Shearsman, Astropoetica et al.

I was tickled to discover that my leafscape e-mail has a SpamAssassin... and how it took Michi for chainsaw practice (details here).

It censored her naughty message to me after identifying her as:

X-Spam-Level: *****
Content analysis details: (5.9 points, 5.0 required)

Even from the score she received, it's clear that she has a... ahem, problem with length.

Recent Publications/ Acceptance:

• Two poems in Astropoetica (Volume 4.1, Winter 2006):

   Mother Earth on a Starry Couch (read)
   The Astronomer’s Last Nights (read)

• And a poem, Seven Years of Bad Luck in Shearsman. (issue 65 & 66).

• Such a thrill! The Pedestal Magazine has accepted my poem:

Marshal Song Enters the Servants' Quarters
After a Night of Gambling, His Pockets Empty

Very quick turnover rate; response time: one week to one month.

(Michi, when she reads this, will probably snicker about the length... of my title).

My Own Personal Problem with Length:

• Plantarium growth: 0 millimeters.
   Color: green.
   Prognosis: depressing.

I'm terribly pleased to announce...

that Poems Niederngasse's erotic supplement is now online:
http://www.niederngasse.com

The issue features poetry -- which I swear (with undies back guarantee) will make your extremeties sweat for the rest of the day. On board, we've got Bambi Barker, Greg Braquet, Patrick Carrington, Sabine DeLuca, Richard Fein, Valerie Fox, Michaela A. Gabriel, Leonard Gontarek, Maryann Hazen Stearns, Quentin B. Huff, Craig Kirchner, Miriam N. Kotzin, Josef Lesser, K.L. Monahan, Jessy Randall, Amber Sawyer, Francis D. Smith, S. Thomas Summers, Karen Suriano, F. Richard Thomas, Jennifer VanBuren and John Vick.

Plus, an interview with Sean Farragher by Elizabeth P. Glixman and an essay by J.T.Best on Robert Frost's After Apple Picking as a chauvinist lust poem.

Recent publications received:

• Mudsong and blue crow by Michael Spring: these are two beautiful poetry collections which I've had the honor of being signed by the author. Love the breathtaking and polished imagery -- which is why he won the 2004 Robert Graves Award (Imago Poetry/UK) in the first place.

• A Generation Defining Itself: In Our Own Words (volume 6). Finally!! On one hand, it's a . On the other hand, it's a because the customs people made me pay 5.50 euros to receive it. Grunt. Can't wait to read it though... noticed a lot of prize-winning/-nominated works in this anthology.

• How Things Are On Thursday by Ros Barber: Yay! I ordered this months ago through Amazon.com, but after three weeks of waiting for it, they sort of crossed it off as "unavailable". Duh. I've been wanting to write a review of this exquisite collection, and the author was kind enough to send me a copy.

Recent acceptance:

• Carousel accepted my poem, Conceptual for their issue 19.

Very long response times -- this batch was submitted on 28 July 2005. But they did send an immediate acknowledgement that they've received it. Nice, professional manners... though I wish they could be more communicative. But paying markets are often like that, I'm afraid.

Site updates:

• Mine: 2006 publication credits

• Valerie Fox: our collaborative poems (after months of revisions and editing)

Personal News:

• Plantarium growth: 0 millimeters.
   Color: green.
   Prognosis: not good.

• Recent obsession: interviewing myself and the questions & answers re-arranged alphabetically afterwards, as in --

   Non-refillables: would you care to comment on that?
   Naturally. I didn't mean to smell of mildew while waiting (unhappily) for the bus.

   Off the record, weren't you repatriated for falsifying REM?
   Oh, you mean eavesdropping? It's a pre-ordained setup in my preferences.

   Please explain in less than twenty words your stand on world peace.
   Poor Simonello. He never saw the trebuchet.



• Which sort of led to the discussion on whether I am taking -- or not taking -- any medication.

More breathing space...

... and I've managed to squeeze some quality time with my Sims. Or should I say downloading objects for my Sims. Hee.

News and updates:

• Red Booth Review has gone on hiatus. Booohooo!!
The news saddened me -- it's such a terrific journal and I'll miss reading it on a regular basis. I'm also rather sheepish because I sent a lot of people to RBR, but here's the brighter side of the coin: W.T. Pfefferle is also the poetry editor of Georgetown Review which is a print magazine always on the lookout for new writing. Submissions are only via snailmail, but it's worth a try.

• Three poems are up in the February issue of Unlikely Stories:

     To Colonel Mustard in the Billiard Room with the Wrench
     A Kind of Tomorrow
     Like Electricity (my first experiment with photographic poetry)

• Davide Trame kindly nudged that we both have poems in the latest issue of Bonfire. Haven't received my copy yet. Will have to read the contract again to see if I'm meant to receive one. Hee.

• Based on hearsay, am also supposed to have a poem in A Generation Defining Itself: In Our Own Words (Volume 6). Haven't received my copy yet....

• Might be because our doorbell and intercom have gone kaput. I discovered this by chance when I returned home last Thursday -- without my doorkeys and, of course, without my cell phone (based on the presumption that my husband would open up). Had to climb the gate, go through the garage and bang loudly at the door before he realized I was 20 minutes late in coming home. No post in three days either.

• Plantarium plant green again. Have put height markers on the glass to check daily growth. Hee.

Re-emerging from my dirty linen...

and going wooooohooooooo!!! I didn't think it was possible, but I've done it: have finished my second round in Blueline's House of 30. Am actually on my second day at In the Writer's Studio and back on the initial idea that I can really go through the masochism of writing daily again.

PNG Erotic Supplement Update:

I'm afraid the issue will be late since Paco's computer caught a virus.


Update on the extra-curricular activities of A:

• Have finalized the layout of Leonard Gontarek's site: http://leafscape.org/LeonardGontarek
I'm really thrilled to doing the homepage of this terrific poet -- reading his works reminds how much there is to learn about poetry and writing... as in, It makes me so happy. To be at the beginning again, knowing almost nothing.... It's the best possible time of being alive, when almost everything you thought you knew is wrong.
Hee. I know. I shouldn't cite Stoppard so much or use his dirty blankets in public. But my astrological roulette said it's my lucky quote for the day.

• Via Leonard's publication credits, have discovered the following journals:

   Ducky Magazine
I *love* the poetry in this little journal!!! Had to use the ticklish quackdoor because I'm using Firefox, but even that had it's own rubber-ducky allure.

   Unpleasant Event Schedule
This another spectacular 'zine offering superb poetry... plus the editorial humor just tickled me silly.

• Following one link after another, have also discovered Forklift, Ohio -- which welcomes ONLY unsolicited Recipes, Safety Tips, Found Pieces, Photograhy and Artwork. Very ticklish "operations" page. Had fun gobbling up the small amount of sample poems which are offered, of course, for the purpose of making customers of unsuspecting visitors. Teehee.

• Fussed over my plant in the plantarium. It started to turn brownish under the sun (and clouds)... but ever since moving it in front of the television, the leaves have taken a nicer shade of green. I have this funny feeling that it's more couch potato than sweet pea (as stated in the label).

Recent acceptances:

• Holly Hughes who is editing an Alzheimer's anthology accepted my poem, Five Minutes of Silence. This was a great surprise since I've sort of given up on this -- submitted on June 2005.

• Tattoo Highway has accepted my poem, At King's in Jesolo, 2004 for their "Rocky Road" issue. This is the butchered-for-rock'n'roll version of the original that passed from one editorial hand to another and was rejected endlessly. Very ticklish poem inspired by the last disco event in my life.

• stationæry accepted my poem, If It's Coffee-Flavored, It's Serendipity for their "don't get cold feet" issue no. 9. Another butchered and re-butchered list poem that made me snarl during each revision. This is the third time I've sent work to the print magazine... my first two shots went wide, to put it mildly. Hee.

I've been FRiGGed!

Yay! The new issue of FRiGG (#11, Winter 2006) is now online with poetry by Carl Miller Daniels, Lucille Lang Day, Daniel Gallik, John Grey and Emily Waples. This is one of the classiest e-journals I've seen around and I'm really thrilled to be part of the gang. Five poems with commentary in the end (hee):

•Scrying sand
•Bloom
•Mid-Afternoon Over Montreal
•This is not the first time you tasted sand
•Counting

Response time is up to three months max. Simultaneous subs okay. Try them out!

Today officially marks the the end....

of the PNG Erotic Supplement reading period. My halo stayed lit until 2 a.m. ... and all submissions have been replied to; anyone who submitted and didn't receive any should forsake all hope to getting one since I never got them in the first place. Don't you hate it when *that* happens?


Recent acceptance / publication:

• Star*Line (Science Fiction Poetry Association newsletter) sent one of the fastest replies (within one day!) I've received from an editor. Two poems, A Glimpse of Sirens has been scheduled for the Nov/Dec issue and The cat with nine lives for the Sept/Oct issue. YAY!

• Issue 5 of Ghoti (Winter 2005) went on line yesterday. Toot-toot!!
Have three poems here: This closing book, Something Like Blood and a freshly butchered version of one list poem, To that Disquieting Presence in the Bathroom Mirror.

Publications received:

• 4AM Poetry Review (v.1 2005): this first issue (originally scheduled for last August) of the print magazine is sure worth the wait! Contains terrific poetry by Juan Carlos Vargas, Preston H. Hood III, Barbara Fletcher, Sarah Blackman, Sean Howard, matt robinson, Susan H. Case, Mark Decarteret, Farley Walker, Gerry McFarland, Carine Topal, Rebecca Loudon, Doug Bolling, lyn lifshin, Suzanne Roberts, Alex Stolis, Judson Simmons, Davide Trame, Anthony Robinson, Michael Meyerhofer, Kimberley Fu, Simon Perchik, Andrew Demcak, Kelly Madigan Erlandson, M. Arroser, Leonore Wilson and that person who shall-not-be-named. Hee.

• Jessy Randall's latest chapbook, Because Mona is in the Psychiatric Hospital (Pudding House Publications, 2005). I've always been a fan of her Mona poems -- even translated one for the Italian NG a year or two ago -- so this is such a treat!



Plantarium news (not good):
Plant not growing. The small leafy protuberance is as is. A plant is not a poem. A plant cannot be edited. I shouldn't have poked at it with chopsticks. I know I shouldn't have. I know. I know. But some of the seeds were growing down instead of up and I couldn't resist.

Today, my plantarium

Due to my incredibly boring disposition, I just have to post this picture of my growing plant (Christmas present from a niece-in-law who digs my boring disposition like a spade) and my favorite mug (which eloquently mirrors my morning face). Hee.
Do you see the teeny-weeny leaf? Do you see it? Do you, do you?

Publications received of late:

• Red Booth Review (fall 2k5): these print issues are always such a pleasure to read. The 2005 anthology contains poetry by Raymond Cavanaugh, Barbara Archer, Barry Ballard, Martin Willits, Dan Schillinger, Joel Van Noord, Alex Stolis, Amy Pence, Sid Miller, Jason Kelly Richards, Mariel Boyarsky, Jude Roy, Ann White, Caitlyn C. Bergeron, John 'Chet' Hicks, CL Bledsoe, Annie England, Maurice Oliver and -- ahem -- yours truly. I'm particularly blown away about Martin Willits' poem, How To Impale A Watermelon With A Playing Card. Made me want to light up afterwards for some reason. Hee. **currently accepting submissions, so check it out!**

• 'eye' (issue 3, december 2005): this is one of those magazines that are compiled with a lot of love (edited by Peter Schwartz). Terrific poetry throughout, with a tendency towards the surreal, the experimental. Features works by Jerry Bradley, Susan Swartwout, Steven D. Shroeder, Juliet Cook, CL Bledsoe, LB Sedlacek, Daniel Y. Harris, Louis E. Bourgeois, Margo Ruby, Patricia Wellingham-Jones, Consuelo Flores, Robin Mahaney, Gordon Purkis, Terry Quinn, Joseph Farley, Graham Nunn, Charles P. Ries, Kathleen L F Hall, Ojimgba Uko, Lois Marie Harrod, Holly Day, Janine Margiotta, Paul Toppo, Betty Lies, Marian Kaplun Shapiro, Shawn Marie Christenson and that -- hee -- what's-her-name broad with the plantarium.