Life, food, events, and community in Albuquerque, NM

The DitchRider's Blog (51)

The Sunday Poem: Larry Goodell... Greed Dogs

Once called "The Aristophanes of the Piñon-Juniper Scrubland" performance poet Larry Goodell has lived in Placitas for almost 50 years. He has published many local writers and is author of… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on February 7, 2010 at 8:00am — 10 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Richard Oyama... What Is Richard Doing In Albuquerque?

Do your friends far away ever wonder why you are living in Albuquerque? It is hard to explain to an outsider. This poem will make you smile as your head moves up, down, and sideways. It probably won't help your friends much. Born in New York City, Oyama has a Master's degree in… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 31, 2010 at 8:00am — 17 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Sara Marie Ortiz... Twisted Light

Most of us have imagined the moment of our own death. But when Death comes calling, it is a 'come-as-you-are' affair...sometimes with a twist. Sara Marie Ortiz, of Acoma Pueblo by way of Albuquerque and Santa Fe, reads at the Church of Beethoven. Her work has won numerous awards. Currently she is the assi… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 24, 2010 at 8:00am — 5 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Georgia Santa-Maria... Love Poem for my Stove

A wood-burning cook stove is the total opposite of that funky electric Hotpoint you had in your first apartment. There are tricks to using one but once you know how, it becomes a partner in turning a cold room into a sweet-smelling, warm kitchen. No wonder they are passed down from generation to genera… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 17, 2010 at 7:30am — 7 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Jessica Lopez... Ordinary Woman

The extraordinary Jessica Lopez reflects on "the ink blots and back ants" of love gone bad. Jessica Helen Lopez is a Poetry and Creative Writing Teacher/NM History Instructor at Robert F. Kennedy Charter High School. She is a former member of 2006 and 2007 City of Albuquerque Slam Team and the 2008… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 10, 2010 at 8:00am — 8 Comments

In Memorium: DCF Poet Maisha Baton... July 2,1938 - Dec. 27, 2009

Albuquerque poet Maisha Baton died on December 27th of cancer. She had spent the last few months with her daughter and family in Pittsburgh, PA. She was 71. Maisha was featured in the Duke City Fix on April 19th in The Sunday Poem series. In that poem,… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 5, 2010 at 8:00am — 13 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Gary Brower... Shooting With Dick Near Corpus Christi

Dick Cheney continues to insert himself into the current political debate. Poet Gary L. Brower has the former VP in his metaphoric sights as he focuses on a very real hunting trip. The Incident occurred on February 11, 2006, when then U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney shot Harry Whittington, a 78-year-old T… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on January 3, 2010 at 7:30am — 7 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Amy Beeder... The Charges Are Stalking & Arson

All poets are dangerous, but this poet is explosive. "Powder speaks; dirt is mute." I'm starting to feel uncomfortable. Amy Beeder is the author of Burn the Field (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2006). Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Ploughshares, AGNI, Poetry Daily, and… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on December 27, 2009 at 8:00am — 5 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Maria Leyba... Las Madrecitas

Maria L. Leyba was born in The Women & Children's Hospital that once stood on Central & High. She was raised in Barelas where she still resides in her childhood home with her husband, Jerry. Presently she teaches preschool at A Child's Garden. She was born into a Mexican family of weavers &… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on December 20, 2009 at 8:00am — 8 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Zach Kluckman... The Lion in G

She’s turning Debussy in G into a sensual arrival of moments What wonderful lines from The Lion in G! But Kluckman's poem is itself a "sensual arrival of moments." So much so that I have appended a 1940 recording of Debussy's Quartet in G Minor, as a sort of sensual dessert for this Sunday… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on December 13, 2009 at 7:00am — 10 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Kenneth P. Gurney... Fluid Shape of an Empty Womb

Many of us have lost track of the Oracle of Delphi these last 3000 years. That doesn't mean she's been quiet. Historically she was consulted before all major decisions, like going to war. Kenneth P. Gurney lives in Albuquerque, NM. His work appears mostly on the web as he spends SASE and reading fee dollars… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on December 6, 2009 at 7:27am — 7 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Jessica Lopez... Custody

It is a nicer restaurant: tablecloths & steak knives. Over in the corner, a couple and their daughter sit quietly. Jessica Helen Lopez is a Poetry and Creative Writing Teacher/NM History Instructor at Robert F. Kennedy Charter High School. She is a former member of 2006 and 2007 City… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on November 29, 2009 at 8:00am — 15 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Todd Moore... instructions

A gun barrel, 70 words, 37 lines. This skinny poem looks like a coffin nail, a phallic gesture, a rush to death, or the passage of Time itself. But along its narrow length are 37 little framed pictures clicking by as you drop down the page. "When I read a poem I want it to be something that could sc… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on November 22, 2009 at 7:33am — 10 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Lisa Gill... Red as a Lotus: Letters to a Dead Trappist, XVI & XIX

In his Seeds of Contemplation, Catholic monk Thomas Merton wrote, "The purpose of a book of meditations is to teach you how to think and not to do your thinking for you." Living alone in a trailer next to an alfalfa field, Lisa G… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on November 15, 2009 at 7:00am — 8 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Merimee Moffitt... The Seco Bar, 1973

It takes a special kind of poet to write a great poem about a bar. The only other ones that come to mind are The Shooting of Dan McGrew and… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on November 8, 2009 at 8:00am — 13 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Rich Boucher... Please have Pity on these People; They are From the Past

Irony and humor are not the tools of every poet. But here Rich Boucher wears them like six-guns in this look into American history and how it is viewed. A past member of five national poetry slam teams (Team Worcester, MA 1995 & 1996, Team Washington, DC in 2001, Team Wilmington, DE in 2007 and Team… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on November 1, 2009 at 7:30am — 15 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Gaurav Rajen... India: An Invitation (1988)

The adventure that is Gaurav Rajen's life began in India where he was born. This look back to his native land tries to come to grips with what has to be one of the most complex countries on the face of the planet. Packed with emotions and vivid images, this poem both dances and broods. A short second poem,… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on October 25, 2009 at 7:29am — 5 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Elaine Schwartz... Auntie Margaret's Hungarian Pastry

Lies are just as entertaining as Truth. Just ask cable TV. Yet there are those moments when you can not only see what is true, you can smell it...taste it. Just ask Elaine Schwartz. This wonderful piece awakens the hunger for truth in all of us. Auntie Margaret’s Hungarian Pastry If it… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on October 18, 2009 at 8:00am — 4 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Barbara Byers... Things to Do

I was born to fundamentalist Christian cult parents who are white supremacists. I grew up in Denver and escaped to New Mexico in 1982. Justice, art and travel are the engines that drive me. As a child, I was not nurtured but forced. As an adult, I oppose force and try to learn how to nurture mysel… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on October 11, 2009 at 7:51am — 26 Comments

A Potluck with The Sunday Poets

Since The Sunday Poem series started last February, 29 different local poets have been featured here on the front page of the Duke City Fix. If you feel like reviewing their contributions, just click on The DitchRid… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on October 4, 2009 at 4:30pm — 3 Comments