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Showing posts from 2012

this came on the Staten Island Ferry thinking of Spalding Gray

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"300"

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how to read these

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gr/sh

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in the co of co

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vul

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“| a fork in me”

I’ll | to my story, though it |s in my craw. Judge, I wound up on the wrong side of the |. I always tried to | to the letter of the law, but my |-to-it-iveness just didn’t do the trick. I got stuck in a |y job—carrot and |— the CEO’s nose always |ing the air. He said we had to | together, thin or thick— while he was |ing it up the Boards’ derrieres. His fudges started |ing out like sore thumbs, and the Feds began to | their noses in. He told ‘em were to | it, but those guys ain’t dumb. They knew business wasn’t straight than a |pin. I got stuck stacking |ers in a stark stockroom to keep me from |y questions and news hype. If I struck the powder, I didn’t mastermind the boom; and, Your Honor, you can | that in your pipe. I’m a |-in-the mud accountant. I’m not a crook. I’m not trying to | it to the man or get rich quick. | around, and | with me—I’ll open up the books. If we throw enough mud, some is going to |.

Disclaimer

The poet makes no warranty that he or she treats of any single, objective, accurate or essential truth about her or her own poem except in the poem itself. Additional or contradictory interpretations by others may be reasonably given equal or greater credence.

Heads or tails?

HEADS OR TAILS, RICHARD? By FangO and Alice's artist friend, Kurt, flipped and worried a silver dollar the whole time we ambled around Manhattan, bumblebeeing into art galleries and revolutionary bookstores. Coming out of one, Kurt chatted up a Texan woman who was picking up her rejected charcoal nudes. She was a flat-out nut, I reckoned, though Kurt and Alice enjoyed splashing in the flow of her quick drawl of scandalous international narrative. Had she been local, richer and only slightly more balanced, Kurt could have stacked another possible crash pad on the three he has standing by. Spiv, that's a Scrabble word I love. One who lives by his or her wits. One day, Kurt, your figures will be billboard sized. They may as well be, but will you be heads up or tails up by then? *** This in response to poetic asides prompt "answer poem."

From the ice

(untitled) She's been thinking about things that don't need thinking This gives her the sensation that the rink sinks inches at a time whenever she launches a leap--a wince pinches her skates. For the klutz who learned triple Lutz, a great deflation--smack-- cold reminder of the bindings in her locker. Her back iced, she bounces up, thrusts her body, her choice, noise of crowd sigh, disappointment at the points lost. To be or not to be nigh eighteen, a mother or a medalist--shake the thought, chase momentum ignore the devil. *** This in response to Robert Brewer's weekly prompt at poetic asides, with the direction to start a poem with a line drawn from his notebook. I am submitting from the road, in New York, where we went skating in Long Island with our cousins, one of whom is a competitive ice skater. Being at the rink, and having watched her videos, and some performances of other local champs, put me in the setting of this po-narrative. So

In Our Books Interviews Daniel Ari

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I really feel good about this interview at In Our Books Here are some reasons why: I'm proud of the poem " this glamorous profession " that won the contest there and garnered the interview . I'm pleased with what I wrote for the interview. I think Ina Roy and Andrea Heiberg have a really beautiful blog going. I love the look and feel of it, and I really enjoy their posts. I'm tickled at the strange conflux of influences that led me to discover a poem that I very much like—it's a found poem, born out of the writings of Patrick Sokas . I won 50 kroner for my poem! Signed, Your Humble Host, Linky McLinkerson Here's the poem:  “this glamorous profession” after Patrick Sokas, M.D. Bill took an interest in my suit. “Where did you get it?” I looked at my feet and mumbled. “I have one just like it.” I glared. “This was my only suit, a mail-order suit.” “You probably saw a picture on a model.” “It looked good, th

A limerick

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I, Daniel, am planning a spread Of humus, falafel and bread; And since my own pate Is smooth as a plate, I’ll serve it on top of my head. *** Who rocks the limericks? Mad Kane rocks the limericks!

Left and found

Left and found “To think that once I was the same man did not embarrass me.” —Cheslaw Milosz The worst interview of my life: I want the memory to stop slapping me in the forehead. I would have been a teacher, but the three-day introduction at the art school in the mountains fell like bear shit in snow. I got shut and shy, retriggered faults, sat with the maintenance staff instead of my future fellows because it was the first seat I saw in the strange dining hall. My friend who’d opened the door for me stopped meeting my eyes. The last morning, I slipped away like a whisper through the snow, hazarding the icy roads to leave. The teachers—they had put me with the one boy who was not fitting in thinking, perhaps, we could help each other. I believe in redemption, so I’ll go back into that time with skis and with honey, with sage and age, a candle and a poem. I’ll let my body untangle the monkey puzzle,

Bye-Bye Song on A Show With Ze Frank

The "Bye Bye Song" is back on A Show with Ze Frank . This time, it's sung by a chorus of people at The Bipartisan Cafe during the IMUNURI poetry event, August 11, 2012. In the crowd are my fellow IMUNURI poets, Scooter Cascadia, James B. Wheeler and his wife Joyce, Terence Keane (who keens, "Good night, now" in falsetto), and Lauren Ari. Also in the audience is poet, Meena Rose, friend Ellen Kramer, my cousin Hannah Fleischmann, and Lauren's cousins. My version of " Bye Bye Song " debuted on a prior episode of A Show with just me and the squeezebox.

I've been defenestrated!

I have a new poem at the witty, entertaining Defenestration online magazine. It's about what fascinates me. Love, Daniel

Wild Age Press Honorable Mention poems

Here's some nice news: Wild Age Press gave me an honorable mention in their "Anything Goes" poem contest. They put up a photo and bio of me (which, perhaps, you were looking at just before clicking over here to read my honorably mentioned poems).  Editor Kelly Lynn Thomas says these poems earned the mention "for their innovative form, strong imagery, and fascinating subject matter." They are queron, a 17-line poetry form of my own devising. I hope you will enjoy. Smiley face.   * * * "Serious Ink" “Pinstriped skin? You want pinstriped skin?” So, needlessly, you repeat it. “Okay, okay. The Pinstripe Kid.” He’s old. He fetches his needles and a jar of powdered black ink. “Take a couple months. At least weeks, you know.” Yes, you know. The man slakes the ink from a cracking teapot. Though chilly, you take off your slacks. “So what’s up?” he asks. “You pissed off at your mo

Categories Round 4 Rannygazoo!

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Let your mind slip and slide down the linguistic pathways it loves. Let it fall into new alcoves to discover ghost harpists igniting juniper knishes. Get distracted, found, lost. Get silly. PLAY CATEGORIES  This is a word game where you think of words that fit in certain categories and start with certain letters. Here is How to play. Draw your grid, four cells by four cells. Your categories across the tops of your four columns are: Words related                  Embellishments                Synonyms              Made-up words to show biz                      (up to you to define)         for "fix"                  (must include definition) Your rows get these four letters: P I G S Now, fill in the cells, a word related to show biz beginning with P, an embellishment beginning with P... A word related to show biz beginning wtih I A word related to show biz beginning with G ... Post your answers in the comments section by July 13 for capricious adjudi

I got time! A gospel call and response

I got time A gospel call and response [A lead singer leads the song and the chorus responds with echo or exclamation. After the third verse, different singers improvise the lead vocal, and when everybody has had a turn and the assembly is satisfied, the first two verses are repeated with a long ritardando at the end. Chords are major I-IV-V-ii in familiar gospel style, played by everybody who has an instrument. Dancing is encouraged.] Oh, I got time.   (I got the time.) Yes, I got time. (I got the time.) Now, I got time (I got the time.) To do what I love, (Do what you love!) Do what I want, (What you want!) Do what I need. (What you need!) Yes, I got time. (I got the time.) I got time. (Hallelu!) There was a time (Once was a time) I didn’t see (Lord have mercy!) That I had time (Yes, yes!) Thought time had me . (Mm-mm!) But gradually (Praise the Lord!) I found I’m free, (Hallelujah!) And I got time. (I got t

Suggest a caption!

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PS: My first gif!

Play Categories for prizes! Game ON: Round 3

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Beezo says, "Relax!" De Jackson, RJ Clarken and Phil Fleischmann all took prizes in rannygazoo round #2. The gem that really stuck with me was RJ's R-entry for "obscure words." Spending the weekend in Vegas with friends from college, I had many opportunities to use the word rannygazoo , though nobody knew what I was talking about.   If you'd like to join me in reviving the old rannygazoo , it means about the same as shenanigans .   What? You want another round? Of course you do! I do, too! ROUND THREE! (Here's how to play ). For round three the categories are: 1. Someone you would like to hug 2. Objects smaller than a kernel of corn 3. Synonyms for "sexy" 4. A complete sentence beginning with the cue letter wherein that letter is used more often than any other single letter. The 4-letter word: MELD Points will be awarded capriciously and arbitrarily based on (or in spite of) these rules: 1 point per cell fille

North American Time by Adrienne Rich

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North American Time by Adrienne Rich Recorded for Oaktown Indie Mayhem event (which I could not attend in person).

Play Categories for prizes - Round 2

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It's Beezo, the Categories Game Rabbit! Congratulations to Pamela (PCS) and Patricia who both took prizes in round one. The prize, a signed copy of "Monster Poems" by Daniel Ari, illustrated by Lauren Ari. Now, let's start round 2!If you don't know how to play, here are the simple directions . The categories are: 1. Fictional places 2. Two names of cities 3. Synonyms of "sound" 4. Obscure words The 4-letter word: HORN Points will be awarded as capriciously and arbitrarily as before according to (or in spite of) these rules: 1 point per cell filled + 1 point for each pair of cities in category 2 that are connected by roads (i.e., you can drive from one to the other). + 5 points for the single pair of cities among all entries that have the greatest driving distance between them. + 1 point for each obscure word in category 4 that includes a definition + 1-3 bonus points for LOLs + 10 bonus points if you also submit a poem or flash fic

A queron about the city, wonder and Yank Sing2Go

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 Had trouble finding the right title. Something about how experience is so concentrated here, or in any city. Maybe you have an idea of a different title that could work for this poem? Texture & Discovery A man shares my bench, lowers his shades, flirts with me; but having lunch is why I’m here. I must keep this custard off my shirt. In the city, look and it appears: toothy skyline, transit or dessert. I’ve been a tourist nearly twenty years, still looking up at the tops of towers— still amazed at all the sounds to hear— conversing, saxophones, ambulance howls— not commonplace, the cities of earth. I could wander or I could sit for hours lost in this chaotic summer dream. A woman in a sunflower cowl turns my head right around and then steam billows up from a grate—smells of beer, moving bodies, iron and chlorine— Gotta get back to work. It’s 1:15

Play Categories, a fun creative-juicy word game (and you could win a prize)!

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"Categories” or “The Grid Game” is something my family played on car trips or at home. As an adult, I have found it to be a lot of laughs at parties or writing jams. It’s also a good way to stir up creative energy. At the last writing jam at my place, Jud, Maria, Janice, Rachel, Lauren, Jason, Ajua and I played. Sharing our results inspired belly laughs as well as a-ha moments. Then we used the answers we came up with as a wordlist for free writing. So here’s the game and how you can participate now in this blog-based tourney. Three sections follow: HOW TO PLAY SCORING PLAY NOW! HOW TO PLAY Create a 4x4 grid on a piece of paper. You could do this by folding a paper into 16ths, or just draw lines. Here’s mine. You’ll notice I left a little space above and to the left, which is not a bad idea. Above each column, we'll write our categories. When I was a kid, we used categories like animals, foods, girl’s names, and colors.  As an adult, I have foun

Limerick Time!

Me wrote the limerick of the week at Mad Kane's humor and limerick blog :) A man had a notable knack For catching fly balls in his crack. Though poor with his hands, He made many fans In center field, facing the back. Also submitted: A man had a notable knack for observing and narrating back. Perambulatory, he typed up his story and wound up as Jack Kerouac.  

Poet Daniel Ari featured at Prose Posies

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With Gretchen Wegner at InterPlay. My shirt says "Writer" :) Go see!  It's me! Cara Holman's Prose Posies is one of the many great sites linked from here.

The Ghost of Charles Bukowski, novel excerpt / partial tribute, part 2

Continuing with this story. I have to warn you though... I only got as far as chapter five plus a general concept of where I might go. Read part one , if you haven't already. 2 Three hours later, I’m three sheets to the wind, camped out in the bar booth, which even now that I’m familiar with it, is as eerie as a swamp from an old horror movie. Since it remains that type of setting and I have made it my home, then I am the creature from the dismal swamp. Truth be known, I’m hoping Charles will come in. He’s been scarce since I told him to fuck off, which is typical. He takes things so personally, asshole that he is, ghost of an asshole that he is.             Night is thinking about taking this ludicrous whore of a town to bed. I can hardly wait. Because with both of them distracted by each other, I might try to sneak home unspotted. To while away the last light, I signal to Enright—that’s the barkeep—for another. Since there are only two other people in the join