Two new poems of mine are featured in the second issue of Jellyroll: A Journal of New American Poetry, along with poems by Heather Christle, John Lee Clark, Barbara DeCesare, Jack DeWitt, Steve Healey, Jamie Iredell, Natalie Lyalin, Jono Tosch, & Mike Young — all of whom I greatly admire. You can download a PDF of the issue or read the poems online here.
Also, here’s a recipe for Pear-Raspberry Jelly Roll Shortcakes that you can bake at home. Yum.
Since we’re approaching a holiday weekend, here’s an extra big bonus “TGIF” with three music videos instead of one.
Phantogram’s “Mouthfull of Diamonds”: Haunted kitchen in the wintery woods? But you can see her breath when she’s singing outdoors. Can ghosts breathe? Don’t care, love the song and all the lighting effects. The whole album is really amazing. I’ve been saying that they will be this summer’s Passion Pit.
Califone’s “Funeral Singers”: There’s also a feature-length film created by and starring Califone, called All My Friends Are Funeral Singers. It’s about a psychic who lives in an old house with lots of ghosts. MASS MoCA is hosting a screening and live performance by the band in August that I’m hoping to go to, provided all of my end-of-summer moves go smoothly.
Yeasayer’s “O.N.E.”: I just cannot get over this video. It’s insane. Neon tribal Mad Maxx acid-trip with dancebreaks and wigs. Every other second makes me go WTF. While it’s true that the band has gone seriously downhill since drummer Luke Fasano left — real percussion trumps beatboxes — part of me respects the over-the-top-ness here, plus the chorus is undeniably catchy. Eh. I don’t know. Thoughts?
Two great readings on the horizon:
Friday, May 28 @ 7:30 pm *** Earshot Reading Series presents Brian Foley, John Murillo. Mike Soto, Samantha K. Smith & Martin Rock *** Rose Live Music, Brooklyn, NY
Tuesday, June 1 @ 7 pm *** InDigest 1207 Series presents Zachary German, Becca Klaver & Leigh Stein *** KGB Bar, New York, NY
Saltgrass Issue 5 is alive! Featuring new work by Lisa Jarnot, Paige Ackerson-Kiely, Natalie Lyalin, Sandra Simonds, Laura Eve Engel, Tristan Tzara (translated by Heather Green), Gabe Durham, Maged Zaher, Jennifer Denrow, Catherine Meng, J. Boyer and Mark Yakich. Read selections and buy your copy here for only $5!
Also, since I’m behind in my New Yorker‘s, I just read the bonkers amazing article on Rae Armantrout by Dan Chiasson. So well-written. So enjoyable to read.
OMG. Lost finale on Sunday. Holy polar bear.
I’m spending today and tomorrow furiously updating The LOST Semester with poems in the hopes that I will have ALL EPISODES posted by Sunday. Watch the progress on Twitter.
This summer Leigh and I are assembling a book group to read Anna Karenina. You’re invited to join us if you want to! I haven’t bought my copy yet, I’m deciding between the following editions:
So floral! I think I’ll probably go with Modern Library Classics because Penguin’s new “sexy kneecaps” cover kind of freaks me out.
Here’s a poem by Luke Bloomfield to get you in the mood:
RUSSIAN NOVEL
At the end the women are screaming
the men are pleased or irritated
someone is sad on the verge of crazy
the children are eating sausages
and jeering as they throw rocks
and poke each other with penknives
a house is ripped apart
the floorboards pulled up
one at a time
every pillow and upholstered thing
slit with a knife
a hand jammed in the stuffing
shuffles for nonexistent bread
the temptress penal bound
well into crazy
still moves as though
upheld from surfaces
crowds pour out the door
parroting fashionable postures
like crows amassed on an iceberg
while petulant, the president
stops dinging his bell
slouches in his chair
huffing and fiddling the dinger
(courtesy of Jellyfish)
Here are some exciting readings that I’ll be attending (or wish I could attend) pre- and post-move:
Friday, May 7 @ 7pm *** Betsy Wheeler, Amish Trivedi, Kate Schapira, & Sandy Florian *** “The Red and White House across from the Forbes Library”, Northampton, MA
Wednesday, May 12 @ 8pm *** Emily Rae, Luke Bloomfield, Mike Young, Jamie Berger, Jessica Fjeld, Brian Mihok, Boomer Pinches, Gabe Durham, & yours truly (I’m going to read some of my Lost poems) *** The Rendezvous, Turners Falls, MA
Thursday, May 13 @ 8pm *** Pilot Books Chapbook Launch *** Jessica Fjeld, Emily Pettit, & Martin Rock *** Amherst Books, MA
Sunday, May 16 @ 7pm *** Joshua Cohen & Justin Taylor *** Schoen Books, S. Deerfield, MA
Wednesday, May 19 @ 7pm *** CROWD XII *** Seth Landman, Lewis Freedman, Claire Donato & Zach Barocas ** Cafe Orwell, Brooklyn, NY
Thursday, May 20 @ 7pm *** The Reading at Chrystie Street *** Meg Barboza & Ben Kopel *** The Four-Faced Liar, New York, NY
Friday, May 21 @ 7pm *** Multifarious Array presents Poets & Puppets *** Kathleen Rooney, Sasha Fletcher, Jason Zuzga, Jason Koo, Martin Rock, & Noah Eli Gordon*** Pete’s Candy Store, Brooklyn, NY
Also, four new poems from the “Natural Wonder” series by Anne and me are now alive on SOFTBLOW. Check them out.
I’m moving back to Brooklyn in only two weeks!!! I can’t believe the last three years have flown by so fast. This got me thinking about all of the things I said I would do while living in Northampton but never got around to, like adopting a dog. Sadly the dog will have to wait, but there are still some things that I can and hope to check off my list before leaving:
*Brunch at the Hotel Northampton
*Climb the rock wall at the Northampton Athletic Club
*Hike Mt. Tom
*Make a trip to The Donut Man and The Java Hut on Rt. 9
*A final used book spree in the poetry section at Troubadour Books
But then there are so many things that I’m looking forward to in New York! For instance, I want to:
*Sit across from Marina Abramovic at MoMA and cry
*Sunday morning pain au chocolat at Choice Market
*Explore new parts of Brooklyn following Andy’s lead on our bikes
*Take my notebook to the backyard garden at Anima to drink sangria and write
*Weekends on the Styer farm
*Anna Karenina book group with Leigh, Anjali, & Leigh Anne (more about that to come…)
