Happy Holidays!

Still in the doldrums - I can count the number of poems I've written in the past two months on one hand. Nothing seems to inspire these days. Even a writing assignment my Q&D buddies came up with hasn't sparked me yet. And tonight I missed our reading at The Daily Grind - Kathy got caught in a horrendous traffic jam, a combination of Friday rush hour and mall Christmas shoppers, and came home 45 minutes late, which obliged me to stay home with my youngest. On top of that, I've had this miserable sinus infection for almost two weeks. My ears are so clogged it's affecting my hearing. So poetry reading just wasn't in the cards tonight. At least I made it to our monthly critique session/Christmas party earlier in the week.

I did also get out to Media, PA earlier this month for the Mad Poets Review launch party. (A shout-out to editor Eileen d'Angelo, the sweetest workaholic I know.) They published my poem "March" (Q&D pals Anna and Rachel were in the issue too) and it's always a fine little soiree - got to see some poetry friends I haven't run into for a while, like Dan Maguire, Therese Halscheid, and Diane Guarnieri.

And back to my Q&D pals: Rachel Bunting has a new book coming out from Finishing Line Press called Ripe Again. And Anna Evans is about to finish her MFA at Bennington College. Way to go, ladies!

Music:
Despite the crowds and the hype, I do like this time of year. It's a bit of a downer this year, being the first without my late in-laws (my wife is particularly despondent), but I do get some joy out of the music of the season. Yeah, some of it is hackneyed and played to death, but some of it is quite lovely or fun. I try to find stuff that's a little off the mainstream. Here are some of my most recent discoveries, most of them new releases:

1. The Smithereens - Christmas with the Smithereens: The rockin'est Christmas album I've heard this year. They do some originals, but also cover the Ramones, the Who ("Christmas" from Tommy), the Beach Boys, and the Beatles (their rare fan-club song "Christmas Time Is Here Again").

2. Mindy Smith - My Christmas: she comes off as a barely-disguised Christian artist, but she has a lovely voice, sort of a cross between Emmylou Harris and Norah Jones. Very mellow alt-country fare, a fine mix of originals and standards.

3. Over the Rhine - Snow Angels: Another mellow winter-season album, not ostensibly "Christmas" but the all-original songs, sung by Karen Bergquist, definitely set the mood for a Yule log and some egg nog.

4. Steeleye Span - Winter: one of my favorite folk-rock bands of the 70's is still around, and Maddy Prior has returned to the fold. This may not rank with their best albums ever, but it has enough classic Span (rock guitar, fiddle, some lovely a cappella four-part harmony) to satisfy long-time fans like me, and folk-rock enthusiasts in general.

If you want to see my current Top 30 favorite Christmas CD's of all time, click here.


Poem of the... Month?

Yeah, it's been that long. How about something seasonal (recently workshopped and revised - thanks, Q&D's):

Solstice Fires

When we touch match to wick,
we light a long line, receding to the horizon,
past the Seven Principles, the birth of Jesus,
the perseverance of the Macabees,
through a haze of ages, brightened
by flames of tallow and oil, illuminating December
before it even had a name,

back to a primordial fire, wild and crackling,
that sent red stars into the black.
Our ancestors huddled close to stay warm
and keep the beasts away,
as they murmured incantations
into the darkness on this,
the longest night of the year.

Creative Doldrums/Year-End Music Review

It's been a while, but after Ireland everything seems anti-climactic, and there hasn't been a whole lot to say. I've been very lazy poetically lately, having written maybe four poems in the past month - inspiration is at a premium these days. Not much happening in the publishing world either, although Mad Poets Review has accepted "March" for publication in their issue due out in December. Still no word from Poetry magazine. Not too much of note in my poetry groups, either. The one group that meets at Barnes and Noble monthly is just about dead - the other night I went and the only attendees were the host and me. Pretty pathetic - I'm starting to wonder if poetry groups are becoming as passe as country line dancing. Oh well - I'm not going to stop writing just because poetry no longer seems as "hot" as it used to be.

Music: WXPN has started the voting period for the best-of-2007 list - this year they're doing not only the top 50 albums of the year, but the top 50 songs as well. Here are the top 10 I submitted for each category:

ALBUMS
1. Iron and Wine - The Shepherd's Dog (a creative departure but the best yet from this "band")
2. The Shins - Wincin' the Night Away (catchy, catchy pop)
3. Spoon - Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga (they just keep getting better - excellent power-pop not afraid to take chances)
4. Feist - The Reminder (several of the best pop tunes of the year in this album)
5. The Cat Empire - Two Shoes (mix of ska, rock, r&b, lots of fun - great live band)
6. New Pornographers - Challengers (maybe not their best album, but still really fine)
7. Bruce Springsteen - Magic (the E Street Band is back, and Bruce fans are rejoicing!)
8. Augie March - Moo, You Bloody Choir (excellent Australian band in the Coldplay vein)
9. Richard Thompson - Sweet Warrior (his best in several years, probably since Mock Tudor)
10. Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova - Once: Motion Picture Soundtrack
(fine duets from Frames leader and friend, from the endearing Irish indie film)

Honorable Mention:
Peter Bjorn and John – Writer’s Block
John Butler Trio – Grand National
Son Volt – The Search
Wilco – Sky Blue Sky
Arcade Fire – Neon Bible
Beirut – The Flying Club Cup
Joni Mitchell - Shine
Amy Winehouse – Back to Black
Radiohead – In Rainbows
Ryan Shaw – This Is Ryan Shaw

SONGS
1. "Dad's Gonna Kill Me" - Richard Thompson
2. "Boy with a Coin" - Iron and Wine
3. "Phamtom Limb" - The Shins
4. "My Moon My Man" - Feist
5. "No Cars Go" - The Arcade FIre
6. "Girls in Their Summer Clothes" - Bruce Springsteen
7. "Australia" - The Shins
8. "Sly" - The Cat Empire
9. "Frank and Ava" - Suzanne Vega
10. "When Your Mind's Made Up" - Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova

Honorable Mention:
"Night of the Iguana" - Joni Mitchell
"Don’t You Evah" – Spoon
"My Rights vs. Yours" - New Pornographers
"One Crowded Hour" - Augie March
"This Hand is a Mighty Hand" - Hoots and Hellmouth
"Don’t Make Me a Target" – Spoon
"Falling Slowly" – Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
"It Makes No Difference" - My Morning Jacket
"Gone Gone Gone" - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss
"The Picture" - Son Volt

Overrated album of the year: Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Raising Sand (not nearly the classic that many rave that it is - nice vocal pairing but little musical energy)

Most annoying song of the year: "Young Folks" by Peter, Bjorn and John (I really like the album, but for some reason this song got under my skin. Maybe it's the whistling, or the "twee" vocals, or maybe it's just that it was so overplayed.)

Poem of the Week:

Fat November

Today feels like a holiday –
the air, apple-crisp,
just chill enough for vigor,
under a blue superdome sky,

and trees in costume,
feathered like the Wild Tchoupitoulas –
brilliant reds, yellows, oranges.

It’s the Mardi Gras of Autumn,
a seasonal send-off,
Nature’s last indulgence,
with a bontemps of color.

Soon this parade will turn the corner
to white, brown and gray,
and Winter’s long, ascetic Lent.

Poisoned Minds

I was very disturbed by a news item I read today: the father of a young soldier killed in Iraq won a lawsuit against a fundamentalist Christian group whose mission appears to be to picket funerals of soldiers who have died in action. Seems they are of the belief that we are embroiled in a war in Iraq because of our tolerance for homosexuality. (Huh?) These hatemongers go to the funerals with T-shirts and signs that say, "God hates fags" and "Thank God for dead soldiers". What possesses these people?? It certainly isn't God. They are beneath contempt. I'm no fan of the Iraq War, but how dare they disrupt a somber and personal event like this to advance their own twisted agenda? The father was awarded $11 million, but he'll probably never see most of that money. At least it was a personal victory and a message to these lunatics, one would hope.

Music: One of the most buzz-worthy downloads these days is Radiohead's new album In Rainbows, which is being offered for free (or for whatever you wish to pay for it). It's legitimate and being offered by the band. Here's the link: www.inrainbows.com
Also, Paste Magazine, one of the best music and video review magazines out there, is offering almost-free one year subscriptions (for as little as $1.00, or whatever you wish to pay). Each issue also includes a CD sampler of new music, which is quite good, featuring mainly "adult alternative" stuff. Here is their link: www.pastemagazine.com
But hurry! These are available only for a limited time! (That sounds like a "special TV offer pitch, doesn't it?)
The Radiohead CD, by the way, is quite good - much less experimental than the previous few albums - more like a cross between OK Computer and Thom Yorke's recent solo album.

'Tis the season!

Top Ten List: Favorite Halloween Songs
1. Werewolves of London - Warren Zevon
2. Monster Mash - Bobby "Boris" Pickett
3. Thriller - Michael Jackson (worth it just to hear special guest Vincent Price say "yall's"!)
4. Bad Moon Rising - Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Tam Lin - Fairport Convention
6. Ghostbusters - Ray Parker Jr.
7. Zombie Jamboree - Rockapella
8. Theme from Halloween - John Carpenter (yes, it's a ripoff of Mike Oldfield's Tubular Bells [theme from The Exorcist] but I find it even creepier)
9. This Is Halloween - Danny Elfman (from Nightmare Before Christmas)
10. Wolf Like Me - TV on the Radio


Poetry: I missed the annual "Harvest of Poetry" book party for the Edison Literary Review - always a nice little fete, with tasty noshes and good poetry from the new issue, hosted by editor Gina Larkin. (It was the day after I returned from Ireland, and between jet-lag and obligations that piled up while I was away, I just couldn't make it. I've missed a depressingly large number of poetry events this year.) Anyway, it's another fine issue, and my poem "Magnetism" (see below) is featured in it. Still no word from Poetry magazine, or Mad Poets Review, though I know I didn't win anything in their annual contest - there's still a chance they'll publish one of my poems, though. I've been writing some poems about Ireland, particularly the natural wonders I saw there, like Ladies View, The Gap of Dunloe, and the Torc Waterfall.

Magnetism

It must have been second grade,
my first encounter with hands-on science,
the day Mr. James stood in front of our class
with a large white cardboard card
littered with hundreds of slivered black bits.

What are they? we wondered.
Ants? Beard trimmings? Chocolate sprinkles?
Then, suddenly they sprang to life,
standing on end like cat hairs,
dancing in waves, circles and arcs, swooping
over the cardboard like a blackbird flock.

These are iron filings, he told the wide-eyed audience;
They make patterns in a magnetic field.
He lifted the card and revealed the conductor
of this miniature ballet: a horseshoe magnet,
red with yellow tips. And I thought,

wouldn’t it be amazing if I could attract
everything I loved in such a way?
Candies, army men, comic books,
puppies, baseball cards, a new bike.
They would arch across a magnetized earth,
dancing right up to my fingertips.
It was much later, though, that I learned
that I would be the sliver, standing on end,
doing other magnets’ bidding.

Back from the Emerald Isle!

Ireland is fantastic! What a beautiful place - you can't swing a camera without finding a perfect scenic shot. We arrived on Saturday Oct. 13 at Killarney Country Club, a timeshare resort near Killarney in County Kerry (southwest Ireland). Our accommodations were comfortable, but there were few amenities and virtually no activities onsite. That was okay, though, because the wife and I intended this as a relaxing holiday for the two of us. Our cottage had a view of the nearby mountains out front and the rolling green hills out back. We went into Killarney, which borders on a huge national park, and explored both the town and the historic and natural sites of the park: St. Mary's Cathedral, Muckross House, Muckross Abbey, Torc Waterfall, Ross Castle, and Innnisfallen Abbey, just to name a few. We also took a bus tour out to the peninsula and the "Ring of Kerry" - splendid sights of the mountains, the Dingle Bay and the ocean, as well as some quaint towns along the way. We also took a day trip to Blarney Castle (my wife kissed the Blarney Stone). But some mornings we'd just sleep in - it was wonderful. (if you'd like to see some of our photos, click here.

Music: Got a good collection in Ireland called A Woman's Heart: Trilogy - it's a box set of three CD's from a series of Irish-based music by women artists like Mary Black, Sharon Shannon, Sinead O'Connor, Maura O'Connell, etc. Some of it gets a bit "poppy", but generally it's a nice series of anthologies - the singing is fine across the board, as are Shannon's instrumentals. It was somewhat of a bargain at 20 Euros.
Also got (from Lala.com) Strangers Alamanac by Whiskeytown, a 1997 release from the band fronted by Ryan Adams and featuring Caitlin Cary (this album also has guest artist Alejandro Escovedo). Really fine alt-country, some of the best I've heard in the genre.

WXPN finished their "885 Most Memorable Musical Moments". No big surprises (especially since the top 100 were pre-packaged, so to speak).
#1 - Woodstock
#2 - Beatles on Ed Sullivan
#3 - John Lennon shot

Poetry: Despite the wondrous landscapes of Ireland, I haven't been inspired to write more than one poem, and that's still a work in progress. I finally relented and sent Poetry magazine a followup letter about status of my submission. No response yet - I don't know what to make of their silence any more.

Poem of the Week: Since Halloween is coming, how about something fun? Here's a Halloween limerick:

A pumpkin from Kalamazoo,
wished to be Jack-O-Lantern, too,
but he looked like a squash,
so he got the ki-bosh,
now he's part of a vegetable stew!

Wait Till Next Year

Yes, my beloved Phillies came up short again this year. They managed to clinch the NL Eastern Division on the last day of the season, which was great. But they looked over-matched when they went to play the Colorado Rockies, who won the wild card slot in the playoffs, and who have been red-hot. The Phils' offense just seemed to go south, and the Rockies' pitching staff befuddled them. They scored more runs than any team in the NL this year, yet they only managed 8 runs in the entire three games. They were swept 3-0 in the best-of-five series. Oh well, there's always next year.

Looks like our trip to Ireland, which was in jeopardy not long ago, is back on, and just my wife and I are going - no kids! I can't wait - we leave Friday evening.

Poetry: I hosted the first reading of the season for Quick and Dirty Poets Friday night. The featured poet was Aaren Perry, a dynamic performance-oriented poet from the Philly area. I took his workshop at this year's Philadelphia Writers Conference, so I invited him to read for us. He was a big hit, and the evening in general had a really good vibe. We Q&D's read our works, which were well received (Rachel was absent), and even the open reading was quite good. I was a little put off by a guy who had come with Paul L. - his poetry was a vitriolic, profanity-laced rant against someone who'd done him wrong. I guess it was okay for the type of piece it was, but I'm glad no kids were in the audience. It was good to see Anna again too, after her surgery - she was lovely as always, but said she still gets tired easily.

My friend Lorraine has been trying to keep a weekly poetry prompt going with me. I was rather satisfied with my last effort, based on a poem by William Stafford about finding a dead deer in the road. Mine was about performing euthanasia on a suffering gerbil. Uplifting, eh?

Music: Two big purchases this past week:
(1) The next Bruce Springsteen album, Magic - folks are really raving about it, especially those who don't care much for his side trips away from the E Street Band. They consider this a return to form. I think it's excellent too, but I also think his last three albums were on a par with this one - I liked the rootsy departures of Devils and Dust and We Shall Overcome: The Seeger Sessions. Favorite tracks: "Radio Nowhere", "Girls in Their Summer Clothes".
(2) Iron and Wine: The Shepherd's Dog - Sam Beam, who is essentially Iron and Wine, seems to be coming out of his hyper-mellow shell and actually doing some passionate singing here. And the rhythmic changes and surprises in this album are brilliant. One song even approaches "rock n' roll". It's really excellent, and one of the best albums of the year.

Poem of the Week: How about this one, which was published in Sunken Lines last year, and was recently featured as Poem of the Day on Pathetic. org. I had a lot of fun writing this one:

Mr. Cliché Reflects on His Love Life

It was love at first sight,
as I bellied up to the bar
and said, “You come here often?”
She was built like a brick pagoda,
and after a few rounds on me,
we were chewing the fat.
Before I knew what hit me,
it was “Your place or mine?”
The rest is history.

It was a whirlwind romance,
a match made in heaven.
We were over the moon,
with stars in our eyes.
But then, it was crunch time,
bottom of the ninth,
time to fish or cut bait.
So I popped the question.

It was wedding bells for us,
we tied the knot, for better or worse.
And after that, “home sweet home”.
I joined the rat race
and she had a bun in the oven.
Then came our bundle of joy,
the patter of little feet,
rug rats in our humble abode.

But then, I got the seven-year itch,
and I fell off the wagon.
The shit hit the fan,
and in a New York minute,
she wrote a “Dear John” letter,
saying, “Sayonara, sucker,”
and “Hasta la vista, baby!
See you in court!”

I was between a rock and a hard place,
left high and dry, without a pot to piss in.
Well, that’s the way the ball bounces.
That’s the way the cookie crumbles.
C’est la vie.

It's That Time of the Year...

You won't see a lot of sports talk on this site, but I've always been a baseball fan in general and a Phillies fan in particular. A long-suffering Phillies fan, for about 45 years. Most of those years, they were mediocre at best and awful at worst. They had some glory days, too, like the late 70's and early 80's, the heyday of guys like Schmidt and Carlton, and they won their first and only World Series championship in 1980. They've gone to the big dance twice since then, in 1983 and 1993, but lost each time. The last time, Joe Carter of the Blue Jays won the series with a walk-off home run against Mitch "Wild Thing" Williams. I could've cried, and some fans probably did. In recent years, the Phillies have tormented us fans with several teams that have come oh-so-close to the playoffs only to miss out in the last week or so of the season. This year is another nail-biter, with the Phils surging of late while the division-leading Mets have been in free-fall. As I write, they are tied for first place in their division with the Mets, with three games left to play. If they can sweep the Nationals, they are pretty much guaranteed at least a wild card spot in the playoffs. Less than that, and it gets more complicated, though if they win at least two out three they have a shot. A lot depends on the Mets, too. So once again, they are about to either pleasantly surprise us with a come-from-behind finish, or let us down for yet another year.

My friend Lorraine wrote a French-form poem called a rondeau which she asked me to critique. That inspired me to write a rondeau for the long-suffering Phillies fan:


We Phillies Fans

We Phillies fans are used to loss,
World Series hopes so often tossed
like errors in the outfield green
or infield dirt – this flawed machine,
this rolling stone that gathers moss.

And yet it’s true some heroes crossed
the diamond – Carlton, Schmidt embossed
in Hall of Fame – the best we’ve seen,
we Phillies fans.

Too often by October frost
our chance of any title’s lost.
But then there’s ’80: Dallas Green
brought home the crown, and we could preen
and strut around like we were boss,
we Phillies fans.

More poetry news: for the second year in a row, my name is in The Poet's Market, the "bible" of any poet striving to be published. My name appears as a contributor in three journals (Baby Clam Press, Chantarelle's Notebook, and Sunken Lines), and my chapbook, Wire to the Heart, is cited in the listing of my publisher, Maverick Duck Press. It helps to have friends who are editors, LOL. I'm very flattered to be mentioned by them - thanks again, Kendall, Andrea and Paul!

Music: Not much to report - I did download two CD's by Beirut, a band that could best be described as "alternative gypsy" music. I'm not kidding. They have a distinctive Eastern-European sound, with mostly acoustic instruments the likes of fiddle, ukelele, accordion, bass drum, trumpets, hurdy-gurdy, etc. It's fascinating stuff. If you like big-sounding, melodramatic bands like Arcade Fire, the Decemberists, and even Sufjan Stevens' bigger productions, you may like these guys. Get either Gulag Orkestar or the EP Lon Gisland. Or like me, you can get both.

Top Ten List: Pop Songs about Baseball

1. Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen
2. Centerfield - John Fogerty
3. Mrs. Robinson - Simon and Garfunkel ("Where have you gone, Joe DiMaggio...")
4. Right Field - Peter, Paul and Mary
5. Did You Ever See Jackie Robinson Hit That Ball? - Count Basie
6. A Dying Cub Fan's Last Request - Steve Goodman
7. Catfish - Bob Dylan
8. Talkin' Baseball - Terry Cashman
9. Cheap Seats - Alabama
10. The Greatest - Kenny Rogers


Go Phillies!!!!

Going Green!

Well, I feel I'm doing my small bit for the environment: I just bought a hybrid vehicle, a "pre-owned" (they don't say "used" any more) 2006 Ford Escape, and so far I love it. It gets 31 mpg on the highway and 36 in the city - the reason for the better city mileage is that at lower speeds it kicks into electric-only mode. Very cool - this car does not "idle" in the traditional sense of the word, either. In fact, it feels like it shuts down when you come to a complete stop. That's got to be better emissions-wise. I'm eating my words though - I vowed several years ago I would never buy an SUV. But it's okay because this is a relatively small one and it's "green". If I had the option, I'd buy an all-electric car. (See the documentary Who Killed the Electric Car? for an eye-opening story of what happened recently to that short-lived market.)

In honor of that, my Music Top Ten this week is "Songs with an Environmental Theme":

1. Big Yellow Taxi - Joni Mitchell
2. If a Tree Falls - Bruce Cockburn
3. Pollution -Tom Lehrer
4. Blue Water - Poco
5. Nothing But Flowers - Talking Heads (a rather ironic spin on the topic)
6. To the Last Whale (Critical Mass/Wind on the Water) - Crosby and Nash
7. Whose Garden Is This? - Tom Paxton
8. World Party - World Party
9. It's a Different World Now - Rodney Crowell
10. Don't Kill the Whale - Yes

Thanks again to XPN "boardie" buddies for some of these suggestions.

Some of my recent CD discoveries:

A.C. Newman - The Slow Wonder: The driving force behind The New Pornographers put out this solo album about 3 years ago, and it's excellent power-pop. A number of tunes are as good as the best of NP, especially "The Town Halo" and "On the Table" - catchy, brilliant stuff.

Arcade Fire - Neon Bible: I'm still warming up to this one, but it's got at least one thing going for it: "No Cars Go" is one of the best damn songs of the year.

Matt Pond PA - The Green Fury: These guys are becoming one of my favorite "new" bands. Sound a bit like the Shins but a little mellower. This 2002 release has been my entry point to their full-length catalog.


Poetry: Here's one I wrote about visiting my poet friend James Byrne (editor of The Wolf) in London in 2005. It was nominated for a "Best of the Net" award by Sunken Lines:

Down from Hampstead

(for J.B.)

At the top of the climb
the Spaniard’s is closed,
so we hike to another café

for screw-top Rothschild
and a sandwich of rocket and egg,
then out to the overlook –

the city laid out like our oyster
(and I with my card) –
before we descend to the town,

muck of the Heath still on our shoes.
(Mine, camouflage brown; yours red –
do the angels still want to wear them?)

We accost bookshops and barkeeps,
clink cheers with a pint or two, or more,
and carry on to our true destination,

a cramped and smoky club
packed with fellow travelers
guilty of poetry,

cleaning the muck
from their own psychic shoes,
with a stiff brush of language.

After words, another pint
chased by last orders,
the night thus rolled in.

Trading valedictions,
we carry good books and thoughts back
to our own little nooks of the world.