Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://steeltoereview.com/2011/09/12/intolerable-end-by-john-douglas/
“Intolerable End” by John Douglas

http://www.poolpoetry.com/poetone.html
“What The Director Said” by Jeanne Marie Beaumont

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions…

Light Sweet Crude by Cynthia Barouinis and Claire Leeds

Published by Dancing Girl Press, Cynthia Bourinis and Claire Leeds come together to bounce poems off of one another on the subject of oil, creating a collection titled Light Sweet Crude. The result is an enlightening and scientific take on oil and its dwindling sources. Ms. Barouinis is working on her PhD in English at the University of Illinois at Chicago and her work has appeared in Poetry, Salzburg Review and in a future anthology from Partner Dance Press. Ms. Leeds lives and works on a farm in southern Wisconsin and holds a BA degree in Creative Writing while currently working towards a BS in Nursing.

While you may initially think a subject about oil might be boring or come off as boring or preachy, these poets make the subject dynamic, appealing, and intellectually gratifying. Below I am happy to share some sample poems to pique your interest:



Nesting

I have seen the collapse
of a rabbit’s nest in the short lawn grass.
There. The dog is tied to a stake
driven, invisible, into the ground.
She’s on a long line with a far reach.

I heard the past in a newscast—pirates
commandeer an oil tanker. Before
she was seized, her intrepid captian
peered through his telescope backwards—
thought the horizon held a distant threat.

I have found harbor in haunting:
a bell curve, the end of our plateau.
So, bar-prophet, business-man, a friend
of a friend of a friend—show me the peak
over the slick rim of your drink.
I’d like to meet our geology of decline.

I like that this poem takes every-day tragedy such as a rabbit’s nest in the grass in danger by the dog on the leash and expands it outwards to the oil tanker held by pirates. The poets even mention “thought the horizon held a distant threat.” In other words, what may seem a far and distant disaster is actually closer than you can imagine and at the end, the poet asks for more detail, more information. The poems in this collection continue on with more detail, just enough to make you want to look up even more information for yourself.



Because the Poem is a Limited Resource

I’ll ration stanzas like canned
meat during wartime; exhaust

verse to vapor, fume enough to keep
this engine plotting A to B, B to C,
C to D, origin to peak; nothing

metaphoric about our destination
but what propels us toward it
is the chemistry of conversion:

a stake drilled into the lawn distills
into the anchor of a compass;

leashed dog orbits like graphite,
carves with her body the edge
of a perfect circle,

a flattened globe, the rounded lip
of a glass from above;
the memory of scotch on my breath;

when this fuel runs out, I won’t drive
home, but bury my keys in the earth
and wait to see what grows there.

First of all, who wouldn’t want to read the poem after reading its title? Second, they are able to relate rationing stanzas to rationing oil, very clever yes? Since these poets are bouncing ideas off of each other we see the repetition of the dog on the long leash tied to the orbits of graphite which is part of the rock broken up to get to the oil. I love the idea of burying keys in the earth after the oil needed to drive is gone and to see what grows instead. I picture roads grown over with grass and tree roots breaking up the asphalt, what do you see?


If you enjoyed this short sample of poems as much as I have enjoyed the entire collection you can snag a copy of Light Sweet Crude by Cynthia Bourinis and Claire Leeds for a mere $7.00 from Dancing Girl Press at:

http://dulcetshop.ecrater.com/p/11547989/cynthia-barounis-claire-leeds-light

Thanks always for reading, please click in again tomorrow…

Smartish Pace Site

Wonderful place to find poetry news, read interviews with poets, book reviews, and so on! Check it out at:

http://www.smartishpace.com/

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by again tomorrow for a featured poetry collection…

Read A Good Book: Bike Snob by Eben Weiss

Bike Snob: Systematically & Mercilessly Realigning the World of Cycling by Eben Weiss and illustrated by Christopher Koelle is a laugh-out-loud book. Let me just say that I am not a cycling enthusiast by any means. My husband loves bicycles and used to work in a bicycle shop so he spotted this book, bought it, and then proceeded to laugh hysterically to the point he could hardly read it out loud to me.

So, my curiosity piqued, I eagerly awaited my turn to read it and it was just as funny to me as it was to him. Eben Weiss is dead-pan funny with similes and metaphors that will crawl inside your head and make you snort and giggle when you’re trying to be a normal human being at your desk or while making dinner or doing life’s mundane chores. When your mind wanders you will envision Weiss’ descriptions of various cyclists such as The Lone Wolf who dresses and rides to the beat of his own drum or the girls who flout all bicycle laws while wearing their pretty dresses and sailing through busy intersections emerging miraculously unscathed. The illustrations of these people are just as funny as the words used to describe them thanks to the illustrator Christopher Koelle’s skilled hands.

From beginning to end you will learn, laugh, and be inspired to take your bike out for a ride. Eben Weiss even devotes a section to riding bikes amongst cars and why you shouldn’t be afraid of them (I am). Practical advice, tales of the impractical, and have I mentioned the similes and metaphors that will burn into your brain and make you snort while sitting at your desk? This book is worth reading even if you’ve never ridden a bicycle in your entire life. If you need a good laugh by a smart and witty writer, Eben Weiss is your guy! To top it off, he has his own blog where this book stemmed from to begin with so check him out at:

http://bikesnobnyc.blogspot.com/


To purchase or read a laugh-out-loud copy of Bike Snob by Eben Weiss for yourself, you can visit your local library, book-store, or please go to:

http://www.amazon.com/Bike-Snob-Systematically-Mercilessly-Realigning/dp/0811869989


Thanks always for reading, please drop in again next week…

Right Hand Pointing Open Submissions

Themed Issue coming up is about cities and towns! All poems must have a city or town in their title and when you use the on-line submissions system at Right Hand Pointing be sure to indicate that you are submitting to Issue #46 which is due out in December.

Make sure to look over their website to see if your poems fit the aesthetic and pay very close attention to how to submit your poems, they prefer short to long.

For more details go to:

http://sites.google.com/site/rhpissue99/issue-46-cities-dec-2011

Good luck to all who submit, please stop in tomorrow for another featured book…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

https://sites.google.com/site/44righthandpointing/alec-hershman
“Coming Home” by Alec Hershman

https://sites.google.com/site/44righthandpointing/scot-siegel
“Meth Labs In The Rain” by Scott Siegel

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions…

The Plath Poems by Nava Fader

Published in 2009 by Dancing Girl Press, Nava Fader’s collection The Plath Poems takes the first lines of Sylvia Plath’s poems and turns them into her own. Ranging from abstract to fanciful the poems deserve to be read a second and third time. Below I am happy to share a couple of my favorites:

It is no night to drown in

tunnels are tokens if you could run
slippery sides echoes
murmuring rock demurs
rumbling volcanic gut ash
whispers whippers whippoorwhill
small singing caught
corner of your eye. Soot marked
and steamy. Bottom dwellers have
stones for pockets. Their mouth
an eternal stone. All guesswork gypsy girl
done.

This poem has me envisioning the entrance to a cave and the exploration of its dark and cavernous mouth. I could be wrong about what this poem is about but the tunnels, the soot, and the mention of bottom dwellers paints such a picture for me. I can hear the eerie sounds “murmuring rock demurs/rumbling volcanic gut ash” described in the lines above. It’s a poem that makes me want to go out into the woods and find such a place.



One match scratch makes you real

sprites are not
ghosts are not harpies
or changelings You are just
as I left you The flower in your throat
furry velvet fills
the space of howls.
Can I get there
By candlelight? yes
And back again The black bag
opens and shuts like an eye
come too soon
to light Sit
and stew steaming crock
held in my knees groans
from time to time burns
and blooms your cheeks Mercury
irises rises the metal
stays hot

In this poem I picture the poet brining fairies out of the darkness by striking a match to light a fire. Again, I could be wrong as to what the poem is truly about but this is the interpretation that comes to mind with the first line/title tying to “sprites” and the mention of candlelight. I wonder what is in the steaming crock and what is in the black bag that “opens and shuts like an eye.” I picture magical things happening in the night in this poem.



In this collection there are also words that are used throughout the poems such as “tooth” and “tongue” so I wonder about Nava Fader's mind-set through the collection, if things are taken from a visceral feeling of taste, touch, and sound and then abstracted outwards when using the first lines of the poems. The collection is, as I said, fanciful and abstract and altogether enjoyable.



If you enjoyed this review you can purchase a copy of The Plath Poems by Nava Fader from Dancing Girl Press for $7.00 at:
http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/plath.html

Thanks always for reading, please click in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Jingle Monster Site

Rebecca from Jingle Monster sent me a link for the Jingle Monster site’s poetry section which is pretty groovy because it takes current news events and turns them into rhyming jingles, check it out at:

http://jinglemonster.com.au/category/the-times-in-rhymes/


To learn more about creating a jingle through their web-site, visit:
http://jinglemonster.com.au/

Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured poet…

The Winner of Poet Hound's First Give-Away IS:

Samuel Snoek-Brown is our contest winner!
Congratulations, I'll be e-mailing you so you can receive your prize.

Thank you to all who entered! There will be another give-away in the future so please be on the look-out for it, please drop by again this week...

Read A Good Book: Out of the Woods into the Sun by Guy R. Beining

Guy R. Beining was born in 1938 in London and arrived in New York City in the spring of 1940. He currently resides in Great Barrington, Massachusetts and has published thousands of poems along with hundreds of collages and drawings. His most recent exhibition was at the Hudson Opera House in Hudson, New York in 2010 and his collection of art paired with beautifully worded lines to accompany them has been published by Kamini Press in this collection titled Out of the Woods into the Sun.

The collection of paintings are carefully and vividly reflected throughout the pages of this small book in my hands:






Inside, the people are abstract and interacting with one another while the words beneath link humanity to nature with lines such as “the lake on the sun was unwrinkled” and “between you & me the sea is us.” I’ll admit that I do not always understand how the words beneath each painting relate to the painting but it is inspiring and beautiful nonetheless. Through the entire collection I gather a sense of excitement and mystery and I am happy to share with you a couple of pictures of the contents:








The pictures do not do this collection justice but I hope that you enjoy the art and the words together. Mr. Beining has dedicated this book “To all poets & artists that have stayed on track,” which I find a wonderful dedication and hope that all of you out there continue to pursue what inspires you.

If you enjoyed this review and would like a copy for yourself, there are signed copies available from editor Henry Denander at Kamini Press for $10.00 and those that include limited edition artwork are available for $25.00.
You may visit Kamini Press for details and use PayPal to purchase a copy at:
http://kaminipress.com

Thanks always or reading, please stop by again next week…

Juked Open Submissions

Open year round, if you believe your work fits their aesthetic you may send them an e-mail with subject line reading “Poetry by Your Name” and attach an .rtf or .doc with your contact information included to the editors. The poetry editor’s name is Vincent Guerra and they do accept simultaneous submissions so long as you notify them immediately if your work is accepted elsewhere. Send your submission (maximum of 5 poems) to:
submissionsATjukedDOTcom

For more details go to:
http://juked.com/info/index.asp

Good luck to all who submit, please drop in again tomorrow for another book review, and many thanks to the positive responses given so far for the new Friday Feature…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2011/09/onmeetingrobertcreeley.asp
“On Meeting Robert Creeley: by Scott Keeney


http://steeltoereview.com/2011/09/15/the-black-house-by-kenny-fame/
“The Black House” by Kenny Fame


Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions…

An Interview: Dear Minimum Wage Employee, You Are Priceless

Published by Dancing Girl Press in 2010, Emilie Lindemann’s collection of poems is funny and devastating at the same time. I enjoyed the introductory poem, the dedication, and each poem to the very last so I felt compelled to pick her brain for details and Ms. Lindemann kindly obliged:

1.) Emilie Lindemann, thank you so much for allowing me to interview you. The title alone is priceless. It is the entire reason I picked up your collection, can you tell us how you decided to come up with this title?

I was working at Kohl’s as a cashier for $7.25 an hour (minimum wage in Wisconsin) while I also worked as an adjunct instructor. I’d worked as a cashier at a farm supply store in high school and college, but this was different. I had my master’s degree and now the supervisor was reprimanding me for saying “Have a good weekend,” instead of “Have a great day.” During the first two weeks back in the service sector I wrote a note to myself in one of the notebooks I’m always writing in: “Dear Minimum Wage Employee, You Are Priceless.” I realized the note was also addressed to low wage workers everywhere. I am a person. You and I are people.




2.) The dedication page is funny and disturbing at the same time. For our readers, a sample of it reads as follows:
“For every man and woman who has ever worn a polo shirt, apron or nametag… For barcode wrists and inflamed pelvises. For bruised egos and unused Master’s degrees… For strutting out the doors and into the parking lot and never looking back.”
It goes on but the readers must pick up a copy and read it for themselves. In the meantime, how did you come up with your dedication? It could easily have been short and sweet and I am glad you made it as long as you did, it is fun to read.

I was frustrated with the way low-wage workers are treated by customers and the corporations, but I was also inspired by the way service sector employees can and do band together to resist corporate scripts. The women I worked with at Kohl’s and at my previous service sector jobs laughed together and turned the underpaid shifts into something else—maybe social calls, maybe games, or maybe occasions to appreciate and encourage one another. When we had to stay until one in the morning folding t-shirts and juniors’ jeans, we would take our shoes off and laugh. These poems are for those gutsy women (and men too).



3.) Your poems detail the trials and tribulations of working in retail, of the corporate guidelines are portrayed in such a way as to make the reader feel as diminished as the employee must feel when being told the guidelines. Your poem, Corporate Macaroni Code, is a good example which I will post below. Can you tell us more about the inspiration for such a poem as this one?

Corporate Macaroni Code

What is acceptable: black slacks,
especially when paired with a fuck-me voice
and a meek smile.

Avoid thrusting your elbows outward,
talking with your hands.

(This is only
for your own good. We wouldn’t want you
to look anything but professional.

We wouldn’t want you
to be mistaken for a woman shopping freely,
schlucking her boots against the linoleum,
sniffing blouse pits or rubbing discount dresses
between stubby fingers.)

On days when the weather
is especially conducive to Capri pants,

we want you to give us your shiniest apples,
your macaroni necklaces, the last rasp of your voice,
even if it’s higher or purpler than you feel.
Even if you go home to peanut butter.

Many jobs in the service sector have dress codes for employees that are quite entertaining to read. Sometimes the dress codes seem like a way to take power away from employees, to show workers that management and the corporation have power over them. Yet, the corporation spins it as a way to “protect” the worker, to make sure she is being professional. Of course, it makes sense at a grocery store or department store where you are issued a polo shirt. But it becomes a bizarre document at department stores where one wears her own clothes. The language and tone of the corporate dress code for one particular store seemed to imply that the retail employee does not have a sense of professional dress—or taste for that matter. For example, I remember that overalls and mesh tops were strictly forbidden. As if! Yet, the title and final stanza of my poem are important. The employee must not only give her best dress pants to the company but also herself. She must give her real smile, her real humanity for the sake of the corporation making a profit and reeling in store credit card customers.




4.) I love your poem, On Your Day Off, which describes exactly what the poem title says. I am curious about the paper pulp mentioned in the poem: Do you make your own? Also, can you tell us the inspiration behind this poem and give us some more details about things mentioned such as “the sound acrylic nails make/drumming on your countertop”? Here is the poem below:

On Your Day Off

You slide into traffic.

For a few tree-lined blocks
you could be
a business woman
or healthcare professional.

Later, at home—dipping your hands into
Inches of paper pulp you almost see the
blues, pinks, and mauves
of the updated misses department.
You stir pulp
until it purples, until no one
calls you ma’am or asks you to check prices.

And still later, when fibers collide,
when the paper flaps on the clothesline,
you forget barcodes, the sound acrylic nails make
drumming on your countertop. Instead you hear
geese honking beyond boxers
and solitary socks.

I haven’t made my own paper in a while, but that summer I did! I made the pulp in a kitchen blender and dumped it into a big old Rubbermaid container and it just felt so good to use my hands to make something that was for me. I was experimenting at the time with book art. It was such a joy to make something that involved colors and textures. This reminded me of the colors and textures that become tired and mundane and so separate from the worker at a store like Kohl’s where for several months everything is the same burgundy and mustard yellow and purple that you beep and bag. That particular day off it was such a pleasure to be left on my own and to hear outdoor sounds (I was making the paper outside) instead of hearing the sounds of middle-aged women drumming acrylic fingernails on my countertop when I scanned and folded their items as quickly as I could. The drumming of fingernails was intended to tell me that their time was valuable—more valuable than mine.



5.) You had mentioned that working at Kohl’s had inspired these poems when I sent you an e-mail to ask if I could interview you. Can you tell us what it was about the work there that inspired you to write about it? Was it to relieve yourself of frustration or a way to vindicate yourself about the work? What kind of work do you do now and do you write about it in poems, too?

Well, cashiers and other pink-collar workers like waitresses are expected to adhere to these scripts that consist of saying “Hello, welcome to Kohl’s” and apologizing for things that aren’t our fault and pretending that the customer is always right. These poems are my way of talking back, of making an alternate script where I voice my feelings and assert my “person-hood.”

When I wrote these poems I was also an adjunct instructor. And for anyone who doesn’t know, it’s like being a professor but without an office and without health insurance and with much, much lower pay. Now I teach writing full time at a liberal arts college. And I certainly do write about being a writing teacher. I think it’s interesting to explore things from the teacher’s point of view. I have this poem that talks about not grading essays because I ate a Twix bar in the grocery store parking lot. I wrote a poem called “How to Wear a Pencil Skirt” that explores the teacher’s sexuality.

I admit that there was this uneasiness when I was finishing my collection of poems (Pink-Collar Brides)—some of them speaking to the cashier’s experience—when I accepted a full-time teaching job. Could I still write about being a cashier? About being an adjunct?




6.) The closing poem is directed at brides and begins with a quote from a Bridal Guide. The quote has advice that I, personally, think sounds silly. This poem is directed at the bride who is now faced with real life now that the big event is over.

I am very curious to know how this poem came about? I, myself, have always dreaded weddings and their brides and wonder about your thoughts on the whole thing? Even for my own wedding, which turned out lovely, I still wish I had eloped and skipped the whole beauty-pageant-feeling of being a bride. I always looked forward to the marriage part, not the wedding. This poem paints a rather grainy and sober picture of what happens after the wedding. The poem is below, please enlighten us to the creative process for this poem:

A Ghazal for the Bride with Post-Wedding Blues

Some brides feel disappointed after their big day. Try to keep up with friends, establish a work-out routine with your hubby, anything to keep you moving and out of your papasan chair. –Bridal Guide

The wedding is over, the bride may now begin her spinning.
Bring out the bacon, the frying pans, and soiled sheets.

The wedding is over, the bride may have her gown professionally cleaned.
May all your nights involve Sudoku puzzles.

The wedding is over, the bride can roll up clean underwear
and ball socks together to create onions for his steak.

The wedding is over, the bride may now take down her knot.com profile.
And retreat to cellars for heads of lettuce and shriveled grapes.

The wedding is over, the bride can stop dieting, and let her skin go pale.
Piece together rye bread, sauer kraut, and smoked turkey with swiss.

The wedding is over, the bride can unveil her sweatpants.
She can trace long snakes of stretch marks to spell out “boredom” and “loneliness.”

The wedding is over, the bride can cut off her hair and paint her fingernails purple.
Tell the groom to strip off his cummerbund so she can catch her clippings and drippings.

The wedding is over, the bride can climb out of her papasan chair
And rollerblade down hills and into a deep valley.


Well, I rarely ever write formal verse. And my professor at the time, Brenda Cardenas, who has been a huge inspiration as a teacher and poet, challenged us to try several forms. I became intrigued with the ghazal form, how the couplets stand alone as individual poems, and how the rhyming word and refrain work like chimes. I cheated. I changed the form so that instead of a repeating word at the end of each couplet there is this refrain at the beginning: “the wedding is over.” But, anyways, I was preparing for my own wedding which ended up being an old fashioned Wisconsin wedding with chicken and potatoes and beer and a big white dress with red roses on it. And I was so conflicted because I hated the idea of registering for gifts and making my sisters and best friend wear matching shiny dresses and wearing a veil (which I didn’t). I thought the advice from a wedding magazine in the epigraph was kooky and demeaning, so I imagined the relief (rather than the anxiety) after a wedding. I imagined a bride letting her gut hang out. But I also imagined the disappointment that might happen after one has gone from being the Bride to being a Wife---especially in a culture where the Husband or Hubby (a word I refuse to use) is supposed to “complete” her.



7.) Where else can we find your poems or collections? Do you have a blog or web-site we can visit that you could include a link to? Are there any creative projects you are working on that we might see in the future? What kinds of events and happenings are inspiring your poems today?

I have a collection, Pink-Collar Brides, that I’m still submitting to a few presses that I admire—trying to find a good home for it. I have some recent poems up at Prime Number and Melusine.

http://www.melusine21cent.com/mag/node/262

http://www.primenumbermagazine.com/Issue7_Poetry_EmilieLindeman.html



8.) Which writers, poets, artists do you enjoy reading or seek inspiration from?

My favorite poets are Jan Beatty, Karen Brodine, and Chris Llewellyn---Carol Tarlen too. These women explore the world of work in their poetry. I always loved Lucille Clifton for her humor and gutsiness in her work. And, of course, I admire fellow Wisconsin poet Lorine Niedecker for the fun she has with language and sounds in her poetry. I made my husband come with me to Blackhawk Island (where Niedecker lived) last year as a kind of pilgrimage.
Plus, I’ve been inspired by the poets and writers who have been my writing teachers: Karl Elder, James Liddy, Maurice Kilwein Guevara, Kimberly Blaeser, Liam Callanan, and of course Brenda Cardenas as I mentioned earlier.



9.) Any advice for aspiring poets and writers out there?

Never underestimate the possibilities of a writing exercise or an experiment. Once I made a whole series of prose poems because I had this idea that I was going to force myself to use the word “panty” somehow in each one. When an experiment looks limiting it’s really freeing.

Write stuff down constantly. Doodle. Observe.

And I think exercise helps too—it lets you think and create without the pressure. I walk past corn fields and cows or I go to a Zumba class and I just relax and think.



Emilie Lindemann, thanks so much for agreeing to be interviewed. I wish you continued success in your writing and creative endeavors, please keep in touch.


If you would like a copy of Emilie Lindemann’s collection: Dear Minimum Wage Employee, You are Priceless, please visit the link to Dancing Girl Press below to purchase a copy for $7.00 at:

http://dulcetshop.ecrater.com/p/11548447/emilie-lindemann-dear-minimum-wage

Thanks always for reading, please drop in again for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Poet Hound Give-Away Simplified and Extended for Hosho McCreesh’s Collection: For All These Wretched, Beautiful, & Insignificant Things So Uselessly

Hosho McCreesh and I have decided to simplify the contest: To enter you only need to leave a comment or send me an e-mail saying you would like to win a copy.

The entrants’ names will be drawn at random on the following Sunday, Sept. 25th, and the winner’s name will be posted on Sunday. If I do not have the winner’s mailing address they can simply e-mail me their mailing address so that I can send them their winning copy.

If you have any questions please let me know, otherwise good luck to all who enter!

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for an interview with Emilie Lindemann about her collection: Dear Minimum Wage Employee…

Sunday's Give-Away Announcement

To be honest, I'm surprised there have been no entries but I also wonder if we need to simplify this contest?
I will be announcing sometime this week what Hosho McCreesh and I have finally decided in regards to the give-away because I know that many readers and fans do not have sites or blogs that they can use to provide links to so please stay tuned...