WOW

I
love
hands,
wrists
and the way fingers bend.

Our hands pick things up;
forks and cups
and they are beautiful
how they fold underwear
and slip sweaters off hangers
how they hold pens and pencils and chopsticks
and other hands.

They know what to do.

My hand can write
words
almost as fast as I can think them
and when I stop thinking my hand can keep moving and
writing elephant chimpanzee gorilla light switch lamp
jersey luck WOW.


-Chaya Grossberg

Introducing: Chaya Grossberg

Chaya and I have lived in the same building for years. Once we walked back from Look Park from a poetry thing there. She writes a lot of poetry (I have seen and liked many booklets of hers) and teaches yoga.

The other day, during the snowstorm, she and her housemate had a potluck which I went to. It was fun, and after, we walked out in the snow some. I remember that records of Jimi Hendrix and Joan Baez were playing during the evening.

Links:
Chaya's website

Don't Take Any Wooden Nickels

By Amy Kalisher

Original posting, with other similar art

Yellow Sofa Pt II - Nov 25 2008

It wasn't you
    it was me,

    the opener of ways,
    the opener of hearts,
    zen essence lunatic
        loose in the world.


-Jim DuBois

Late '40s Dodge

"I took this at my brother's in Island Pond, VT. He owns 70+ acres there. The property was once farmland. We often come across evidence of how the land was previously used - old fencing, old vehicles, etc. He built a small house in 2006. There are several walking trails now. And a fabulous waterfall."

-Nancy Little

Last day in the old apartment

On our last day
      in the old apartment
the word fragile was everywhere,
                        as though it was warning us
that to stay too long was futile.
            Besides we were done with it;
the cracked brown floor
      the water pipes
            the echoes cheered us on.
Last years memories
            a heap of dust
someone else's stuff.
                              And we took it all to heart
                                    and moved on.


--Jeremiah Griswold

Introducing: Jeremiah Griswold

Jeremiah! O! What can I say? We have been friends since elementary school. We lost touch for a bunch of years, but when we saw each other again became even better friends than ever. Friends! What an undervalued thing! He is one of my two best friends in the world.

I'm sitting here holding the blade of this knife against my eyelid

I'm sitting here holding the blade of this knife against my eyelid
And there’s a teardrop running down the edge of my life
They say that real men don’t cry but look at that, I did
Maybe I don’t want to be a real man like you all try
Maybe I don’t want to be a fucking American
We pretend to be more than we are
But you don’t want to hear it so let’s not go there again
So let’s just burn the oil and drive the car
We fight their war while they hoard the wealth
Its not like you care or even know
You’d rather drink your beer and lose yourself
Forget the real world and just watch MTV
You all listen to music but do you hear the words
They are just trying to make money every time you turn on the TV
We play this game against ourselves that’s fucking absurd


-Guy Constantine

Taken at Chesterfield Gorge, MA

This is one of many great photos by Selena Dittberner that will be on display at Evolution Cafe starting on friday, November 7th, 2008 (opening that day, 5pm to 9pm), and lasting until January 1st, 2009. I'll definitely be there to see them on friday!

Juvenile Hooded Merganser

The bird is a juvenile hooded merganser perched on a birch branch. The picture was taken on the Saco River in Fryeburg, Maine.

By Nancy Little

Introducing: Nancy Little

Nancy has a cat named Tiger Lily, is a geologist, a photographer, and is married to my friend Trevor (I was at the wedding). She is starting grad school in January 2009 at Simmons College where she will be studying Library Science.

Links:
Her blog: (Insert Title Here)

The Popeye Cycle Canto IV: The Later Years

Broken headed, Broken hearted
Damaged toilets
An anchor to remind him of his profession
A pipe and a can of spinach for good times
Forearms like a tree trunk
The subject of cartoons and dirty jokes

In the rooms that smell of old sex and shattered dreams
You await your slender odd-headed girl still fighting your beefy, bearded nemesis
Your heart did not let go
Your heart did not let go

I light a cigarette and call for you
            Popeye
            Popeye
The room spins wildly from too much wine
and I think I hear an echo
then a talented voice in the distance
            Popeye,
I'm Popeye the sailor man

Yes, I believe you are


-Dimitri Oram

Introducing: Dimitri Oram

Dimitri and I play board games together, in fact met playing hearts one night on the courthouse steps downtown, and hang out sometimes. I have seen him act quite well in a play, jump around like a bizarre crazed monkey at a party (many times in one evening, to my great amusement), dive of the dock saying goofy things from old tv shows (we were both 30+ at the time) and also seen his articles and occasionally poem. On the surface he appears serious and deep, but then you get to know him better. A very goofy point of reference we have in common is that crappy movie "Meatballs", which we watched together a couple of years ago because we had both seen it as adolescents, and of course loved the tackiness of it.

Introducing: Attaboy

From his website:

Attaboy is an internationally shown artist, creator and toy designer whose work is seen in galleries, museums, toy boutiques, magazines (Newsweek, Wired, Juxtapoz, Clutter, Playtimes, etc.), calendars, and art books. After years of creating, recreating, and inventing award-winning and best selling toys for Hasbro and Milton Bradley, he went AWOL to create his own art and licensing studio. His art work has been licensed to Dark Horse, Last GAsp, Tower Records, Kiss, the Dixie Chicks, Sony, and many more.

From me:

Attaboy is a friend of mine who used to live in Northampton. He seemed to be perpetually creating stuff, writing, drawing, inventing toys, and large crowds used to come watch him energetically perform his poetry at Fire & Water. He worked for Milton Bradley, and gave me a free copy of "Don't Break the Ice" which he was working on the re-release of. I brought that game out at a few parties, and me and some friends invented a new Zen way to play, where you don't aim carefully, but after sitting for a moment, vigorously swing the little plastic hammer without looking too much, and see what happens.

Links:
Attaboy's Yumfactory

Untitled (I guess)

Undaunted by the rain
      John Bauman bursts forth into the night!
Like a,
      uh…
      rocket I guess
      or some kind of fast moving projectile
      or…uh…
Anyway, with amazing speed and power
      John Bauman bursts forth to save the night!
And then,
      well,
      he goes and buys some groceries,
      and then he needs to run another errand,
      pay the cell phone bill then,
      uh…go back home.


-John Bauman

Introducing: Joanne Delphia

I saw these bright watercolor paintings over at the Cup & Top Cafe in Florence, and looked to see who the artist was. It was Joanne Delphia! who I had worked with making computer games at Cyberlore Studios. I guess I'm not sure that I ever knew she even made art, but I liked what I saw very much, so sent her an email. Then I saw her at a party and found out she has a son! The things I didn't know.

Links
Her watercolors website

my best friend shot me to death

my best friend shot me to death
with words muttered under his breath
that made me second guess
who i am

some corporation stabbed me in the chest
they plastered me with advertisements
and took all the money i had left
then they sent me a coupon

the information age took my name
and put it on some list
they sent me a free pencil
which is how i wrote this


-Guy Constantine

Introducing: Guy Constantine

I met Guy a couple of years ago, and now I know him a little from hanging out at parties, and sometimes playing games. Some people say he is too "nice", but he doesn't think so. I found out that he wrote poetry and got him to read some to me. I liked what I heard, and decided I wanted to help people get to know his writing.

Links:
Guy's LiveJournal

My Good Shoes Are Resting

My good shoes are resting
      uh...under the couch.
You know, those fancy wing-tip style
      snazzy shoes.
They heard about my slackerly life and thought
      "what the hell,
      maybe we'll try that."

I like to dust them off
      and wear them sometimes
      to look nice
      or maybe just feel important.
Walk down the hallway,
      make that distinct loud sound
      (clomp, clomp, clomp).
The sound that says
      "everybody notice me"
      (clomp, clomp, clomp)
      "I'm a professional"
      (clomp, clomp, clomp)
      "I've got things to do"
      (clomp, clomp, clomp)
      "'cause I'm and important person"
      (clomp, clomp, clomp).

But for now my good shoes are resting
      uh... under the couch.



- John Bauman

Introducing: John Bauman

John Bauman is a very creative fellow. We used to do poetry shows together. And often played music together. In addition to writing poems, he writes a lot of palindromes^*, and works at 7/11.

We went to an open mic together once, and he got up after all these people had read gut-wrenching and/or serious poetry, and read a weird random poem. No one knew how to take it, but I was laughing very hard.

I met John at the old Fire & Water. Back then he always carried a bottle of seltzer water with him, so I nick-named him John the baptist, but that didn't last.

---

* A palindrome is a word or sentence or longer text which reads the same backwards and forwards (the letters are the same anyway). Examples: "Racecar", "Kayak", "Wow Bob, wow!"

Sweet Morning

Introducing: Selena Dittberner

From her website:

"I am a nature and wildlife photographer. I have had a passion for photography ever since I got my first camera when I was 14 years old. I have a love for the outdoors as well as being in nature, and I try to let that show through in my work."

From me:

Selena is a friend of mine. We went swimming together last week. I like seeing her photos, and I like her positive outlook on life.

Links:
Her website

#48 - Work

A fun and interesting collage from Amy Kalisher's blog, Life Craft. From the entry Collage Burst, which has 5 other collages.

Introducing: Amy Kalisher

From her website:

Amy Kalisher is an artist, writer, and freelance graphic designer. She studied art and writing at Hampshire College, and art, writing, and graphic design at the Rhode Island School of Design. Read More

From me:

I met her at Hampshire college, have been out of touch, but lately re-connected a little through Facebook. I have friendly memories of staying up all night talking to Amy.

Links:
Her website
Her blog, Life Craft

Here in the Land of Slack (March 1, 1999)

Here in the land of Slack

I can hear the blood
  in the capillaries in my ears

I can hear the quiet whining
  of my nervous system

Here in the land of Slack

I'm writing this poem
  and my fingers are stained
    with the ink of my new pen

Here in the land of Slack

Before you know it
  it's 3 in the morning
    and you're lying
      in a tent
        in my living room



-Jim DuBois

Introducing: Jim DuBois

Hi, it's me, the guy who started this blog. I have been a poet and game designer for a long time. Recently I have taken up painting and drawing. I am interested in promoting creativity in the world around me. This blog is an effort in that direction.

My websites:
Arcane Journeys My games
Return of the Slacker My original poetry