Burn piles

In my dreams, she paints the world.





New Painting, Stacia Brady 2007

River Series - Cont.

poem was here

Reading Recap (Party in Greenpoint):

We had a blast. Thanks for coming! The music was great, Abraham made delicious Hot Toddies and the crowd was warm and friendly. I loved everyone's poems. Let's do it again, real soon.


Dan Towler came, all the way from Provincetown, MA. Look at him skulking around.




There was music! (My favorite song was a cover of Part Time Lover) by American Vaudville Theater






Me & Michael Broder (the masked man)





Jennifer L. Knox & Jason Schneiderman

Happy Brithday Brady T. Brady!

Today is my stepdad's 60th Birthday. He's been a beautiful guide in my life since I was eight or so. He's one of the chief editors of my work. He's also an amazing writer and the person who most inspired me to try my hat at the impossible idea of writing down your own thougths.

I love you Brady!


Ada Limón

Accidental Saint


What would we have done if you hadn't found us?

I had nightmares about it for years.
this man who has worked his way with a shovel and chisel into my mother,

into my soul, into the back of my brother's brain.

Who worked us into being.

In my nightmares, you were always back in Vietnam. Palms burning around you,
and I am hurt
or I am hiding, but I dig a stubborn finger in wet burlap, just like you told me to, and yell
your name

and the one and only time I saw a ghost,
it took the shape of you.

I wasn't scared, I even lifted my head and spoke to it. It was all energy and light.

You are a saint of things holy,

things holy like the truth.

Because I asked you if the black-haired girl in the small dress
outside the barracks was your girlfriend.

I asked you about the heart so hardened and petrified they called it purple

I asked you why you screamed yourself awake,

and you, you insisted on answering.

You cut a hole
in our world and grew there

and in late August I finally saw the statue you and my mother had been laughing about
and it was true

our friend had sculpted you by mistake.

His mold of Saint Francis had taken on your face, your eyes, the arm outstretched,
the forefinger that held the bird, the holy.

We all stood around it in awe of its likeness, the ears,

and it was no longer a saint that looked like you, but you

turned into our accidental saint.

You said saints never play the horses or have drinking problems,
never want to die.

But I insist you are better than anything in bronze everlasting

Because when I say, Everything is moving,

I feel a burning inside of me like a bird wing,

the feathers coming out of
my mouth, the top of my head,
like flames,

You say, Me too.



Shankpainter, 2001, Provincetown Fine Arts Work Center

Rock and Roll is Wonderful

These guys are what life is all about. I have a headache, but I'm inspired to write already. I love it when people I care about live the dream. They're my heroes. If they're coming to your town, you should go and tell them Ada sent you. And buy them a drink!



UPCOMING TOUR DATES FOR THE HIGH STRUNG
If you don't see your town, check myspace for more current tour dates.

Friday 2/9/07 Detroit, MI Magic Stick
Saturday 2/10/07 Chicago, IL Schubas

Wednesday 2/14/07 State College, PA Darkhorse Tavern
Thursday 2/15/07 Princeton, NJ Princeton University
Friday 2/16/07 New York, NY Mercury Lounge
Saturday 2/17/07 Philadelphia, PA The Khyber
Sunday 2/18/07 Washington, DC Black Cat

Tuesday 2/27/07 Columbus, OH Cafe Bourbon Street
Wednesday 2/28/07 Louisville, KY
Thursday 3/1/07 Nashville, TN The Basement
Friday 3/2/07 Columbia, SC The Art Garage
Saturday 3/3/07 Spartanburg, SC Spartanburg County Public Library, 3PM
***3/3/07 Mt. Pleasant, SC Village Tavern, 10PM

Hey - We're Reading Tomorrow at Some Kind of Party!

Here are the details, I've been sent:

party, poems, panther in greenpoint this sat.

Come on up to the loft this Sat. the 17th; we'll be having a party and
performance. Stop by as early as 8pm, we'll have stuff on the stage
from 9-10:15 and then on into the night with it.

We've got...

DRINKS
hot toddys, bloody marys, keg o suds.

WORDS
some incredible poets reading a few poems each:
Ada Limon
Abraham Smith
Susan Brennan
Jen Knox
Joelle Hann

MCd by:
Russell Carmony

TUNES
a few acoustic tunes by our own Panther Tighter

WHERE NOW?
106 Green St., Apt. 5, Greenpoint Brooklyn.
G train to Greenpoint Ave.
exit India St. and walk north on Manhattan Ave. Next cross street will
be Huron.
Next left after that is Green St.: take it.
We are towards the end of the block on the left.

Call if the door is locked
Ed: 917-620-9658
Susan: 917-903-3383

Three Wedding Invitation Challenge Poems

Jenniferl L. Knox, Jason Schneiderman, and I, in honor of Nicole Hefner's recent engagement and one Hot Toddy conversation about Wedding Invitations, have decided to write poems that were inspired by wedding invitations. Congratulations Nicole and don't be too scared. Oh, and forgive the line breaks - these were all centered.


In the Kingdom of Perfection, a Wedding - by Ada Limón

Mr. & Mrs. Darkening Kingdom
request the honor of your lower (and poorer)-than-us presence
at the marriage of their much prettier-than-you-daughter

She-Who-Wins-A-Lot Kingdom
to
Constantly-Kissing-A-Blond-Baby Nation

son of Mr. & Mrs. Sweltering Nation
Saturday, the thirteenth of June
Two thousand (sooner-than-you-ever-will) eight
at half past too-late-for-you in the afternoon

See attached card for details

(Attached card)
Please arrive promptly (for you, perhaps you should plan a half an hour in advance).
Please rent a car, do not bring or attempt to park your Toyota near the grounds.
Please dress in pink, think pale sunset.
Although we do not think this color will
go good with your compexion, please realize this is not about you,
but about Our Winner.

Please wear your hair up, we have seen your hair down
and have gleaned that it is inappropriate.
Please spend some time on your make-up. You are too old
to go without, especially in pale pink.
Please wear a bra. Do not make us bring one. Please eat before you come.
Do not take more than one truffle.
Do not speak to the groom’s family.
Do not make a toast. Do not bring a date. Do not come alone.


Wedding Invitation - By Jason Schneiderman


Mr. Bill Richardson and his much younger wife Mrs. Bill Richardson
along with his former wife
Ms. Kendra Carlyle-Richardson and her life partner Sheila Jackson (bipolar)

join with

The Honorable Reverend Curtis Axlerod (hermaphrodite) of beloved memory
and Jim (formerly and legally Anne) Axlerod
with his husband Kevin Gupta (submissive femme slave bottom)

to request the pleasure of your company at the union of their children

Jennifer-Sue Jennifer Richardson (slut)
and
Jebediah “Beddy-Bye” Axlerod (sterile; Chlamydia)

on October Twentieth of
The year 2007
at

The Public Park of Saugherties Towship

at
Three O’Clock in the afternoon.


In the Sight of God - By Jennifer L. Knox

Mr. & Mrs. Larry Flammingham
two painfully awkward people
are delighted to announce
wonder what happened, disconnected to
the marriage of their daughter
she pretends to be someone/from someones else
Miss Francis Flammingham
it tricks herself to feel other people
to Mr. Ricky Pinburn
but what people
son of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Pinburn
speechless hunters, television, kitty litter, ice tea
at noon on the 8th of April
but clams, oysters, etc. let strange grains of sand in
at the Oddfellows Lodge of Muskego
sometimes grows pimples, others—pearls

Seems It's One Thing

I'm excited to see The High Strung tonight. I know it's 9:50 AM.

But, like most writers, I get excited by good lyrics. And this band has got some great ones. But I also love the fact that they tell stories. One of my favorite songs, "Seems It's One Thing" about a smart girl who works night and day to build "something great."

"She built the whole thing on her own
Modeled after her old home
And when her friends asked how it's done
She was confused, a little stunned.
She said, you know I'm really not so blessed.
It seems it's one thing, then the next,
It seems it's one thing, then the next, that's all.

And my favorite line - it's also really fun to sing along with this one:

"She was granted the MacCarther Genius Fellowship
The letter came with a gold paper clip."

DO NOT MISS THIS SHOW:

The High Strung

I've known these guys for seven years now. They are the real deal. They left Brooklyn four years ago and have been on tour ever since. Seriously. Hardest working band ever. They once drove their old touring van to the top of the steps of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and left this note:

"Although the odometer reads 18,621 miles, it is actually 318, 621 miles. The spray painting was done by various people all over the country but never by anyone in the van. The van contains countless notes, photos and song ideas inspired by those met along the way.

(Also included was a note)

Dear Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, We believe rock and roll can make man heroic, make man Superman, can make giants out of the audience and artists alike … The High Strung’s donation to you is a wild multicolored beast of a vehicle that, despite its age and demand placed upon it, carried us to 500 shows across America without asking us to cancel one. Oh, yeah, and don’t you worry about any potential towing costs, the keys are in the ignition."



Tomorrow, the Mercury Lounge, 10:30PM.

Go! And if you can't, well then, buy this album, buy two.

Happy Mom's Birthday Day!

Report from the Sonoma Ranch:

She's groomed Cisco:



and I sent her these:



It's sunny there. And warm.

I'm jealous although, I do like the snow.

Love Poems

Five of my favorite love poems - there are so many more, but these are what came to mind this morning.

Happy Valentine's Day! Happy Birthday Mom!


Drunk as drunk..by Pablo Neruda

Touch by Octavio Paz

In a Country by Larry Levis (bitter sweet)

Wild Nights! by Emily Dickinson

Otherwise by Jane Kenyon (a love poem to life)

and bonus poem:

I crave your mouth by Pablo Neruda

Love Poems

Rigoberto picks his top five favorite love poems. I think we all should too. Mine coming soon.

Reading Report: Cornelia Cafe

Nicole Hefner was amazing (see, she's glowing) and read an essay on Anna Nicole Smith that was both funny and heartbreaking.
She's a rockstar.



Marion Wrenn was stunning (see, she's on fire) and read from her manuscript, The New Burlesque. Her poem "Queen for the day," blew my socks off.






Marion also gave me a valentine; on the cover it has a picture of a hole punch and then inside it says, "I love you a hole punch."

It's my favorite.

It was a great reading - bravo ladies!

Reading Report: Ear Inn

First off - I DID have a Hot Toddy (okay, I had two).




Doesn't everyone look cozy?






Especially the cutest married couple ever, Jason and Michael? They look very cozy.




The readers - after we all traded for each other's books.





Nicole Hefner & I in the darkness of the Ear.

Christina Davis? Well, absolutely amazing. She read poems mainly about her father (who died recently) and they were just stunning. Incredibly well crafted and beautifully read.

Jennifer L. Knox - you know how I feel, she's one of my favorite poets in the world. She read some new stuff - funny, but they also make a shiver go up your spine.

Michael Broder - beautiful, lovely host. As always. We love you.

Thanks Ear Inn!

Twice today I’ve heard my name being yelled over the midtown crowd. I look around, I see no one. I’ve deduced that this could mean a few different things:

1. Someone around my office shares my name
2. Someone is yelling my name and then hiding behind people and trees to avoid me
3. The first signs of schizophrenia
4. Some strange ego disorder that will result in a film called, Being Ada
5. It is time to start looking for my yurt design and the woods to build it in

I also may have to make these:

Additional Readings & Pretty Things This Weekend

So, of course, we hope to see you tomorrow at the Ear Inn. We'll make you feel special.

BUT, if you're in Boston for some reason, you should really go see Shanna Compton, Katie Degentesh, Jen Tynes, & Sampson Starkweather

And if that's not enough, what are you doing Sunday? The lovely Marion Wrenn & Nicole Hefner are also reading at Cornelia Cafe

I know, so much poetry, so little time.

There is never too much of a good thing. At least not when that good thing is good poetry.

But if for some reason, you'd just like to shop, and you need a pretty thing; Bonbon Oiseau is having a sale this weekend and you can buy me things from here:






at Therapy in Williamsburg.




I've just blown your mind.

This Saturday - READING AT EAR INN!

This Saturday at 3:00
326 Spring Street (west of Greenwich Street)
New York City
FREE

Subway: C/E to Spring Street; 1/9 to Canal Street; N/R to Prince Street

Christina Davis, Ada Limón & Jennifer L. Knox

This is a great place to read, it's cozy and small. Rumored to be one of the oldest bars in New York.

You should come out and hang out here! With us!

You can have a Hot Toddy and a burger and you can draw pictures on the tables.

You should go to this reading tonight!

Please join us in a great evening with Kimiko Hahn, Rigoberto González, and
Brian Teare. Kimiko and Rigoberto both have new books that came out in the
last six months and are starting a new MFA program at Queens College. Brian
is coming to us from San Francisco.

Monday, February 5, 7:30PM
at the 11th Street Bar (510 E. 11th Street btw A & B).
http://www.readab.com

KIMIKO HAHN is the author seven books of poems, including: Earshot, which
was awarded the Theodore Roethke Memorial Poetry Prize and an Association of
Asian American Studies Literature Award; The Unbearable Heart, which
received an American Book Award; and most recently, The Narrow Road to the
Interior (W.W. Norton, 2006). Hahn has also written text for film, such as
the 1995 commission of for a two-hour HBO special titled Ain't Nuthin' But a
She-Thing; and most recently, a text for Holly Fisher’s film based on Peter
Lindbergh’s still photos and narrated by Jeanne Moreau. Hahn is a recipient
of fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York
Foundation for the Arts, as well as a Lila Wallace-Reader's Digest Writers'
Award. She is a Distinguished Professor in the MFA program at Queens
College/CUNY.

RIGOBERTO GONZÁLEZ is the author of two poetry books, So Often the Pitcher
Goes to Water until It Breaks, a National Poetry Series selection, and Other
Fugitives and Other Strangers; two bilingual children’s books: Soledad
Sigh-Sighs/ Soledad Suspiros and Antonio’s Card/ La tarjeta de Antonio,
which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award; the novel Crossing Vines,
winner of ForeWord Magazine’s Fiction Book of the Year Award; and a memoir,
Butterfly Boy: Memories of a Chicano Mariposa. The recipient of Guggenheim
and NEA fellowships, he writes twice a month a Latino book column for the El
Paso Times of Texas. He is contributing editor for Poets and Writers
Magazine, a member of the National Book Critics Circle, and is on the
Advisory Circle of Con Tinta.

BRIAN TEARE, the recipient of Stegner, National Endowment for the Arts, and
MacDowell Colony poetry fellowships, Brian Teare has published poetry in
Ploughshares, Boston Review, Provincetown Arts, VOLT, Verse and The Gertrude
Stein Awards in Innovative Poetry, among other publications. His first book,
The Room Where I Was Born, was winner of the 2003 Brittingham Prize and the
2004 Triangle Award for Gay Poetry. Author of the recent chapbooks, Pilgrim
and Transcendental Grammar Crown, he lives in Oakland, CA and is on the
graduate writing faculties of the New College of California and California
College of the Arts.

(poem was here)

(poem was here)

Don't miss this reading!

Abraham Smith, Susan Brennan, Alexis Quinlin

EAR INN
Saturday, February 3rd
326 Spring Street
3PM

Abraham, and Susan are just amazing (I'm sure Alexis is too, I'm just not familiar).

Abraham reads like he's standing on the top of a barreling train - it's wonderful.

And you'll get to see Michael Broder.

Go!

Today is my seven year anniversary of living in my particular neighborhood in Brooklyn.

Trish Harnetiaux and I moved seven years ago, she drove the Uhaul, I kept calling her Lou. (You have to call her Lou when she's driving).

Corey Stoll helped us move too and Jason Pendergraft. Now they're famous actors. Our place was small, but we thought it was the biggest apartment ever (after coming from the city). We kept running from one end to the other.

Then we established 43 Jewel - The Literary Wing.

We were so broke that the local bar, The Turkey's Nest, had to sponsor us for a little while (free pizza, a drink tab).

Thanks for all the good times, Brooklyn. Cheers!

I don't think I'd make a good thief. I talk too much. I also don't think I'd really like to steal from other people. But, if I HAD to imagine being a thief. This is the kind of thief I would be:

A WINE THIEF

Is everyone going Galway Kinnell's Birthday Party/Reading?

Strong Is Your Hold: An 80th Birthday Tribute to Galway Kinnell
The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science & Art
Cooper Sq., New York, NY 10003
between Third and Fourth Aves.
212-353-4100


Readings/Signings, Special Events

Schedule
2/01/07 7pm


Profile
Often compared to Walt Whitman, Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Kinnell typically writes about real life in long, loose lines. Strong Is Your Hold, his first collection in more than a decade—and one of the inspirations for this celebration, the other being his 80th birthday—was released last year to critical acclaim. But such accolades seem almost beside the point since Kinnell is fairly firmly established in the canon. For this high-profile book release, literary lions like E.L. Doctorow, Edward Hirsch, and Grace Paley join the octogenarian as he revisits marriage, friendship, and death in verse