Hello Trees

She loves this place

Not Indiana trees.

Woman talking to tree gods.

Don't go anywhere. I'm coming right back.

And about 43 degrees when we began the hike.

It won't be long.

Tide Pool

We're on our way home. More pics later.

Jojo was accepted at Humboldt.

Don't Even Think About It

Woo Hoo!

Mike has a poem up at elimae. It's a great poem and a great feeling to have three FGWC'ers up at this lit mag!

Not Exactly Columbus

The Finlander was drafted to go to the Dominican Republic for the week. It seems he was the only one in his office with a passport and some things had to get done. Americans!

He left yesterday, Columbus Day, at 3:00 a.m., none to happy about it, even though it was on this very island that Columbus landed. What an opportunity! Or not. Today he sent me an e-mail:

"Picture a world with no rules and hotter than F&#k"

Sounds like he's having a fabulous time. He should definitely try to get a job with the tourism bureau.

I think the ancient Finnish explorers, such as they were, headed for more northern climes.

Vote Early

Sweet mother of liberation, all the Keranens have voted! Easy as pie.

For early voting in St. Joseph County Indiana:

Bring your picture ID to either --
The St. Joe County City Building in downtown South Bend
or
The Mishawaka County Services Building

Cast away

The hours are:
Monday thru Friday, 8:00-4:30
Saturday, 8:00-4:00
The last two Sunday before the election 12:00-4:00

More Kopland

I'm on a small Kopland jag here with many, many thoughts, but not much time. So in the meantime, a short poem of his. We'll talk horses and different translations later.

Young Lettuce

I can take it all,
the withering of beans,
flowers dying, with dry
eyes I can see the potatoes being
dug up, when it comes
to those, I'm really tough.

But young lettuce in September,
just planted, still limp,
in little moist beds, no.

(Rutger Kopland, An Empty Place to Stay, Twin Peaks Press, 1977, translated by Ria Lei-Loohuizen.)

FGWC

Thursday, October 16th, 7:00 p.m ., The Hammes Bookstore, Notre Dame.

Woo-hoo!

So many woo-hoos lately! And there are rumors flying of more to come, but I must sit quietly and wait for others to tell. It not my favorite job to sit quietly. No.

But for today, Rachel has poems at Up the Staircase!

And Sarah has her chapbook In the Voice of a Minor Saint coming out from Tilt Press.

Way to go!

Amnesia & Things Worth Remembering

"Once a poem is resolved, I lose the sense of having written it. I remember the circumstances, but not the sensations, not what it felt like to be writing. This amnesia is most immediate and most complete when poems are written quickly, but in all cases it occurs. Between poems I am not a poet, only someone with a yearning to achieve--what? That concentration again."

And

"When you read anything worth remembering, you liberate a human voice; you release into the world again a companion spirit.

"I read poems to hear that voice. And I write to speak to those I have heard."

(Louise Gluck, "Death and Absence" from Proofs and Theories, The Ecco Press, 1994)

*

I'm just finishing reading Proofs and Theories and have connected with it in many ways. I would recommend it, whether you enjoy literary criticism or not. Gluck has so many important things to say.