More of what's in the SoCal poetry pond.

This bromantic poem isn't as irritating as "What's In The Pond?" but with some of the same in-the-club cutesiness.
Again stating that the two poets above are usually much better than this.  But Rat Pack-style joking
can often be found at ostensibly Literary poetry readings.
Also, notice the use of an ethnically-incorrect word (in a not-Lenny Bruce context) by the poet on the left, followed by audience laughter.

Here's what's really in the SoCal Poetry Pond (revised and edited).

Let's start this post with a haiku.  I didn't write it, but someone who posts the TERRY McCARTY'S WAR AGAINST HUMANITY blog did:
bitter man banned from

club. LOBs yawns when his output

makes hyenas sleep

My first response is this: if I were truly bitter and envious (presumably from wanting to be "let back in"--something I gave up on about a year ago in terms of making peace with certain intersecting SoCal poetry circles that want me forever banished), I wouldn't be posting occasional critiques/observations on how certain poets choose to use the power much of the community gives them.

I've never truly absorbed the lesson that if you ask select

"craft-conscious poets" beyond your station in the poetry community to sit down with you and/or answer certain questions, the poet(s) refuse(s) and you're a gigantic Figure of Snarky Fun behind other people's backs.

My previous post--putting up the Rick Lupert/Brendan Constantine "What's In The Pond" video--seems to have triggered the haiku outburst above.  I thought the video might be instructive to poets and nonpoets alike to see something with the musky odor of clubbiness and two talented practitioners of writing/working a crowd wasting five minutes doing stupid, lazy crap they were assured to get away with because of their Name Value in the community.  If two newcomers had read something like "What's In The Pond", it's highly doubtful that they would have gathered the laughter and applause rolling in appreciative waves towards the Brand Names at the mike.

 

Your chance to see two L.A. poets self-indulge.

Two guys who have done better work on other occasions; here essentially having lazy fun with their peers in the clubhouse.  This is what SoCal poetry can be like at times.

Matthew Mars/Niblock: Selected Works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGbCW7-5jVs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4enUp8ZT8YQ
http://youtu.be/sQfU2xfAO4I

TRIBUTE TO BRENDAN CONSTANTINE'S CALAMITY JOE

Through-lines - with Brendan Constantine and Rick Lupert 03/18 by PSH Live | Blog Talk Radio

Brendan Constantine and Rick Lupert interview each other on their respective books CALAMITY JOE and DEATH OF A MAUVE BAT (warning: echoing during playback).  Giving them props for mentioning the classy-and-now-defunct chapbook series published by Pat Cohee when he and his then-wife Marcia hosted their reading at the old Wells Fargo Bank building in Laguna Beach in the 90s/early 00s.
Through-lines - with Brendan Constantine and Rick Lupert 03/18 by PSH Live | Blog Talk Radio

New poem: FOUND POEM CREATED FROM BLURBS ON BACK OF BRENDAN CONSTANTINE'S LATEST BOOK.

the jagged mountain




exploded impeccably and



cracked wide open,



creating a beautiful view



and now,



we can see there is a brain



that is incessantly inventive



hotwired to a delicious mouth



with lyrics caught between his teeth,



on his tongue,



lodged in his throat



see how



he opens his mouth



to sing



.

Another random comments entry.

1. Victor "The Rooster From Wooster" Infante is taking votes on his blog to determine a temporary definitive slate of great American poets: http://ocvictor.livejournal.com/855417.html Judging from the list of names I've read, people are submitting poets primarily on the basis of "it's goooooood for yooooouuuuuu" gravitas. At least Jack McCarthy and Brendan Constantine (poets who don't believe quality and a sense of humor are a twain that should never meet) are part of the list. And here's the final list: http://ocvictor.livejournal.com/856408.html
2. Here's a link to the ROLLING STONE article about Stanley McChrystal blowing off, being a tough guy who thinks he's George S. Patton and essentially giving the middle finger to his civilian Commander in Chief: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/119236 A few minutes ago, I logged on and was only able to read the first page; I don't know if that's on purpose or due to the number of hits it's getting today. [There was a line that Robert Montgomery said to John Wayne in John Ford's THEY WERE EXPENDABLE: "Rusty, who do you think you're working for? Yourself?" ]
3. RIP Lee Sloca--SoCal poet who recently passed away. Sloca was an active presence at Venice CA's Beyond Baroque; guessing that a tribute will eventually appear on Beyond Baroque's Facebook page (can't quite call it a "wall").

The glass of local poetry books--something that can be seen as either half-full or half-empty.

Earlier today (March 24th), I picked up copies of my latest chapbook NEVER MET BUKOWSKI from PIP Printing (have done business with them since 2000) at their Sun Valley, CA location.

I'm still a holdout from the period where poets self-published their own chapbooks (either through the former Kinkos or places like PIP) and sold them to each other at readings. This is not a popular avenue anymore, since a lot of local poets would rather have their books published by small presses instead.

There's a lot of erosion-through-change of the local poetry scene since 2000. Once upon a time, there were quite a few more independent bookstores in LA/OC--and, in several cases, the stores would support local poetry and purchase chapbooks that were self-published and non-barcoded.
Now, there are far fewer independents--and some of those stores mimic the conformity of the local scene in only wanting local poets "established" with small press credits (it can't be just any small poetry press, it has to be the "right" press).

And sometimes, even those local poets don't always make it into these local independent stores with "high standards."

Today, I was at least happy to go by Skylight Books and see that Brendan Constantine's LETTERS TO GUNS (from Red Hen Press) is now being carried.

I really admire Brendan's poetry and respect him as a person (although our relationship hit a speed bump some years back which it has never fully recovered from, unfortunately)--so I'm happy to discover he's getting greater exposure to the Los Feliz/Silverlake reading audience.

Now, if Kerry Slattery of Skylight (plus other people she's deputized as buyers for the store) could start carrying chapbooks/books from some of Brendan's talented peers (Amelie Frank, Rick Lupert, Elizabeth Iannacci, the late Erica Erdman), that would be even better.

Another piece of deathless wisdom from Tim Green of RATTLE.

"But you can't make money writing poetry. And I'm thankful for it. Our poverty keeps us pure."

That's Tim Green of RATTLE from a recent blog post of his called POETRY IS NOT A RACKET.
Mr. Green's wonderful, fragrant aroma of self-regard and poetry protectionism can be found on his blog: http://www.timothy-green.org/ And I never fail to be irritated by poets proclaiming there's artistic purity in the valleys of obscurity.

It's a given that, in an America which chooses to treat poetry as something equivalent to the foods that children are forced to eat because they're "good for you," poetry is generally not going to sell in mass quantities. And, when it does, the knives tend to come out--with Billy Collins now being a new target of literary scorn. (How much of this is jealousy and how much a referendum on Collins' continuing worth as a writer post-success may never be totally quantifiable.)

But it would be nice to see small press poetry volumes try to sell more poets' works in, say, the multiple-thousands--or at least see more poets-published-by-small-press' works available in bookstores of their hometowns (noticing, for example, that Brendan Constantine's LETTERS TO GUNS isn't easy to find in L.A. bookstores--indie or corporate).

[UPDATE 7/13/11: here's a comment from cfisher:
Tim Green also spams you if you submit to his journal. (Although to be fair, I think 99.5% of these obscure and useless journals do that now.) To me, that shows how little these journals respect their writers. But Green is quite upfront about it: he actually says that if you don't want the spam, don't submit!

Well okay then, no problem!

As for Billy Collins, I wrote to him once and never received a reply, and thought it was kind of dickish.] 

Some positivity concerning local poets and their poetry.

Here are links for ordering books by four local poets who are decent, generous class acts:
http://www.amazon.com/Walking-Barefoot-Glassblowers-Museum-Ellyn/dp/0916397807/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247696498&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Lost-Country-Sight-Neil-Aitken/dp/1934695068/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247696588&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Letters-Guns-Brendan-Constantine/dp/1597091383/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247696648&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/White-Bride-Sarah-Maclay/dp/1597320420/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1247696714&sr=1-1

A sad day for California poetry: Carol Muske-Dukes is the state's new poet laureate.

Famed poet/author/professor Carol Muske-Dukes has been chosen to be California's Poet Laureate.

Here's the press release:
Carol Muske-Dukes appointed California's Poet LaureateGovernor Schwarzenegger calls USC professor "an accomplished and decorated poet and author"Published: 11-14-2008
On Thursday, November 13, 2008, Governor Schwarzenegger appointed Carol Muske-Dukes, an accomplished writer and professor at the University of Southern California, the Poet Laureate for the state of California.
From the Governor's Press Release:
Continuing his support of California's rich literary tradition, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today (Thursday, November 13) appointed Carol Muske-Dukes California's poet laureate. The poet laureate is charged with educating Californians about the many literary icons who have come from California and added to its cultural heritage. She is also charged with encouraging a new generation of poets to take up the mantle of creative expression and bringing poetry to students who otherwise would have little opportunity to be exposed to it.
"Carol Muske-Dukes is an accomplished and decorated poet and author. Her commitment to the literary arts and passionate belief that poetry can transform lives will serve as an inspiration for all Californians," Governor Schwarzenegger said.
Muske-Dukes has been a professor of English at the University of Southern California (USC) since 1993, where she founded the graduate program in literature and creative writing in 1999 and served as director of the program until 2002. She previously served as associate professor from 1991 to 1993, assistant professor from 1989 to 1991 and lecturer from 1984 to 1988 at USC. From 1972 to 1974, Muske-Dukes founded and taught in a creative writing program called "Free Space" at the Women's House of Detention on Riker's Island in New York which later became "Art Without Walls-Free Space." She is a regular critic for the New York Times Book Review and the LA Times Book Review. Muske-Dukes previously served as a poetry columnist for the LA Times Book Review from 2001 to 2004.
Muske-Dukes is the author of seven books of poetry, including her most recent work, Sparrow, which was a National Book Award finalist and An Octave Above Thunder, which was nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. She has also written four novels, including Los Angeles Times best-seller Channeling Mark Twain and two collections of essays. Her collection Married to the Icepick Killer: A Poet in Hollywood was listed in the San Francisco Chronicle's Top 100 Books of 2002.
In addition to her teaching positions and numerous books, Muske-Dukes has also been anthologized widely, including credits in Best American Poems, 100 Great Poems by Women, MotherSongs and others. Her list of awards and accomplishments includes a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, the Ingram-Merrill Fellowship, the Witter Bynner Award from the Library of Congress, the Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, five Pushcart Prizes and the WriteGirl Bold Ink Award.
"I am truly honored to be named California's poet laureate and I look forward to serving the people of California and poetry which reaches the hearts and imagination of young and old in both urban and remote areas of this diverse and dynamic state," said Muske-Dukes.
The California Arts Council administers the nomination process for the California Poet Laureate as established by law, and assists the California Poet Laureate in fulfilling her or his duties. For more details on Muske-Dukes, see the full press release from the Governor's office, Muske-Dukes' website, and Muske-Dukes' biography page from USC. For more information on California Poets Laureate, see the Poet Laureate informational pages from the California Arts Council.

Here's a couple of sidebars about this not-so-wonderful selection:
1. Ms. Muske-Dukes, at a LOS ANGELES TIMES book festival panel at UCLA, was rather haughty and condescending when talking about teaching writing at a women's prison and calling their work "bad."
2. In early 2003, there was an anti-Iraq War reading in Los Feliz which was organized in tandem with Sam Hamill's POETS AGAINST THE WAR. Ms. Muske-Dukes was one of the honored featured poets at the event--and organizers were thrilled to have her there. Anyway, she read her poetry--and then promptly left, not bothering to be courteous or professional enough to stay to hear the other poets on the program.

Perhaps my memories of Ms. Muske-Dukes' pettiness could also be classified as petty. But, when I can think of other California poets that are more deserving of this honor (Brendan Constantine, for one), maybe it's time for the state's Poet Laureate selection process to receive a rigorous examination/rethink.