Map of Austin Poetry #294-1
Featured Poetry Supplement
Theme: A Time For Every Purpose

Upcoming themes:

#294-2 What The Blind Man Saw
#294-3 Two Shoes/One Sock
#294-4 When The Dew Is On The Pumpkin

Send poems in body of e mail, left justified. No
fancy fonts or colors, please. No attachments. On subject line, note
the issue number and theme. Include permission to publish and
attestation of authorship. Poets retain all rights.

Before the poetry, here are some listings that didn't make it into
the
Austin Poets Guide in the regular MAP:

Friday, November 7 - Austin Poetry Slam hosts the annual TEXAS BOOK
FESTIVAL POETRY SLAM. Join us at Ruta Maya World HQ (3601 S.
Congress), 7:30 - 10 pm. Open slam, hosted by Mike Henry, plus
featured poet Gary Mex Glazner (Santa Fe, NM). Loads of prizes, and
for those poets scoring at home, this slam counts towards qualifying
for the slamoff.

And the 2003 Texas Book Festival is this weekend on the Capitol
grounds. fmi about the entire festival program and guest authors, go
to www.texasbookfestival.org.

POETRY TENT SCHEDULE
Saturday, November 8th

Noon -12:30 p.m.
Welcome and Opening Words

12:30 p.m. -1 p. m.
Thresholds: An Anthology of World Literature from the Heart of Texas
(Pangloss Publishing, Austin, TX) with contributors from the Message
in a Bottle Translators group

1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
Wings Press - with Bryce Milligan, Deborah Paredez, and Robert
Bonazzi (publisher of Latitudes Press)

1:30 p.m.-2 p.m.
River City Youth Foundation Writers - Students of youth mentor and
activist Cecilia Gonzalez Shameca Thompson, Rebecca Medrano, Ramiro
Mancias, and Chris Edwards (aka "Shorti")

2 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Poets of The Rio Review, Austin Community College's literary journal
with Creative Writing Director and Professor Lyman Grant and ACC
students Judith Michaels, Tami Kelly, and Juliette Johnston

2:30 p.m.-3 p.m.
Poet On Watch: The Spoken Word Project with P.O.W. and Firesong (and
Fumi on guitar). A conscious spoken word neo-soul funk/jazz hip-hop
flavor!

3 p.m. -4 p.m.
WOW: Women of Words (Fort Worth/Dallas) with Tammy Gomez, Natasha
Carrizosa, Bronmin Shumway, Samira, Gabriela Lomonaco, Rose Ann
Meredith, and Jessica Marguia

4 p.m.- 4:30 p.m.
Ms. Trapeace (Houston) with Kim Cotton, Maria Palacios, Sally Tawfiq,
Elisa Garza, Lady Pariah, Amy Evans, Courtney Kresha, Maria Chavez
and Teresa Kolo. Join the artist/activist group Ms.Trapeace as they
celebrate their 1-year anniversary with the launch of a new feminist
zine, Pandora's Rant

4:30-5 p.m.
Gary "Mex" Glazner

Sunday, November 9th

11 a.m.- noon
A Poet's Memorial - Remembering Austin photographer and poet Floyd
Freeman, with Dr. Marvin Kimbrough, Patricia Fiske, Larry Alexander,
and others

Noon-1 p.m. Poetry in the Arts - with Carlyn Luke Reding, Glynn
Monroe Irby, Lianne Mercer, Ken Jones, and Barbara Carr

1 p.m.-1:30 p.m.
TBA

1:30 p.m.-2:30 p.m.
Agave Noir Press (Austin) showcase with Michael Vecchio, Bob
Wolfkill, David Moorman, and others

2:30 p.m.-3:30 p.m.
Sun Poets Society of San Antonio with Rod C. Stryker, Elusive, Chris
Theall, Bevin Kerith Shaw, Gabriel Anthony Garza, and Monarch

3:30 p.m.-4 p.m.
Kendall McCook and Paul Foreman and friends.

4-4:30 p.m.
TBA

4:30 p.m. - 5 p.m.
Farewell and Closing Words

And now, the featured poetry. Theme: A Time For Every Purpose.
Selections include:

1. The Wealth I Take With Me by michael levy
2. Personal Responsibility by Pat Watson
3. This Time of Your Life by Ingeborg Carsten-Miller
4. The Garden At The Edge of The Universe by Michael Gullickson

1. The Wealth I Take With Me by Michael Levy

I feel very comfortable
waiting at the station
ticket in hand
after ninety-one years
I am prime and delight
I have a few moments
before my transporter
takes off
taking me home
my mirror reflects onto
birds merrymaking
trees gentle sway in the fresh, cool air
children's laugher
crisp breezes
friendly lucent sun
raindrops on my gloss
melodic melodies of charm
love of experience
joy of being
I will take these reflections with me
Of everything else
I have no need.

© 2003 Michael Levy
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2. Personal Responsibility by Pat Watson

No mea culpa; I can prove exculpa.
Yellow cake? Not my mistake.
CIA didn't say no.
In my speech--it was a go.

Only 16 words little Condi defended.
But Joe Wilson that story upended.
Then Novak did further the leak.
Just what the White House did seek.

Mission accomplished, the banner read.
Six months later: hundreds more wounded and dead.
The PR folks tried to explain.
The Navy wanted that message--don't you complain.

Planned and paid for with White House funds.
G.W. insists with a dismissive tone,
"An over-exuberant advance man made that sign."
So, who's the one we should malign?

© 2003 Pat Watson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3. This Time of Your Life by Ingeborg Carsten-Miller

What do you expect
of this time
of your life?

Not much
to change -
not much
to improve -

There comes a time
when you don't want
to know what's
behind those doors.

Your door is open now
and you have come
to just close it!

© 2003 Ingeborg Carsten-Miller
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
4. The Garden At The Edge of The Universe by Michael Gullickson

"To touch my person to someone else's is about as much as I can
stand. "
SONG OF MYSELF Walt Whitman

Here, take my hand ( I am overwhelmed by you)
and we will sit on a bench in the garden
and talk of the universe, the insistent demands of Fall
our part in it all.

There is still time -
the bombs have not fallen here
the air is just safe enough to breathe,
the forest fires are out west
no one knows if they were accident
or an act of anger.

We must talk about SEXUAL HUNGER
the needs that must be met.
We will not lie to each other
we will lie together,
in the garden at the edge of the universe.

There is only one purpose that matters
to live love-
to give love-
to be love -
to realize we are all cells of the same body
aching to reunite.

Here, now take my hand
let me show you ...
what I mean.

© 2003 Mike Gullickson
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Grateful thanks to all who contributed.

Welcome new readers.

Anyone wanting off the mailing list, e me

The MAP and featured poetry supplements are posted online at:

Austin Metro: www.austinmetro.com/poetpage.html
groups.yahoo.com/group/mapofaustinpoetry
www.aipf.org

Much love,
Stazja