David Wojahn's "Talismanic"

"Talismanic," an awesome poem by David Wojahn, is up at Poetry Daily today. The poem uses lyrics by the Talking Heads. And very well, I might add! It was originally published in the Autumn 2009 issue of The Southern Review.

Thanks, Christine Rhein, for the tip!

Monkey and Poetry Convergence: Married to the Sea edition

Married to the Sea is one of my favorite Web comics. Today's comic is "Monkey Baby." Yesterday's comic was "Reading Poems." Coincidence? Impossible!

marriedtothesea.com

When the Poet in Black Comes Around

A friend of mine, who is also a poet, posted the following as her Facebook status: "I was listening to 'Don't Take Your Guns to Town,' and I'd never thought about it, but I think the lyrics are maybe the best poem I've ever listened to."

My son and I were dancing around to Johnny Cash earlier today, in fact, and I was thinking about how gosh darn good he is. Sadly I don't have "Don't Take Your Guns to Town," but you can listen to it below. Angie says "it's the perfect ellipses that all poems are striving for." Perhaps, though I can say for sure, I've read a lot of poems in my life, and Johnny Cash is better than a hell of a lot of them.

Don't Take Your Guns To Town - Johnny Cash

"Reading Poems" by Married to the Sea

marriedtothesea.com

More Tiger Woods poetry

I guess I'm not the only person who has linked the Tiger Woods saga and poetry. Joe Posnanski went as far as writing out Tiger's now infamous voice mail message to his mistress in verse.

Added bonus: Posnanski's post contains a Trina Dolenz reference, ex-wife of Mickey Dolenz from The Monkees.

Thanks, Laura, for the tip.

William Blake and Tiger Woods: a psychic connection

One minute I'm making an offhanded joke on Facebook about poetry and the craziness that is the life of Tiger Woods these past few days, and the next minute I'm reading William Blake and thinking he was seeing into the Magic Golf Ball of a certain Tiger's future. Read Blake's "The Tiger" as if it's about Tiger Woodsgate and just try to tell me it's not true.

489. The Tiger

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Could frame thy fearful symmetry?

In what distant deeps or skies
Burnt the fire of thine eyes?
On what wings dare he aspire?
What the hand dare seize the fire?

And what shoulder and what art
Could twist the sinews of thy heart?
And when thy heart began to beat,
What dread hand and what dread feet?

What the hammer? what the chain?
In what furnace was thy brain?
What the anvil? What dread grasp
Dare its deadly terrors clasp?

When the stars threw down their spears,
And water'd heaven with their tears,
Did He smile His work to see?
Did He who made the lamb make thee?

Tiger, tiger, burning bright
In the forests of the night,
What immortal hand or eye
Dare frame thy fearful symmetry?

(William Blake. 1757–1827)

A slice of The Awl for poetry

There are two new poems by Matthew Zapruder today in The Awl's The Poetry Section.

On November 24, The Poetry Section featured three new poems by Monica Youn.

November 30 featured three poems by Jennifer L. Knox, whose book, A Gringo Like Me, I once owned but then someone -- my wife? My sister? A friend? I can't remember -- picked it up and started randomly reading things out of it and there was some poem about asses, I think -- putting things in, maybe? Rubbing upon? Again, it's all a haze -- and made fun of me so relentlessly that I sold the book on Amazon without ever reading it. A mistake? I don't know, honestly. A lot of the stuff I've read by her so far (including the poems I'd read that convinced me to get A Gringo Like Me in the first place) I like or am at least interested in. She certainly doesn't write boring poems, that's for sure.

The Poetry Section is a new endeavor. It started November 19 with a poem by Joshua Bell with the following announcement: "The Poetry Section will publish new work by poets twice a week. The section is edited by Mark Bibbins, who teaches in New York City at The New School and who also has a new book out, if you're so inclined. (It's good!)"

After reading the handful of poems from his book (titled The Dance of No Hard Feelings, which is a pretty awesome title if you think about it, and even if you don't), I agree with The Awl. Granted, those could be the only good poems in the book and the rest of the book could be rhyming poems about suicide, but I somehow doubt it considering the good taste in poetry he's exhibited thus far.

The writing on the wall in an Iranian prison

is apparently poetry. Or some of it is, at least.

Newsweek reporter Maziar Bahari accounts of his "118 Days, 12 Hours, 54 Minutes" in Iran's Evin prison after he was accused of and arrested for "being a spy for the CIA, MI6, Mossad, and Newsweek."

"My 20-square-foot cell was like a tomb," he writes. "The walls were made of faux marble. They were off-white, and the texture of the stone reminded me of an old man's pale, transparent skin. You could see grayish-blue veins. The walls were clean, even spotless, except for some defiant aphorisms and Persian poetry in small, crabbed handwriting. Three sentences were written larger than others: 'My God, have mercy on me,' 'My God, I repent,' and 'Please help me, God.'"

Monkey and Poetry Convergence: Baby Einstein edition

Tonight my wife read our son a poem out of the lamely titled Pretty Poems and Wonderful Words by Baby Einstein. It contains a bunch of poems for kids along side pictures full of lift the flap words. It's not a bad book, though I'm sure the flaps will all be torn off and eaten eventually. Okay, hopefully not eaten. On the front of the book a bunch of animals share a bed and a monkey is right there in the center. I'm pretty sure I've seen a similar sleeping arrangement in the wild on the Discovery Channel. Anyway, I bought this book from the clearance shelf at Border's and obviously expect it to turn my child into a genius. Otherwise I'm going to sue.

Baboon raiders of the unlocked car

If you're planning on cruising through Cape Town any time soon, you might want to keep your car windows up and your doors locked. Especially if you plan eating a sandwich behind the wheel. Safety first.

Thanks, Laura, for the tip.

Suzanne Buffam: good poems, nice countertops

Not only is today the day before Thanksgiving (and two days before Black Friday, the day shoppers are most likely to get trampled to death at Wal-Mart), but it's also the day I first read poems by Suzanne Buffam. Mark it on your calendar! Or hit the interwebs and go read some of her poems yourself.

For your reading pleasure are "Ruined Interior" from the November/December 2008 issue of the Boston Review, "Trans Neptunian Object" from issue 8 of A Public Space, and "Please Take Back the Sparrows" which appeared on Verse Daily in 2006.

There are probably more online, but I don't have time to live your life for you. If you want to read more, buy her book Past Imperfect, which was published in 2005 by House of Anansi Press. And then, in 2010 (not that far away!), buy The Irrationalist, which will be published by Canarium Press. I will be first in line. Okay, probably there will be no line. But I'm looking forward to getting both of Buffram's books, even if I am kind of jealous and a little baffled that a poet has such nice countertops (this is not a euphemism. Look at the picture!).

Thank you to the lovely and talented Nami Mun for pointing me in Suzanne Buffam's direction today via Facebook.

Chimp Muppet Rhapsody

Chimp puppet, er, Muppet at 3:48 alongside what appears to be a seasick John Kerry Muppet.



Thanks, Laura, for the tip.

Monkey and Poetry Convergence: Chet Phillips edition

Monkeys and poetry once again collide at the Etsy shop of illustrator Chet Phillips. Not only can you buy prints from the "Literary Pets" series, including "William Shakespaw," "Henry Wagsworth Longfellow" and "Edgar Allan Pug," but he also has dozens of monkeys to choose from, most of which are dressed in some kind of military garb and have names like "Gen. Sir A. Persnicketybritches" and "Gen. Leonid Fleapickinoff." He also has an entire collection of Steampunk monkeys. Because, you know, steampunk and monkeys. An obvious combination.

Thanks, Laura, for the tip.

iHaiku

So Boing Boing had an iPhone disappointment haiku contest, apparently a million years ago (a.k.a. August). And somebody won. Who said there's nothing to be gained from poetry?

Here's the winning poem:
Winter In Akron
Loved one calling for romance
Off faster, damned gloves!

Thanks, Laura for the tip.

Buff monkeys

Hey scientists: if you keep making them stronger they'll eventually take over the world. You know that, right? And something tells me they're going to be pretty pissed at you guys in particular. I'm just saying. There's not a banana in the world big enough. Unless you're working on that, too.

Thanks, Laura, for the tip.