denise & nick's first vispo collaboration

medicinecabinet, originally uploaded by carbonator.

is entitled: Ruth & Marvin's Medicine Cabinet and is now in the private collection of the Sackner Archives of Visual and Concrete Poetry. denise worked on the left side upper window and lower drawer. nick worked on the right window and the painting of the piece. inside the cabinet are pieces that represent several of our themes.

princesscake

princesscake, originally uploaded by carbonator.

we all took a bite of the holy confection before it quickly went poof! the poetry at sea secret resides in each of us.

poetstable

poetstable, originally uploaded by carbonator.

the poets at their last supper. notice the V shape between nick and gabe. all three standing men could be Knight's Templar guarding ancient poetry secrets. the grand master is seated as david lehman.

the holy confection appeared to us at the end of our last supper. . .

eduardocuttingcake

eduardocuttingcake, originally uploaded by carbonator.

after the cocktail party we had dinner and every table had a baked alaska for dessert. here's eduardo our fine waiter cutting the multi-layered cake. annie, glenn, and i asking, "can we fit one more thing in our stomachs."

david&gabe

david&gabe, originally uploaded by carbonator.

david was about to read but he asked gabe to elucidate the blow hole image in his poem.

nickatfacultyreading

nickatfacultyreading, originally uploaded by carbonator.

nick was awesome!

deniselookson

deniselookson, originally uploaded by carbonator.

denise enjoying annie's meliflous voice.

anniereading

anniereading, originally uploaded by carbonator.

annie reads some inspiring knotty nautical poems.

barbara

barbara, originally uploaded by carbonator.

barbara nightingale listens to gabes waving words.

gabereading

gabereading, originally uploaded by carbonator.

gabe recited a wonderful sea and sea history poem.

chris,mike,marc atthecocktailparty

chris,mike,marc atthecocktailparty, originally uploaded by carbonator.

poetry lovers at the cocktail party.

kerri,michele,kate

kerri,michele,kate, originally uploaded by carbonator.

there's the Tancrelle women enjoying the white wine and international selection of cheese.

atthestargazerlounge

atthestargazerlounge, originally uploaded by carbonator.

that evening the poetry at sea group had its private catered cocktail party which was well-attended. we also had the poetry faculty read a few poems.

princesscays

proncesscays, originally uploaded by carbonator.

there part of princess cays, the privately owned island,

promenade

promenade, originally uploaded by carbonator.

some chose to sit on one of the many comfy chairs on the promenade and read a book.

day6spapool

day6spapool, originally uploaded by carbonator.

most of us stayed onboard and relaxed in the very uncrowded pools.

day 6, friday 2nd of may. princess cays

aslonelyasacloud, originally uploaded by carbonator.

during the early hours we proceeded on our north westerly course through Exuma Sound towards the southern peninsula of Eleuthera Island. we dropped our anchor at 8:32am and shortly after lowered our tenders to provide continuous service ashore.

angela

angela, originally uploaded by carbonator.

angela read some sublime poems reminiscent of elizabeth bishop on acid. she was the lucky winner of the prize of a free copy of the new oxford anthology of american poetry.

kelly

kelly, originally uploaded by carbonator.

kelly read some powerful poems, pointed and primed.

gabelookson

gabelookson, originally uploaded by carbonator.

gabe, david, and denise sway with the poetic side to side rhythms.

lyle

lyle, originally uploaded by carbonator.

lyle read some moving poems about our words skimming the ocean.

day5didi

day5didi, originally uploaded by carbonator.

also at this reading we presented didi with a topaz of appreciation for all her amazing organizational and wiley skill for steering the poetry-at-sea to success and joy.

day5studentsopenmic

day5studentsopenmic, originally uploaded by carbonator.

l-r: mike (who wrote an awesome origami crane poem), kelly, lyle, didi (w/ camera), angela.

day 5, thursday 1st of june

oneof5pools, originally uploaded by carbonator.

this was a day at sea and Gariel Gudding taught his workshop about Poetry & Impropriety. in the afternoon we congragated in the star gazers lounge and watched the student's poetry reading. great poems were written on the cruise and we had the pleasure of hearing them.

day4atstmaarten

day4atstmaarten, originally uploaded by carbonator.

did i mention that unlimited rum cocktails were served as we rested under the umbrellas.

evendogslovethebeach

evendogslovethebeach, originally uploaded by carbonator.

they're just playing, just like we all were on the beach!

tancrells

tancrells, originally uploaded by carbonator.

l-r, that's Kate, Michele (denise's sister), Kerri, Marc.

day 4 at st. maarten, wednesday 31st of May

enjoyingthegentlewaves, originally uploaded by carbonator.

temperature: 29 C, 84.2 F
barometric pressure: 1015.2 mbs
wind: east - force 5 - fresh breeze

it was interesting to wake up in the morning and look out your balcony window and see the hillsides and port of Dutch St. Maarten. denise and i went on a beach excursion with her relatives, the Tancrells, and friends Chris & Mike. the bus took a whole group of us to the French side of the island where we had fun for four hours on Orient beach.

day3attopofparadisepoint

day3attopofparadisepoint, originally uploaded by carbonator.

denise and i walked to the tram that goes to the highest peak of st. thomas and had a drink and enjoyed the panoramic view.

day 3 at st.thomas, tuesday 30th of may

day3atst.thomas, originally uploaded by carbonator.

there were no poetry workshops on the days at port because there is too much tourist fun stuff to do like annie and glenn who went canoeing, denise's relatives who went into town and bought designer watches and cool jewelry. gabe walked into st. thomas and visited the different churches.

day2atthe bow

day2atthe bow, originally uploaded by carbonator.

wind: east-force 4-moderate breeze.
temperature: 28.0 C, 82.4F

day 2 sunbathing, Monday 29th of May

day2sunbathing, originally uploaded by carbonator.

we passed the Turks and Caics Islands in the early hours of dawn. we also passed Hispaniola Island at a distance of 35 miles. annie finch taught the morning workshop and david lehman taught the afternoon workshop.

during the afternoon, the ship set a course to transit north of the "Mona Passage" which is one of the most important entry points for shipping into the Caribbean. around midnight we passed 40 nautical miles north of San Juan, Puerto Rico.

day1, sunday 28th of may

day1, originally uploaded by carbonator.

on day one at sea we steamed a total distance of 327 nautical miles at an average speed of 17.8 knots. denise taught her workshop on funky forms at 9:30 am. at 12:25pm the ship passed abeam of San Salvador Island (where Columbus first saw land in 1492). at 1:30pm nick taught his workshop on visual and avant-garde poetry. talk of Hart Crane jumping off a ship nearby, talk of Walt Whitman's upcoming birthday.

poets at the pool

poetsat the pool, originally uploaded by carbonator.

dipping feet at the adult pool. l-r: glenn (annie's spouse), annie, david, stacey, and denise.

firstsunset

firstsunset, originally uploaded by carbonator.

watching our wake from the bar.

the poetry-at-sea photo essay

leavingft.lauderdale, originally uploaded by carbonator.

here we are at the Outrigger bar as we leave port everglades.

enter

The Vincent Chin Memorial Chapbook Prize Deadline: June 30, 2006 Judge: John Yau Prize: $500, Barrow Street publication, & Full Scholarship to Kundiman Retreat 2007 Fee: $15 Guidelines: www.kundiman.org Eligbility: Asian American poets who have not published more than one book of forty-eight pages or more.

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On June 19, 1982, in Detroit, Vincent Chin was beaten to death with a baseball bat by a man and his stepson. The two laid-off autoworkers mistook Chin for Japanese — an Asian group they blamed for the ailing U.S. auto industry. The assailants never served jail time, and later federal civil-rights courts acquitted them entirely of the crime. For many today, this is a rarely remembered footnote in American history. However, the tragedy of Vincent Chin marked an important change in how Asian Americans viewed themselves. It was the first time, according to APA advocates and academics, that people who traced their ancestry to different countries in Asia and the Pacific Islands crossed ethnic and socioeconomic lines to fight [politically] as a united group of Asian Pacific Americans. They were Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Filipino; they were waiters, lawyers, and grandmothers who were moved to action by what happened to Vincent Chin. For the first time, Asian Americans banded together against the
discrimination and racism directed toward the APA community. Decades later, the need for Asian Americans to unite as a population and to project a voice into the cultural mainstream is as urgent as ever. In honor of Vincent Chin and this watershed moment in Asian American history, Kundiman and Barrow Street are sponsoring The Vincent Chin Memorial Chapbook Prize. This annual prize is an opportunity for both Kundiman and Barrow Street to support and spotlight the talent of an emerging Asian American poet, a new voice in the landscape of Asian American _expression and power. Winner will receive: • $500 cash prize • Chapbook publication in Barrow Street: http://www.barrowstreet.org/journal.html • Full scholarship to the 2007 Kundiman Summer Retreat Applicant Eligibility Asian American poets who have not published more than one book of forty-eight pages or more.
Entry Fee Check for $15.00 payable to The New York Foundation for the Arts Judge John Yau will judge this year’s contest. For guidelines and more information on The Vincent Chin Memorial Chapbook Prize, please go to: http://www.kundiman.org
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