Versifying

The BABBLE Continues: An Open Thread

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by Gary Farber. This is a variant of this post. Per previous announcement: The ObWi Bay Area Bloggers Bullsh*t League of Earth = ObBABBLE's second meeting is announced. WHO: This is an open gathering; anyone reading this is invited.  In actuality, the main connector is that I can get you to read this.  You are … Read more

ObBABBLE

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by Gary Farber The ObWi Bay Area Bloggers & Bullsh*t League of Earth = ObBABBLE's first meeting is proto-organized and is hereby announced.  Name likely to change, as is everything else.  Frequency to start will be monthly, but subject to further detail and change; possibilities of every other weekend subgroups may occur, or may not. … Read more

Camilla and Charles Commemoration Contest

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–Edward hilzoy has led the charge in highlighting that it’s Poetry Month with great posts here, here, here, and here, but I couldn’t resist this gem in today’s New York Times: How do you solve a problem like "Camilla"? If you are Andrew Motion, Britain’s poet laureate and the man charged with producing a cheerful … Read more

Erin go Bra-less: A Limerick Slam

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Just keep them this side of XXX, ‘kay? By jeepers, St. Pat’s Day’s is here And all along Fifth there’s great cheer But I’d trade all that charm Hell, I’d give my right arm For a nice pint of green-dye-free beer. Although, a free print of green-dye beer would do, as well, I suppose.

Blizzard Poetry Open Thread

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The Sunday morning pundit programs are all being pre-empted by really boring blizzard coverage (how many different frozen reporters standing before an empty street  with snow blowing around in the background do we need to see to understand it’s cold outside?). So consider this a versifying open thread. Share your favorite, share your own, or send photos of the view outside your window.

Here’s a piece I read a while ago and couldn’t get out of my head:

A Poem That I Wrote in a High Fever

You who are lengthening your lives
with the best doctors and the best medicines
remember those who are shortening their lives
with the wars
that you in your long lives are not
preventing.

You who are again screwing
the younger generations
and winking at each other
the winking of you eyelids
is like the chill of the swinging shutters
in an empty house.

–Yehuda Amichai
(Translated, from the Hebrew, by Leon Wieseltier.)

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Two thougts.

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1. The Shins’ latest is a good hear. Incidently, does anyone have any good indy hip-hop? At present, my tastes have mellowed to jazz-hop — yet, I’m stuck somewhere in the mid-90s. (And please don’t suggest Jurrasic 5; they try to hard for my liking.)* 2. Is there any desire among the the readership to … Read more

Oh, just admit it: lighter blogging for me.

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Nothing earthshattering: I’ve got a creative deadline* looming, non-blogging creative work piling up – and to be honest most of my posts this week have been a bit of a stretch anyway. I’ll no doubt be caught up by the weekend. Moe *Commemorative poem for my old SCA Barony. I was expecting it to be … Read more