I haven’t been writing lately, but I saw this meme and had to do it…
This meme involves revealing how many literary “classics” you have read. The ones in bold are the ones I have read:
Beowulf
Achebe, Chinua — Things Fall Apart
Agee, James — A Death in the Family
Austen, Jane — Pride and Prejudice
Baldwin, James — Go [...]
(2 horses condemned to spend their lives underground in the mines)
… and both of them, whenever they met and snorted together, seemed to be grieving, the old one that he could no longer remember, the young one that he could not forget.
In the library, I found this book by Diane Schoemperlen. it is an elegy for the victims of 9/11. Written as a list of names and facts, obviously inspired by the O’brian short story, The things they carried. I’ve always been haunted by the image of people jumping from the towers, hand [...]
I’ve been reading Germinal for the thrid time in 12 years lately. I’ve really been enjoying it. This is the first time I’ve read it since I took that workshop in union organizing back in college, so I keep thinking about the things they taught us. How much of it was ingrained [...]
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I know when I’ve written something really good. I know because it sings. I know because I feel a little in love with it. Do you feel that way, too?
This does not happen as often as I’d like it to, but when [...]
For about a year now, I’ve been pondering over whether or not I should read Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. The other day, while perusing cookbooks at the ghetto library, I saw it and couldn’t resist. Now I know that I should go back and kick my former self for not picking [...]
Last night, I went to a poetry reading at Larry’s bar. The main reader for the night was fantabulous. I’ll edit this later to include her name.
I read there, too. I haven’t read in a long time. I love going to readings, but I know that at a reading [...]
I went thru a long period when I really did not like traditional forms of poetry. There are still some traditional poets that I dislike. Shakespeare, for instance, irks me to no end. And I really, really, really dislike Poe, too. I think that all Poe did for poetry was inspire [...]
Lately, I’ve been re-reading a favorite book of poetry: Li-Young Lee’s The City in Which I Love You. He is a really great poet, for all of you out there who don’t read a lot of poetry, his work is really accessable to prose readers. This is because he uses language in a [...]
I keep one in
my bedside table,
a little button to push
in case of emergencies,
or emergency.
I used it after that night
we were too drunk
and in the morning, I found
the condom inside me
while I was taking a shower,
and when I told you
to be more careful
that afternoon, you didn’t
ask what happened
and I didn’t tell you,
I just said
it could have [...]
