The Year of the Lost Man

Is it just me or did 2009 seem like the year of men, interminably lost and confused? I mean, look at the movies: The Wrestler, Gran Torino, Up in the Air, Crazyheart, A Single Man - cowboys, washed up vets, gay men, business men, Mickey Rourke? It seems so many movies are focusing on the struggle of the male in everyday life with prejudice, alcoholism, women and sex, self-acceptance, peer-acceptance . Is it a statement of the times? That this world we have today is a hard world for men to live in? It is easy to believe. And I am nothing near a feminist. But what about the woman? This concerns me because of the most recent criticism of my writing. I was told that I write like a man, that the speakers of my poems are most often genderless. That I am uncelebratory of the woman, of being a woman. Because I don't write the expected "woman" or "mother" poems? I see my struggles and concerns in life and in writing as human struggle and concerns, not merely related to women or gender stereotypes, but to all beings. And, however important or unimportant audience is, hopefully my audience will always contain both men and woman. So I will continue to write poems that speak to both genders. And however much I did enjoy Clint Eastwood and Jeff Bridges, I look forward to movies that more deeply explore the situation of the woman, beyond (and hopefully less repugnant than) Sex and the City and He's just not that into you. WhhhaaZAMM

The Lovely Matthea Harvey

MyTop Ten Favorite Movies of the Decade

The Dirty Napkin

Today the Winter 2010 Issue of The Dirty Napkin was published and I am thrilled to see I've been published along side J.P Dancing Bear, a poet of great merit. The issue seems to have been a very selective one, which also makes me proud. The two poems that appear are older poems of mine, written in my Stephen Dunn Stockton years. So a great thank you to him and my Stockton pals.

A link to read and listen to the poems appears to your left. Enjoy!

I would give all metaphors in return for one word drawn out of my breast like a rib

So tonight I have a telepho-etry date with the editor of The Dirty Napkin to record two poems that will appear next week in the Winter 2010 Issue. I find this process excitingly strange, but I am looking forward to having the recording next to the text. WhaaZAM.

Aside from that, my favorite poem today is "I Would Like to Describe" by Zbigniew Herbert

Read it here: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=179869

New Typewriter

I just bought my first typewriter. Isn't it pretty?

Guest Speaking

Today I visited my friend Madeline's Intro to Creative Writing class at Adelphi University as a Guest Speaker of Poetry. It was pretty interesting. I read some of my published poems and then answered their questions for the duration of the class period. Since most of them are freshman and I think only one or two of them were English Majors, I wasn't expecting much of a response. But I was mistaken. Many of them had interesting and insightful questions and seemed to be truly interested in the process of writing poetry, my process in particular, and many of them were very curious about publishing. My favorite question was "How much money does it cost to get published?" I couldn't help but laugh and tell the poor kid that if you are paying to be published you're getting taken for a ride. Overall it was an extremely enjoyable experience and I hope to do it again in the future.