Wednesday, August 03, 2005
Pardon My Dragon
Before we read with the Lucifer Poetics Group at Red Emma's in Baltimore, Reb Livingston, Mike Snider and I decided that we needed to do something collaborative -- something we could perform together. We didn't think it appropriate to just stand and deliver poem after poem. We settled on a play. Or, anyway, we settled on a play-like thing. We titled the thing "Pardon My Dragon." Many of you who know me know that's a title I've been kicking around for a while. It came from a dream I had in which I was standing in a lunch line somewhere. In some pristine, white lunchroom with immaculate sneeze guards. Someone came up to me in the lunch line and told me how much they enjoyed "Pardon My Dragon." They told me it had changed their life. (There's that poetic ego for you, I guess.) When I woke up, I of course decided that I really needed to title something "Pardon My Dragon." (I also decided I needed to stand in more lunch lines. See you at Subway? No, wait, that's not so pristine. Maybe it was the Ikea cafeteria.)My second choice for title was "Sorority Girls Talk to the Dead." This is another title I've been trying to make stick for like five years now but which nobody ever likes. Nobody. Not even Antoine.
Anyway. That's not important. Neither is Antoine.
Here is a PDF of "Pardon My Dragon." Reb, Mike and I hope that you'll enjoy it. You can probably guess who wrote which parts, but I'll tell you anyway. I am First Man, Reb is Ikeb, the Queen Bee, and Mike is Willie. Mike also wrote the part of the Dead Roses, which appeared first on a marble slab in one of my First Man passages and then somehow took on the role of narrator.
During our performance in Baltimore Carly Sachs played the part of the Dead Roses. In truth she had hydrangeas in her hair. You can read Carly's poems this week at No Tell Motel, where she is this week's featured poet. You may also know her from the Best Poetry of 2004 anthology. She's famous.
Oh. I have audio of the whole reading. But I'm saving that for My Vocabulary this Fall!
Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Have you?
Have you ever had a cherry pie this sweet? With a crust this well fluted?
No. Don't lie. You haven't. I have.
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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