another little scrap

No deer on the road tonight.

Just the moon, cruel-lit diamond
on my periphery,
cliche forever,
still good company. . .

scrap yard

candles stored sideways in mason jars

a day in drowsed, pale light

laid, walled in, contractually crippled

a daughter full of charnel, burned paintings

a look is but a street listening to the conquering lie

Irakli Chiqovani

‘Woman’

http://iraklichiqovani.deviantart.com/

Summertime

Alexey Titarenko

SPD ‘All Words Misspelled’ Poetry Contest

Details right here.

What a fun little contest idea. I couldn’t resist writing something up real quick to send. It’s an interesting exercise in breaking language, forcibly, word by word.

My submission:

Jabberwoque

Toow splee, toow fley, toow nevvar  haf toow
explayn, toow moov, toow sie, toow allwheys
moov tword mee ehn mye aked gudebie.

Ie kyeep tearning awf yoor myusik,

yoo juhst kyeep awn dannceeng.

Review: David Foster Wallace’s ‘This Is Water’

This Is Water: Some Thoughts, Delivered on a Significant Occasion, about Living a Compassionate Life by David Foster Wallace

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I feel like an exception to the rule in that this is actually the first of DFW’s ‘works’ that I ever read, and what spurred me on to the reading of his books.

Re-reading it in this new ‘book’, it’s even more haunting than that initial read was. Being more familiar with David Foster Wallace through his other writing as well as reading / watching various interviews allows me I feel to say just how much of him comes out in this commencement speech. I think he both hints and expounds on various parts of his genuine self, from what allowed him to drive in some days as well as what broke him down on others, and I won’t even touch on the various (now haunting) references to suicide.

I think what he has to say about education as well as empathy are simple yet brutally honest, and I’m not sure there’s any better advice that could be offered to new graduates (or anyone, really, for what matter) than what he imparts.

“This is water.” The simplicity is what it makes it so hard to grasp for any length of time. Beautiful, honest, brilliant, a bit broken…so very much DFW is almost hurts to read at times.

I know some people have qualms with the format; I have to say personally it didn’t bother me that much, except for a couple of times where only ‘And so on.” is repeated on a few pages and could have been held on the opposing page, etc. While probably doomed / somewhat targeted for the yearly ‘For Graduates!’ book pile at your local chain book barn, I think Wallace’s unique approach in this commencement speech will allow a special place for this work for many years to come.

I don’t care that it’s freely available online. It’s worth the money. It’s a beautiful, clean little book with a lot of incredible things to say.

View all my reviews.

Crowd by Marek Denko

* * *

(inspired by the above work)

Move with your blind crowd
Etch all of your own splinters
Forget all my words

Graphic Novel Review: ‘Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse’ vol. 1

Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse: Birds, Bees, Blood & Beer by Ben Templesmith

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
The story elements (plot, characters, dialogue, etc.) are very solid, often brilliantly funny yet never quite ‘comical’ to the point of being, in a sense, comfortable (which is a great thing, a hard thing to manage).

The art is absolutely on another level — worth 50 more stars and then some. As cliche as it is to say, it really must be seen to be properly experienced or even remotely understood.

Wormwood very much feels like a kind of bastard child (stated in the most complimentary sense) between Neil Gaiman’s Sandman series and Transmetropolitan by Warren Ellis. I mean this in both aesthetic and literary senses. There seems to be a certain black, dry wit that these guys (Gaiman, Ellis, Templesmith) manage to pull off that is rare; it almost feels like a kind of grotesque (again, this is admirable), evolved version of what most people think of when thinking of ‘British humo(u)r’.

That all said, this is a gorgeous and absolutely visceral graphic novel. I’d never hope or think that the likes of Gaiman and Ellis are ‘done’ in this genre, far from it, but if Templesmith represents something of a new generation, we’re in good (decaying) hands.

I’m admittedly naive about how the graphic novel industry works, but these seems like a series just begging to get picked up by a major brand, specifically DC’s Vertigo imprint.

View all my reviews.

Upcoming Events This Week: Not to Miss!

On Wednesday, March 4th, Lily Hoang will be giving a reading from her new novel, Changing, which I reviewed in my last post. The reading is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at the Hammes Bookstore on the University of Notre Dame campus. The book is very good and Lily is a wonderful reader, so this certainly isn’t one to miss. You find information on all of Notre Dame’s upcoming Creative Writing events here.

On Thursday, March 5th, the immensely talented poet Ashley Capps will be reading, I believe, from her book Mistaking the Sea for Green Fields. The reading is scheduled for 7 p.m. in the 3rd-floor “Bridge” of Wiekamp Hall on the campus of IU South Bend. A book signing and reception are to follow. I can honestly say this is one of the better books of poetry I’ve read recently, and couldn’t be more excited to have Ashley come for the reading.

Afterward, a more informal group ‘thing’ shall be had as all are welcome to follow to The Oaken Bucket, a very short distance from the IU South Bend campus. Be sure to keep your eye on the IU South Bend Creative Writing blog for further details and future announcements.

Both readings are free and open to the public.

Also, if anyone is interested I’ve got a couple people interested in going to see Slumdog Millionaire at the Debartolo Performing Arts Center on the Notre Dame campus on Saturday. They have showings at 6:30 and 9:30 p.m. If you’re interested leave me a comment or an e-mail — anyone is welcome to join us. I believe tickets are only $3 for all students. The Debartolo website has a ton of information on other events going on right now.

If I manage to finish reading Watchmen by Saturday then I’ll probably try and go see that well; again, if you’re interesting in coming along, let me know!