Thursday, February 24, 2005
I can't seem to write anything but junk lately, so I apologize for my lack of prolificity. To whom am I apologizing? I am not sure. Just know that I do plan on pulling myself out of this poetic nosedive. I should give a reading -- this has helped me generate new work in the past.I am also going to institute poetry day -- one day of each week that will be devoted entirely to creative work and into which no academic work can be inserted. This should make a big difference.
Meanwhile I am putting what little spare time I have (which amounts to only about an hour or so a day) into reordering my manuscript. I am cutting many poems; the thing now has 74 pages of poetry, and I think this is too long. I am now shooting for 50 pages instead. I do think that I can produce something more coherent by cutting out some poems that are less effective.
Dream-life is active. And, though I don't believe in the predictive power of dreams, these ones have been (like some I've had in the past) coming true. For instance, I dream of a scene in a bar in which glass is broken and a fight ensues. Later that day I go to a bar where boys are posturing for a fight and a friend of mind suggests that we break our beer glasses to exacerbate the situation. In the dream it was a mathematician friend who broke the glass. In reality it was a sociologist friend. Small differences, same idea. (This example is a relatively trivial one compared to others in which I have learned specific things about specific people.) I don't know what to say about these dreams -- I have had many dreams in my life that I am tempted to call predictive, and which I can usually tell are significant at the time I have them, but I have no belief to support the experience (and I realize this is the opposite of the criterion I would usually impose).
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
My actions would indicate belief in my ability to communicate telepathically with animals in a way that is meaningful and effective. I see a stray dog sniffing the bottoms of the garage doors in my neighborhood. I organize my thoughts. I advise the dog to come back on Thursday mornings when the neighbors are gone and the trash awaits collection. I have no such ability and no corresponding belief. The dog continues in his bowlegged search.My apparent love of ginger would indicate that I would care deeply for the fate of the plant's cultivation, its processing and its distribution. I do not. I couldn't care less if ginger were withheld from me. I would not label myself a ginger preservationist.
Animal control has come to collect the dog. Ginger remains available. Trash awaits nothing.
About Me
- Name: Matthew Shindell
- Location: San Diego, California, United States
Matthew Shindell used to live and write in Phoenix, Arizona. He now lives and writes in La Jolla, California.
The Poetry Postcard Project:
Stay tuned to this blog for updates on the status of the Poetry Postcard Project.
Go to the Poetry Postcard Project website to see the project and find out how to participate.
Where are my poems?
Read a PDF of my chapbook, Were something to happen it would be both funny and interesting. Copies of this limited edition chapbook are no longer available.American Letters and Commentary Issue 17 - "Hoo Ta Ta, Hoo Ta"
American Poetry Review July/August 2004 - "It sounds like a saxophone tugging across a field"
Black Warrior Review v30n2 - "Sidekick"
FENCE v6n2 - "Drinking with the Ventriloquist's Dummy" & "Parable of the Boy inside the Deer"
Hayden's Ferry Review #25 - "The Willow"
Hayden's Ferry Review #35 - "The Monkey's Skull: Where Do Good Newsmen Come From?" & "Made Easy"
Jubilat 7 - "But Emerson Says, 'The body is a metre. The eye appreciates finer differences than art can expose."
The Melic Review - "In Short, a Pleasant Day :: The Man Arrives, Hooray!" "The Same Words :: Order of Harpoons," & "A Bird’s Head Rolls Into Two Baskets :: Walkie-Talkie"
No Tell Motel - "Order of Harpoons :: Digitalia :: Dobre Vecher" 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. Read my discussion of the poem here.
Northwest Review - "Clink" & "Bear-Caught"
Octopus 4 - "About the Author," "Four Star General" &
"The Day :: Born :: The Red Door"
Pleiades 24:2 - "Speech of Artificio, a Character in My New Play" & "Inc."
Tarpaulin Sky v2n2&3 -
"Two Jokes About Bears"
Unpleasant Event Schedule - "He Called Her Forest (or was it Forest?)" & "The Brain Full of Bourbon (concerning the doctor and the simulation of Switzerland)"
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