Anyone may “find” a text; the poet is he who names it, “Text”.
–John Hollander [1] [2] [3]
1.
The very heavens
rupture — news of Pontiff’s decision
to abdicate.
2.
Somewhere in America,
for nearly a week, film and
fiction collide — Rambo-like
manhunt ends as expected.
3.
She sings, When you get
to Asheville send me
an email….
Will she tell me that
the President is
coming to town?
Will a hollywood
celebrity greet
him when he arrives?
Will he retire
to the Paris of the South
after this whole
presidency thing?
4.
Whether it comes from
above or snakes its way through
the dark depths below,
the number one regret on
the lips of the dying is
to have lived true to one’s self
rather than by the
expectation of others.
NOTES:
[1] From the archives of this blog.
[2] The poem was composed from and of news headlines and related blog posts. John Hollander wrote in Vision and Resonance: Two Senses of Poetic Form that “anyone may ‘find’ a text; the poet is he who names it, ‘Text’.”
[3] Annotated version of this found poem was published Feb. 15, 2013 and originally titled “The courage to live”.
A poem for a friend composed on a manual typewriter
At least five years ago, an old beat up manual typewriter provided a platform to compose poetry and other writings.1 It was an effort to return to an intentional practice of crafting poetry and prose without distraction of disruptive media.
For years and years, a notebook, journal or sketchbook was never far from reach. But one night after a long night of poetry and music at Beanstreets followed by an even longer time of coffee and conversation at Old Europe, a friend convinced me to try blogging.
Sample journal page of poetry
The immediate response to blogging was infections.2 Connecting with people all over the country, networking, sharing and being part of an active digital community was exciting. The practice of writing allowed me to hone the craft of creative writing and exposed me to other writers across the country. One of those bloggers actually showed up at a poetry gig I did. She was on a cross-country trip to visit friends and wanted to visit in real life.
Over time, I noticed that my practice of writing notes, daily sketches and other activities had all but disappeared. Relying on keyboards, display screens, hard drives and servers presented became a crutch. My writing drafts and sketches appeared deceptively crisp and final in neatly formatted text documents and web blog interface windows.
So, I pulled the plug. Returned to handwriting and typing as practice.3 Some friends and fellow poets saw a few samples of typewritten work and suggested I post it on my blog. It was a novelty. A curiosity. So, I did.
One of the first photographs of a poem I composed on a typewriter was written for a friend. It was posted about this time of year — in 2011.4 A few days later I followed up with another poem5 that was later read at poetry event.
I do not claim to be the first person to post an image of a poem typed on a manual typewriter. But I noticed a trend in that direction about a year after posting those images of poem sketches.6 Not sure exactly if I started the trend. Probably did not. Maybe other like-minded individuals who sought to return an organic practice of handwriting and typing as a mode of composing their visions and ideas.
Here is to a five year anniversary of analog writing.
NOTES:
[1] In truth, I composed poems on an electric typewriter prior to that. Did it for decades. Did not own a personal computer until… well, that is another story.
[2] That was when there were a mere couple million web blogs in the world. Now, there are some platforms, like Tumblr, boasting 100 million blogs. The blogosphere has become quite congested.
[3] Examples of some the 30 poems in 30 days journal posts with photos: here, here and here.
[4] April 1, 2011, blog post.
[5] Poem: “Never Look A Doughnut Dealer in the Eyes”
[6] Examples include Typewriter Poetry,Remington Typewriter Poetry, and the most popular is Tyler Knott (though his web page has an archive going back to 2003 (which is odd because he uses Tumblr as a platform and Tumblr was launched in early 2007… maybe he migrated his content from some other source to Tumblr… but I digress) the posted images do not begin until 2012 (unless I am mistaken).
Amid the dry wall dust of demolition and uncut two-by-fours ready for framing, I calculated that I have lifted and carried more than a thousand pounds of building materials and debris. Not all at once, but one forty-pound load at a time. Poco a poco.
The Village Ink Creative Writers Guild has an open house tonight at 6:30 p.m.
What to expect tonight? Expect puppy chow (yes, puppy chow) and cupcakes and maybe peanuts. Expect poetry and prose. Expect good stories by good writers. Expect to have a great time with local writers.
The Village Ink Creative Writers Guild authors plan to share recent works like “Animal Hospital” (children’s literature), “Disturbed” (fiction), “Popular Fiction” (fiction) “Genie-soul” (non-fiction) and selected poetry and prose.
The evening will conclude with a question and answer session for those who have questions about the guild and the craft of writing.
Hope to see you all there!
Graham Public Library, Union Grove, Wisconsin
April 7, 2015, 6:30 pm
FREE to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
You are invited to the Village Ink Creative Writers Guild authors reading open house at
Graham Public Library
Union Grove, Wisconsin
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
6:30 pm
Five local writers present selections of their work. The Village Ink Creative Writers Guild meets every Tuesday at the Graham Public Library and is open to writers of all genres and disciplines.
The open house is a great way to celebrate National Poetry month and the event will highlight the last six months of creative energy and writing endeavors.
Selected works include children’s literature, fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction.
For more details, please leave a comment. Thanks!
The open house is FREE to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
She – or is it he? – steps up to the lectern, adjusts the mic, unfolds a sheet of paper. Tells a funny little story about arriving in this place, the hour’s drive, the decades’ journey. Mentions a connection with a character in the poem. An influence from another poet, a friend, family. Clears his – or is it her? – throat.
And then reads the poem.
And we who are listening to this person for the first time or who have known her and her work for years, we step into her world. The images unfold into our imaging, the story connects us to the person who was and has become this person, we add lines between the lines as they enlighten our own story. We step into our own world along a new path, familiar yet unfamiliar, and now populated by this person and her poem.
You are invited to the Village Ink Creative Writers Guild authors reading open house at
Graham Public Library
Union Grove, Wisconsin
Tuesday, April 7, 2015
6:30 pm
Five local writers (including myself) present selections of their work. The Village Ink Creative Writers Guild meets every Tuesday at the Graham Public Library and is open to writers of all genres and disciplines. The open house is a great way to celebrate National Poetry month and the event will highlight the last six months of creative energy and writing endeavors. Selected works include children’s literature, fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction.
For more details, please leave a comment. Thanks!
The open house is FREE to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Ever have one of those days when you write a blog post that you think is really witty or brilliant, save it as a draft, come back a few hours later and realize it is not only stupid and self-absorbed but utter rubbish?
Yeah, that was me yesterday. So, I deleted the post and decided to share this image of a nice coffee shop and café located in the historic section of downtown Racine, Wisconsin.
Before the landmark Porters of Racine building was demolished last year into a gaping scar of urban planning, it was easy to direct people to Circe Celeste. The hole-in-the-wall café faces — or rather, used to face — the Porters of Racine building. Circe Celeste has a wonderful intimate, ambience and a delicious selection of pastries, coffee and lunch specials. The scones alone are worth a visit to the café.
For regulars to Circe Celeste café, it is a place where everyone knows your name. If you are so fortunate, you might have a sketched portrait of yourself on the wall in the room to the left of the front counter.
It is also a great place to grab a cup of coffee on a rainy day after spending the morning at the Racine Public Library — located a mere block away. It does not matter if the printer/scanner is not working. Or the batteries in the digital camera died while trying to photograph a sketch for a client. Or the iPhone charger was left somewhere 15 miles west of Racine and the phone battery displays 23% power. Circe Celeste café is open and the pour over coffee tastes smooth and bitter with a hint of sunshine.
You probably already know this, but Twitter allows users to download every tweet they ever tweeted.
While trying to search for an old tweet about the real sales numbers behind ebook revenue, I came across an article by Dave Larson.[1] In the article, the author references a step-by-step guide by, Danny Sullivan, on how to download a users entire Twitter archive.[2]
Who wants to download all those tweets? Not sure. But the download feature does allow a user to search every single tweet tweeted for that one unique tweet the user thought he or she tweeted but can not locate that specific tweet.
Anyway, the links to the articles are in the note section below. Enjoy the free info and be sure to tweet about it.
The blizzard ended Monday morning — the beginning of the week. But the flurry of activities the rest week kept me occupied with matters of consequence and so on and so forth.
Finally, Saturday night, as the sun set, I sat down with a cup of tea to read the Sunday edition of The New York Times and a few other books — Einstein’s Relativity, Sandman Overture #4 and a book on the history of time, or specifically the 365-day calendar.
Reading the newspaper days after Super Bowl amused me as it required an eye of an archivist. The news stories were lead pieces promoting the biggest game in American football. Knowing the outcome of the game shaded the stories in the Sunday edition. Shaded the stories in the way I might read modern history books — or marketing books.
But who really has time for this? Who has time to read heritage media? Who has time to dream? Seemed suitable questions while reading about space and time and dreams. And so, February begins.
NOTE: This was supposed to be posted Saturday night, but I was rather weary and fell asleep.
Racine, WI poets represented at last year’s Poetry Marathon. Photo Credit: Woodland Pattern Book Center
Just two more days until the 21st Annual Poetry Marathon Benefit Reading at Woodland Pattern Book Center in Milwaukee. Here are five reasons to support the Annual Poetry Marathon:
over 25,000 small press titles
book titles include poetry, chapbooks, fine print materials, broadsides, and multicultural literature
money raised supports Woodland Pattern’s 2015 programming in literature and the arts, including an after school program and youth summer camp
enjoy 15 hours regional poets, writers, and lovers of the arts
150 poets and writers from Milwaukee and surrounding areas
Five poets representing Racine, Wisconsin at the Woodland Pattern’s poetry marathon need your support! Help each performer raise at least $35.
Nick Demske – poet and author of critically acclaimed self-titled poetry book and featured in Poets & Writers. read more
Justin Grimbol – author of Hard Bodies, Drinking Until Morning and others. read more
Kelsey Harris – poet featured at the 2014 Racine and Kenosha Authors Book Fair.
Aaron Lundquist – spoken word poet, featured at Grassroots Open Mic and Artist Showcase. read more
Nick Ramsey – Poet Laureate of Racine, Wisconsin and co-founder of Family Power Music. read more
Ok, technically, there are more than five, but I saw most of these fine poets perform last night at the Grassroots Open Mic at George’s Tavern. Also, I will be reading during the marathon as part of the Racine delegation. Please consider supporting me with a pledge. It is as easy as one, two, three. Go to the Woodland Pattern Book Center, here, and:
under “Pledge a Reader online!” select a donation amount,
add “Reader’s Name” (that’s me, Matthew Mulder) and
Racine, WI poets represented at last year’s Poetry Marathon
The 21st annual Poetry Marathon Benefit Reading for Milwaukee’s Woodland Pattern Book Center is this Saturday, January 31, 2015. If you are not familiar with Woodland Pattern Book Center, here is an introduction to this non-profit organization from their website:
Woodland Pattern’s… specializes in literature from small and independent presses and is well-stocked with over 25,000 titles.
The poetry section is among the best in the world, and has a comprehensive blend of classics and contemporary works, translations, and poets from all schools. Several ethnic sections include… poetry from African American/Black, Hispanic, Asian, Middle Eastern, and Native American writers. Nearly half… of our space is devoted to poetry, a commitment that few organizations can claim to match. (continue reading)
Woodland Pattern’s mission is:
…dedicated to the discovery, cultivation and presentation of contemporary literature and the arts.
Our goals are to promote a lifetime practice of reading and writing, to provide a forum and resource center for writers/artists in our region, and to increase and diversify the audience for contemporary literature through innovative approaches to multi-arts programming. (continue reading)
I will be reading during the marathon and would really appreciate your support. Please consider supporting me with a pledge. It is really easy and only takes three steps. Go to the website (here),
under “Pledge a Reader online!” select a donation amount,
add “Reader’s Name” (that’s me, Matthew Mulder) and
click the “Pay Now” button.
And thank you on behalf of the Woodland Pattern Book Center!
A concrete slab harvested from a demolished city building defends Pershing Park from the frozen Lake Michigan waves. It is large — the size of a small sedan — and surrounded by smaller rubble. Rebar and concrete and ice mix into a violent Jackson Pollack sketch as waves thunder into the shoreline.
The temperature outside is in the single digits — lower with the windchill. In the small sedan, the heater is not working. Or not well. The driver’s toes — numb from the cold — curl and uncurl. The driver is trying to capture an image — a photograph — of the spray from the waves when they hit the shoreline and shoot twenty feet into the air.
The visit to the public library introduced the driver to books by E. L. Doctorow, Wendell Berry and Alberto Manguel and a book on the history of time by Oxford Press. Timing the waves as they advance on the shoreline creates an illusion of distance. Patiently the driver composes a few more images.
The icy air advances deeper into epidermis. Reluctantly the driver places the lens cap on the camera and stows it in a black bag next to the library books.
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Coffeehouse Junkie 