Having fun with this one.
death cafés
A new phenomenon. But spreading. You could even host your own.
(Hat tip Hannah Stephenson, who mentioned death cafés in commenting just below on my latest videopoem, mrs death. More in this NPR piece.)
‘mrs death’
I don’t remember thinking about death one way or another when I was a child, so I have been surprised and curious about my sons’ attitudes toward death. When my older son was about seven, he developed a complete obsession with death and was forever making me take him to cemeteries all over the place. He eventually grew out of it. My younger son, now 12, seems by contrast to have a nonchalant, matter of fact and almost buddy-ish approach to the idea of death. Still working this one out, but this little piece recently showed up in the process:
‘mine, the great spread of wings’
Got an idea for a project from this post, involving Helen in Egypt.
In other news, I was lucky enough to be interviewed by Erica Goss at Connotation Press, on videopoetry and other matters, right behind the amazing Swoon.
In separate but related news, Swoon and I also just collaborated (with Swoon doing much the heaviest lifting) on a film-poem for Dave Bonta’s latest project. More on the latter soon.
howling wolves x 2
Latest videopoem, one of the poems from Dark and Like A Web, using some of Flute Ninja’s wonderful music again, and continuing my obsession with space imagery – the ones here are from the Hubble site.
This lucky poem was also envideoed by the amazing Swoon way back when – you can watch that version just below. I love Swoon’s vibrant, urban take, especially the dark leitmotif of the solitary figure in silhouette with matching foreboding music.
Easter poem & remembering Paul Stevens
April
I woke from my nap and heard the goldfish
whistling. I got up and pressed my face
to the glass: Goldfish,
I said. Please stop.
It unpuckered its tiny orange lips
but didn’t stop whistling.
I went outside and a warm blanket
of bees fell upon me.
That’s it, I said,
but the thrumming crept
into my ears like dormice
and you threw a bucket of sun
over me and I became so bright
I closed my eyes.
—
That was my first-ever published poem, accepted in 2006 by Paul Stevens, late editor of the Shit Creek Review, The Chimaera and The Flea, who died last week. Paul had a wonderful sense of humor (check out this last message!) and was a tremendous force-multiplier in the poetry blogosphere. Read an interview with him from Very Like A Whale’s Ten Questions for Poetry Editors series.
RIP, Paul, and thanks for everything.
abiding software lust / ‘the air thundered their song’
I used a trial download version of Adobe After Effects about a year ago to make this text animation, while lusting deeply after the full software. I really really want to do more work with text animation (or kinetic text, as insiders seem to call it), but no other program comes anywhere close to Adobe After Effects. A year ago, it cost $1,000, now it only costs $722. If I wait long enough, maybe…?
