Tuesday, December 29, 2009

Avant-Garde

"Avant-Garde" was accepted by Frank Hinton at Metazen (along with a prose poem, "Exit Visa"). Also Coop Renner at elimae took "Half-Life," a 10-part experimental sequence of associational free verse. Not bad for a day that started with two rejections!

Monday, December 28, 2009

A Short History of Surrealism

Andre Breton, the pope of Surrealism, once said the ultimate surrealist act would be to fire at random into a crowd in the street until the bullets ran out. Today, of course, that isn't surrealism; it's the news. (Where does that leave us as writers? What avenues are left open to shock, startle, and dismay?)I have tried to make a poem of this situation. It's called AVANT-GARDE; it's short; it brings in a remark by filmmaker Jean-Luc Goddard as well; and it's been submitted to a few publications.

Philosophical Speculation

To take refuge in an image is to take refuge from reality. It’s to avoid or evade confronting what is there to actually be seen and described. If this is so, then the true incendiary would abandon poetry for journalism or the writing of contemporary history. The imagination is free, but man is not.

Tuesday, December 22, 2009

Orange Spotlight

Ghosts of Breath in today's Orange Spotlight over at What to Wear During an Orange Alert

http://www.orangealert.net/ghostofbreath

New E-Chapbook

Love Surrounds You Like a Posse in Bulletproof Vests -- my e-book from Publishing Genius -- will be out January 5. Happy New Year!

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Reversal of Fortunes

OK. I was wrong. j.a. accepted Music for Pieces of Wood. It's been added to the ml press 2010 chapbook series. Thanks, j.a. I'm glad to have been wrong and to now be part of what is a series of cutting-edge works. Now everyone go subscribe to ml press.