Merry Merries!

Hello Dear Readers,

Good news!  My poem, "On the Way Back from the Compost Heap Tonight," appears in the December issue of Literary Mama.  You can see it here.  Please leave a comment (here or there) to let me know what you think.  While you're there, enjoy the other poems and essays.  Good stuff!

And now it's back to grading for me.  Hope to hear from many of you soon.

Warmest wishes,
jk

Excuses

Dear Readers,

Please excuse my infrequent updating as of late. Things have been busier than usual. The good news is I've accepted a position as a Ph.D. candidate at Ohio University in Athens, OH. My family and I officially moved on August 21, and I started teaching and taking classes just last week. Unfortunately, I've had less time for creative endeavors and haven't been writing or submitting since the latest rejection of my chapbook manuscript. I have managed to do a little reading, however, and am happy to have discovered a poet claimed by both Kentucky and Ohio (Summers worked at OU and UK). Below is a poem from his collection The Walks Near Athens (1959).


The Winter Walks in Athens, Ohio

Some bricks in the walks of ATHENS, Ohio, 
Are marked with ATHENS, Ohio, 
Encouraging students and other pedestrians 
To pretend to belong where they go. 

Some feet echo comfort in ATHENS, Ohio, 
Moving from ATHENS to ATHENS 
While firmly ensconced in ATHENS, Ohio, 
No matter how studiously pedestrian. 

Perhaps I should mention that harsh winds blow 
In passing through ATHENS,. Ohio, 
And some bricks are nameless, I know, 
And some are crippled in ATHENS. 

Thanks for reading, 

Matt

Fishouse

Sorry for the long hiatus.  It's an even longer story.  But I came across something fun, so I wanted to share.  My "little" brother, Harlan, just went off to college and is taking what sounds like a fantastic creative writing class.  He pointed me to the link for From the Fishouse.  It's very much along the lines of Red Lion Sq.  Here is an excerpt from their site describing their mission:

Founded in 2004 by Matt O'Donnell and Camille T. Dungy, From the Fishouse is an IRS-registered non-profit that promotes the oral tradition of poetry. Our free online audio archive showcases emerging poets (defined for this purpose as poets with fewer than two published books of poetry at the time of submission) reading their own poems, as well as answering questions about poetry and the writing process. Our mission is to use online technology and other media to provide the public with greater access to the voices of emerging poets, and to provide an educational resource to students and teachers of contemporary poetry.

Me again.  I can especially recommend Rosal's "Poem for My Extra Nipple."  I also recommend the exercise.  Might even try it myself.  Just read Harlan's version and it was quite inspiring.

Happy poeting,
jk

More About Red Lion Sq.

Just another reminder to check out this new force in poetry-- a force for hearing the words, not just reading them.  Wouldn't our new poet laureate be proud?  I remember him saying that young poets don't "hear" their poems.  Hopefully, we can set about rectifying that.  If you need extra incentive, know that Matt's poem is featured in the most recent podcast and that one of mine-- "Night Journey in France"-- will be featured soon.  I recorded it on my brother's new Mac, and it was so much fun that we are going to do it again.  Who knows, if I am really lucky, I might end up in one of his shows. 

Happy summer.  Thanks for reading.

Jill

Poem at Literary Mama

Online literary magazine Literary Mama has been kind enough to publish my poem "Libation" in the June (Father's day) issue. The magazine, which "features writing by mother writers about the complexities and many faces of motherhood," inspires me because the editors welcome literature which is somehow outside the normative or typical accounts of parenthood which are so prevalent in mainstream media. Literary Mama asks for writing that "may be too long, too complex, too ambiguous, too deep, too raw, too irreverent, too ironic, and too body conscious for other publications" (About Us). You can access "Libation" here, but please look around the website and explore some of the mag's other features. Thanks to the editors for accepting my work again this year. 

Matthew

Marvell's Mower and Me

As I was mowing the grass tonight, I started thinking about Marvell and his mower poems, and I wanted to reread them.  I used to hate mowing the grass.  My sister and I both did-- the stink of the gasoline, the itch of the grass blades, hidden perils like anthills and bees-- all conspired to make us fight over who had to mow.  To solve the problem, my parents fairly and squarely decided we'd set the timer (oh, the timer) and each mow ten minutes so that neither would become too fatigued.  Being the oldest, I went first, which suited me.  I got my first shift out of the way, then relaxed while Natalie toiled.  Clutching my lemonade, I thought I'd check on her progress, so I peeked out the kitchen window, and what I saw is forever etched in my mind.  There was Natalie, practically dragged by the mower, her too-big safety goggles askance, her too-big hand-me-down mowing shoes nearly falling off, crying so hard she could barely see (if seeing were even a possibility through those "safety" goggles we had to wear).  It occurred to me to laugh, but I didn't.  I was just so shocked that a person could be so upset over mowing the lawn.  Even though I hated it, too, I realized at that moment that it couldn't really be that bad.

I don't know what this has to do with the poem, except to explain that I now love to mow.  It helps a lot that we now have a reel mower (non-gasoline powered).  And I am the opposite of Marvell's speaker; to me, contemplation and mowing go hand in hand.  And, most importantly, if I am mowing, no one can mow me.  My husband tried to take over for me tonight, but I shooed him away.  "That's my job!" I said, directing him to the baby, who stood at the precipice of a newly-dug compost hole, hoe in hand.  Out there, it's just me and the grass.  Push, push, turn, push.  I love the rhythm and the exertion of it.  And I love when it's finished.  Such a clear goal with a clear endpoint.

And so, for your mowing, I mean, reading pleasure, I present Andrew Marvell's "The Mower's Song":

My mind was once the true survey

      Of all these meadows fresh and gay,

      And in the greenness of the grass

      Did see its hopes as in a glass;

      When Juliana came, and she

What I do to the grass, does to my thoughts and me.

      But these, while I with sorrow pine,

      Grew more luxuriant still and fine,

      That not one blade of grass you spy’d

      But had a flower on either side;

      When Juliana came, and she

What I do to the grass, does to me thoughts and me.

      Unthankful meadows, could you so

      A fellowship so true forgo?

      And in your gaudy May-games meet

      While I lay trodden under feet?

      When Juliana came, and she

What I do to the grass, does to my thoughts and me.

      But what you in compassion ought,

      Shall now by my revenge be wrought;

      And flow’rs, and grass, and I and all,

      Will in one common ruin fall.

      For Juliana comes, and she

What I do to the grass, does to my thoughts and me.

      And thus, ye meadows, which have been

      Companions of my thoughts more green,

      Shall now the heraldry become

      With which I shall adorn my tomb;

      For Juliana comes, and she

What I do to the grass, does to my thoughts and me.

(from The Poetry Foundation website)

Red Lion Sq.

Dear readers,

I hope you'll go check out Red Lion Sq.,

 a new venue for poetry co-edited by two Spalding MFA graduates- Amy Watkins and Jae Newman. What makes this publication so special? Format. As a "weekly podcast," the magazine's mission is to "bring the oral element back into literary poetry, making it more accessible and friendlier to a general audience." Launch date June 1. If you're a poet, consider submitting to this exciting project. If you enjoy reading poetry, you can already read some fine work on the "poems" page. Literary mags come and go, but the talent, motivation, and design behind this project make it clear that Red Lion Sq. will be an amazing magazine, as well as a significant force in spreading poetry to new audiences.






-Matthew