REMINDER: Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, and Eileen Elliott read in California

Just a quick reminder that Vancouver poets Toni Partington, Eileen Elliott, and yours truly will be giving three readings in California in the next few days. Please forward the following announcements to your friends in California: Saturday August 29, 2009: The 1st Annual Shelldance Poetry, Music & Art Festival. Featuring Rockpile: David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion and the Rabbles. Also Featured: Leah Lubin, Terry Adams, Natascha Bruckner, Camincha, Andrew Mayer, Nancy Cavers-Doughtery, Mark Eckert, Mary Hower, Jym Marks, Erica Goss, Jennifer Barone, Eileen Elliot, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, David Madgalene and Judy Irwin. Music by Bassist Steve Shain. MC's: David Madgalene and Christopher Luna. Visual art by Leah Lubin, Anna Teeples, and Uma Rani Iyli. Free & open to the public. 3 pm until 9 pm. Shelldance Orchid Gardens, 2000 Highway 1, Pacifica, CA 94044. (650) 355-4845. www.shelldance.com Sunday, August 30, 2009. Arts Sonoma ’09 presents Audio-Graffiti: Poetry on, under and around the Bridge. Featuring Sonoma County Poet Laureate Mike Tuggle, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, Eileen Elliot, judi goldberg, Dixie Lewis, David Beckman, Nancy Cavers-Doughtery, Andrew Mayer, Mark Eckert, and MC David Madgalene. 4 pm. Guerneville Plaza. Free and open to the public. 707-836-9586. madgalen@sonic.net. PHILIP HACKETT PRESENTS AT THE POET’S GALLERY Christopher Luna & Toni Partington and Eileen Elliot Leading Portland-Area Poets In Their San Francisco Debut! Also featuring David Madgalene Tom Mariani and Music by Judy Irwin and Others To Be Named!?!?! including Maybe You, too (if you show up) !!!!! 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM, Monday, August 31, 2009 Café Greco, 423 Columbus Avenue, San Francisco Philip Hackett Presents at The Poet’s Gallery P. O. Box 330168 SF CA 94133-0168 hackett.philip at gmail.com I would like to thank David Madgalene for all that he has done to make these readings happen. David is a true friend and a great writer. David, Toni, and I would also like to thank Michael Rothenberg for his kind words regarding the community building work we have been doing in the following article from the Pacifica Tribune: http://www.mercurynews.com/pacifica-entertainment/ci_13202015. Thanks for your help spreading the word. Hope to see some of you at these events!

Radio Tribute to David Bromige

TRIBUTE SHOW to DAVID BROMIGE August 26, 2009 7:00 p.m. Katherine Hastings presents a one-hour tribute to the late poet David Bromige. The author of dozens of books and the recipient of many literary honors, David Bromige was also a former Poet Laureate of Sonoma County, a professor at Sonoma State University, and a mentor to many. His experimental style and sharp wit translated to a large collection of work so varied that the poems could easily be mistaken as the work of many. Born in London in 1933, Bromige died in Sebastopol in June of this year. Participating in tonight's program will be his wife, Cecelia Belle, their daughter, Margaret, and others. Recordings of Bromige reading his work will also be featured. To listen to the program: 1) Tune in to KRCB 91.1 FM 2) Stream live at www.krcb/org 3) iTunes: Go to Radio/Public/KRCB 4) Comcast Cable TV, Santa Rosa, Channel 961

Ghost Town, USA/ The People on the Bus June/July 2009

GHOST TOWN, USA June 2009

June 1

as if to announce the desperately anticipated summer heat several pairs of teenagers— one boy, one girl— emerge from behind bushes, fences, and rock walls on Evergreen Blvd. the gleam of sweat on their nubile skin beading up like the smile of a long-lost friend or the blush of first love naked in spite of itself

6/2

Jake and Angelo play video games: Jake: “What? That’s the Massive Entity?” Angelo: “Don’t judge him by his size.”

6/9

Goldie is walking her way to health: wakes early, slips on shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt clicks on her music and heads out Goldie could be in better shape but she’s not fat: she’s top heavy out of proportion giant breasts thick torso stick-thin legs tries to time her walk down 13th so that every morning she makes it to E. Reserve at exactly the same moment that the men are leaping from the garbage truck to land at her feet Goldie surveys Vancouver from behind big, dark sunglasses: through those shades she sees all…. Clark College men’s room graffiti: don’t let me stop you from doing what you want to do

6/10

Leah Jackson lovely art maven of Main Street arrives at the gallery on a beaming yellow Schwinn equipped with basket and bookholder pushes it toward me, smiling: “I want my bard to have a bicycle.”

Walking home from Harney Elementary, just outside the Igloo

“Ice cream, NIGGUH!”

6/12

Even the low riders in the ‘Couve are lame: moments into my inaugural bike ride a black low-rider pickup scrapes its way down Main Street draggin’ its low-rent ass on the asphalt: truly embarrassing

The People on the Bus

# 37 Eastbound June 17, 2009

“When I got pregnant, my friend said he was never gonna allow himself to get himself into that situation, so I’m gonna laugh at him. My old friends from high school, one of ‘em’s a transvestite, another of ‘em is in Montana with her new girlfriend, ignoring her husband and their two kids.”

37 Westbound 8:42 am 6/30

Dorothy Mary Collier of Ireland, who has been in the US since she was four has a captive audience in a gentleman on his way to Worksource to find a job: “I just bought an electric globe, you know, a globe that runs on electricity, and I think I saw Sri Lanka on the globe.”

The People on the Bus July 2009

# 4 Westbound July 6

“He’s got one with me, one with Paulie, and two with this white girl.”

GHOST TOWN, USA July 2009

7/6

Man to woman As they cross Fort Vancouver Way heading toward Clark College: “All they do is gossip in that place, they’re a bunch of losers. You’re a smart woman, you should be able to let that go.”

The People on the Bus

7/7

As I get on the 32 headed West the driver is discussing his military service with a passenger in the front seat whose long legs jut out in front of the stairs. The passenger is an older African American wearing a black leather baseball cap, a black and grey winter coat black pants, black suede shoes sitting next to a backpack with a Minnie Mouse key chain. Driver: “Korea.” Passenger: “Yeah.”

“I was drafted as well, but I kind of knew I couldn’t get out of it, not like Vietnam. Couldn’t go to Canada.” The passenger begins talking about Charlie, 35 years old, whom he has raised since the age of two. “Charlie’s a good, sweet kid, and I don’t mind takin’ him to dinner.”

“When I met him I perceived him to have a good heart.”

“He’s a happy-go-lucky kid. Smart.”

“How many do you have?”

“Four. All boys. Yeah, they get along with their mother alright, but they give me trouble. . . . Took all my guns. All my watches.”

“Substance abuse?”

“Didn’t wanna work. My oldest granddaughter, she’s a good kid. She’s an A student. She’s totally different from her Dad. He acted like she didn’t exist. . . . You can’t dabble with the devil. My mother had a problem with alcohol. I had other problems. I didn’t need that.” He explains to the bus driver that he himself never smoked or drank. Soon thereafter, he changes the subject. “I got up this morning tryin’ to get the news. The entire news been capitalized by Michael Jackson’s passing. Sometimes they can get shady. They shady all the time.”

# 4 Fourth Plain Eastbound 7/7

“She’s a Goodwill collector. She has a place out in Ridgefield. She has five couches in the house. And she borrows stuff. . . . She works at Safeway, but it’s not enough. It started out she was gonna pay half the rent, but I got a $300 check, one time. There’s always something she needs to do, like take her three kids to the beach. . . . I’m 76. I’m still here. I’m in a 10x12 bedroom in the house. I’ve got three dogs. She’s got three cats, and they climb up on my face like this. My son lives in the basement. Doesn’t work. I’m setting up a 9x13 tent with netting in the back.”

outside McDonald’s waiting for the # 4 Westbound

“We’re goin’ up here. You ain’t getting’ me locked up on a court order. I got strict orders!”

waiting for the # 30 Broadway and 13th 7/9

“I got half a foot, man. . . . Should be here any minute.”

GHOST TOWN, USA

7/12

CHURCH OF THE GOOD SHEPHERD GOD DOES NOT TAKE THE SUMMER OFF

The People on the Bus

# 25 downtown 7/15

“This bitch was just sittin’ here on the bus just starin’ at me and I said, ‘Do I know you? Bitch, look the other way. Do you know me?’”

GHOST TOWN, USA

7/21

Ego Confession (directed by Lucio Fulci) overcome by a mass of contradictions which swarm over the brain like feasting maggots enveloped in a living sea no escape no redemption no way to undo what has been done erase your transgressions and start fresh no way to see past the larva swimming in your eyes

The People on the Bus

# 32 Eastbound 7/22

“Guys on the bus are always askin’ my name, and I just give them a fake name and a fake number.”

GHOST TOWN, USA

Foster Hall Lounge Clark College July 29, 2009

Student on cell phone: “No, I’ve been to, like, so many places. Oh, you’re getting ready to go back on shift or something. I’m just doing work study and school. I know. True. ‘Cause you have no idea how many applications I’ve put in. What? Yeah. Depending on where you go, depending on how you dress. Do you know how many trade schools there are in Portland? No, trade schools. OK, thank you. I don’t know. I know what it is, it’s like where they teach you. You learn by actually doing it. I just know. Why? Why? It’s a nice job, though. Yes it is. I know. I know. I know. What? Wha’d you say? What are you doing? You’re weird.”

7/31

A gentleman in his 60s and a guy in his 30s discuss their disdain for the media over lunch at Christine’s: “For me, that’s what I do. Unless I was locked in a 6x6 cell, with nothing else to do. . . . That’s why the newspapers are goin’ out of business, ‘cause we don’t need ‘em anymore, for information.”

Amtrak Station Vancouver, WA 7/31

Businessman brown pants striped tie shades talks on his cell phone as he waits for the 3:05 Cascades: “I don’t think I could have a more eventful week. So it’ll be bad, but . . . back in the saddle. I’m tired. I might just stay home, and not do anything. . . . They traded. . . . Telephone feature. . . .”

FADE OUT DISSOLVE NORTHWARD

Christopher Luna

Vancouver, WA

DOTS, a new poem by Neeli Cherkovski

Thanks to Neeli Cherkovski for emailing his latest, posted below with his permission: DOTS 1 leaves on the upper branches trope backwards, and trip the afternoon into a tremor, tremendous waves weave through us, we yearn for a frenzied silence, the neighborhood hummingbirds will arrive anytime now, it began in a dot, you know? the dog is neither gold or a diamond, it is something you cannot conceive of, it is just a dot, not a dot in time, it doesn’t come at the end of a document, it is your smart and your stupid, and not even that, it is not cold or hot, not right or wrong, it is waiting for us at the end, meanwhile dinner is ready, the car is parked and the bees are in paradise, all is working as it should be, except, of course, for the sucking motion of a black hole and the ever-collapsing universe, it is, to say the least, a bewildering montage the fact is that journalism is dead, poetry is an academic game, love is a contract, war is a necessity the leaves rustle, the leaves roar, shadows of the high branch snag a magnificent plumed bird, no one takes notice, I am left to witness the scene 2 sweet panther, you unbuckled your belt and slid out of your Levies, you tasted the golden dot I offered, it melted on your tongue, you were sleek and handsome until one day I found you in a local coffee house with a vacancy in your eyes you know me, and you had been so hopeful, you were trying to give up hustling on the streets, I used to suck your fingers and caress your thighs and make you moan, you said man you know you know but what was it? 3 a dot or a smudge, a pit or a deep place that takes all matter in hand and flushes it a black hole is a toilet and we are vain beyond belief we are vain and we are animals 4 up on Cold Mountain they compose with a rhythmic wisdom that widens our grief, the snow is deep and we travel within, the snow is deeper within, it is colder than on Cold Mountain, it gets so that we find it difficult to move, and then we burn like a fragile twig in a roaring fire NC

New Book by Jeremy Gaulke available from The Temple Inc.

What the Master Does Not Speak Of – Poems and Drawings by Jeremy Gaulke Available at www.thetemplebookstore.com - the Temple Inc. - $10.00 Few poets of any age focus on their subject matter as intently as Jeremy Gaulke. Subject matter as fuel that is consumed in the propulsion phase of the art leaves little residue. So it is with the poems in What the Master Does Not Speak Of, the long awaited author’s second book, and only by the widest stretch, a sequel to his earlier acclaimed The Ghost of Harrison Sheets. What is consistent in the development of his art is Gaulke’s eschewing any need to rehash material already developed, rendered, and passed beyond. In one way it resembles jazz beyond the noodle, when the musician/poet hits the incipient stride inherent in the improv and creates a passage or passages unrepeatable. Little need to copyright this; no one could repeat it anyway. And that is the beauty of the creative act, the originality in both rooting out the uncomfortable subjects and handling them as if they could be radioactive, and leaving something durable in their place. Between these books, Jeremy Gaulke also published a remarkable broadside, “In the Garden” which shows a more domestic side, a would-be family man, on his hands and knees in the good earth. What the Master Does Not Speak Of can hardly be described as “domestic” poetry, other than the fact that it takes place on the planet earth, in that strange hardly-anyman’s-land between adolescence and adulthood. Gaulke navigates it as if he were going somewhere. When you take this recommended trip with him, be open to the change(s) that can come over you. Charles Potts Walla Walla, Washington August 1, 2009 Charles Potts capotts@thetemplebookstore.com The Temple Bookstore.com PO Box 1773 Walla Walla, WA 99362

POETRY E-NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2009

Poets and lovers of poetry: I want to begin by thanking Roy Seitz for planning and executing one the finest readings I’ve ever done way up there in Index. It was like reading my poetry in paradise (Index is surrounded by mountains, rocks, and trees, and the Skykomish River runs right through town) and I was fortunate to share the bill with some of my favorite NW poets. Please consider attending the index Arts Festival next year. You won’t regret it. I would also like to thank poets Jeff Lair and Robinson Bolkum for their help with transportation and lodging for the event. It has been an honor to be one of the regular columnists for Sage Cohen’s “Writing the Life Poetic E-Zine.” My first two columns were entitled “The Poetics of Community: The Importance of Gathering with Likeminded People” and “Poetic Lineage and the Saturation Job.” If you’d like to read the two issues that have been released so far, go to: Writing the Life Poetic E-Zine May 2009: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs010/1100476723030/archive/1102584554109.html Writing the Life Poetic E-Zine Summer 2009: http://archive.constantcontact.com/fs010/1100476723030/archive/1102646874958.html At the end of the month, Toni and I will be traveling to California for our annual rendezvous with my Kerouac School partner-in-crime David Madgalene, who has once again put together a couple of fantastic gigs for us. Please forward the following two events to your friends in California: Saturday August 29, 2009: The 1st Annual Shelldance Poetry, Music & Art Festival. Featuring Rockpile: David Meltzer, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion and the Rabbles. Also Featured: Leah Lubin, Terry Adams, Natascha Bruckner, Camincha, Andrew Mayer, Nancy Cavers-Doughtery, Mark Eckert, Mary Hower, Jym Marks, Erica Goss, Jennifer Barone, Eileen Elliot, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, David Madgalene and Judy Irwin. Music by Bassist Steve Shain. MC's: David Madgalene and Christopher Luna. Visual art by Leah Lubin, Anna Teeples, and Uma Rani Iyli. Free & open to the public. 3 pm until 9 pm. Shelldance Orchid Gardens, 2000 Highway 1, Pacifica, CA 94044. (650) 355-4845. www.shelldance.com Sunday, August 30, 2009. Arts Sonoma ’09 presents Audio-Graffiti: Poetry on, under and around the Bridge. Featuring Sonoma County Poet Laureate Mike Tuggle, Michael Rothenberg, Terri Carrion, Christopher Luna, Toni Partington, Eileen Elliot, judi goldberg, Dixie Lewis, David Beckman, Nancy Cavers-Doughtery, Andrew Mayer, Mark Eckert, and MC David Madgalene. 4 pm. Guerneville Plaza. Free and open to the public. 836-9586. madgalen@sonic.net. via David Madgalene on behalf of Arts Sonoma ‘09 Finally, don’t forget to join us for Open Mic Poetry hosted by Christopher Luna 7:00pm Thursday, August 13, 2009 & every second Thursday Cover to Cover Books 1817 Main Street, Vancouver, WA McLoughlin Blvd. & Main Street “always all ages and uncensored” For more info call 514-0358 or 910-1066 With our featured reader, Jim Martin: A regular attendee of the open mic reading series since its inception in 2004, Jim Martin is a retired biologist and teacher who fills his time with writing, photography, and family. Jim will be reading from his chapbook entitled Riparian Journey. Fall. The creek turns chilly, Tippy's fur grows to a thick mat; the Moon enchants And my thoughts turn to you; just here, on the bank, so long ago The same chill air that disclosed your breathing, and drew our bodies close, carries your scent back to me now, and you're here. We touch, talk quietly, then, like the wisps of my breath, dissolve and leave me here, alone, remembering Jim Martin POETRY E-NEWSLETTER AUGUST 2009 TABLE OF CONTENTS Geezer Gallery benefit poetry reading at 100th Monkey Studio (Portland) August 7 First Fruits Poetry Reading (Tacoma, WA) August 8 St. Johns Market Day Poetry Series (Curated by Dan Raphael) Schedule for August Brittany Baldwin and Casey Bush at B&N Vancouver August 12 Oregon Writers Colony Calendar Featuring NW Authors Now Available Spare Room Collective readings for August Pamela Crow, Sophia Tree and Steve Williams at B&N Lloyd Center August 19 ROCKPILE TOUR/Big Bridge announcements from Michael Rothenberg Register early for Paulann Petersen’s workshop October 24-25 SUBMISSION CALLS (most with September deadlines, so act fast) Make ‘em sweat, Christopher 1. On Friday, August 7 from 6-9 PM, local poets Robert Davies, Joan Maiers, Dennis McBride, David Oates, Leah Stenson and guitarist Casey Killingsworth will perform at the 100th Monkey Studio, 110 SE 16th&Ankeny in Portland, OR. This event is a benefit for the Geezer Gallery. Contact: http://www.the100thmonkeystudio.com 2. First Fruits, An Agape poetry Event takes place August 8, 2009 5:00 p.m to 7:00 p.m. at Urban Grace, 9th and Market, Tacoma. Tickets $5.00 in advance, $7.00 at the door. To benefit the Agape Foundation. More informaiton: 253.272.2184 3. Dan Raphael has done it again. The maestro has put together a great series that runs during the St. Johns neighborhood Saturday Market. Heads up: I will be featured on September 12, along with Eileen Elliott, whose amazing new book, “Prodigal cowgirl” has just been released. Come out and support these great events: From Dan Raphael August got off to a rollicking start with Melissa Sillitoe, Rick J and Sara Kohler. The variety, verve and eloquence will continue thorughout the month every SATURDAY at NOON St. Johns Booksellers 8622 N Lombard POETS 8/8 Laura Feldman (librarian, peace corps vet, bike and beer advocate) and Gale Czerski (public eye, "occupies a pivotal position in the lost-and-found department of the Big Bang") 8/15 Tommy Gaffney (reading host, malt advocate, basket-ball hustler and manager), Astrid (aka Jenna Alexia-- struggling artist, bon vivant and occasional shadow), and Ric Vrana 8/22 Casey Bush (senior editor, compliance officer, tennis bum and fungus hunter), Nancy Flynn (award winning writer, blogger and former administrator), and Patrick Bocarde (engineer, cultural critic and music industry slave) 8/29 (featuring people NOT FROM PORTLAND) margareta waterman (editor, fiction writer, harpist, dancer) Ezra Mark (comics editor, event coordinator, language dissector) Joseph Federico (commujnity activist , forager wildlife magician) & Brian Cuteani (troubador and traveller) The reading's free, Nena runs a fine bookstore, the St Johns Farmers Market (9-1) is 1/2 a block away and the sidewalks full with energized people. 4. From Shawn Sorensen: POETRY GROUP FEATURES DOUBLE HEADER: All are invited to our 2nd Wednesdays Poetry Group, which on Aug. 12th at 7 pm will host local favorites Casey Bush and Brittany Baldwin. This event at Barnes & Noble Vancouver always features free treats, almost 1,000 poetry titles to choose from and a popular open mic. Join us! Barnes & Noble Vancouver: 7700 NE Fourth Plain Blvd., 98662. Hosted by Shawn Sorensen, who can be emailed at: crm2679@bn.com NORTHWEST AUTHORS BARE ALL FOR THE SAKE OF A GOOD CAUSE: Get to know 12 popular authors a whole lot better and support the renovation of one of the jewels of the northwest writing community: the Oregon Writers Colony "Colonyhouse" at Rockaway Beach. The Oregon Writers Colony 2010 Calendar features the following scantily-clad authors in lovely, tasteful and creative poses: Mark Acito, Larry Brooks, Peter Carlin, Sage Cohen, Elizabeth Lyon, Robert Dugoni, Cai Emmons, Julie Fast, Shanna Germain, Steve Perry, Jennie Shortridge and Daniel Wilson. The calendar makes a phenomenal gift and serves as a fundraiser that will help make the Colonyhouse accessible for the disabled and larger for everyone as it provides a hot spot for writing retreats, workshops, or simply a gorgeous, peaceful place to get a lot of writing done. Calendars can be purchased at the upcoming Willamette Writers annual conference or through our informational website: http://www.colonyhouseaccesscampaign.org/ Thank you thank you! Enthusiastically, Shawn 5. From Spare Room Collective via David Abel: Spare Room presents Crag Hill Douglas Rothschild Saturday, August 15 Please join us for a house reading and potluck in SE Portland, hosted by Jennifer Coleman and Allison Cobb: 213 SE 26th 2:00 pm gathering and potluck 3:00 pm reading www.flim.com/spareroom spareroom@flim.com ============================================= Upcoming Readings August 16: Graham Foust & Eric Baus September 20: Joe Massey & Joel Felix October 25: Peter O'Leary & Michael Autrey ============================================= During the anemic Carter administration, Crag Hill kicked the "i" out of his first name. Continuing to be underwhelmed by his elected leaders, he threatens to kick out the last vowel, too soft, too soft, he says. Until recently he edited SCORE, one of the few journals dedicated exclusively to concrete/visual poetry. His creative and critical works in progress can be found at http://scorecard.typepad.com. He teaches future teachers of English at Washington State University. New York poet Douglas Rothschild's book Theogeny is out this year from Subpress Books. Says poet Anselm Berrigan: “This is a book of tremendous clarity, and I'm grateful for its existence.” Pierre Joris has called it “My favorite book of poems for 2009 so far […] and a long time a-coming.” Douglas Rothschild's life has been one long miasma of failure, disappointment, coffee, & overarching desire. Though he has not yet accomplished anything of note, Mr. Rothschild intends to continue on for some time yet. ============================================= from Four'sCore Hear distant shouts, the indefensible cries of a shipwreck. The arguments twisted her arm. She fought him off. I think that one shouted in silence again, lifted her off the air for an instant with her pathology or developmental space. The bad news brought mountains. One part of him grew directly contrary to observations. He imagined himself (it was all he could afford). Crag Hill Beantown News Take your attitude & put it in your big car & get it off my street. This here yellow curb, ain't a parking spot, & it ain't your prsonalized economic entitlement zone. Douglas Rothschild Spare Room presents Eric Baus Graham Foust Sunday, August 16 7:30 pm Concordia Coffee House 2909 NE Alberta $5.00 suggested donation www.flim.com/spareroom spareroom@flim.com ============================================= Eric Baus is the author of The To Sound (Wave Books) and Tuned Droves (Octopus Books). He edits Minus House chapbooks and writes about poetry audio recordings on the site To The Sound. He lives in Denver. Graham Foust lives in Oakland and works at Saint Mary's College of California. His fourth book, A Mouth in California, will be published by Flood Editions in September. ============================================= Votive Scores If eels lie vertically inside the statue or old bees coat its surface, a needle will point to the center of my hide. Owls murmured up a piece of green cloth. Hard ash topped me. The birds it entailed peopled the treetops, stripped me of my coos. Un-tuned doves flew elsewhere, worried their drones would shrink inside my ears. A second split occurred when its eyes bloomed red. Votive scores pushed open the view. Here, the street was both omen and throat. The swarming sky sparrowed until day withered, until the statue punched out of its skin. He was wearing his own arms. His house showed. Ants formed and he scorched their trails. Sing rendered, he trilled, Sing posed. Eric Baus To the Writer Another cloud spun to nothing, one of nature’s more manageable kills. Another borderline-meaningless morning save for everything. You claim you kissed a certain picture with such patience you became it. So who hasn’t? You’re of one long weary trouble; you wear your hard mind on your hand. Thus, your dumb touch, your clunky fuss, your little millions. Your stomach newly stuffed with amputations. Quiet and furious dots of distant rooms -- rooms, I would add, through which you’ll never move or sleep -- begin to mean. In one of them, humor, collapsed in a painful curl, an odd head at the back of its throat. It’s what’s to bleed about. Graham Foust 6. From Sage Cohen: Wednesday, August 19, 7:00 p.m. Presenting Pamela Crow, Sophia Tree and Steve Williams Barnes & Noble 1317 Lloyd Center // Gift section Portland, OR 97232 503-249-0800 Pam Crow lives in Portland, Oregon, where she works as a clinical social worker and helps to raise two children. She is member of the Black Boughs Poetry Group and the recipient of the 1996 National Astraea Award for Emerging Lesbian Writers. Pam Crow's poems have been anthologized in The Bedford Introduction to Literature, Of Frogs and Toads, and A Walk Through My Garden, and have appeared in numerous national journals. Her first book, Inside This House, was published in September 2007. Sophie Tree is a Portland-based mother of three who has been writing "under cover" for nearly 20 years on the East Coast while noonlighting as an academic, attorney, entrepreneur, nonprofit director and consultant. She has recently founded Village Media, a multimedia network for parents providing information and authentic connection based on the adage "It takes a village to raise the children." Sophie published her first chapbook, Nineteen Pulses, this past June. Steve Williams lives and works in Portland with a lovely woman who writes and edits much better than he but refuses to admit it. 7. Dear Big Bridge Readers, Please check out the new ROCKPILE Website & Blog at Big Bridge, www.bigbridge.org/rockpile/ ROCKPILE is a collaboration between David Meltzer — poet, musician, essayist, and more — and Michael Rothenberg of Big Bridge Press. David and Michael will journey through eight cities in the U.S. to perform poetry and prose, composed while on the road, with local musicians and artists in each city. ROCKPILE will serve to educate and preserve as well as to create a history of collaboration. It will help to reinforce the tradition of the troubadour of all generations, central to the cultural upheaval and identity politics that reawakened poets, artists, musicians, and songwriters in the mid-1960s through the 1970s. The project will end with a final multimedia performance celebration in San Francisco. The ROCKPILE Website & Blog will tell you all you need to know about the ROCKPILE project including performance dates, venues, artist bios and performance clips of some of the musicians we will be meeting and performing with in each of the cities. Once we hit the road, we will be posting travel photos, journal entries, performance videos, interviews and more, daily, on the ROCKPILE Blog, so log on and join us as we travel around the country. Write us, comment on the blog, and let us know you are with us, let us know you care! And of course, we hope to see you on the road! Best, Michael Rothenberg, David Meltzer, Terri Carrion & Ziggy. ROCKPILE www.bigbridge.org/rockpile/ Made possible by a grant from the Creative Work Fund, a program of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, also supported by generous grants from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation, and support from the Committee on Poetry. Part 1 of this year’s Big Bridge is now online! http://www.bigbridge.org/ As usual, it includes balanced presentations of arts and genres, aesthetic approaches and socio-political statements, compact anthologies and stand-alone works. The issue opens with a collection of essays and examples of Slow Poetry, one of the leading contenders for the first major shift in 21st century art. Not a movement, but rather a means of approaching, rethinking, and appreciating virtually all modes and genres. A measure of the importance of this feature is that its URL got passed around before the issue officially went online. It thus officially appears after being mentioned in blogs, and even satirized by another group. In one way or another, we hope our features tend to be similarly ahead of the curve - at times going so far as to generate response before official publication. We do, however, try to present work that keeps response from distorting our environment, as we try to reclaim poetry from preconception. This issue’s anthology of poetry and fiction from South Africa, for instance, makes no attempt to fill in news stories or confirm simplifications of huge problems and unusual successes, but present a glimpse of the diversity of a complex nation’s poetry and the individuality of its writers. Standard features such as the continuing group statements in War Papers and another in the series of paintings by Jim Spitzer, judicious essays and terse reviews, short fiction and a suggestive sample of current little magazines published on paper in the digital age continue the scope of the magazine. A simplified table of contents appears below. This issue differs from its predecessors in several ways. It intersects with the ROCKPILE program of transcontinental readings lead by David Meltzer and Michael Rothenberg and including local participants. It also appears several months before the omnibus New Orleans anthology, which, in itself, is larger than everything else in the issue. Later this year, we will also add a compact, bi-lingual Anthology of Venezuelan Women poets, another tri-lingual Anthology of Galician writers and a few small contributions. We feel that dividing the issue up this way keeps the New Orleans feature from throwing the issue off balance and giving our readers some breathing room. Opening ROCKPILE at this time also gives us a chance to test the interaction of an annual magazine with an on-going project. Although we are adamant partisans in some areas, such as opposition to senseless wars in places the U.S. does not understand and where it does not belong, and in celebration of the history and resurrection of one of America’s greatest cities, we hope to maintain enough diversity to present some work that will appeal to nearly anyone who looks for progressive poetry on the web, and perhaps promote interchange between people with different ideas and orientations. At a time when economic crisis brings out the perennial name for boondoggles, we’d like to move as far away from being a bridge to nowhere as we can but rather see how close we can come to being a big bridge that can act as a focal point for the cyberbridges that lead everywhere. CHAPBOOK A Time in Fragments Poem by Clark Coolidge; Drawings by Nancy Victoria Davis FEATURES, 1 Slow Poetry Edited by Dale Smith Beauty Came Groveling Forward: Selected South African Poems and Stories edited by Gary Cummiskey All This Strangeness: A Garland for George Oppen Edited by Eric Hoffman Sephardic Proverbs Collected and translated by Michael Castro Post-Beat Anthology Reprint from the Chinese anthology, with brief intro Edited by Vernon Frazer as per Le Roman de la Rose, for example: An Anthology of Middle East Genocide Edited by Arpine Konyalian Grenier Charles Olson and the Nature of Destructive Humanism by Craig Stormont One Man Blues: Remembering Thomas Chapin Reminiscense by Vernon Frazer Excerpt from Autobiography by David Bromige The India Journals by John Brandi Genius and Heroin: by Michael Largo WAR PAPERS (3) Poems and essays against war. FEATURES, 2 - ONGOING: ROCKPILE ROCKPILE is a collaboration between David Meltzer - poet, musician, essayist, and more - and Michael Rothenberg, poet, songwriter and editor of Big Bridge Press. In the tradition of the troubadour and with the spirit of collaboration, David and Michael will journey through eight U.S. cities and perform poetry, composed on the road, with local musicians and artists in each city. ROCKPILE will serve to educate, and preserve and create a history of collaboration and help to introduce as well as reinforce the tradition of the troubadour for all generations. The project will end with a final multimedia performance in San Francisco. Check out the ROCKPILE Website and Blog at http://bigbridge.org/rockpile/ for complete gig dates, musician bios, on the road calendar, and ongoing interactive exchange! ART Enigmas paintings by Jim Spitzer The Kingdom of Madison: Photographs from Madison County, North Carolina by Rob Amberg These Are My Angels Paintings by Tasha Robbins Lectura en Transito Project Created and Directed by Carmen Gloria Berrios Set based on combination of public art and poetry from Santiago de Chile Animal Night Photography by Felicia Murray; notes by Louise Landes Levi 12 Collages by John Brandi FICTION And REVIEWS LITTLE MAGS Plastic Ocean, Green Dragon and Untamed Ink http://www.bigbridge.org 8. From: Paulann Petersen I’m teaching a generative workshop the weekend of October 24-25 at the Attic in southeast Portland. Please take a look if you’re interested: http://atticwritersworkshop.com/workshop/fall-class-weekend-poetry-workshop Craft Workshop: Free Fall: A Generative Workshop in Poetry (October 24-25) Free Fall Join me in a weekend devoted to generating new poems. In our two days together, we’ll let our pens romp, run, flurry & sally. Using innovative springboards that include noted poems, we’ll make a sustained plummet, a delicious plunge into language. My intent is to have each participant leave the workshop carrying both a notebook brimming with new work & ideas for ways to continue the momentum. All levels of experience welcome. The only requirement is a willingness to spend two days writing as part of a small, supportive community of other writers. Maximum Enrollment: 12 (We’ll take an hour’s lunch break Sunday. There are plenty of cafes and restaurants in the Hawthorne district nearby.) Teacher: Paulann Petersen Time: Saturday & Sunday, October 24 (12:30-5pm) & October 25 (10am-4:30pm) Total Fee: $125 Deposit: $45 (non-refundable) Please note that this is a workshop designed to generate new work. If you’re interested in a craft/revision workshop, I’ll be teaching a 7 or 10 week one at the Attic late winter/early spring (February & March) of this coming year. I’ll try to send out notices about that late this fall. Paulann Petersen Please note e-mail change to paulann@paulann.net Visit my web site at www.paulann.net 9. SUBMISSION CALLS: From Calyx Press: Calyx Press is holding Sarah Lantz Memorial Poetry Book Prize contest for Oregon women writers. Submission period is September 1-31, 2009. Send a complete unpublished book manuscript (75-125 pages) with biographical data and a $25 entry fee (payable in check or MO) to Calyx Poetry Book Prize, PO Box B, Corvallis, OR 97339. Do not put your name and address on any pages, only on a separate cover letter. Winning manuscript will be announced in February 2010. Winner receives a Calyx Books contract for publication of the manuscript in Fall 2010 and a $500 award. More information at http://calyxpress.org. Contact calyx@proaxis.com. FROM TIMOTHY GREEN, EDITOR RATTLE See release of our new supplemental newsletter. RATTLE e.6 is a 33-page PDF, downloadable on our website, which contains content that expands upon this summer’s print issue. Included are a first book interview series, with a look at Michelle Bitting and her book Good Friday Kiss; a column by Art Beck, “The Impertinent Duet,” on the art of translating poetry; Bruce Cohen on the submission process; winners of the 2009 Neil Postman Award for Metaphor, and a peek at my first book American Fractal. We share a preview of the summer print issue, with a tribute to African American poets, which should arrive on your doorstep around June 1st. Download the e-Issue by clicking this link: http://rattle.com/eissues/eIssue6.pdf (1.0 MB pdf). Less than half of the poetry in each issue is focused on the theme—the rest is open to any style, subject matter, or poet. We enjoy reading submissions, and accept them by email and hardcopy, year-round. Visit www.rattle.com/submissions.htm for guidelines. CALLS FOR SUBMISSION (info at http://www.rattle.com/callsforsubs.htm) Issue Theme Reading Period #32 Sonnets 2/1/09 – 8/1/09 #33 Humor 8/1/09 – 2/1/10 #34 Mental Health Workers 2/1/10 – 8/1/10 Contact tim@rattle.com or www.rattle.com or www.timothy-green.org/books.htm. CALL FOR POEMS: PROTESTPOEMS.ORG http://web.mac.com/renkat/Site/Protest_Poems.html Protestpoems.org is a twice-monthly poetry journal committed to poetry that tackles human rights issues worldwide. The website provides information about persecuted writers, with letters of protest ready for our subscribers to cut and paste. To receive emails with protest information focused on a specific writer, email us at write@protestpoems.org with SUBSCRIBE in subject line. Submission guidelines: We’re not looking for partisan propaganda, party-political mouthings, sentimental depictions of what you see on the TV, or rhyming greetings card verses. We want you to champion human rights; the rights of those who don’t have the freedom to write and speak. Formal complaints are especially exciting. Paste your poems (a maximum of 3 one-page poems) and brief bio into the body of an email and send to mailto:write@protestpoems.org. Ok to email a single .doc or .rtf file with all the poems. We accept poems previously published on paper, if you hold the copyright. We don’t accept poems currently or previously published online (including blogs). We publish a poet only once a year. If your poem deals with a specific call for action or specific person, let us know. FROM CONNIE WALLE: Deadline: Sept. 1, 2009 Editors of CHIRON REVIEW are reading submissions for an "All Punk Poetry" issue to be published Dec. 2009. Poetry, fiction, b/w line art, comics/cartoons, photos, nonfiction, whatever should be sent via snail mail with SASE to: Chiron Review, Attn: PUNK, 522 E. South Ave., St. John, KS 67576. Name and mailing address should appear on every poem, story, etc. Material is copyrighted in author's/artist's name. Details at http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Nook/1748/chiron1.htm. FROM THOMAS WALTON, EDITOR: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS TO PAGE BOY MAGAZINE Poetry, prose, essays. Stylistic concerns are unimportant. Preference given to works that are strangely lovely, inexplicably beautiful, musical much more so than moral, logical or 'straight.' Confessional, Sentimental, Angry work not accepted. No deadlines, no entry fees. We pay a couple of contributor’s copies. I’ve never liked the idea of poets having to pay other people to read their work. Send 3-5 poems, prose 10 pages or less, essays on any subject to pageboymagazine@hotmail.com. FROM NICK TRUMBLE AT THE PRINT REGISTER LTD, IN SCOTLAND "WHAT WENT BANG?" POETRY COMPETITION DEADLINE 31ST JULY 09 Multiple submissions ok if poets have multiple ideas on the subject. Email attachments ok they are Word (.doc) documents or PDF. The Print Register Ltd is a small print and design business in the North of Scotland producing books and booklets for self published poets and other small publishers and community groups. This year we are publishing a little poetry ourselves and one project is the “What Went Bang?” poetry competition, as outlined below, which invites answers to the questions posed. Any style of poem will be considered provided it is your own work, written in English and not more than twenty four lines long, although if you really do have the answers, of at least something important, poignant or really hilarious to say on the subject of creation, we may stretch it a little. The winning entries will be published by The Print Register in an anthology, a copy of which will conveniently double up as a prize for the writers of all the published entries. The competition is free to enter. Copyright remains with the author but The Print Register reserves the right to publish any entries in the anthology at any time. Please email nick@printregister.com with your poems and queries. www.printregister.com From Naugatuck River Review: Submission deadline July 1 through September 1 for Winter issue. Naugatuck River Review publishes narrative poetry. More info at www.naugatuckriverreview.com.

Spoken Word Breast Cancer Fundraiser in Tacoma August 9

“A Rose Is Still A Rose”

A spoken word & poetry fundraiser

supporting the Breast Cancer Resource Center in Tacoma, WA.

At JAZZBONES on Sunday, August 9th 2009—7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Directions: http://jazzbonestacoma.com/directions.htm Join poet and emcee, Robert Lashlee, as he partners with Jazzbones and many local poets and spoken word artists to present this fabulous fundraising event! Donations are $5 at the door to attend the event in support of BCRC. Larger donations can be made inside at the event, with receipts being provided for tax deduction purposes. You won’t want to miss the evening’s line-up of talent as it features local poets, musicians, and spoken word artists all sharing their craft to support the important work of BCRC!

Featured Performers

Kat Bula – Singer & Spoken Word artist

Sarah Goodin – Guitarist & Singer

Jessica Lohafer - Poet

CJ Lince - Poet

Tammy Robacker - Poet

Antonio Edwards Jr. – Poet Laureate of Tacoma & Spoken Word Artist

Gwendolyn Faye – Spoken Word Artist

Rajnii Eddins – Spoken Word Artist...and many more!

All proceeds from this event will go to Breast Cancer Resource Center of Tacoma, a 501 c (3) non-profit organization whose mission is to enhance the quality of life of people touched by breast cancer. BCRC is committed to increasing awareness and knowledge of breast cancer and breast health in the community by offering services, patient support kits, classes, counseling, support groups, wigs and so much more to those whose lives have been touched by the disease. For more information on BCRC, call (253) 752-4222 (253) or email: info@bcrcwa.org