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"There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money either." ~
Robert Graves



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

DANCING ON MARS

I haven't mentioned my book on the poetry blog, and I really should.  Some of my poems are in it.

None of the poems were written specifically for the book; in fact, I hadn't planned to include my own poems at all.  It just—happened.  I won't go into the long and winding story about seeking permission to use other people's poems and finally giving up.  Now it seems my own poems were meant to be in there; they're a good "fit."

 Selected poems, written over the past thirty years, have been placed in related text in this memoir/exploration.  They amplify what's said with the prose, sharpen and distill it. At least I hope that's what they do.

 Dancing on Mars opens and closes with a poem.  The first, "The Reluctant Thespian" was written very early in my poem-making life, in the mid-1970's.  The last poem in the book, "Dream Yourself," was written while I was writing the book, but with no thought of including it.  It just— happened.

With "Dream Yourself" I had challenged myself to get more comfortable with fantasy and allow my imagination to have its way.   Far too reality-based, I wanted to broaden my scope of themes and images.  I like to believe that particular poem points to "growth," but mostly it was just fun to write.

It's my hope that the accessibility of the poems will convert any poetryphobes out there.  Maybe it will show readers that poetry isn't about dissecting a poem or "getting" what the poet intended to say.  Very often this poet isn't at all sure what she intends to say herself!  What matters is what the reader gets from experiencing a poem.

I invite you to check out the book trailer my generous, talented, and very busy son created for Dancing on Mars.  Here's the link:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UV4YjoQ9ksw&feature=youtu.be   If you like it, there's a place to indicate that next to the video; you can also leave a comment.

The book, published by All Things That Matter Press,  will launch this spring —I'm thinking fairly early this spring, sometime after the sap begins to rise and before butter melts on the table in the South Carolina Lowcountry.  Stay tuned, y'all!

Welcome back to PBS, Bill Moyers

One of my favorites, Moyers has a new show on Sunday mornings—at ten EST in my neck of the woods.  I believe Sunday, February 19 was the show's debut, and I was lucky to see it.   Why am I posting this on the poetry blog?  Because Bill Moyers is a lover of, and advocate for, poetry.

This past Sunday Rita Dove (two-term Poet Laureate of the United States) was one of his guests, and what a delightful visit they had.  The joy they were experiencing (as they read from the anthology of 20th Century American Poetry Dove recently edited) beamed its way to me.  I was positively "floating" when the show ended.

He will have non-poets as guests, too.  I'm sure all will be interesting; Moyers himself is interesting. He's someone I can count on to be fair, honest, intelligent and accurate in his presentations.

Next week the editor of Poetry Magazine will be a guest.  I will abandon my usual political talk shows for that hour.  No doubt I will feel far better after this PBS offering than after the Sunday morning network shows.

Thank you for coming back, Bill.