Saturday, July 31, 2010

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

underground


saws to cut the stone







Monday, July 26, 2010

is it you god?

Today Gideon and I toured the underground of Maastricht. They advertise them as caves to tourists, but they're really mines that are hundreds of years old with an interesting history. More information about them here. Pictures later, the internet connection at our hotel is crap.

Towards the end of the tour, the guide told us a story about some monks who tried to use a string to find their ways out, but the string snapped and they never made it. They were found with their fingertips worn off. The didn't realize it, but they were going round and round a column.

The guide left us in the dark for a couple minutes to experience how disorienting the complete darkness can be. There was some annoying girl who kept turning on the light on her watch, so I had to face the wall for the experience, but I did. I felt pulses in my eyes and saw a variety of lights and shapes that "weren't really there."

When we got above ground I asked Gideon if he saw anything. He told me he saw God. I was rather impressed and asked what does God look like. God looks like monsters with yellow eyes. They're the same monsters that live under his bed and he sometimes sees when we put him to bed. I had no idea there were monsters living underneath his bed! He never mentioned them before. Like owls, they sleep during the day and are awake at night. God sends them so Gideon can learn to be brave.

Again, I find myself in the position of wondering, is my kid really deep or is this something he saw on TV? He does have a history of claiming television experiences as his own. Of course I don't want to scar him for life with an unfounded plagiarism accusation. Especially when it comes to one's personal experience with God.

Monday, July 12, 2010

50/50: Words & Images for Didi Menendez




Edited by Grace Cavalieri, & April Carter Grant

This anthology contains poems, essays, and visual works from writers and poets who have been published by Didi Menendez in MiPOesias magazine, OCHO, Poets and Artists (O&S), or books. Each piece is about or dedicated to Didi in celebration of her long-standing commitment to advancing print and web standards for independent publishing of poetry and art. Full-color interior.

My poem, "Lament for Heart," is included along with poems by Barbra Nightingale, Diego Quiros, Ivy Alvarez, Ron Androla, Nick Piombino, Holly Picano, Michael Parker, Meghan Punschke, Amy King, John Korn, Grady Harp, Jose Parra, David Lehman, Matthew Hittinger, Cheryl Townsend, Andrew Demcak, Bruce Covey, Luc Simonic, Diana Adams, Charles Jensen, Suzanne Frischkorn, Karen Hollingsworth, Melissa McEwen, Wiliam Stobb, Nick Carbo, Pris Campbell, Denise Duhamel, Edward Nudelman, Marie-Elizabeth Mali, Geoffrey Gatza, Emma Trelles, Miguel Murphy, Jeremy Baum, Kirk Curnutt, Michelle M. Buchanan, Evie Shockley, Dan Murano, LD Grant, April Carter Grant, Tony Trigilio




about right

We're heading to Europe on Friday and I'm trying to get everything done so I don't have to think about it while I'm there. A happy madness? Perhaps.

Gideon did well in Stockholm last year and I'm hoping it'll be even better this year now that he's at the manly and serious age of 5. Like last year, we're tagging along with Chris who has work and conferences. He works, Gideon and I party. It's awesome. We'll be in Dublin, Amsterdam, Maastricht and perhaps a day trip to Brussels because it's really close and I've dreamed of there several times.

Gotta follow the dream.

This weekend I dreamed I was a professional psychic and sold books and cosmetics from my office--and gave manicures. I woke up and thought, yeah, that sounds about right.

Last night I had a long, winding dream that involved spaceships, pirates, gifts from a lady poet friend, Santa and a gift of a cut-out bear on a paper bag on a stick that enraged me to exclaim, "Oh great, this reminds me of my distance to the masculine, how I never really connected and how no man has ever really been there for me." The guy who gave me the gift, Dr. Daniel Jackson (from Stargate), looked at me like I was a total asshole for saying that. He also gave me and some guy recordings of what we used to sound like way back when -- the guy's music was all AC/DC type stuff, but mine was this smooth, eery and beautiful lady voice accompanied with electronic music. I thought yeah, that sounds about right. Then I was on a bus driving through Duquesne and saw that one of the last operating stores, a hardware store, was closed. Someone suggested I open my own hardware store and I was like, um, hello and go against Home Depot? The bus dropped me off next to my grandmother's house. It was supposed to be empty, but when I got to the porch, the front door was wide open. I was frightened and called for my father. A plain-clothed policeman came instead. I think he was following me to make sure I didn't flee to Europe.

Thursday, July 8, 2010