Cover of my new collection, Medusa's Country

So excited to share the cover of my new poetry collection, Medusa's Country! Cover art is by Robert Hunt and cover design is by Marc Vincenz. The book, from MadHat Press, launches at AWP17!

LATE SUMMER POEM

You must have seen it, at a crepuscule shore;   

It strikes as lightning does, trembling the sky,     

with summer rose and lilacs calling "more,"  

and the flash of white egrets as they fly.     

You must have heard it, crickets in the dusk,  

the flap of water on smooth stone and bark,  

the sound of a lone loon in the summer musk,  

the breath of your lover as she speaks in the dark.       

Self-centered, we cannot see God in ourselves,   

and in others we too often miss the divine;  

in nature, not ours, we sense eternal lives   

for a moment alive in our chattering minds.   

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September is National Translation Month

The fascists are winning

The fascists are winning because I am losing my sense of humor. They are here to stay, past the election in November, which Trump will claim was rigged. Trump will say he won by a landslide and call for revolution, as he did when Romney lost. All the armed militia, Klan, Nazi, and the 72% of Republicans who doubt Obama was born in the United States will answer his call. But until then, I can imagine Trump and Sarah Palin having a discussion about geopolitics, and smile, a little

The Mythology of Donald Trump

In his book Mythologies, Roland Barthes examined the ways in which modern society creates myths about its experience. Using semiotics, he wrote of the atmosphere of disorder a stray lock of Calpurnia's hair creates in Joseph L. Mankiewicz's Julius Caesar and how writers on holiday are thought never to stop writing.
The mythology of Donald Trump is that his presidential campaign is a reality show that will be promptly canceled in November. Statements that threaten violence, like his suborning assassination this week, are part of an entertainment, like The Trumpanos or The Walking Trump or Game of Trump. Scary, yes, but contained. He'll just retire after the election, we --- kinda -- think. And give up the media attention, the crowds? Think of Trump's red face as he mocks and smears and threatens. No, in this show, the best, or worst, is yet to come

Pre-publication review of Medusa's Country from The Daily Art Source

Daily Art Source review of Medusa's Country

In memoriam Tamara Shanahan, 8/7/48 - 12/27/13

Happy birthday, my sister Tamara, my most loyal reader.

Death of a Reader

Madhat Press to publish my poetry collection, Medusa's Country

I'm thrilled to announce that Madhat Press will publish my third full-length poetry collection, Medusa's County. Thanks to Marc Vincenz and Mad Hatters everywhere!

Sympathy for the Devil

Trump Agonistes? No, not really. I doubt that this embodiment of classic narcissistic personality disorder has anything remotely like inner struggles. All the room in his small soul is taken up by resentments and racism and rows large and small.
Friends, you know I am no fan of Trump. I have lost no opportunity to point out where he is wrong, and I consider him wrong in everything. But now, seeing him as mentally ill, I feel sorry for him. He is a rattlesnake, an unempathetic and vicious man, but a sick one, a tragic one. However, and forever, ‪#‎neverTrump‬, ‪#‎neverthislostsoul‬

Trump and Media Addiction

The reason Facebook and Twitter are addictive is that they operate on variable reward schedules. Sometimes you get 10 Likes, sometimes 100, sometimes none. Rats will run mazes much faster when rewarded variably than when consistently rewarded. Gambling, guys that don't call when they say they will, social media all trigger the addictive response. And Trump is an active addict of outsized proportions with the impulse control of a gnat. Imagine him at work? Yes, another reason ‪#‎neverTrump‬.