This is what hovers between:

the blossoming of green stone and the breaking of cotton cords.

we will hold our regular open mic followed by a cash slam. Poets will perform poems of their own creation in 2 rounds scored by randomly chosen judges. The winner will receive a percentage of the bucket based on the luck of the draw from a deck of cards. Come join in the fun.

Come on down to the The Q Cafe (362 Chandler Street, Worcester). The open mic sign-up list goes out around 7:00 p.m. and the reading starts closer to 7:30 p.m. No cover; please throw some money in the bucket to support the reading.

while lying in bed with him, I realized that no one ever mentioned how precious and beautiful the moments of tenderness are. How an arm across the torso or hands finding common space would become just as valuable as anything else.

The hour is soon when the people will decide who is the next Poet Laureate of The Blogosphere! If you have not voted for TONY BROWN, 
you will be prayed to death by an angry Hawaiian...or you may suffer poetic malaise!

Either way now is when we need that final push. Mr. Brown needs the margin of victory over the neo-fascist poetic form that his closest rival, Mr. Rob McLennan.

Vote for someone you can trust in, someone who will not usher in a Francoesque restriction on the poetic blogosphere.

 
Vote Often!

Vote against despotic poetry!

Vote for Freeedom!

Vote Tony Brown Poet Laureate of The Blogosphere!!!

vote at: http://bloggingpoet.squarespace.com/bloggingpoetcom/category/poet-laureate-of-the-blogosphere

I was rejected again from Strange Horizons, an excellent speculative fiction genre on-line publication. This had to be one of the nicer notices I’ve gotten:

“We are afraid we are saying no on this submission. This was a close call. Your poem is very good and we held it back for several weeks to give it serious consideration.”

Not too bad either. I was also rejected from another publication, but again a very nice note. In general I don’t take this too personally. After all each person/publication has their needs for a particular issue and all that.

I still need to hear back from 3 other publications, one is `Oiwi: A Native Hawaiian Journal. That one I want to get into more than most. I’ve been waiting 2-3 years for them to come out with the next volume. There is a strong chance they will take my stuff thanks to a friend mentioning me while at an indigenous peoples conference.

I will send out my work to more places, too.

I know that when I’ve slammed I usually get a bigger audience than I can in a journal or small publication. I get that. And of course I’ve only made it as far as semi-finals for Worcester. There have been the slam workshops that involved 200 or more children

and for some folks the question is “Why bother?”

I want to be the best poet I can. All around. Period.

For me that means both performance and publication. It means getting out into the world as much as possible.

Two of my favorite poets from slam are doing just that: Patricia Smith and Reggie Gibson. While neither one may be active in slam any more, they got there start there. It’s how they rose to prominence.

This is the reason I keep writing and performing in open mics and slams.

It’s also why I keep LISTENING TO AND READING OTHER POETS

Just saying.

 Thursday was Brian's birthday. We went to dinner at the Buddha Hut, the new Chinese restaurant in Worcester. Nice meal, great service and such.

On our way to the Hotel Vernon for the slam, I asked him if he had heard Israel Kamakawiwo`ole’s version of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What A Wonderful World. 
He had heard the opening, it's used in so many commercials and movies. Iz' version is by far my favorite for both songs. 

We held hands while listening to the song, both of us singing at certain parts. 
Yeah.
This is good :)

This is a meme of 10 Things You Love that begin with a certain letter. My letter is "L" given to me by

liz_o_fashiz_o
 
if you want a letter, leave me a comment and I'll give you one. 

1. Limes: my favorite citrus fruit. Limeade was a fantastic treat in the summer and since I'v been eating more Vietnamese food I've come to appreciate how great they are. 

2. Lavender: I love the smell and color. Faggy much? Yes. I don't apologize.

3. Llama call: something done only by my friend Atom, it harkens back to our days in High School.

4. Lettuce: NOT iceberg. But other lettuce: bib or romaine or anything with flavor that is not the bland crunchy water in most salads. 

5. Light: so obvious, but it's how we see things. AND it's so cool: wave? particle? BOTH!!!!

6. Lunalilo: one of the Hawaiian Kings, he was the first elected Hawaiian Monarch. Not directly elected, but by the legislature after a plebcite vote went overwhelmingly in his favor. He reign last only one year, but his songs are some of my favorite.

7. Lilikoi juice: aka passion fruit. 

8. Letters: we don't write them as often as we used to, but the ones I have from my grandmother from when I was in college, my ex-girlfriend when she was in college, and with a man in Poland who used to work with me at Six Flags are all very treasured.

9. Language: yeah, this should be a no-brainer.

10. Liliuokalani: Last reigning Hawaiian Monarch. Stood up for her nation & people. Many of you may know her songs better, such as Aloha Oe or The Queens Prayer. She is still beloved by Hawaiians.

Bill is taking part in a coordinated national movement to have 24-hour readings across the country happening at the same time. The Poets' Asylum will be using this as a fundraising opportunity. Visit our Fundraising page to make a donation.

Make plans to come down for an hour or two and keep Bill company as he makes his way through 24 hours of poetry.

from http://www.poetsasylum.org