Saturday night notes

Judging from the number of "lawrence king" searches I've received (and I assume other sites are getting even more), information about his murder is getting out there -- despite the fact that it isn't getting as much press as, say, the latest happenings on American Idol. Or the Indiana basketball scandal (though that's probably only usurping the front pages here in Indiana). Here's my earlier post about him. It's important for people to hear about this.

In other news, thanks to Jilly at Poetry Hut Blog for this link: Detained Burmese poet Saw Wai has been permitted a visit from his wife. (And here, again, is the "Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe" chapbook published by Anti-).

Less important: We had a cute little ice storm here on Thursday afternoon/evening. The temperature reached 30 today, with lots of brilliant sunshine, and some of the ice started melting -- but it was still so pretty, the way all the trees were glazed and glittery. (Although still treacherous underfoot in places.) As I left the Runcible Spoon this afternoon, after a delicious brunch, I saw a couple of college kids lifting big sheets of ice off their front lawn and flinging them at each other. This caused me to draft a poem, which (for now) is titled "How Ice Becomes the Past Tense of Longing." Later, after I bought more crap than I'd intended to at Target (that's a synonym for "set foot in Target"), I heard a news story on NPR about how some scientists now believe the origins of life on Earth were not in warm water but in ice. Fascinating. That may end up in the poem, too.

Quickies

Five word review of Joshua Bell's recital this afternoon: The word virtuoso seems insufficient. (There were some moments when I thought he might go flying up off the stage. Seriously.)

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Check out the Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe chapbook, with thanks to Anti-! Poems by Kelli Russell Agodon, Ivone Alexandre, John Davis, Anne Haines, R. Joyce Heon, Luisa A. Igloria, A. J. Patrick Liszkiewicz, Woody Loverude, Nathan McClain, Carolyn Moore, Pamela Johnson Parker, Heidi Sulzdorf, and Saw Wai (translated by Dr. David Law).

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Also check out Best of the Net 2007, with thanks to Sundress Publications (and thanks again to Valparaiso Poetry Review for the nomination).

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More crazy weather and a cold, cold night. Enough already!

Saw Wai news

Thanks to Jilly at Poetry Hut Blog for this link: Detained poet denied visits and parcels

In some countries, poets fly to NYC to drink, talk shop, and buy stuff. In some countries, they get thrown in jail if they insult the government.

Which is not to say that it couldn't happen here ... at the moment we do have a government that is particularly un-fond of being insulted, and certainly US citizens have been detained for saying things the government didn't like. But it's really bad in Burma.

Some days I feel helpless about the world and I wish I could just wave a magic wand and fix everything. That's not particularly useful, is it?

There's still time...

... to write a "Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe" poem. Here are the details, from AJPL's blog:

You are invited to submit an acrostic poem for a chapbook-sized edited collection entitled Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe. These poems must follow the format employed in Saw Wai's now infamous poem, "February 14." (See here for more information.) Acrostics, telestitches, and the like will be considered, so long as they integrate the phrase "Power Crazy Senior General Than Shwe" into their format in a manner true to Saw Wai's poem.

Four poems have already been selected for inclusion, and the chapbook will contain roughly 12 to 20 pages of poetry. Should the quality of the work remain high, the chapbook will be published as a supplement to an online, literary journal. Further details, including sample poems, are available upon request. All queries and submissions should be sent to liszkiewicz AT gmail DOT com.

Deadline for consideration is noon, Sunday, 3 February 2008.

I've made an attempt at it, and while it's not the most brilliant poem on the face of this earth, it wasn't as impossible to come up with something as I was afraid it would be. (I'm not very good at exercises, as a rule.) Here's what I've got, though I'm hoping to revise it some in the next few days -- I'll take this down before too long.


[~Gone. But you can drop me an email if you want to see it!~]

Random notes from the deep freeze

It's that time of year again. Who's hosting the "we're not going to AWP" blog party this year?

Yeah, I wish I could be there, believe me. But it doesn't seem like the best use of a month's salary, you know? If you're going, have a blast, and report back!

It's Chicago next year, right? At least I can drive there instead of having to fly. And maybe if I start saving up now, I can afford a hotel. I'm gonna do my best to make it.

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Tsonga!

Ana!

Yes, I'm still watching way too much Australian Open tennis. One of the Tennis Channel's commentators said of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga's stunning performance, "Are you kidding me?! ... This guy has a turbo jet in his Adidas shorts!" Uh... might be a little crowded in there, huh?

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So I have a poet friend who, like me, has a natural inclination towards more of a lyric form. But, she's interested in learning more about writing narrative poetry. I've given her a couple of recommendations, but if y'all will lay some more on me, I'll pass them along to her. Poets, books, or individual poems -- whatever you'd give to someone who wanted to understand the art of narrative poetry in general.

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It's ten degrees again tonight, with a predicted low of 5. I'm done with the cold and dark, okay? Done with it. I'm ready for springtime now.

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Here's a great idea for writing a poem (and here as well), based on the news story about the poet Saw Wai. Try your hand, if you can.