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The DitchRider's Blog – May 2009 Archive (5)

The Sunday Poem: Mitch Rayes... Postcard from Chiapas

For eight seasons Albuquerque poet Mitch Rayes outfitted jungle trips to remote rivers and ruins in the southern Mexican state of Chiapas. He first arrived there in 1979 and for almost two decades spent a large portion of his time in an area of Chiapas inhabited by a small group of indigenous Maya known as the Lacandones. His most recent poems are based on reminiscences of those years.

Born in Detroit, he made his first visit to New Mexico… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on May 31, 2009 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Gary Jackson... Autumn in Chestnut Falls

Do your neighbors have tentacles for arms? I mean real tentacles? Maybe you should read this. I first heard Gary Jackson at the Michael Datcher event. What a wonderful night that was! And this matter-of-fact treatment of the totally grotesque has all the dark irony of a reporter covering a nightmare.

Gary Jackson was born and raised in Topeka, KS, but received his MFA in Poetry from the University of New Mexico. His poems have appeared in… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on May 24, 2009 at 9:00am — 4 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Ben Moffett... Beach Ball!

This short and playful piece is not for the prudish. But warm weather is the time for swimming and watching the bare-skinned beautiful people. Here in Albuquerque there is no swimming except for city pools. And there are no beaches since Tingley Beach was closed to swimming decades ago. Still we can imagine...or smile as we remember...another time, another town, another full moon.

DCF member… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on May 17, 2009 at 9:00am — 18 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Rich Boucher... I Will Care About You When I'm Good And Ready

Those weekly demonstrations in Nob Hill elicit all kinds of reactions: some people honk and most just keep on driving. A few join in...a few join the counter-demonstration. Very few join both.

A past member of five national poetry slam teams, Rich has published four chapbooks of poetry. Like sands in the hourglass, Rich's poetry blends neo-brutalist surrealism with pagan music, sacred nonsense, revisionist history and "truth". Ever had a… Continue

Added by The DitchRider on May 10, 2009 at 8:31am — 8 Comments

The Sunday Poem: Idris Goodwin... The Boom

The Boom begs to be heard aloud: it is so crammed with fastball images and tricky rhythms. Well, I haven't got a video of The Boom, but I am embedding a video of Goodwin's What Is They Feedin' Our Kids as a kind of introduction to the poet's style. You will absolutely LOVE the video. And it gives you a starting point for the breakbeat poetics of The Boom.…

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Added by The DitchRider on May 3, 2009 at 9:00am — 3 Comments