The bottom line, man
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With “Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg,” as in so many of his poems, Hugo offers us a city-map straight into, through, and—in a very fleeting, tenuous way—out of despair. Some bedrock defiance of death is in you; you have a stake in life, this man’s and your own. “The car that brought you here still runs.” There is money to buy lunch with; you can still eat. Someone’s bringing you food: there is company, you’re being served. And, as if to accentuate these reminders of worth, the very materials of the world seem to be making themselves present.

An excerpt from Joanna Klink’s lovely take on a Richard Hugo poem, “On Degrees of Gray in Philipsburg”.
Yesterday, I walked into Open Books and was greeted by Vertigo in Spring & Peter O’Leary’s Phosphorescence of Thought at the front of the store.   Among other titles pictured: there’s Graham Foust’s brilliant To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems, Lisa Jarnot’s Joie de Vivre: Selected Poems, 1992-2012, Rae Armantrout’s Just Saying, and Alfred Starr Hamilton’s A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind.  Read: The Cultural Society’s alive and well amid good company in Seattle. 

Yesterday, I walked into Open Books and was greeted by Vertigo in Spring & Peter O’Leary’s Phosphorescence of Thought at the front of the store. 

 

Among other titles pictured: there’s Graham Foust’s brilliant To Anacreon in Heaven and Other Poems, Lisa Jarnot’s Joie de Vivre: Selected Poems, 1992-2012, Rae Armantrout’s Just Saying, and Alfred Starr Hamilton’s A Dark Dreambox of Another Kind.

 

Read: The Cultural Society’s alive and well amid good company in Seattle. 

Some Christine Tharp commentary re: Vertigo in Spring. Like I say in the book, I’m honored to have her pictures as part of it. fromtheplains: This is a long overdue post, but my sister’s new book of poetry, Vertigo in Spring, is now out via The Cultural Society. I’m thankful beyond words to have two photographs grace its front and back cover. Order yourself a copy here!

Some Christine Tharp commentary re: Vertigo in Spring. Like I say in the book, I’m honored to have her pictures as part of it.

fromtheplains:

This is a long overdue post, but my sister’s new book of poetry, Vertigo in Spring, is now out via The Cultural Society. I’m thankful beyond words to have two photographs grace its front and back cover. Order yourself a copy here!

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When the Rice Gallery in Houston, Texas 2009 asked me to create an installation, I decided to do a giant George Jones head, for two reasons. Number one was that George got his start in Houston, and had his first big hits there; he grew up in East Texas, not far away. Number two was that it was really hot in Houston when I was there, and I kept thinking of a line from that song “Ragged But Right”: “I got a big electric fan to keep me cool while I sleep.” Without fans and moving air, there’d be no civilization in Houston.

Wayne White, from “Ragged But Right: Wayne White on George Jones”

Dear readers, bots, and people Googling “man bottom”:
 

As you can see, changes are being made around here. Because I’m tired, and until I get some code hammered out for an archive link in the sidebar, here’s a direct link to this contraption’s archive.
 

ST