NEW MANUSCRIPT & TWO MORE POEMS: DEAR SIR,

There's good news and not-so-good news.

First the good news:
Two NEWish poems will be published in the journal Dear Sir,.

One poem is a random one I've written and rewritten over the past couple of years.  It's called "The Flaw of Jovian Kinematics."

The other is a freshy from my most recent collection, which is a chapbook manuscript (titled SHOEBOX PHANTOMS).  The poem appearing from that collection in Dear Sir, is called "FREE WILL LULLABIES BEGET DRUNK PARACHUTES WHOSE AROMA ARE A BURNING INTERSTELLAR CANDY SHOP THE SMELL OF SWEET HISTAMINE AND WE'VE GOT NOTHING LEFT TO ANTI UP."

(And I'm not providing a teaser from these poems; you'll able to read them when they appear in the issue. Sorrry.)

Now for the not-so-good-news:
I submitted a small sample of SHOEBOX PHANTOMS as a book proposal to the publisher Grayson Books; that press has some very cool titles and, along with holding book contests (which result in publication), it also reads proposals for book ideas and decides whether or not to publish them.  Rather than enter the contest, I decided to send a proposal (along with the other several thousand proposals from writers they receive each year.. yikes).  Well, today I received their rejection, which reads as follows:

Dear Mr. Curtis,

You've sent along a project that looks interesting and unusual, but I don't think it's for us.  Thanks for your patience in awaiting a reply. We gave SHOEBOX PHANTOMS serious consideration.  I feel certain you'll find a home for this book idea somewhere else.  Best of luck in placing it and in your future endeavors.

Sincerely,

****** ******

Grayson Books

Ohh wellll. I suppose the silver-lining in this rejection is that the publisher described the collection as "unusual"-- I'll take that compliment and run with it.  And now that I have one poem from the collection being published, I'm hoping to publish a few more, and then, hopefully, some publisher will want to publish the whole darn thing.  We shall see.  Stay tuned and stay thirsty.

Cheers

Anyone Up For An Existential Trip?

The Sound of Animals Fighting - "Uzbekistan" (The Ocean and the Sun)


Unfortunately, while most people won't have the patience, tolerance, and/or mental wherewithal to absorb this, those of you who do, should appreciate this (esp from 4:35 - end).  If yer interested, these are the words during that time slot:

Why do I wonder?
Some people never ask, what are you thinking?
Who's in charge?

I don't understand French, but if I could,
I would write beautiful songs about horrible things...
because it is said to be the language of love and romance...
and if love didn't exist, there wouldn't be any horrible things.
You must care to cry, love something in order to hate something...
You must have a heart in order for it to be broken.
Many people walk in a dream.
They feel entitled to happiness and feel anger when it is not waiting for them.
I know that the world owes me nothing, yet has given me a great deal.
It is our own perception we get to bend and mold to our liking-
once that is accomplished, the reality we once knew begins to change.
My neighbor may be dark and gloomy, but I find it a perfect day to go outside.
I can knock on his door, but that doesn't mean he will answer.
And I will have to walk away, sad, from his little house
where he sleeps and smokes and drinks all day,
just to escape what he does not yet know.
We find ourselves in little boxes watching little boxes.
We see an edited version of human life, targeted on alienating us as individuals,
to distract us from the seedy underbelly of politics and business.
We are products of a Machiavellian society.
Look at the pretty girl dancing- her hair is so shiny.
I want my hair to be shiny. Look at the man with chizzled features-
use the razor he is using. It will give you the kind of charm that woman crave.
Women will want you. Men will adore you. You will be happy. You will be empty.
Because it is not about the product, but the feeling they try to convey.
And it is not for your benefit, it is for the benefit of the holders of the company.
We must burn our little boxes. We must create dialogue.
We must realize the importance of every moment.
We must turn our boredom to gratitude.
Use your hands, your thoughts, your hunger.
These things are yours and yours alone.

Cheers

More Publication: Sex and Murder

I have two more poems forthcoming from my Tremulous manuscript. They'll be appearing in Sex and Murder Magazine. The story involves an account of the 1964 Kitty Genovese murder.

Here's a brief sample of both:

"WINSTON MOSELEY FINDS A KITTY"

Women lay down easily, knife magnets
whittled into rigor mortis.
My torn flesh aphrodisiac.
Penetrate the living.
Penetrate the dead.
Hard-on in necroconfusion,
a heartbeat just doesn't do it for me.

There you walk on the empty street.........



"TREMULOUS" (part 2)

when i'm alone, she appears.
gasping to the deaf,
i'll be discovered floating facedown
in a pond of spit, pale and stiff---

i'm so afraid.

is she gone?


Kitty awaits


someone
anyone.........

The poems will appear in their entirety in the upcoming issue of Sex and Murder.

To read more poems from Tremulous, visit Counterexample Poetics, Breadcrumb Scabs, and The Tower Journal.


Cheers

Ah...April: MAKE YOURSELF

There's something about the Spring/Summer seasons being ushered in that always leads me back to Incubus. It may be owed to some association in my brain, linking the band and warm weather; I'm not quite sure.

The other day I listened to an oldie-but-goodie, the album Make Yourself (1999). It's not that I never acknowledged its greatness, but I think I never fully appreciated its inspirationalism, its messages of encouragement and positivity, and its injections of self-empowerment.

Bookended by "Privilege" (i.e. your life) and "Out From Under" (i.e. resistance), the songs throughout the album are musically innovative - especially for the time period - and lyrically intelligent. While "Stellar," "Drive," and "Pardon Me" dominated the airwaves, the best song is probably "The Warmth." Others that have gone unrecognized (due to the aforementioned songs' popularity) are "Consequence," "Clean," and "Battlestar Scralatchtica," which is an instrumental jam featuring a DJ 'battle' among Incubus' Chris Kilmore and Jurassic 5 DJs, Cut Chemist and Nu Mark.

While I could probably ramble forever on this album, I'll stop here and just suggest listening to it in the sun.

Cheers