Order Directly from Conundrum Press |
I’m excited to let all you Birders know that my 13th collection of poems, Thread of the Real, is now available for ordering. (It isn’t yet available on Amazon but should be in a couple of weeks.) Here are a couple of samples—one bright, one dark:
January Thaw
For a moment or two,
driving through the surprise
mid-winter thaw—all
the streets sheeted
with racing melt-water,bright ripples like the spaces
between swift lines—Whitman, Hopkins, Clare—
the car’s sun-warm
interior alive
with flickering tree-shadows—
suddenly
thereI was,
floatingabove the flood
of words (language,
its abundance: available,
inexhaustible), feeling
my whole beingblossom
in the veins
of the dayas so often in my youth—the old
pulse of onwardness, of sheer
possibility … for just
a heartbeat or two, or three:world without end
once again.*
Lamentation
“Why has the [U.S. Army] School of the Americas trained so many
graduates who end up being assassins, torturers, and human
rights violators?”
—Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer,
School of AssassinsForeign jails built
of stone we quarried.
Howls of the tortured
teaching us music.Oh listen, widows
whisper to the orphans
in our dreams. Listen:
a heavenly choir!Up to our necks
in the graves
of our shadows,
singing like hell.
A big fat thank you to Caleb J. Seeling, owner of Conundrum Press, and the book’s designer Sonya Unrein, both of whom have been such a pleasure to work with.
I’ll keep you all posted about readings as they come along over the next several months.
Cheers!
Hey Joe<br />keep this up for a week-or-so<br />when my next SS checque clears <br />I'm "in" on this … AT FULL PRICE !<br /><br />and I presume that the "Clare" that you mention is/was<br />John Clare<br /><br />am just into that beyouteefull bio of him by Frederick Martin done in 1865<br />via Guttenberg:<br /><br />http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/8470/pg8470.html<
Real cool, Joe, congrats! I just tried to order it from samizdat but there seems to be a problem with the shipping charges so I'll just have to wait for Amazon.
Thanks for the kind comments, Dale. And for the order, for cryin' out loud! I hope the whole lives up to these parts….
Joe, these two poems are terrific. I was thinking today how I used to connect with origins, my home town familiar feelings, but so remote now, and here is your poem! Apparently, it can all come back, or we to it, whatever "it" is, that blossoming. Anyway: Congratulations. I just bought the book and I look forward to it very much. best to you, Dale
Conrad, I would dearly love to wander up your way. Don't know how we'd work it out, but tuck it away in the back of your mind….<br /><br />I'm not terribly good at self-promotion, I have to admit. But I'll "push the envelope" on this one because the Conundrum folks have been so good to work with. They deserve to have some return for their hard work….
Congrats, Joseph!<br /><br />I shall order my copy anon. The chances are rather remote but let me know of any readings over the summer months. You never know.<br /><br />And Colorado Governor’s Award!! Anything else you've been keeping from us:))