Good
Morning! It's Monday again. Welcome new subscribers.
And here
is the APAL Poets Guide:
1.
Tuesday, May 19 - Ruta Maya, still at 4th and Lavaca, APAL open mic,
hosted by Sara Sutterfield Winn.This week's feature: Mark Maslow 6:30
to 8 pm. 479-0597
2.
Tuesday, May 19 - Electric Lounge Slam. 302 Bowie. Hosted by Mike
Henry. $50 to winner. Still time to qualify for the Austin Slam Team.
Two more chances to qualify for the Slam Off. 476-FUSE.
3.
Wednesday, May 20 - Movements Gallery 211 E. 6th St. BYOB Blast Your
Own Breath, 9 - 10:30 p.m. Tammy Gomez hosts. 441-POET or
tejana.tongue_at_mail.utexas.edu
4.
Thursday, May 21 - Poesia Y Sur at Mexi-Carte Museum, 7 pm. Sue
Littleton, Miriam Balboa de Echeverria and Thom the World Poet will
read in Spanish and English from the works of the Nobel prize winner
Mexican poet Octavio Paz (1914-1998). 416-7435.
5.
Saturday, May 23 - Mitchie's Fine Black Art, 5312 Airport Bldv. Open
mic, 4-6pm. For more info, contact rick.green_at_ourclub.com
6.
Saturday, May 23 - Saturday Night Live Poetry, at Quackenbush's, 2120
Guadalupe. APAL open mike, 7:30 pm. Featured poet is Neil Meili. John
Hawk hosts. 479-0597.
7. Monday,
May 25 –Conjunto Festival at Resistencia Bookstore!!!!!!!!!!
Memorial
Day, 4-8 p.m.2210-B South First St. between Live Oak and Oltorf.
phone
416-8885; fax 416-0944
8.
Tuesday, May 26 - Ruta Maya Coffee House at 4th and Lavaca. APAL
open mic. 6:30 to 8. Sara Sutterfield Winn hosts.
9.
Tuesday, May 26 - Electric Lounge Slam, sign up before 9 pm.
Genevieve Van Cleve hosts. Last chance to qualify for the Austin City
Slam. $50 to winner. 476-FUSE.
10.
Wednesday, May 27 - Movements Gallery 211 E. 6th St. BYOB Blast Your
Own Breath, 9 - 10:30 p.m. Tammy Gomez hosts. 441-POET or
tejana.tongue_at_mail.utexas.edu
11.
Thursday, May 28 - Austin City Slam at the Electric Lounge, 302
Bowie. Where the 4 1998 Austin Slam Team members will be decided!
452-FUSE
12.
Saturday, May 30 - Saturday Night Live Poetry at Quackenbush's, 2120
Guadalupe. APAL open mic, sign up at 7:30 pm. Hosted by John Louis
Hawk. Featured poet is the lovely Linda Levitt. 479-0597
Featured
Poems:
1. She
ain't no Okie from Muskogee, folks. Heather Moody resides in Norman,
Okla.
REARRANGING
THE ICONS
©1998
hkmoody
Spending
time on my own
Trying to
remember what makes me
Whole
Trying to
remember why
I'm
spending time on my own…
People
pass through lives
Somewhat
illogically linear
Maybe it'd
be better if we just took it
In order
From least
important
To most
Wish I
could rearrange
The icons
Life
memories
Blended
like organic fruit
Trying to
find some harmony
Between
orange
And apple
And ginger
root
Maybe
throw in some beet
For color
And maybe
I'll beat my way down
Alleys and
parkways
Between
wrong-way signs
And over
an infamous grassy knoll
Pluck a
plum
From the
forbidden garden
A sinner's
vice
This need
to hear my own voice
Rise above
Untimely
deaths of children
And
bigotry found no further than my own
back door
this need
to mingle in allegro's
and pound
out symphonies
in the
grinding of my teeth
playing
lead roles
in
never-ending scenes
of
Shakespearean Tragedy
wish I
could rearrange
the icons
make first
one last
and last
one first
arrange in
descending order
or by size
maybe
alphabetically
so that
sad wouldn't go next to sad
and empty
would directly proceed exploding with color…
2. Jessie
Payne lives in Kansas City, Kansas. I really liked this poem
Ghost
Ghost you,
Ghost me,
You think
I am blind,
Yet I see.
I see your
ghost,
How you
hide,
Using it
as,
A
shadow...
All I want
to know....
Is how?
How can
you be,
A ghost...
Towards
me?
©
1998 Jessica Payne
Announcements
1. APAL
free poetry workshops are held every Sunday at Quackenbush's, 2 pm,
conducted by John Hawk. Bring 10 copies of a poem for critiquing.
479-0597
2. FROM
Texas Nafas Poetry Show (ACAC cable channel 10, Sundays at 9 p.m.)
Contact
Farid Mohammadi, Producer 326-4071 or Laura Baker 445-5954
E-mail: poetry10_at_juno.com
(Note:
Each show runs for one month.)
The
Sunday, May 24th Texas Nafas Poetry show features Poesie y Sur
(Poetry
from the South). Watch and listen as if to the sound of swans
gliding as
Austin literary artists read with quiet eloquence the works of
Octavio
Paz, Neruda, Lourca and others. Regions of the heart pronounced
and heard
by hosts Sue Littleton, Thom the World Poet and a gallery of
lovers of
the various rhythms found in South American poetry.
This is
not a show to be missed. Tune in to Texas Nafas on Sunday's at
9:00 p.m.
on ACAC cable channel 10.
Begun in
the spring of 1996, during the Austin International Poetry
Festival
by Producer, Farid Mohammadi, Texas Nafas is now beginning its
second
season. With the enthusiastic support from all poetry fronts, this
show
brings to viewers what has been unheard and unseen by most. Poetry,
the
spirit's whim and cry, can be seen and heard on Sundays at 9:00 p.m.
on ACAC
cable channel 10.
(Texas
Nafas needs persons interested in filming or video editing to join
in helping
to produce this fantastic show! Please call the number above
and ask
for Farid.)
3. From
Carol Cullar in El Paso:
La
Frontera, an anthology of code switching, seeks manuscripts from
poets who
code switch English/Spanish for a 300pp. collection of
cutting
edge bilingual poets. Send 6-8 poems, publication record, and
brief
statement about your commitment to code switching. or SASE for
guidelines to Carol Cullar, Editor, The Maverick Press, Rt. 2 Box
4915,
Eagle Pass TX 78852-9605.
ps.you
might wish to announce that Michelle Ben Hur (CA), one of the
performers that attended the Austin Poetry Fest is one of the
featured
poets on
Rick Lupert's Poetry Hotline. (http://www.loop.com/~rickpoet)
4. Nap
Jam 2 update. Here is a complete list of Texas poets going to Las
Vegas in September for Nap Jam 2:
Linda
Levitt, Mark Maslow, Stazja McFadyen, Karyna McGlynn, Neil Meili,
Debbie Tannenbaum, Sara Sutterfield Winn, Thom the World Poet
This looks
to be a hellacious Texas contingency, and there's still room for
more.
For more
information, e mail me at stazja_at_aol.com or bowerbird_at_aol.com
5. Recap
of last week's poetic happenings:
***Ruta
Maya rocked Tuesday night, with Sara and Maslow hosting, and Gilbert
Garcia featuring*** Followed by slam at Electric Lounge, where a rare
perfect 30.0 was scored in the second round by Florida poet Al, who
won the big bucks.*** ***Tammy Gomez featured at Ebony Sun Java
House on Thursday, and gave us a wallop of truth-in-poetry***Saturday
Night Live Poetry at Quack's went till closing time***AIPF party on
Sunday followed board meeting; lots of worthwhile suggestions for
improving the festival, and good reads by some good poets. Especially
nice to see Christina!***
How about
that, folks? I'm done!
Anyone
wanting off the mailing list, e mail me. Thanks to all who are
supporting the newsletter with announcements, poem submissions,
subscriber referrals and encouragement.
Until next
week, I remain
Stazja
Subj: Re:
austin poets at large #28
Date: 98-05-18
05:25:52 EDT
From: trww_at_bigfoot.com
(walker)
To: Stazja_at_aol.com
(Stazja)
Hi Stazja,
haven't had much contact with the Austin poets in a while, so here's
a
poem for
your perusal and possible inclusion in your newsletter.
The rain
burned my eyes out this morning
You know,
walking in dull mist
Has a way
of twisting your arm behind your back
Taking you
down the straight road
Never
looking back
Or even
seeing diverging paths
The rain
burned my eyes out
And no
more tears
No more
sweet cries in fresh daylight
I'll never
leave this road
Never turn
down a tenuous trail
A fresh
mystery dissolves like vaporous dreams
Leaving
the rut of existence
In a place
where thousands of souls
Walk arm
in arm
There are
no pot-holes
I never
fear tripping again
The rain
burned my eyes out
Empty
sockets for new orbs
An image
superimposed
Of
unchanging static
Tears my
dignity to shreds
A fierce
wind cuts through the dark
And only
blind creatures sprouting sails
Are
carried away.
Walker
--not a
particularly happy one, but hey they can't ALL be.
Huge hairy
greetings from Walker, Shana and baby-Kenzie to all Austin folks! We
miss you!
--------------------
Hi Stazja,
haven't had much contact with the Austin poets in a while, so
here's a
poem for your perusal and possible inclusion in your newsletter.
The rain
burned my eyes out this morning
You know,
walking in dull mist
Has a way
of twisting your arm behind your back
Taking you
down the straight road
Never
looking back
Or even
seeing diverging paths
The rain
burned my eyes out
And no
more tears
No more
sweet cries in fresh daylight
I'll never
leave this road
Never turn
down a tenuous trail
A fresh
mystery dissolves like vaporous dreams
Leaving
the rut of existence
In a place
where thousands of souls
Walk arm
in arm
There are
no pot-holes
I never
fear tripping again
The rain
burned my eyes out
Empty
sockets for new orbs
An image
superimposed
Of
unchanging static
Tears my
dignity to shreds
A fierce
wind cuts through the dark
And only
blind creatures sprouting sails
Are
carried away.
Walker
--not a
particularly happy one, but hey they can't ALL be.
Huge hairy
greetings from Walker, Shana and baby-Kenzie to all Austin
folks! We
miss you!
 
Subj: Re:
austin poets at large #28
Date: 98-05-18
06:48:59 EDT
From: Soultender
To: Stazja
(((((((((((((Stazja)))))))))))))))))))))
You seem
tired still******************************
Perk up
angel..
Love to
you. laura***
Subj: Re:
seeking human impersonators
Date: 98-05-18
08:20:19 EDT
From: TigerIily
To: Stazja
morning
stazja,
my, my
that is a sharp piece ... quite an edge and some great lines ... such
as the soap opera lines ... and my favorite of favorites ... stepping
in puddles of candlewax people ... really blasts. yanno i could
almost hear that piece coming after talking with you yesterday.
and the
newsletter is great ... nice to see heather's poetry there too. and
all the poets going to the slam in september ... you've helped to
waken poetry to a new level there staz ...
back to
work on thesis today ... didn't do much on it at all yesterday ...
and no time to tarry.
hope it is
a very good one for you ... perhaps will see you later.
lily*