from a former student, miche

It is nice when they let you know!

good afternoon, professor

i want to let you
know that this
past thursday i received notice
that pinball publishing's literary magazine: eye~rhyme: a journal of experimetal literature accepted
three of my poems, which they will
publish in their next issue: Issue #6...

also thank you very much
for thinking of me, concerning
grad school, however, as of now
i'm planning on spending some
months in Cannes, France
beginning in April, after
i return i would greatly appreciate
your help and advice
as i choose and search
for a university...

have you heard of eye~rhyme?
it seems independently awesome and original...
www.pinballpublishing.com

regards, miche

my other blog, so why is this so addicting?

http://secretasianman.motime.com/1075015116

jello soothes the soul

It has to be soft and cool to the tongue.

so the pain is a stain

Last friday I had my lower left wisdom tooth wound looked at again to see if the current jaw infection was not caused by the previous extraction that was done in October. Well, the wound looked perfectly healed and the surgery was not necessary afterall. Why go through all this pain again? I hate dentists, jaw surgeons, ondodontists, the whole lot of them!

On a more pleasant note, Dorianne left early yesterday morning but I was not able to see her off because I was drugged out and in bed trying to recover from oral surgery. Denise drove her to the airport. I'm still on a liquid diet for now. Nausea, dizzyness, fuzzy logic. Short sentences. Hmmm.

I see that I still have to sign my MELUS contract for my piece with Evelina Galang. Melus, shmelus. Only now they care to focus attention on Filipino American literature. Where were they in the 80's and 90's when we were publishing like crazy with Jessica Hagedorn, Ben Santos, and Ninotchka Rosca? So, MELUS volume 29, Issue 1 (Spring 2004) is slated as the Special Filipino American Literature issue. Melus come lately.

What Dorianne Laux eats for breakfast.

Last wednesday I made her spanish scrambled eggs and bacon. Just add some chopped up spanish olives. Thursday morning all she wanted was a bagel and cream cheese. This friday morning it's coffee and cigarettes as she and Denise gab on the sun-drenched balcony. Dorianne's reading last night at Florida International University was just fabulous. She read new poems which will appear in her next book. Lots of the audience cried because of the beauty and power of these poems. I liked the poems she wrote about her husband, Joe who is also a poet. (hmm, another poet who writes unabashedly about her husband).

New Look, how's this?

Yay or nay?

another blurb comes in, yay!

The spirits of Lorca, the gypsies who inspired him, and the great poets
of al-Andalus preside over Nick Carbó’s Andalusian Dawn. These poems
are filled with a voluble silence in which we hear the “cricket-sound
dark” and see “millions of fireflies/ burning in rows and rows between
us.” Carbó’s poems, like his predecessors’ are conflagrations made of
music and image.
--Michael Collier, editor of The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology

what does a neutrino look like?

neutrino

Beth again!

Hope you had a great relaxing long weekend. I read your recent blog zone. I feel like a complete geek as I know nothing about blogging. Now I have been launched into a mysterious alternate plane and will not rest until I know more. I can recite VH1's eighties flashback by heart so I guess I need to spend more time in cyberspace.
But first-
Going back to a few previous questions for clarity:

Regarding question 13) What did you like most about states and what did you like least?
Sorry to hear about the diabetes. I too have had to give up sugar and it sucked for a long time. And why does the sugar industry come up with new really cool junk food after I give up the stuff? Like - the Oreo Uh- Oh's or White Chocolate Reece's cups- although that doesn't sound so appealing when I think about it.
Anyway, you never mentioned what you liked least about the states. Was there anything you disliked and if so, what?
Back to question 16) regarding blogging. What is blogging for those that only know how to use their word processing programs on their computers? Whyis it freeing? Why do you think it is or will be a new genre of literary cyberspace?
Also, do you think neutrinos effect the blogging experience? If so what kind? Electron, Muon, or Tau?
New question- If you could be a neutrino which kind would you be and why? And with this secret power to fall through anything what would you most like to fall through?
Regarding question 19) I understand "El Grupo McDonald's" is a poem in El Grupo McDonald's , but why do titles for books seem to always come from a poem in a book? Is it tradition, a rule, or just easier?
Question 21)
What authors are you currently reading?
22) Who are your favorite three authors and why?
23) If you could go back in time and talk to an author ( who is now deceased) who would that be and what would you ask him/her?
24) Do you think good poems have phermones?
25) With regard to blogging again: If Mr. Bean had a blog site what would an entry look like?
25) I saw that you have a new book book coming out: Andalusian Dawn.
When is it coming out? Can we please see a poem from it yet?
26) Where is your favorite Sushi and Thai place to eat in Miami? (ok- Ihappen to love sushi and Thai food, but am still on the look out for a great place. The only Thai restaurant I really like is in Pinecrest. I now live in North Miami, so I am looking. Any suggestions? )
27) Where did the term Blog originate?
28) Do you prefer Mac or PC? Why?
29) If you could be a jellybean (sugar free of course) what flavor jellybean would you be and why?
30) Do you believe prosody is necessary to the novice writer and why? Which book on prosody to like the most?
31) How do you feel about the prose poem?
32) What are three words you least like to see in a poem?
33) What are three words you have never used, but would like to use in a poem?
34) I like how you use tagalog, spanish, and english in poems simultaneously. Do you also translate poets? Are there poets that only write in tagalog that you would like to translate? If so, who would you like to translate?
Ok- there's a few questions for now. I so enjoy this and appreciate your time Mr. Carbo. Thank you.

Gratefully,
Beth Miller

I enjoy poetry surveys.

For our special poetry issue, answer the following as briefly as possible:

1. Three or four books of poetry you have recently read and enjoyed (author, title, and ISBN if you have it). Do not describe the book.
2. What recent trends in American poetry do you find troubling or worrisome?
3. What are recent developments in American poetry that excite you?

Please respond by January 26th.

Ray Gonzalez
Poetry Editor
The Bloomsbury Review

cleaning the condo

Denise & I have mopped, dusted, polished, vacummed the place because our poet friend Dorianne Laux is arriving late tomorrow night for her week of readings and literary gatherings here in SoFla (South Florida). Bought some yellow gladiolas to put in the middle of the dinning table, ingredients for gazpacho which I'll make for wednesday lunch, bottles of perrier and evian, all kinds of bagels and nova lox, and don't forget the cream cheese! Why does it take so much to prepare for guests? We'll probably be taking her out to eat most of the time. Hmmm stone crabs, maybe some Cuban fare, or my favorite sushi & thai.

abcess

has access to that nerve of memory
from when you were left alone

in the swimming pool
in the park near Tawi Tawi hot springs

and nobody came to pick you up
in that root canal dark.

blogs about blogs about blogs

It's rather interesting how word spreads fast among blogers. Looks like I have joined this secret world where you know each other by alternate names, double identities, and passwords. It's like breaking down that fourth wall. What's behind it all:

Friday, January 16, 2004
THE EFFERVESCENT NICK CARBO BLOGS!

at http://carbonator.blogspot.com/
Nick, of course, is my co-conspirator on many things....It all began, if memory serves, with a Filipino American literature panel years ago (and groundbreaking at the time) at the Asia Society in New York City -- with Jessica Hagedorn, Eric Gamalinda, Evelina Galang, Bino Realuyo, Luis Francia (who am I forgetting? Regie Cabico? Eugene Gloria?)....I believe that's when the NPA (wink) was formed....

He's got a new book ANDALUSIAN DAWN coming out...check out his blog for more on him and what promises to be many interesting posts in the future -- what he calls posts "for the effervescent mind"! Meanwhile, here's a poem by Nick (first published in Indiana Review):

Consequences

“...absolve me, even though you are but a stuffed bird.”
--Wislawa Szymborska

I am also your grandmother’s Hungarian silver broach,
your husband’s embroidered handkerchief, your Aunt’s
suede purse from Sofia, your cousin’s parasol
from Venice, your father’s pantaloons from Pantagruel,
your sister’s teacup from Delft, your nephew’s caw,
your nephew who stole until you turned him into a bird.
# posted by EILEEN @ 10:11 AM

From the Blue Kangaroo:

:: Friday, January 16, 2004 ::

Thanks to Chatelaine, I have learned that The Carbonator has arrived in Blogland! You may know him better as the Secret Asian Man.
:: Jean 2:16 PM [+] ::

Books I'm teaching this semester at Columbia College, Chicago

FORMS OF POETRY: Multicultural Traditions (grad)
Course number: 52-5530, sec 10
Number of students: 15

Book(s): 10

Technicians of the Sacred
by Jerome Rothenberg
University of California Press (1985), ISBN 0-520-04912-8 (pbk)

Oyl
by Denise Duhamel and Maureen Seaton
Pearl Editions (2000), ISBN 1-888219-16-5 (pbk)

TRI/VIA
by Michelle Naka Pierce and Veronica Corpuz (pbk)
Erudit Fangs (2003), ISBN 0-9726063-0-0

Reproductions of the Empty Flagpole
by Eileen R. Tabios
Marsh Hawk Press (2002), ISBN 0-9713332-8-9 (pbk)

Cultural Evidence
by Catalina Cariaga
Subpress (1999), ISBN 0-9666303-5-1 (pbk)

Sleeping with the Dictionary
by Harryette Mullen
University of California Press (2002), ISBN 0-520-23143-0 (pbk)

The Unbearable Heart
by Kimiko Hahn
Kaya Production (1997), ISBN 1-885030-01-0 (pbk)

The Obsidian Ranfla
by Anthony R. Vigil
Cleveland State University Poetry Center (1998), ISBN 1-880834-41-3 (pbk)

V Losing L? una
by Stephanie Strickland
Penguin Books (2002), ISBN 0-14-200245-3 (pbk)

Instan
by Cecilia Vicuna
Kelsey St. Press (2002), ISBN 0-932716-50-4 (pbk)

More questions from Beth.

Good morning.

9)If any poet could have been your mother, who would you choose, and why?
10) If any poet could have been your father, who would you choose, and why?
11)I cried through the first two parts of "El Grupo McDonald's." I also
cried through a few poems read at the Miami Dade Book Fair reading of
"Screaming Monkeys." What poem have made you cry?
12) It is an overwhelming idea for me to think in terms of a "book" as
opposed to what poem do I write today. How do you do that? Create a book?
Does the book come first or the poems?
13) When did you first come to the US? What did you like the most about the states? What did you like the least about the states?
14) I am a very insecure novice writer. Were you ever insecure about your writing? If so, does that insecurity ever go away? What advice do you have for writers who are full of self doubt?
15) What is your favorite television show and why?
16) What is your favorite guilty pelasure and why?
17) What was your favorite thing about getting an MFA in creative writing?
What was your least favorite thing about getting a degree in creative
writing?
18) No question here, just a thank you for writing such amazing poetry.I'm having a moment.
19) How did you know to pick the title of "El Grupo McDonald's" for the book "El Grupo McDonald's?"
20) What frustrates you most about teaching poetry? What brings you the most joy in teaching poetry?
Thank you again for doing this interview. I have more questions coming.
Have a wonderful day.

My first blurb to come in, thanks to the amazing poet from Pittsburgh. Yippeeee!

If this were Nick Carbo's first book, we might be praising him as the new Lorca. But anyone who knows his work, knows he's got the best of Lorca and much more in him. Drawn from the deep, deep waters beyond these shores, the poems of Andalusian Dawn reflect his influences, and more importantly, his complete originality. They are a blend of mysticism and tenderness; of passion and quiet. They demonstrate Carbo’s boundless heart and talent.
--Terrance Hayes, author of Hip Logic.

Waiting for five poets to send me the blurbs they've written (well, supposed to write) for my next book Andalusian Dawn. I asked two women and three men, one lady is from Chile and was on tour in Argentina when I emailed her my poems, the other woman lives in Oregon and is skittish about writing blurbs because she hasn't written many. Is it really that hard to write these blurbs? What is the protocol for asking famous poets to blurb your book? What if they hate your book and never respond to your emails?

If a root canal is traveling at 3.822 miles per hour and the apex of her ibis is waiting down the street by the blue hue bus stop, what is the rotation and century we are about to encounter?

Here's some interviewer questions I got recently:

Hello Mr. C_______:

I apologize for not contacting you sooner. Please forgive me. I was terrified how to start and you definitely helped me remember to have fun and relax. Thank you. Ok- here goes.

2) Muppet Show- Which character was your favorite in the Muppet Show and why?
4) What are your favorite musical influences?
5) If you could be one of the Beatles, which Beatle would you be? (As in George, Ringo, Paul, or John...not beetle like animal- unless there's a beetle you happen to like.)
6)How did you and the prolific poetess, DD meet?
7) What is it like to live with another poet and how do you do it?
8) What interview question have you been asked that you like the least? (So I don't ask you that one)
9) What is your favorite interview question?

Ok- I have more questions, but wanted to get a chance to respond to some of your answers too. Is that ok?

Thank you again for making time.
Most gratefully,
Beth

First log.

"That time of year." Don't you hate it when those people you hardly know send you an email asking you to write them reference letters for artists colonies one or two days before the deadline? Well, January 15th is "that time of year" for Yaddo and MacDowell and some other colonies and this sap whom I've written a couple of letters for in the past takes this ungrateful tone just expecting that I'll do this letter and tells me to hurry it off because it's "that time of year" again. What gall s/he has, what monkey eating gall to expect me to go ahead and tell the admissions committee that s/he is "well suited for the artistic community because of her/his lovely temperament."

It's time to tell him/her that s/he should look for a new reference from now on. But wait, maybe, I will wait until the 17th or 18th to let him/her know.