tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-202697672011-10-23T01:27:24.991-04:00<i>I roam the whole universe from here.</i> - Han-shansam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.comBlogger6761100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-8637387746595545952010-12-26T12:38:00.003-05:002010-12-26T12:46:44.489-05:00

Vivre se vie - great film by Jean-Luc Godard. Here's the orginal trailer:

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-27819286161202041692010-12-21T13:55:00.005-05:002010-12-21T14:13:20.163-05:00

Totally immersed in Frank Stanford these days. "When you take the lost road You find the bright feathers of morning Laid out in proportion to snow and light"                - from "Circle of Lorca"

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-64853093595291245532010-12-15T08:12:00.004-05:002010-12-15T11:52:01.288-05:00

Normally, I never seem to make this sort of post, but thought I would this year. A recent illness that I've been progressing through has made me view my own work with a different shade. My journal is now a talisman. Writing – always important – has now become something along the lines of breathing ... in terms of how much I need it – the good, the bad, and the ugly. And I do seem to write a

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-58468405544824185902010-08-22T13:02:00.003-04:002010-08-22T13:05:58.927-04:00

My chapbook Lessons in Morphology (GOSS183) is now available at issuu.com Open publication - Free publishing - More poetry

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-85179678732060077392010-08-17T10:36:00.005-04:002010-08-17T10:45:03.616-04:00

My collection of poems Inside a Broken Clock is now available for preorder from Finishing Line Press. The official prepublication/advance copy sales period, which will determine the size of the press, will last until Oct. 15.Here's the link to Finishing Line Press - New Releases and Forthcoming Titles.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-68693825901810221272010-05-30T22:59:00.003-04:002010-05-30T23:13:38.788-04:00

John McCrae - In Flanders Fields "We are the dead; short days ago We lived, felt dawn..." "> ~ William Stafford - At the Un-National Monument Along the Canadian Border This is the field where the battle did not happen, where the unknown soldier did not die. This is the field where grass joined hands, where no monument stands, and the only heroic thing is the sky. Birds fly here

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-32925281789366902562010-05-22T16:32:00.001-04:002010-05-22T16:33:46.232-04:00

I've been swallowed by Scylla and Charybdis ... otherwise called Fictionaut & Facebook...

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-18170602170627823842010-02-25T10:39:00.002-05:002010-02-25T10:40:24.759-05:00

Cheryl Dodds has sent the finished cover design – and she did a marvelous layout. I’m completing the final touches on and formatting of the ms to pass on to Finishing Line Press next week, and will be sending as well the labels of addresses for those of you that want to receive prepublication notice from FLP.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com21tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-4200772231233988802010-02-24T09:43:00.000-05:002010-02-24T09:45:00.377-05:00

An important poet for me is Ralph Coleman, author of A Skiff of Snow - a chapbook, now out of print, that is about as close to my idea of perfection as is possible ... Coleman writes: "In the cool fog of a still morning I feed cracked corn to mourning doves and become one of them."

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-79539546163585482132010-02-22T22:41:00.001-05:002010-02-22T22:42:47.403-05:00

Snap your fingerstop the world -rain falls harder.         Jack Kerouac, from American Haiku

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-3388099588733006692010-01-26T17:57:00.004-05:002010-01-26T18:03:46.565-05:00

Finishing Line Press will be publishing my new collection of poems, a chapbook - Inside a Broken Clock. The poems all have a literary focus, and are part of a series I've been working on: Tales of Brave Ulysses.I wanted to let readers know that I've created a group page for the collection in Facebook ... Inside a Broken Clock. You're welcome to join.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-51195465048713144122009-12-31T08:23:00.005-05:002009-12-31T08:35:49.219-05:00

An important film I've been watching - more than one view is needed to approach this work:L'eclisse (1962)Michelangelo Antonioni, Dir.*Antonioni is such a singular artist, a master.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-85007683312438872922009-12-01T20:17:00.002-05:002009-12-01T20:18:53.044-05:00

- from Finishing Line Press: One more time for those who didn't see it: THE WINNER OF THE 2009 OPEN CHAPBOOK COMPETITION ($1,000 prize): Tessa Kale of Yonkers, NY for THE HUDSON LINE. 1st HM: Sam Rasnake, 2nd HM: Kwoya N. Fagin, 3rd HM: Don Colburn

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-79043792663439147942009-11-24T09:18:00.005-05:002009-11-24T09:25:23.725-05:00

From Blue Fifth Review, the following have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize: Amy Lemmon, “Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra” (Broadside #13, Spring 09)George Moore, “Survivor Tactics” (Fall 09)Allan Peterson, “Please” (Fall 09) Askold Skalsky, “Laocoön in Toledo” (Spring 09)Eileen Tabios, “Alchemy at the Maykadeh: Dinner with Philip Lamantia” (Spring 09)Changming Yuan, “S.E.W.N.” (Fall 09)

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-17201985470246174472009-11-18T19:18:00.001-05:002009-11-18T19:22:59.499-05:00

The latest issue of Poets and Artists (Oranges & Sardines) is now live.I have new work - five poems in that issue.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-14297713410014033132009-11-11T22:24:00.001-05:002009-11-11T22:26:53.720-05:00

I have a couple of new poems at the latest Wild Goose Poetry Review (Fall 2009) - such a great venue.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-42854587800661326832009-11-04T21:32:00.001-05:002009-11-04T21:32:55.900-05:00

“The more we try to catch hold of the present moment the more elusive it becomes. It is like trying to clutch water in one’s hands. The harder we grip, the more it slips through our fingers.” – Alan Watts

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-11198494118563000022009-10-30T18:05:00.003-04:002009-10-30T18:09:29.201-04:00

Blue Fifth Review’s nominees for the Best of the Web 2010 (Dzanc Books) are Yun Wang, Eileen Tabios, and George MooreFollow the Best of the Web nominations link at Blue Fifth Review and read their works.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-65737320133325666252009-10-29T17:09:00.001-04:002009-10-29T17:09:42.566-04:00

The Fall 2009 issue is now live, online:Featured Poet: George MooreArt: Ira Joel HaberAlso, new work byPaul Hostovsky, Alan Britt, Marge Piercy, Allan Peterson, Naomi Buck Palagi, Peter Kenneally, J. B. Mulligan, Joanne Lowery *Changming Yuan, Oliver Rice, Bryan C. Murray, marcia arrieta, Elizabeth Kate Switaj, Ben Nardolilli, Donal Mahoney, Christina Murphy*Alan Catlin, Jessie Carty, Alison

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-52198441895027720212009-10-26T23:07:00.003-04:002009-10-26T23:16:39.899-04:00

“To tell the truth I can’t explain my art, or even my working methods. It’s like the person who asked Pavlova, ‘What does the Dying Swan signify?’ and she answered, ‘If I knew, I wouldn’t dance it.’” – Francis Bacon on his art.Seated Figure, 1960

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-4699493793601702442009-10-04T21:20:00.002-04:002009-10-04T21:22:59.573-04:00

Now this Ken Burns guy comes along with all the amazing vistas. I must be addicted. Can't seem to stop watching. So I have a road atlas on the table. How far is Carson City from Flagstaff any way?

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-10608223794088215652009-09-25T07:30:00.002-04:002009-09-25T07:33:50.203-04:00

Wendell BerryThe SilenceThough the air is full of singingmy head is loudwith the labor of words.Though the season is richwith fruit, my tonguehungers for the sweet of speech.Though the beech is goldenI cannot stand beside itmute, but must say“It is golden,” while the leavesstir and fall with a soundthat is not a name.It is in the silencethat my hope is, and my aim.A song whose linesI cannot make

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-60977163644205823082009-09-22T09:11:00.003-04:002009-09-22T09:15:39.277-04:00

I can never seem to read enough of Jack Gilbert. His latest collection The Dance Most of All is such a strong read. His poems turn me inside out.Jack GilbertNot EasilyWhen we get beyond beauty and pleasure, to the other side of the heart (but short of the spirit), we are confused about what to do next. It is too easy to say arriving is enough. To pretend the music of the mountain needs only to

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-88507673741887614772009-09-11T15:22:00.000-04:002009-09-11T15:23:54.357-04:00

Thanks to the gifted poet - Arlene Ang - and her poem “In the Woods — A Shot — Fraught with Barking Dogs” (Winter 2007 issue), Blue Fifth Review is represented in the new anthology Online Writing: The Best of the First Ten Years (Snowvigate Press - this November) Ed. by Doug Martin & Kim Chinquee.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-13992431443224125742009-09-09T22:04:00.003-04:002009-09-09T22:07:22.083-04:00

I’m pleased to announce that the poet Barbara Jane Reyes will be guest-editing the Spring Supplement 2010 issue of Blue Fifth Review.This special issue, appearing in May, will be thematic in design – Code-switching: Poets working in multiple languages – and will be divided into two sections: poetry and essay.Since all the work for this issue will be solicited, no unsolicited submissions will be

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-23020119259494661842009-09-08T15:26:00.000-04:002009-09-08T15:27:15.574-04:00

Jeff Daniel MarionThe Man Who Loved HummingbirdsOnce I saw my father             lift from last fall's leaves                         below our wide picture window a hummingbird, victim             of reflected surfaces, the one clue                         a single feather clinging above the sill. He cradled its body in his cupped              hands and breathed across the fine

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-19962001935181367842009-09-02T11:20:00.002-04:002009-09-02T11:23:51.971-04:00

Lynda HullIn Another CountryIf Baroque were more than a mannerof music, it would be this last afternoon.Sun, disciplined by hours, moves slowlyacross the floor. The shadows of pearsin the basket compose a patterndescribed only once. If you spoke now,it would be a kind of violence troublingthe skin of the moment. We have steppedout of the past and the future waitswithout us. Outside, the wind

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-51679642013342394252009-08-29T20:35:00.001-04:002009-08-29T20:36:48.555-04:00

Jack SpicerImprovisations On A Sentence By Poe "Indefiniteness is an element of the true music."The grand concord of whatDoes not stoop to definition. The seagullAlone on the pier cawing its head offOver no fish, no other seagull,No ocean. As absolutely devoid of meaningAs a French horn.It is not even an orchestra. ConcordAlone on a pier. The grand concord of whatDoes not stoop to

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-87910668638816781042009-08-27T07:48:00.003-04:002009-08-27T07:56:47.208-04:00

Frank StanfordNarcissus to AchillesYesterday, I passed over a bridgeand saw a boot underwater.Such thoughts I had,I cannot tell you.*I would give up everything I've ever written - which in the long scheme of the universe doesn't amount to much - to have written one Frank Stanford poem and survived.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-80728746895774269492009-08-25T08:31:00.002-04:002009-08-25T08:35:00.641-04:00

I wish I could write poems the way Wes Montgomery played guitar, then I could call myself a poet, and I would be one.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-6156669676327401002009-08-22T14:30:00.005-04:002009-08-22T14:46:35.378-04:00

10 favortie guitarists - in no particular order:#1 Albert Lee, the master of tone and chicken picking, from England...Sweet Little Lisa#2 Charlie Christian, the first great lead guitarist in jazz...Stompin' At The Savoy (live at Mintons, NYC, 1941)

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-76425203218797052972009-08-20T22:13:00.003-04:002009-08-20T22:17:37.976-04:00

Here's a poet to read - Adrian Blevins. Her collection The Brass Girl Brouhaha is fine work - a heavy bang to the head - and winner the 2004 Kate Tufts Award. Highly recommended.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-27754614261468151122009-08-19T08:40:00.003-04:002009-08-19T08:44:48.248-04:00

Now online at Blue Fifth Review – Broadside #15… “Blue Mexico” – a suite of poems, focused on the life and works of Frida Kahlo, by Robert E. Wood

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-28049529522171803242009-08-17T07:47:00.003-04:002009-08-17T08:49:08.818-04:00

Life is not a work of art – the moment cannot last.                  –A River Runs Through It, the filmHere’s what I’m thinking…Things don’t just happen. We do encounter them. Also, they don’t actually pass from us when we think they end. I’m not certain they can leave us. We must surely retain some shred of whatever it is. Some sort of bridge or connection must exist between me and this

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-35204666225496118402009-08-13T08:09:00.006-04:002009-08-13T08:19:07.567-04:00

Lots of love to you, girly.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-57957793073991693052009-08-12T10:36:00.003-04:002009-08-12T10:43:07.527-04:00

I’ve recently added a Facebook page, and – miracle of miracles – have added a Twitter account. Both are a radical change from the blog world – a world that, at least for me, has been quite limited. By limited I mean sporadic visits to my blog and my own visits to others. That includes my base blog – 10,000 things – and my notebook blog for poems.Facebook, on the other hand – apart from the

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-60415795317478997822009-08-07T08:23:00.003-04:002009-08-07T08:26:14.451-04:00

I have a new poem at the latest BOXCAR Poetry Review - "All My Sins Rising and Other Uncertainties, After Reading Furious Cooking".

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-7049787510676408912009-08-05T10:27:00.004-04:002009-08-05T10:31:13.212-04:00

Eamon GrennanGiftsSaphire, emerald, amethyst ofthe magpie's feathers whensunshine snags them. Otherwise—as now in clouded, ordinarylight—plain black and white, thehead and neck pure soot or onyx.These colours keep our eyesalive, as if any short-lived,intermittent pact between ourgaze and their flashfire amuletsmight be near the heart of someunspoken matter. Likewise, youmay catch the hidden

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-75561371200978411812009-07-27T10:08:00.002-04:002009-07-27T10:12:13.546-04:00

Now online at Blue Fifth Review –Broadside #14 – “Therese Berard, Oil on Canvas: A Still-life Speaks,”a poem by Jill Crammond Wickham*Broadside #15 – a poem by Robert E. Wood – will be online in late August*The Fall 2009 issue will be online in October

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-82525271354246382562009-07-21T11:16:00.002-04:002009-07-21T11:19:55.168-04:00

Wings of Desire (1987)Wim Wenders, Dir.*Coming in October - 2-disc set - from Criterion Collection...

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-19605052775270189872009-07-20T13:51:00.006-04:002009-10-07T19:18:17.579-04:00

I've nominated the following poets & poems to the Best of the Net 2009 anthology from Sundress Publications - for their appearance in Blue Fifth Review:The Linking Verbs by Elizabeth H. Barbato (Fall 2008)Always One Direction by Melissa Buckheit (Fall 2008)Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra by Amy Lemmon (Broadside #13, Spring 2009)Acts Become Memory by J. Alan Nelson (Fall 2008)Alchemy at the

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-75639487290894422862009-07-19T08:54:00.001-04:002009-07-19T08:57:51.852-04:00

Carolina in My MindJames Taylor, Composer... music to live by ...Alison Krauss & Jerry DouglasJames Taylor

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-79983628331080192992009-07-16T08:48:00.001-04:002009-07-16T08:50:03.807-04:00

A poem from Rusty Morrison’s remarkable collection the true keeps calm biding its story (Ahsahta Press, 2008). The book, a meditation on loss, is divided into nine major sections, each section containing six poems of three three-line stanzas – each line must end with the words stop, please, or advise. The lines are right justified.“sky speaks…”sky speaks with an accent like worship stopa

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-17285608456526448752009-07-12T09:55:00.006-04:002009-07-12T10:05:51.884-04:00

bad, bad, bad... part 2 (7/1)Answering question 2: What is the poetry I gravitate toward?*#2 – The poetry I gravitate toward is of no set school, tradition, or lack of tradition, no set form or content, no set language or culture. I gravitate toward poems that make me pause, make we read them again – poems that make me move mentally, emotionally, spiritually… whatever… into a larger place. As

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-86998384674239242902009-07-07T09:15:00.026-04:002009-07-07T10:10:37.186-04:00

film diary3-6 July 09L’année dernière à Marienbad (1961)Alain Resnais, DirectorAlain Robbe-Grillet, Writer... a film to live by ...A: Who are you?X: You know.A: What's your name?X: It doesn't matter.*After four days with Last Year at Marienbad, I'm a bit dizzy. This film is in itself an experience. And most likely different for each viewer. A writer's film - in every sense. Powerful

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-63355038086226598472009-07-05T11:53:00.004-04:002009-07-07T10:20:32.386-04:00

Quintette du Hot Club de France... music to live by ...Limehouse BluesMinor SwingDjango Reinhardt (guitar) & Stéphane Grappeli (violin)*Reinhardt is on my short list of favorite guitarists. He is acknowledged as being the music world’s first great jazz guitar soloist. I agree. An injury from a fire left him with only two fully usable fingers on his left hand, yet he developed a style of

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-47639051773942247122009-07-01T07:54:00.014-04:002009-07-01T10:23:43.951-04:00

I’m fascinated by the recent discussion at Barbara Jane Reyes’ blog on Billy Collins’ comments on bad poetry in The Norman Transcript.Here’s part of the article:“One of the reasons people don't read as much poetry anymore is the fault of the poets,” he said. “It’s not the public’s fault. There’s an awful lot of bad poetry out there. I’d say about 87 percent of the poetry in America isn’t worth

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-28317188956476462702009-06-28T08:54:00.014-04:002009-07-01T10:17:40.763-04:00

By way of example…much & nothing, part 3from my anthology of must read (a)merican poemsTess GallagherChoicesI go to the mountain sideof the house to cut saplingsand clear a view to snowon the mountain. But when I look up,saw in hand, I see a nest clutched inthe uppermost branches.I don’t cut that one.I don’t cut the others either.Suddenly, in every tree,an unseen nestwhere a mountainshould be.*

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-76515914790580068862009-06-26T09:00:00.004-04:002009-06-26T09:39:24.305-04:00

Michael JacksonBillie Jean... music to live by ...Gifted, troubled, shapeshifter, introspective to a fault, visionary, dangerous, innovative, pure talent, pure crazy, an absolute force...Live, Munich*1958-2009

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-55176411342991988532009-06-24T08:41:00.010-04:002009-07-01T10:17:40.763-04:00

Explaining Much, Explaining Nothing, Part 2I do write about the self – whatever that is, and I’m not certain at all … even to the point of questioning its existence – but that writing, for me, by and large, is placed elsewhere as well. It may very well be that I can only approach myself in relation to otherness. A force, as Newton posited, will push against something, and meet with an equal

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-87300614294482842142009-06-23T08:19:00.007-04:002009-07-01T10:17:40.764-04:00

If I were to attempt a description of my own writing – I would have to use the word landscape. There are birds, rivers, mountains, the sea... But I must add that it’s a landscape that’s not limited to nature. The landscape is often contrived or already existent. The setting is usually one that is viewed rather than one that is traversed. And it’s usually empty. What that says about me as a

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Round about MidnightThelonious Monk, Composer... music to live by ...[Three paths...]Thelonious MonkWes Montgomery, guitarist*The song was given a dramatic shift by Bernie Henighen and Clarence Williams, creating a vocalese staple of the jazz world. The title morphed to Round Midnight Sarah Vaughan & Dizzy Gillespie

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-2183614072938637302009-06-16T16:39:00.009-04:002009-06-16T17:16:13.758-04:00

My poem “Chamber Music” – acutally a three-piece suite based on Ingmar Bergman’s film trilogy – will be included in the Best of the Web 2009 anthology from Dzanc Books. The book’s publication date is later this year. The work originally appeared at Boxcar Poetry Review.From the exquisite and murky world of David Lynch, another poem, “A Fable,” will appear in the Blue Velvet anthology from The

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sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-24223441005461536212009-06-05T19:53:00.003-04:002009-06-05T19:56:56.162-04:00

Charles WrightThe Woodpecker Pecks, but the Hole Does Not AppearIt’s hard to imagine how unremembered we all become,How quickly all that we’ve doneIs unremembered and unforgiven,                                                   how quicklyBog lilies and yellow clover flashlight our footfalls,How quickly and finally the landscape subsumes us,And everything that we are becomes what we are not.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-33555421098711442682009-06-02T10:44:00.015-04:002009-06-02T11:25:04.954-04:00

Now online...The Spring 09 issue is devoted to collaborative works of poetry and art, and features works by Eileen Tabios, Dana Guthrie Martin, Askhold Skalsky, Bob Bradshaw, Jill Wickham, Martin Willitts, Jessy Randall, Li Chevalier, Orly Orbach, Scott Owens, Rachel Lehrman, Moira Richards, Pris Campbell, Erena Rae, Daniel Shaprio, Carolee Sherwood, Jo Hemmant, Leslie Marcus, Barbara Taylor,

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Alice in ChainsNo Excuses... music to live by ...There comes a timeGot no patience to searchFor peace of mindLayin lowWant to take it slowNo more hiding orDisguising truths I've sold

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-23145306726626890332009-05-27T11:29:00.004-04:002009-05-27T11:39:44.160-04:00

João Cabral de Melo Neto ... poems for changing eye and hand ... WindowsHere is a man dreamingalong the beach. Anotherwho never remembers dates.Here is a man running awayfrom a tree; here is anotherwho’s lost his boat, or his hat.Here is a man who is a soldier;another being an airplane;another going, forgettinghis hour, his mysteryhis fear of the word “veil”;and in the shape of a ship,still

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What makes a poem a poem?A reasonable beginning?Start with a personal definition:poem (pō ׳ əm): 1a. words; words in the mind; words in a dream or an idea b. words spoken or not spoken, with or without voice; words in a grouping that represent, that state, that imply, that sound; words on the tongue, emphasized or not 2a. words intrinsic to the universe, to living things, to dead things b.

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The BugMark Knopfler, Composer... music to live by ...Mary Chapin CarpenterDire StraitsLive, 1992it's a strange old game - you learn it slowone step forward and it's back to goyou're standing on the throttleyou're standing on the breaksin the groove 'til you make a mistake

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Seamus HeaneyDiggingBetween my finger and my thumbThe squat pen rests; as snug as a gun.Under my window a clean rasping soundWhen the spade sinks into gravelly ground:My father, digging. I look downTill his straining rump among the flowerbedsBends low, comes up twenty years awayStooping in rhythm through potato drillsWhere he was digging.The coarse boot nestled on the lug, the shaftAgainst the

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Hilde DominExileThe mouth dyingThe mouth twistedThe mouth tryingto say the word rightin a strange language.~Else Lasker-SchülerMy Blue PianoAt home I have a blue piano.But I can’t play a note.It’s been in the shadow of the cellar doorEver since the world went rotten.Four starry hands play harmonies.The Woman in the Moon sang in her boat.Now only rats dance to the clanks.The keyboard is in bits.I

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Wallace StevensThe House Was Quiet and the World Was CalmThe house was quiet and the world was calm.The reader became the book; and summer nightWas like the conscious being of the book.The house was quiet and the world was calm.The words were spoken as if there was no book,Except that the reader leaned above the page,Wanted to lean, wanted much most to beThe scholar to whom his book is true, to

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-25209466790499089522009-05-03T16:47:00.004-04:002009-05-03T19:57:48.615-04:00

Broadside #12, “Fantasy for Cello and Orchestra,” a poem by Amy Lemmon, now online.Lemmon is the author of two poetry collections: Fine Motor (Sow's Ear Poetry Review Press, 2008) and Saint Nobody (Red Hen Press, 2009). Her poems and essays have appeared in Rolling Stone, New Letters, Prairie Schooner, Verse, Court Green, Marginalia. She is Associate Professor of English at New York's Fashion

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-38045692062829076622009-04-28T08:15:00.000-04:002009-04-28T08:16:50.759-04:00

Susan Stewart– from her collection, ColumbariumI had a little dovemade of paper and string.I pulled him along behind me—he could not sing.He was a made thing.I made him by heart.He did not sing at alland that was all of his art.*Absolutely universal. Absolutely personal. A tiny lyric that contains such force.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-81766835137627517222009-04-24T16:42:00.013-04:002009-04-25T14:36:56.477-04:00

Eyes on the Prize(Traditional)... songs to live by ...Mavis StaplesBruce Springsteen, The Seeger Sessions Band, Live in Dublin*A song that sings itself ... that is wrapped with history ... that is a breath of something more than words.Lines from Gary Snyder's "I Went into the Maverick Bar" echo through me:That short-haired joy and roughness—                 America—your

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-60164773652840378722009-04-23T14:02:00.005-04:002009-04-23T14:06:53.348-04:00

But there is no betrayal which is not a repudiation of fidelity. Is there, then, such a thing as a basic fidelity, a primal bond, which I break every time I make a vow which in the least degree concerns what I vaguely call my soul? (Obviously there is no question here of vows about mere matters of the most outward and socialized activity, where I am as it were using a tool ready to my hand.)

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-60187596200758136592009-04-18T09:40:00.008-04:002009-04-18T09:49:14.447-04:00

Nichole Shields1969-2009*Good poet, good friend.~American HungerAmerican hungerwould not occurif not everybut most untruths,malicious acts,and un-kept promisescould be consumedeach falsettoan appetizing morselfattening the nationtipping the scale          - from Blue Fifth Review, Winter 2001

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Scarborough Fair(Traditional)... songs to live by ...Marianne FaithfullHayley WestenraPaul Simon & Art Garfunkel

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-73845043741865807312009-04-10T10:09:00.003-04:002009-04-10T10:16:00.053-04:00

film diary9 April 09Krotki Film O Milosci (1988)(A Short Film about Love)Krzysztof Kieslowski, Dir.[This film is an expanded theatrical release version of Dekalog, part VI.]*Kieslowski’s film gets at the heart of voyeurism as a natural human phenomenon or condition. It’s found in many of his works, in fact, underscoring the filmmaker’s personal approach to his art. Call it curiosity, call it

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-39112855373440870082009-04-08T18:19:00.002-04:002009-04-08T18:20:17.454-04:00

The Dance Most of AllJack GilbertWe Are the JunctionThe body is the herb,the mind is the honey.The heart, the heart isthe undifferentiated.The mind touches the bodyand is the sun.The mind touches the heartand is the music.When body touches heartthey together are the moonin the silently falling snowover there. Which is truthexceeding, is the residence,the sanctified, is the secretcloset and

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Two from Frank Bidart:Catullus: Odi et amoI hate and love. Ignorant fish, who evenwants the fly while writhing.              – from The Sacrifice. ~Little Fugueat birth you were handed a ticketbeneath every journey the ticket to thisjourney in one directionor say the bodyis a conveyor belt, moving in one directionslower or swifter than sightat birthyou were handed a ticket,

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James StillLeap Minnows, LeapThe minnows leap in drying pools,In island of water along the creekbed sandsThey spring on dying tails, white bellies to the sun,Gills spread, gills fevered and gasping.The creek is sun and sand, and fish throats rasping.One pool has a peck of minnows.One living poolIs knuckle deep with dying, a shrinking yardOf glittering bellies. A thousand eyes look, look,A

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John Lennon, Eric Clapton, Keith Richards, Eric Clapton and Mitch MitchellYer BluesJohn Lennon & Paul McCartney, ComposersMy mother was of the skyMy father was of the earthBut I am of the universeAnd you know what it's worth

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-78396684035350974492009-03-28T16:58:00.002-04:002009-03-28T17:05:11.232-04:00

Mary OliverThe Buddha’s Last Instruction“Make of yourself a light,”said the Buddha, before he died.I think of this every morningas the east beginsto tear off its many cloudsof darkness, to send up the firstsignal—a white fanstreaked with pink and violet,even green.An old man, he lay down between two sala trees,and he might have said anything,knowing it was his final hour.The light burns upward,it

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Anna Akhmatova“The mysterious spring”The mysterious spring still lay under a spell,the transparent wind stalked over the mountains,and the deep lake kept on being blue,—a temple of the Baptist not made by hands.You were frightened by our first meeting,but I already prayed for the second, and nowthe evening is hot, the way it was then . . .How close the sun has come to the mountain.You are not

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film diary23 March 09Die Bitteren Tränen der Petra von Kant (1972)R. W. Fassbinder, Dir.Karin: It’s all so complicated.Petra: No… Nothing is simple. Nothing at all. You have to understand what humility is.Karin: Humility?Petra: You see… everyone has his own theory of the world. I believe you have to have humility to be able to bear what you know. I have humility in my work or in respect

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MoneyPink FloydGrab that cash with both hands and make a stashNew car, caviar, four star daydreamThink I’ll buy me a football team*Heavy into the Floyd these days. An amazing piece in 7/8 time.

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-70247856431208264622009-03-19T12:22:00.004-04:002009-03-19T13:40:32.294-04:00

Raymond CarverThe CurrentThese fish have no eyes these silver fish that come to me in dreams, scattering their roe and milt in the pockets of my brain.But there’s one that comes—heavy, scarred, silent like the rest, that simply holds against the current,closing its dark mouth against the current, closing and opening as it holds to the current.*Such a vital piece from a literary master.

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Upcoming releases from Criterion Collection...The Seventh Seal (1957)Ingmar Bergman, Dir.an updated release - with added features2 DiscsJune 2009Wise Blood (1979)John Huston, Dir.1 DiscMay 2009My Dinner with André (1981)Louis Malle, Dir.1 DiscJune 2009Last Year at Marienbad (1962)Alain Resnais, Dir.2 DiscsJune 2009

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Poetry has to be a little bit stupid.                 - Alexander Pushkin,quoted by                        Andrei Tarkovsky, Sculpting in Time                        (Trans. Kitty Hunter-Blair)

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film diary5 March 09The Perfect Human (1967)[a version]Jørgen Leth, Dir.At times, the best way to find any understanding of life is through the mundane. Repetition becomes maniacal becomes truth. For me, that is what Danish filmmaker Jørgen Leth sets out to show in his brief, hypnotic, experimental work Det Perfekte menneske (The Perfect Human, 1967). The human being – the perfect man, the

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-18102222367676983712009-02-27T12:33:00.003-05:002009-02-27T13:31:24.130-05:00

Miklós Radnóti        – from “Picture Postcards”I fell beside him; his body turned over,already taught as a string about to snap.Shot in the back of the neck. That’s how you too will end,I whispered to myself; just lie quietly.Patience now flowers into death.Der springt noch auf, a voice said above me.On my ear, blood dried, mixed with filth.Szentkirályszabadja, 31 October 1944             (

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Run On(Traditional)... songs to live by ...MobyJohnny CashElvis Presley*ah well, well...

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Romeo Is BleedingTom Waits, Composer- from Austin City Limits

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I will have spent my life trying to understand the function of remembering, which is not the opposite of forgetting, but rather its lining.We do not remember. We rewrite memory much as history is rewritten.How can one remember thirst?               from a letter by Sandor Krasna, read by a narrator,               in the film Sans Soleil, Chris Marker, dir.

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film diary16 February 09The Exterminating Angel (1962)Luis Buñuel, Dir.... films to live by ...Greatness can never be explained - only witnessed. Greatness can never be explained... Wait. Didn't I just say that?

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Lydia DavisThe OutingAn outburst of anger near the road, a refusal to speak on the path, a silence in the pine woods, a silence across the old railroad bridge, an attempt to be friendly in the water, a refusal to end the argument on the flat stones, a cry of anger on the steep bank of dirt, a weeping among the bushes.             - originally appeared in Conjunctions

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film diary8 February 09La Belle Noiseuse (1991)Jacques Rivette, Dir.... a film to live by ...~In Rivette’s film, an artist, Frenhofer, visits his studio – he had given up painting ten years earlier.Frenhofer: I don’t want to stay here. It was difficult even to come. When I see a recent painting… the suffering here is unbearable.Nicolas: At least it’s cool here. There’s silence.Frenhofer:

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film diary1 February 09Magnificent Obsession (1954)Douglas Sirk, Dir.2 February 09Viridiana (1961)Luis Buñuel, Dir.*Great film sources for worlds in conflict - flesh & spirit, sight & unseen, guilt & ideals, reason & the absurd, cause, fetish, fate, choice, the vile, the beautiful...

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MirrorAndrei Tarkovsky, Dir. / 1975I see it as the clearest evidence of genius when an artist follows his conception, his idea, his principle, so unswervingly that he has this truth of his constantly in his control, never letting go of it even for the sake of his own enjoyment of his work.*… [Robert] Bresson is perhaps the only man in the cinema to have achieved the perfect fusion of the finished

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Making PiesPatty Griffin, Composer... songs to live by ...We tied our ribbons to the fire escape They were taken by the birds Who flew home to the country As the bombs rained on the world

sam of the ten thousand thingshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04378206265831223396noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20269767.post-16921454210471506422009-01-22T12:12:00.012-05:002009-01-22T12:59:06.002-05:00

I just received word from the editors of Dzanc Books that my poem “Chamber Music” - which originally appeared in Boxcar Poetry Review ... #16, September 2008 - has been selected for inclusion in the Best of the Web 2009 anthology. The date of publication for the anthology is June/July 2009.I’m grateful to Neil Aitken, ed. of BPR, for believing in the poem.Thanks also to Felicia Mitchell, Edison

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Someone is trying to make music somewhere with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice.A woman and her son wait for the bus.A farmer considers the changing sky; A teacher says, ‘Take out your pencils. Begin.’We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed; words to consider, reconsider.             - from “Praise Song for the

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Braids- from The Helga PicturesAndrew Wyeth1917-2009If somehow I can, before I leave this earth, combine my absolutely mad freedom and excitement with truth, then I will have done something.~My own poem, based on a Wyeth painting... originally appeared in Backspace, then Religions of the Blood:Barracooniron hooks likethe nails of Godtear the ceilingjust aboveyour body turnedinward to the wallwait

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A Matter of Life and Death (1946)Written, Directed, and Produced by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger... films to live by ...[Released on DVD (Sony Pictures / Region 1 / 2009) as The Films of Michael Powell – a two-disc set, including A Matter of Life and Death and Age of Consent]Watching the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers, is like slicing off a part

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All the World Is GreenTom Waits, Composer... music to live by ...The moon is yellow silverOh the things that summer bringsIt's a love you'd kill forAnd all the world is green

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Something to look forward to...New work by Jack Gilbert - The Dance Most of All: Poems, Knopf (7 April 2009)

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Elizabeth BishopSandpiperThe roaring alongside he takes for granted,and that every so often the world is bound to shake.He runs, he runs to the south, finical, awkward,in a state of controlled panic, a student of Blake.The beach hisses like fat. On his left, a sheetof interrupting water comes and goesand glazes over his dark and brittle feet.He runs, he runs straight through it, watching his toes

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When a man died, there had to be blame. Jimmy Cross understood this. You could blame the war. You could blame the idiots who made the war. You could blame Kiowa for going to it. You could blame the rain. You could blame the river. You could blame the field, the mud, the climate. You could blame the enemy. You could blame the mortar rounds. You could blame the people who were too lazy to

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