New fall/winter photo coming soon to RealPoetik!

Do you know of any poets or poetry scenes happening in Panama? Do you know of any schools for the blind in Panama? Do you know anything about Panama?

Golpe de Estado was my favorite part of the day.

THE WERLD

I told myself that I see the world. But the whole world was not accessible to my gaze, and I saw only parts of the world. And everything I saw I called parts of the world. And I examined the properties of these parts and, examining these properties, I wrought science. I understood that the parts have intelligent properties and that the same parts have unintelligent properties. I distinguished them and gave them names. And, depending on their properties, the parts of the world were intelligent or unintelligent.

And there were such parts of the world as could think. And these parts looked upon me and upon the other parts. And all these parts resembled one another, and I resembled them. And I spoke with these parts.

I said: parts thunder.

The parts said: a clump of time.

I said: I am also part of the three turns.

The parts answered: And we are little points.

And suddenly I ceased seeing them and, soon after, the other parts as well. And I was frightened that the world would collapse.

But then I understood that I do not see the parts independently, but I see it all at once. At first I thought that it was NOTHING. But then I understood that this was the world and what I had seen before was not the world.

And I had always known what the world was, but what I had seen before I do not know even now.

And when the parts disappeared, their intelligent properties ceased being intelligent, and their unintelligent properties ceased being unintelligent. And the whole world ceased to be intelligent and unintelligent.

But as soon as I understood that I saw the world, I ceased seeing it. I became frightened, thinking that the world had collapsed. But while I was thinking this, I realized that had the world collapsed, then I would already not be thinking this. And I watched, looking for the world, but not finding it.

And soon after there wasn’t anywhere to look.

Then I realized that, while I had somewhere to look, there had been a world around me. And now it’s gone. There’s only me.

And then I realized that I am the world.

But the world—is not me.

Although at the same time I am the world.

But the world’s not me.

And I am the world.

But the world’s not me.

And I am the world.

But the world’s not me.

And I am the world.

And, after that, I didn’t think anything anymore.

–Daniil Kharms, May 30, 1930, translated by Matvei Yankelevich, from OBERIU

SALINAS, Calif - In the evening hours of Tuesday November 24th the Salinas Police Department, will be conducting it's 7th Annual Turkey & DUI Checkpoint at an undisclosed location in the city of Salinas.

Drivers who successfully pass through the DUI checkpoint may be given a turkey that has been donated.

The Salinas Police Department asks the public, in the interest of traffic congestion and holiday goodwill, that drivers refrain from repeatedly going through the checkpoint in an attempt to get one or more of the limited number of turkeys.

A while ago, Amber DiPietra posted a poem of mine on the Kelsey Street Blog. I just noticed they have a built-in reader; a humanized voice will read each post out loud. As I write this, I'm listening to the computer read two poems by Steffi Drewes. People say these voices are hard to listen to, but I think after a while, one gets used to them. It's a good test of a poem, maybe.

three good questions in cleaning and laundry

How can i clean my room in 15 minutes or less medium room and it takes me like a hour to clean it.?

Were does the word blanket come from?

How do you keep cockroaches out of your computer?

Redbud buds.

What do you have planned for the last month and a half of the decade? Do you let traveling and holidays distract you? Today is one of the most stressful days of the year in South Korea. At the end of something, it's hard to look backward.

I forgot I had a blog. But the blog didn't forget.

George Lakoff's Conceptual Metaphor WWW Server is really cool. I found it in Heather Christle's Reading Room in the new incarnation of Slope (The Collected Issues--click on 26).

Here's a sample from the first thing:

A Problem Is A Body Of Water

Source Domain
body of water
Target Domain
problem
Note:

Investigating Problem Is Exploring Water

-- 1 He dived right into the problem.

-- 2 He really immersed himself in the problem.

Difficulty In Solving Is Difficulty In Exploring Water

-- 1 The problem itself is murky.

-- 2 The murky waters of the investigation frustrated him.

Trying To Solve Is Looking For Object In Water

-- 1 He'd been fishing for the answer for weeks.

-- 2 He kept coming up empty.

Solving Is Finding Object In Water

-- 1 Finally the answer surfaced.

The Solution Is An Object In Water

-- 1 The answer's just floating around out there.

Jane Espenson

Poems of leaving and staring at The Poetry Project: 5 Poems by Claire Becker

Place I've never been to for a reading:
Mrs. Dalloway's Literary & Garden Arts
It doesn't say they carry poetry on their website, but maybe that falls into the category of "renowned local authors."
Poetry reading by Joshua Beckman and Graham Foust
2904 College Ave.
Berkeley, CA
Thursday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.
Is this real?

Graham Foust

Poemas

(Traducción de Claire Becker)

(Mandorla #12 appears to be out.)

The wonderful people at Octopus Books are going to put out my first book. Look out in fall 2010 for the book, probably called Where We Think It Should Go. It's raining in Oakland. It's practically winter. It's practically the end of the decade. Welcome new decade! Love you already.

Part of a poem for my sister. Happy birthday LCB!!

Wasn't it done then undone, by
us and to us, enveloped, sid-
erated in a starship, listing
with liquids, helpless letters–
what else–pouring from that box,
little gaps, rattles and slants

Like mountains, pretty much worn down

-Michael Palmer, from "Letters to Zanzotto"

GET YOU

My e-chap Get You is now available at Duration Press.

Check out Lauren Levin's Flaming Telepaths in H_NGM_N #8!

Not Thirty Yet

Ann Arbor is practically Detroit, which you can get to from Chicago, and isn't that far from Canada, Buffalo, Cleveland, Toledo, Pittsburgh, Saginaw, Kalamazoo, or Grand Rapids. But don't be fooled. It's all very far.

Ow!

More art from my school! This is L's dragon. Lily & I start posting poems at RealPoetik as of now. Send me an email if you want to be added to the listserv.

"I can't wait to see this. Michelle Pfeiffer has been awesome since I discovered her in 'I Am Sam'!"

the Pacific from a toilet on Stinson Beach

Dewclaw Issue 1 is now available.

"I cut down the milk and added ranch dressing, italian seasoning, garlic powder, and cheese. Much more flavor!"

"I would love to be a sellout if only someone would ask."

More art from the school for the blind.
Happy summer. Oakland has it.

I've been meaning to post some photos of some great student art from my school's art show in May. Here's the first installment.

Bear--"Not to Scale"

Mabel post-bath.

These days I'm reading submissions for RealPoetik with Lily Brown. We'll be taking over the reins this summer from current editor Ana Bozicevic. RealPoetik has been around as a listserv, now also a web journal, since 1994. If you would like to submit poems, please email 3-5 to clairebeckerATgmailDOTcom. Otherwise, send me an email--I'll add you to the listserv. You'll receive approximately one poem per week in your personal email inbox. If you've never been a part of a listserv, this is a wonderful opportunity.

otherwise, books just look insane!

I stole this off someone's facebook.

I'm moving to Oakland because 2008 is over, and I need to be less social for 2009--no more strangers in the kitchen. Need to spend more time talking to animals and imagining what they say back.

Mrs. Maybe reading this Sunday, May 10th! See below for details. Sorry moms. 3 PM! Food!

I was interviewed for Thunk .

I was in Mexico before swine flu.

We had a French visitor today at school.

Mrs. Maybe Reading

To hear some of the contributors to Mrs. Maybe in their natural habitat, please consider attending a reading celebrating the release of Mrs. Maybe the Second.

Featuring The Claire Becker, The Bill Luoma, The Catherine Meng, The Erin Morrill, The Cynthia Sailers, The Andrew Kenower, and perhaps some other kool "bands-without-musicians"
or what-have-you type artists.

Sunday, May 10th
3pm

Catherine Meng's backyard

1825 Derby Street Apt. D
1st block west of MLK on the right.
ph: 510-981-0495

Grilled foods and/or red beans and rice will levitate if you use a fork.

Book Made a Forest

Book Made of Forest, Jared Stanley's first book, is out today.
Publisher: Salt Publishing
Extent: 80pp
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 5 mm
Weight: 120 gms
Check it out, California. I hear an ice cream truck in Merriam, Kansas. A train.

This will be the cover of my book of poetry, Lane Hair. Actually that's just my middle name and "hair."

Lighten up, Authors. Get with the times.

Reading Rights Coalition Staging Protest in NYC Over Threatened Removal of Text-to-Speech Feature

Hundreds of Disabled to Protest Outside Authors Guild Headquarters -- April 7th

NEW YORK, April 6 /PRNewswire/ --

WHAT: The Reading Rights Coalition, representing millions of
disabled people who cannot read print, will protest the
threatened removal of the text-to-speech function from
e-books for the Amazon Kindle 2 which promised for the
first time easy, mainstream access to over 255,000
books. Hundreds of disabled Americans (the blind and
people with dyslexia, learning difficulties, spinal cord
injuries, seniors losing vision, stroke survivors) will
march to demand that the Authors Guild reverse its
decision.

WHEN: April 7, 2009 - noon to 2:00 p.m. EDT

WHERE: Outside the Authors Guild headquarters in New York City
at 31 East 32nd Street

AVAILABLE TO
INTERVIEW: Coalition spokesperson: Dr. Marc Maurer, President,
National Federation of the Blind Various coalition
member representatives

DISABLING THE
DISABLED: When Amazon released the Kindle 2 electronic book reader
on February 9, 2009, it promised the device would be
able to read e-books aloud using text-to-speech
technology. Under pressure from the Authors Guild,
Amazon has agreed to give authors and publishers the
ability to disable the text-to-speech function on any or
all of their e-books available for the Kindle 2. This
decision has serious discriminatory and censorship
implications for the disabled and is simply bad
business.

READING RIGHTS
COALITION: Coalition members include: American Association of
People with Disabilities, Association of Blind Citizens,
American Council of the Blind, American Foundation for
the Blind, Association on Higher Education And
Disability, Arc of the United States, Bazelon Center for
Mental Health Law, Burton Blatt Institute, Digital
Accessible Information System (DAISY) Consortium,
Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF),
IDEAL Group, Inc., International Center for Disability
Resources on the Internet, International Dyslexia
Association, International Dyslexia Association--New
York Branch, Jewish Guild for the Blind, Knowledge
Ecology International, Learning Disabilities Association
of America, Lighthouse International, National Center
for Learning Disabilities, National Disability Rights
Network, National Federation of the Blind, NISH,
National Spinal Cord Injury Association, United Cerebral
Palsy, and Xavier Society for the Blind.


SOURCE Reading Rights Coalition

(Thanks Jenny W. for sending this. Apparently the protest is right outside her window. It's probably because they know what a print book fanatic you are.)

Someone put a roll of toilet paper in the kitchen because we ran out of paper towels. I went upstairs, and they have a roll of paper towels in the bathroom up there because they ran out of toilet paper.

"The sea anemone dreamed of something, filtering the sea water thru its body..."

-Oppen

Circle Shirt

This is my sister's badass shirt.

Some great books arrived lately written by friends. Areas of Fog, by Joseph Massey, and Futuring, by Mike Sikkema. They are lovely so far, and I recommend staring at them a lot. Areas of Fog is about twice as long but Futuring is wider.

Happy Birthday Lily Brown! History of Poetry

For Lily's 28th birthday, I unveil to the public, "The History of Poetry." Return in 2010 for Section One. That's all we have, so we should probably write some more.

THE HISTORY OF POETRY

Preamble

I need to tell you things. I wish I could sleep. I have a blank wall in my room.
This is the history of all poetry—it begins with one blank wall and continues.
Until three walls are blank. Until there is a bank of walls.
And the walls are the minds blank, filled up, in banks.
On display sort of but only as excerpts of the walls, a light fixture
from the John Donne room, Wallace Stevens window, George Herbert dustpan.

Audio of me reading is up at New Lakes Audio (from Catherine Meng's house in Berkeley, March 2008, Rob Schlegel and Brandon Shimoda recording).

I had some trouble getting it to load on a Mac (could be the horsehair in our walls), but it works on the state's trusty HP.

A bit about those poems:
"Your Face": a re-imagining of events in and outside of Lyon dormitory (they always said it was designed by people who built prisons), Pomona College, 1999.

"Examination of Physical Space in the Notebook" takes place on Haddon Road, Oakland, 2007 and thinks back to Bolivia, sloths, 2001, and "the past."

"The Face Transplant" takes place alone (afraid of dogs, whistling to ward off mountain lions) and with Lily Brown on the ridge trail in the Redwood Preserve in the Oakland Hills, October 2006, after I had started my very real job.

My chapbook Untoward, released in December 2007, was reviewed by Cristin Bishara at Xantippe . Xantippe is now an electronic outpost and mostly does reviews. I may have another chapbook coming out soon...

the sun is shining straight onto my eyes to burn up my corneas

I am going to have some Spanish translations of poems by Graham Foust along with the originals from As in Every Deafness in the upcoming issue of Mandorla . If you click there now, you will not see anything that confirms what I say. Mandorla has been around since 1991!

Go to Oakland

Don't miss this reading for all your sickness or mine.

Studio One March 6

Joe Massey
Jared Stanley
Donna de la Perriere
video from Tommy Busch

365 45th St.
in a big new or redone building in Oakland
Friday
7:30 PM

This is your chance to catch Joe Massey reading outside of Arcata, to catch Jared Stanley reading outside of Merced. So much poetry in various yards in California to catch.

Futuring

I am behind. But I'm expurgating the past and so excited to tell you about Mike Sikkema's full-length book Futuring just out from BlazeVOX. Mike, I miss you and your poems, and I fear the future, and it's raining, and I love Celia from a cell phone camera of the past. Read Mike's book. You can totally look inside it on Amazon, but that's not enough.

Mrs. Maybe #2

It's very lovely like bananas and includes poems by

Bill Luoma, Alli Warren, Sawako Nakayasu, Catherine Meng, Elisabeth Beasley, James Shea, Logan Ryan Smith, Daniel Ostmann,Cynthia Sailers, Joseph Massey & Jess Mynes, Genevieve Kaplan, Erin Morrill, Brandon Shimoda, Andrew Kenower, Dorothea Lasky, Christopher DeWeese, Trevor Calvert, Claire Becker, Jessica Baron, Nathan Hoks

and letters to Mrs. Maybe and my longest or second-longest poem.

Seven bucks.

Photo by Lauren Levin & Tony Valadez

I'm not going to AWP! I will miss you friends. There's a pillow fight or something I need to attend.

Love,
CB

There's a lovely new issue of my favorite, Octopus Magazine .

National Reading “2666” Month

a blog at www.newyorker.com

I better hurry and finish. National Flight of the Conchords watching month's pretty good too.

I can edit Word documents on my phone.

Visit Andrea and Patrick's badass Etsy shop . They will take your handwriting and turn it into a usable font for a very small price!

Do you find your handwriting useful or distracting? I'm growing more attached.

Animals Make Us Human

Temple Grandin

Oakland - BART Police Officer Faces Murder Charge

New Year, I Resolve

to learn about money, large and small.
to write more, re-see more.
to be less social.

I have been successful with past resolutions. I changed cities in 2008 (February) and rode a bike (April). 2008: more meetings on the street, more windswept. I had foot surgery, was destroyed, and I recovered. Different. Learning to be windswept and old. I was “more social” in 2007. 2006: probably poetry. 2005: too young to care.

"The tombstone of Roland Burris, age seventy-one, carries the Illinois state seal and is etched with the words “Trail Blazer,” along with a list of positions held (first African-American Illinois attorney general and state comptroller) and an adjacent stone ranking “Other Major Accomplishments.”"

Old with You

by Lily Brown
Kitchen Press