Me!

I tend to feel somewhat reluctant about self-promotion. I don't have anything against it in principle; however, by nature, I am just averse to calling attention to myself.

That being said, this post is all about self-promotion. First, behold the latest issue of Gulf Coast, which features two of my poems. More importantly (for you), the issue also features a ton of wonderful writing by other writers. It is a hefty beast of literary wonderment.

Please note that if you subscribe to Gulf Coast, they will donate subscription proceeds to the Gulf Restoration Network.

***

Also, in the latest issue of Third Coast, you can find my review of Angela Shaw's The Beginning of the Fields. Both the journal and Shaw's book are highly recommended.

I don't know if anyone still reads this blog, but if anyone is out there, now you have a couple of good suggestions for excellent summer reading. I am honored to be included in these excellent journals, and I hope you will check them out.

Not a proper blog post, but . . .

. . . this website is still kind of fun.

As a poet,

I write like
J. R. R. Tolkien

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

As a fiction writer,

I write like
James Joyce

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

As an essayist,

I write like
H. P. Lovecraft

I Write Like by Mémoires, Mac journal software. Analyze your writing!

Ha!

You Light up My Like

Well, my friend Gary just did one of these, and it looks cool, so I can't resist. Here is a Wordle of my poetry manuscript:



"Light" is to be expected, but I was also a little surprised by the prominence of "like." (I did a Tagcloud once for the same ms., but I can't remember the results.) I'm glad to see that "flesh" is fairly prominent, and that it is about the same size as "know."

Yes, this is my soul.

Some stuff to keep the blog god appeased

As all three or four of my readers know, I don't do a very good job of updating this blog. The truth is, I usually don't have much on my mind that I deem worth sharing.

Still, there are a few things I've come across recently that I would like to share with you. The first is a link to a new Robert Bly ghazal from the latest issue of Poetry. I like this one a lot.

The second thing is another link, this time to the YouTube page for a musical duo named Pomplamoose. I enjoy them quite a bit. (My last musical discovery was The Swell Season. I wonder why I favor these duos. Hmmm . . . .) They make cool little videos for their songs. "If You Think You Need Some Lovin'" and "Always in the Season" are my favorites. I suggest watching/listening to them right now.



And the final thing (last and, in this case, definitely least) is a parody poem I found recently on my hard drive, in a file full of stuff I'd transferred from my old computer. It's not attributed, but I think I actually wrote this myself, even though I have no memory of writing it. It looks like the sort of shit I'd come up with. (If you recognize this from somewhere else, though, let me know!) Enjoy.


JORIE GRAHAM GUEST STARS ON SESAME STREET



C is for Cookie,

and [but] [there is more] [to say]

that's good [true][what is good?]
enough
for me. [hand on cookie] [absence]
[of cookie]

Cookie,
[inevitable]
Cookie,
[terrible][in its inevitability] [yes]
Cookie

starts with ________.