Sunday Papers: Nicolson Baker

"Footnotes are the finer-suckered surfaces that allow tentacular paragraphs to hold fast to the wider reality of the library."


On the turntable:  Santana" "Abraxas"
On the nighttable:  Blaise Cendrars, "The Confessions of Dan Yack"

Sunday Papers: Audie Bock

“There are no happy endings for Naruse, but there are incredibly enlightened defeats.”


On the turntable:  The Rolling Stones, "12x4"

(untitled)

Born in northern hills,
The icy wind claws my face.
More snow on the way.

 

 

On the turntable:  Aerosmith, Get Your Wings" 

Renku three

  

Shrine Tourists Renku

(May 2005 - August 2006)
Shrine tourists
Pass by history
Stopped by cake

MB (1)



on Amida's palm
rests a mosquito

EL (2)


pray for the meek ones,
pray for love;
clap hands for mercy

RP (3)


Gion summer night
rose colour yukata

EL (4)


sun's last rays
music is ended --
old friend dies

RP (5)


through Iowa clouds
think of Buddy Holly

TT (6)


ice cubed thoughts melt -
puddles of watermelon dreams

CC (7)


garden still as stone
green leaf falls to ground

dm (8)


foolish man
picks up fallen leaf,
rolls a fag

RP (9)


typhoon winds cool brain--
still no haiku comes

TT (10)


Giant green
Azalea marks
rainy season

EL (11)


orange, orange: the
full-throated day lilies

EA (12)


On the roof,
gargling magpies:
it's morning!

RP (13)

snail descending wall
hoikuen awaits

DL (14)


Kamogawa swells
Refresh the faces
Of stone turtles

TT (15)


Alone they endure
while waters flow by

SH (16)


On the turntable:  Crosby Stills & Nash,  "Crosby Stills & Nash"

Renku two

 

Firefly Tears Renku (March - May 2005) 

 

Chiran's rain
layers on tears of
fireflies

EL (1)

Australia has no
fireflies -- only sun

RP (2)

For Eli
fireflies, flowers shine--
sing: faa-faa!

ZS (3)

In the bath singing
Fly Me to the Moon

EL (4)

Rabbits in the moon
know the beautiful star
-our earth

MK(5)

Brightest stars tonight
Autumn trees ghost red

RP (6)

nightime pond--
drunken pink blossoms,
kids--fall in.

ZS (7)

Boy with Hayfever --
mountain of tissues

EL (8)


Trees exhale--
Cedars sneeze dust as
Cherries pop corn

TT (9)

In the dark this film
Lights across her face

EL (10)


Bees emerge
from behind ivy --
morning sun

RP (11)

From Peace Dome ruins,
a sudden sadness

EL (12)


Skies darken,
Deep distant rumble --
A loon cries

RP (13)

crow combat--careens
black tears streaking blue

ZS (14)


under bridge
duck shadows sleeping --
north white stream

EL (15)


chorus of May frogs
croak, "It's cold! Where's Spring?"

TT (16)

On the turntable:  The Beatles, "Anthology 1"

Renku one

  

Slipping back in time a bit, I wanted to post some Renku from the mid-aughts.  Over the next few days, I'll post the three poems that I was involved in, posting as "TT."   

Spring Poets Renku (2004-05)

poets wait for spring--
snow fills each leaf scar.

RP (1)


left alone
the grease falls from the
kitchen fan

EL (2)

sweet potatoes sold
in white paper cups

JH (3)


Overlooking
the nearest only seeing
far surface

MK(4)

shadows grow, sun sets --
Gion plum blooming

EL (5)


first crow caw
splits morning silence --
cold and black

RP (6)

living kyoto life
with a thousand ghosts

EL (7)


Inhaling
spirits: her plum wine,
all fragrance.

EA (8)

exhaling mountain
sighs, cedars steaming

ZS (9)

rain all night
and fierce howling wind
split peach tree

RP (10)

in bed two of us
hiding from winter

EL (11)


shadows thrown
by castle walls
hide ice

TT (12)

charging blue school skirts
clicking cameras

EL (13)

Donut King
teeny-bopper stands,
pulls wedgie

RP (14)

Burger wrappers litter
Guinness-colored Irish bogs

TT (15)

Setsubun,
burning rosary:
each bead glows.

EA (16)

On the turntable:  John Cale/Lou Reed, "Songs for Drella"
 

Sunday Papers: Ken Nordine

"I always admire when someone can use the language, which is so inexact in many ways, and torture it into some beautiful statement, so you can say,  'Gee, I wish I'd written that.'"


On the turntable:  The Ramones,  "Pleasant Dreams"
On the nighttable:  John Ruskin, "Modern Painters"
 

The Fire this Time...

My performance last week at The Flame...



On the turntable:  Thelonious Monk, "The London Collection"

Oni Apartheid

The news reported that tens of thousands of hate crimes against oni were carried out across the nation yesterday. This divisive issue doesn't appear to be going away any time soon.


On the turntable:  Fleetwood Mac,  "Carousel SF, June 1968" 

Divisive issues...

 

福は内。鬼も内！

Sunday Papers: Alan Watts

"I can only say that a universe which has manifested Gary Snyder could never be called a failure."  


On the turntable:  Drive-by Truckers, "Pizza Deliverance"
On the nighttable:  Sean Murphy, "One Bird, One Stone"