So Much Lettuce

I want to know what all you cats out there think about metaphor. Is it the highest achievement of figurative language? Is it old hat? Have we not incorporated more interesting things into our American English? Please help. Some of us in Chicago are drowning in metaphor...

I couldn't agree more with Woody about goddamned poetry workshops. They can good conversations & they're not completely useless, especially when they're full of good people & quality work (i was in a workshop with Stephanie Strickland last spring & it was amazing, mostly because she's amazing!). But a workshop led by someone who only wants to talk metaphor & logical connection & reads everything literally is a serious fucking bore. I'm in such a workshop now & it's murder. I can't believe i have to miss the Bulls for such bullshit.

So please, someone, tell me there's more to word life than metaphor. Or break my heart.

Who's in a Bunker?

You know what sucks? Suburban yuppie rock. Fuck fake rock stars. Free at last, free at last

Yesterday I bought The Collected Poems of Ted Berrigan & so far it's too gloriously over-whelming for me to really dig into. His book of "lectures" On the Level Everyday was really a life changing read for me & how i thought about writing & going about all the accompanying madness & living. Highly recommended for anyone engaged in creative thinking.

Speaking of life changing experiences, the first time I saw Radiohead in 2001 at Grant Park was more a holy pilgrimage than a concert, for many reasons which i'll omit here for momentum. saw a re-broadcast of a show in France Sunday afternoon & was reminded of their full glory & innovation. i stay away sometimes (perhaps we all do) from the things i love most, so that i might stave off falling out of love with them. Radiohead has been one such case for me. Kid A is one of my fav autumnal albums ever. check it out & tell me what you think.

Question: post-modernist or North American haberdasher?

peaches, cola

"If I Had to Commit Suicide...

Basketball finally returned. Already the Bulls are playing heart-attack games, which cost them tonight. Still playing hungry, which speaks volumes this early in the season.

Had a dream about committing sepuku (sp?) with a lightsaber the other night. If i had to kill myself, i'd definitely do it with a lightsaber. Hold it to my heart & turn it on. Quick & clean. "Do.
Or do not. There is no try."

I've heard from reliable sources that blogspot is the blog of "professional poets." Is this painfully true & i've just been fortunate enough to stay genuinely oblivious to this fact? Please tell me...

Poem suggestion: write some verse in response to the following quote from Bertolt Brecht--


You have little time
you have time enough
for that which is right is easy.


Or don't. It's entirely up to you. Just suggesting some ideas for future dictation. Stay hungry--


Yours in oblivion,

the foundling

Knives Out

One year since last election day, and were are we now? Treason?

Where are the patriots now?? Where are the battle lines?

Barack Obama should be celebrating a righteous anniversary. Some day, some day
but have things gotten any easier yet? Let's give him some help next year & not wait around for a gray ghost in 2008. Or are we truly an amputee nation? We don't have to be.

When we will listen again to the ghosts & not just go on holiday? What can be said after the moment of silence?

Some people say they want a fight. Well, I've heard that to fight one guided by a righteous cause is a dangerous undertaking.

What will it take for you to find a cause? Why not poetry? Why not now?

Tougher than anything.
No one listens to poetry.


Under black helicopters,

the foundling