Tag: Pisces
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* stepping out with rita dove & holderlin
My translation of Borges two weeks ago received a great response on here – thank you all for your kind words! This week’s poem, “Reading Holderlin on the Patio with the Aid of a Dictionary” by Rita Dove, evokes some of the fascination and thrill of working out a poem from one language to another, how […]
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* some news & milosz
First off, I want to announce the release of the latest issue of Foothill, which includes my poem “The Accordion Heart” here. Check out the rest of the great work in this issue here. Next, I’d like to share the news that my poem “Don’t Look Now I Might Be Mexican” has placed 3rd in […]
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william james: a lyrical alignment
So, earlier this week, THIS happened: I’m delighted to share the news of my having become married. 🙂 Those of you who’ve followed me on the Influence for a while may have caught me speaking about a previous divorce. I’m happy to have been keeping up this blog long enough to show that life has […]
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* digital chapbook released!
I am happy to announce that my digital chapbook “Naos: an introduction” is officially out on the Right Hand Pointing site! Here’s the “Introduction to an Introduction”: Once again, Anne Rice is at fault. The VHS copy I had of Interview with the Vampire came with an introduction by the author in which she spoke of […]
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* all’s misalliance with robert lowell
The more time you spend around words, the more they keep moving around. When I first read this week’s poem, “Epilogue” by Robert Lowell, I focused on the line: Yet why not say what happened? This line gave me permission and nerve at a time when I needed it. Reading the poem again years later, a […]
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* a more passionate saying with joel oppenheimer
I don’t revise much these days…except in the interest of a more passionate syntax (Yeats) These words by Yeats were said later in his life to poet John Berryman on their one and only meeting. The idea in them is fascinating, the great poet having gotten to a point where the technical matters got down […]
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* key connections with James Merrill
The above is a photo taken at my former place of work, Smith Family Bookstore in Eugene, Oregon. I found myself a little home(stacks)sick this past week as I took a stroll at a nearby bookstore. For me, there’s no real comparing bookstores with each other because, given enough time, things happen at one store […]
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* in the clear with Jane Hirshfield
Reading through an interview with poet Jane Hirshfield, I was moved by a concept she terms “clarity without simplicity”: …Yes, being clear without being simple is one of the poetic qualities I most admire in the work of others, and one I hope finds a place in my own. I feel like this is one […]
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* paying tribute via Bert Meyers
I recently lost a friend of mine – at the same time that a few other people I know also lost people close to them. For this week’s post, I thought I’d offer a poem by the great Bert Meyers. Though about a specific person, I feel the sentiment speaks for many. For W.R. Rodgers […]
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* quick post: poems up at Gris-Gris & Oklahoma Review
Just a quick note to share the latest issue of Gris-Gris, featuring 5 poems of mine. Check them out here. Two of the poems were inspired by the work of Takuboku Ishikawa, whom I wrote about here earlier this year. Special thanks to Jay Udall for giving my work a home. I am also happy […]
The Friday Influence 