', on Goodbye Better. Please see: http://www.myspace.com/ifeeltractor
http://goodbyebetter.com for more info.
Shafer Hall used to wear a red glitter crash helmet with a bootleg Playboy bunny logo stickered on the side. Now the bones in his head have hardened into a skull. Please see: http://www.shafervineyards.com/store.html
Wednesday, August 16, 2006
Watch out world!
Sam Amadon and other fine folks will be immortalized in the Octopus Magazine chapbook issue.
August is National Poetry Month!
How The Troll Measures Time
compliments Lindsay Anderberg
I have a tent made out of placenta.
I call it my "platenta,"
and when my lazy third eye
feels like wandering
around this storm,
I can crawl inside
and take the ride
less taken, the one
where the shiny waxy liquid
candy spreads thinly
across my head
and hardens to a neat
red mold of my brain.
Whatever you call it --
call it "sunset," call it
"cotton," call it "feeling
the muscles in your ankles
before they're warm,"
it'll make perfect sense;
it'll be one more afternoon.
compliments Lindsay Anderberg
I have a tent made out of placenta.
I call it my "platenta,"
and when my lazy third eye
feels like wandering
around this storm,
I can crawl inside
and take the ride
less taken, the one
where the shiny waxy liquid
candy spreads thinly
across my head
and hardens to a neat
red mold of my brain.
Whatever you call it --
call it "sunset," call it
"cotton," call it "feeling
the muscles in your ankles
before they're warm,"
it'll make perfect sense;
it'll be one more afternoon.
Tuesday, August 01, 2006
Big Names on Big Game
Hey Folks,
A small but well-designed collection of poems I wrote with my friend Maureen Thorson is available now at Big Game Books.
The collection is called "Villanelles are Retarded." It is our homage to poetry's most ridiculous form.
It is available on this site: http://www.reenhead.com/biggame/biggame.html. The "Buy Now" button is just below the second cover photo.
Love,
Shay
A small but well-designed collection of poems I wrote with my friend Maureen Thorson is available now at Big Game Books.
The collection is called "Villanelles are Retarded." It is our homage to poetry's most ridiculous form.
It is available on this site: http://www.reenhead.com/biggame/biggame.html. The "Buy Now" button is just below the second cover photo.
Love,
Shay
Tuesday, July 18, 2006
July is National Poetry Month!
From A Hot Apartment: Heatwave July '06
No one else seems to quite get this;
no one else is quiet like this.
I think I quite like you, because
I'm quiet like you.
Right now the world
is not quite quiet; it's still,
which is not quite the same.
Alone in my room,
on this sweaty morning,
I understood everything
perfectly for a while.
Which isn't to say
I was an expert on the minutiae;
I only understood that there IS
an everything; I think it's
the hum of my fan
that makes my head so quiet
so I can think everything at once.
I'm not quite saying what I mean;
I think I'll go be quiet a while longer.
No one else seems to quite get this;
no one else is quiet like this.
I think I quite like you, because
I'm quiet like you.
Right now the world
is not quite quiet; it's still,
which is not quite the same.
Alone in my room,
on this sweaty morning,
I understood everything
perfectly for a while.
Which isn't to say
I was an expert on the minutiae;
I only understood that there IS
an everything; I think it's
the hum of my fan
that makes my head so quiet
so I can think everything at once.
I'm not quite saying what I mean;
I think I'll go be quiet a while longer.
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
What?! Oh, yeah, June. June is National Poetry Month!
And here is an excerpt (in media res) from a longer poem I am workin on. It's called Man In Steam.
like the old joke:
outstanding in his stream,
only this farmer only farms
produce that's already farmed,
outing genocide detectives
and getting the elected elected,
which reminds me of a joke:
like the old joke:
outstanding in his stream,
only this farmer only farms
produce that's already farmed,
outing genocide detectives
and getting the elected elected,
which reminds me of a joke:
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Don't Mind If I MayPoWriMo!
Poem For Kim & Trevor
My fortune is in my family;
I have a treasure chest
full of aunts and cousins;
it's called Texas.
Aunt Kim and Trevor,
you are an army of fun,
you are my circus
and my afternoon trip
to the beach.
You are always around
up here, even when
you're down there.
My fortune is in my family;
I have a treasure chest
full of aunts and cousins;
it's called Texas.
Aunt Kim and Trevor,
you are an army of fun,
you are my circus
and my afternoon trip
to the beach.
You are always around
up here, even when
you're down there.
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Visit the Shafer Store!
For Shafer Hats, Shafer Reversible Vests, Shafer Polo Shirts, and a Shafer Wine Opener!
http://www.shafervineyards.com/store.html
http://www.shafervineyards.com/store.html
Donna 'n Shafer Zoo Project etceterizes!
The Youngest Iguana
The youngest iguana
is sitting on a rock
in the sun today; today
he’ll sit in the sun
slowly turning into a rock,
and this rock will make
one more turn
around the sun today.
We’re all sitting
on this rock today
made all out of iguanas,
and we are the youngest
iguanas of all;
our skin does not yet
look like rock at all.
The sun shines patronly.
The youngest iguana
is sitting on a rock
in the sun today; today
he’ll sit in the sun
slowly turning into a rock,
and this rock will make
one more turn
around the sun today.
We’re all sitting
on this rock today
made all out of iguanas,
and we are the youngest
iguanas of all;
our skin does not yet
look like rock at all.
The sun shines patronly.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
MayPoWriMo in action!
Monitoring My Arctic Heart
Your consequences -- you are
consequential; you are sequential
and diligent, my Arctic heart.
You are way up there;
when you tilt toward the sun
you melt, and as you move
away you freeze again.
I'll make sure to collect
your data; it means
something, my Arctic heart.
Your consequences -- you are
consequential; you are sequential
and diligent, my Arctic heart.
You are way up there;
when you tilt toward the sun
you melt, and as you move
away you freeze again.
I'll make sure to collect
your data; it means
something, my Arctic heart.
Monday, May 08, 2006
May is National Poetry Month!
Geek With Me
Geek with me;
whether you'd like
to just geek out
or actually be a geek
is up to you, both
are acceptable here.
Sometimes I geek out
and am a geek
at the same time;
it's a good way to find out
who your real friends are.
Geek with me;
whether you'd like
to just geek out
or actually be a geek
is up to you, both
are acceptable here.
Sometimes I geek out
and am a geek
at the same time;
it's a good way to find out
who your real friends are.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
Rachel Shukert Plays Are Not To Be Missed
So don't miss this one:
BLOODY MARY: A Comedy of Tragic Proportions
written by Rachel Shukert
directed by Stephen Brackett
produced by Cormac Bluestone, Ian Unterman
and Third Man Productions
WHERE:
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center
107 Suffolk Street
J, M, F, Z Trains to Delancey St.
Opening Night
April 28th @ 8pm
Runs Wednesday through Sunday @ 8pm
April 28th to May 13th
Ticket price: $18
Tickets available online at www.smarttix.com or (212) 868-4444
Check out Bloody Mary at www.myspace.com/BloodyMarytheplay for teaser!
BLOODY MARY: A Comedy of Tragic Proportions
written by Rachel Shukert
directed by Stephen Brackett
produced by Cormac Bluestone, Ian Unterman
and Third Man Productions
WHERE:
Clemente Soto Velez Cultural Center
107 Suffolk Street
J, M, F, Z Trains to Delancey St.
Opening Night
April 28th @ 8pm
Runs Wednesday through Sunday @ 8pm
April 28th to May 13th
Ticket price: $18
Tickets available online at www.smarttix.com or (212) 868-4444
Check out Bloody Mary at www.myspace.com/BloodyMarythep
Monday, May 01, 2006
NaPoWriMo: Shafer April 30th PM (sniff!)
Good Night April
Good night, April;
National Poetry Month
will begin again
tomorrow morning
in spite of
whatever institution exists
to police these matters.
Good night, April;
National Poetry Month
will begin again
tomorrow morning
in spite of
whatever institution exists
to police these matters.
NaPoWriMo: Shafer April 30th AM
Good Your Morning, Good Morning Mine
Take a look around: good
abounds this morning. No
street hassle can't be
unknotted by sleep.
Everyone's forgotten
except for the principal players
and me.
Take a look around: good
abounds this morning. No
street hassle can't be
unknotted by sleep.
Everyone's forgotten
except for the principal players
and me.
NaPoWriMo: Shafer April 29th PM
Good Night Side Dishes
Blue cheese
coleslaw, creamed
corn casserole,
black bean
salad, crock pot
macaroni, and
the aptly-nicknamed
wiener stew.
Blue cheese
coleslaw, creamed
corn casserole,
black bean
salad, crock pot
macaroni, and
the aptly-nicknamed
wiener stew.
NaPoWriMo: Shafer April 29th AM
Good Morning What?
Good morning where am I,
good morning what's going on,
good morning fine questions
both of you, good morning
Lucas, good morning Stella.
What're we gonna do
this morning? What're
we gonna do what're we
gonna do what're we
gonna do? I hope it's fun!
Good morning where am I,
good morning what's going on,
good morning fine questions
both of you, good morning
Lucas, good morning Stella.
What're we gonna do
this morning? What're
we gonna do what're we
gonna do what're we
gonna do? I hope it's fun!
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