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  “We began to find out a whole lot of things about the real nature of words and writing…What are words and what are they doing? Where are they going? The cut-up method treats words as the painter treats his paint, raw material with rules and reasons of its own.” — Brion Gysin

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Synchronicity

I am the girl who eats alone, looking at you
from a distance. Look for bad-you will find
enough evil deeds. Some genetic trace
skipping generations: consider
my daughter.

Why would I pawn
my wedding ring, change the locks?
That is no idle threat.

What he is claiming is the opposite
of commonly accepted reality: cognitive
dissonance. And if I were inclined
towards political allegory, now
would be the time to make one.

Putting things down on paper
is the only way to understand.
Facts. Logic. Science into art.
When anyone asks how much my painting
costs, I say “three divorces!”

I intend to parcel up my belongings, a change
Being as good as a rest. My heart’s
in my eyes and if you touch them,
you’ll get a taste of infinity.

-Polly in the Blue Ridge (search phrase “dirty minds think alike”)

When Knowing the Vocab is Half the Test

Conquer test anxiety by knowing
about half the people who take the test.

This method will be especially helpful if a hundred
words make up about half your vocabulary.

In the second half of the lesson
you will find out how many words you know.

Approximately half of the tests
in the second half of the lesson

test less than half of the half
of students who have studied

for less than half an hour. And still,
more than half will get it wrong.

Analogies are no longer part of the preparation
for the approximately half of the tests.

It’s no mystery how to do well on this test:
half the GRE is only the SAT.

A person with a highly developed vocabulary
will only know about half the story.

-Andrew in Ohio (search phrase “When Knowing the Vocab is Half the Test”)

Don’t miss your chance to get paid for producing poetic search results.  More information here.

“In another study reported in the article, the researchers wanted to explore how dreams might influence people’s waking behavior. They surveyed 182 commuters at a Boston train station, asking them to imagine that one of four possible scenarios had happened the night before a scheduled airline trip: The national threat level was raised to orange, indicating a high risk of terrorist attack; they consciously thought about their plane crashing; they dreamed about a plane crash; or a real plane crash occurred on the route they planned to take. A dream of a plane crash was more likely to affect travel plans than either thinking about a crash or a government warning, and the dream of a plane crash produced a similar level of anxiety as did an actual crash.”

More from Science Daily

An Important Archaeological Find

Keep anything you find safe by having the right materials with you.
Know how to recognise a settlement.
Reject the path of the new motorway.

Most archaeologists are willing to risk to lose everything they personally own.

Uncover centuries-old graves.
Preserve the abundance of numerous bone artifacts lying in the path.
Discover lost treasures as you travel.

What years of anticipation and persistence had produced was accidentally discovered.

-Megan in NYC (“search phrase “an important archaeological find”)

Magnifisyncopathological

1.
She the rusty swan
slinked around the walled city
always on the wrong side
of whatever side there was.

The portrait of a pin-up,
in shades of rose
a little starved, no longer

afraid of Patti Smith,
the Hindenburg disaster,
fast easy love, or some
comparable horrific accident.

I liked the way her face looked-
red-deemed feral-
How, as she moved to speak,
there was nothing but bonfires
wasted on air.

2.
Crash and burn
behavior became her
own style. Out of an envy
I can’t articulate exactly-

I gave her
home, to make it up to her
a bath, a quietly staged sunset,
a piano.

I followed her
right into the storm drain
to save her with my antidotes
for deployment. My ropes of sand.
Slouching towards Bethlehem
and stamping disapproval.

3.
How does this always happen to us?
These symptoms of eye,
these morbid fascinations?

You can’t see
a train wreck once it has burned.
View it here.
You can’t look away.

4.
“At least I know I’m a sinner,”
she shouted back,
“You ain’t gotta chance.”

-Caroline in Richmond (search phrase “kitten” + “trainwreck”)

I am no Michelangelo

I am a poor man and of little worth

Who is laboring to kill myself

And so I live in sin
I am no artist

Artists are guilty of such superficiality

Because they have no clue of what they are

I know that I am no Michelangelo.

There are no flames of love within my heart

But a bare cold hearthstone deep in ash

To think, I once wanted to carve an entire mountain into a Colossus

I know that I am no Michelangelo.

And I am not a painter (paint I did, of course)

I am not a prophet (this is no great matter)

I am not a theoretician (I am still learning)

I know that I am no Michelangelo.

Though I am not, nor will I consent to be obliged to tell

That I have no supernatural powers-

Neither divine strength nor divine wisdom

I am only a man called Michelangelo.

-Margaret in Richmond, VA (search phrase “I am no Michelangelo”)

Sparkles of Sunshine

Caught in a rock crevice, the leaves for a cover, a snowy lite has this day gone. They were here and there, but mostly the fog was everywhere. Chou had fairly poor eyesight, so even though some sunshine was seen when both children laughed, swinging and balancing on the amber surface, and watching the rings being set in the rolling hills and pastures of East TN, reflecting off of nearby Douglas Lake, the splendor of the Smoky Simon wrapped his tentacles around the Lady Erica’s fair head, flying around her. Erica laughed, a soft musical sound, on the dew moistened windows, sprinkles of salt spray leaving crystals on the panes, wind gusting like an energetic part of life.

Ben in Charlotte, NC (search phrase “sparkles of sunshine”)

When crafting poegles, some of the richest veins of interesting, evocative language on the internet are found by searching phrases related to common tragedies, like wars, diseases, death.  Check out Before the War or After the Memorial Service, for instance.  Here’s the result of searching one such search phrase.

The Nature of the Plague

It could be said

That there are plagues

That are unto death

And those not unto death.

Think back to Kerameikos,

Athens’ ancient cemetery.

Count the number of dead

Inspect the instruments

And medicines prepared

Read the proclamations

Issued by an itinerant physician

Interested in fevers

And the mysterious affinity

Between people who know

They are going to die.

-Editor (search phrase “the nature of the plague”)

Glad to see that Jilly Dibka’s daily poetry news update is back up and running after a month’s absence.  The best poetry news site on the web, in our humble opinion.  

Two ‘requests for poetry’ (RFP’s) that she points to:

Poems inspired by David Lynch’s Blue Velvet

The Asahi Haikuist Network

We recommend poegles for both.

This poegle is a ‘list’ poegle- collecting a variety of results on a common phrase.  

My Main Thing

My main thing is toiletries. I am always buying different potions.

My main thing is buffets because I like the choice of sampling different dishes to get a good feel of what flavors I like.

My main thing is floors.

Reading about cooking while singing to my husband playing music is my main thing.

For most of my life, bringing the benefits of concrete thin shells to the world has been my main thing.

Poetry is my main thing now, but I’d love to write a good short story sometime.

My main thing is to get a third fight and hold the Light Heavyweight title again.

My main thing is annoying kids, but my second main thing is competition.

Jesus, you’re my main thing.

My main thing this Sunday is to run a sub-60 minute 10k.

Dirt is and will always be my main thing.

Phish, now, is my main thing again.

My main thing was realizing when I was getting the urge and replacing that reflex with something else. Not with snacking though.

My main thing is to get the girls dancing.

I want to do a fiction thing before I do my main thing with Yaguine and Fode.

My main thing this week in preparation for my first major on the Champions Tour was to pace myself.

My main thing is my brother is okay. If I get charged, I get charged.

If someone took a snapshot of my life this week, they’d think my main thing is school and obligations.

My main thing is that I want to maintain my current computing habits as much as possible.

So yeah, to get back to my main thing? Love is the experience of beauty.

-Editor (search phrase “my main thing”)

The problem with poetry, as the problem with a number of things, is that it can get commoditized – prizes and stuff, you know.

The problem with poetry is that anything can be poetic to anyone, from ant hills to linoleum counter tops.

The problem with poetry in modern times is that practitioners rarely agree on what rules to follow and, indeed, whether to follow any rules at all.

The problem with poetry is that it is just one voice, a monologue, rather than multiple voices like a play.

The problem with poetry is it’s too hard, too intellectual, too elitist.

The problem with poetry lies more with poetry itself than with today’s non-readers of it.

The problem with poetry is it’s not real. It’s not dirty. If we put words down that are too real people call that vulgar.

The problem with poetry is that most serious poets come at the art form from a mentality of poverty.

The problem with poetry readings isn’t a matter of what’s up on stage, but a matter of what’s down in the seats.

The problem with poetry about abuse, especially sexual abuse, is its propensity to either veer into melodrama or to become pornographic, or both.

The problem with poetry is that it doesn’t necessarily have the connection with life and can be rather obscure.

The problem with poetry is that the compression of meaning makes the conventions less obvious up front.

The problem with poetry is that many teachers are uneasy about it because they see it as the most sublime form of writing.

The problem with poetry is that people draw meaning from their own experiences.

The problem with poetry is that there are twenty writers it for every reader of it.

The problem with poetry and lots of art for that matter is that everyone thinks they can do it.

The problem with poetry is not theory but bad theory.

The problem with poetry is that it’s got a bad name because of what you used to read in school.

The problem with poetry today is this perception that if something isn’t published in a book or a journal it is not worthwhile.

Maybe the problem with poetry is that it draws us inward, contributing to a sense of selfhood, and what most people want is the opposite.

The problem with poetry taking a back seat to the visual arts is a cultural sign of the times.

The problem with poetry is that it is an ancient art form.

The problem with poetry is that it is very easy to be very bad.

The problem with poetry is poets.

-Editor (search phrase “the problem with poetry”)

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