Lisa Jarnot's NIGHT SCENES

It may be no surprise to our readers that our dear friend, Lisa Jarnot, has written yet another remarkable book NIGHT SCENES. Our feelings can best be described as reverential jealousy—jealous in how tight, beautiful and sincere these poems are. We are also jealous at how gorgeous the book is—Flood Editions has produced its second beautiful book of poems by Lisa and should also be lauded for its craftsmanship.

Make sure you get a first edition of this one.

Found Art / Belgian Chair

Belgian Chair
by Deep Ellum Barback

from Your Belgian Things
by The Mountain Goats

The men were here to get your Belgian things
They'll store them for you in an airplane hangar
There's guys in biohazard suits
Mud kicking on their rubber boots
They've come to keep your pretty things from danger

The men were here to get your Belgian things
They'll spend the whole day hauling them downstairs
I shot a roll of thirty-two exposures
My camera groans beneath the weight it bears

I can see you in my sleep
Playing the points for all you're worth
Walking gingerly across the bruised earth

Who was Catullus, anyway?

Catullus was born in 84 B.C. in Verona, said to have moved to Rome around 62 B.C. and probably died around 54 B.C. The manuscript that I translated, known now as The Complete Poems of Catullus was rediscovered in Catullus’ hometown around the 14th century. There is even a myth that the manuscript was found in an empty wine cask—after centuries of soaking up the spirits. In just three decades, Catullus fondled Venus herself, licked the sweat off the upper lip of Bacchus, and gave birth to a blues lyric that has battled time.

Catullus was a young, brash, salacious, and semi-famous celebrity at a time when most poetry was probably performed. Think Shelley mixed with Eminem (at his most vulgar moments) as well as political and mythological and sometimes absurd. In a great little prefatory description, Rabinowitz asks us to imagine Catullus as a “playboy in the midst of a collapsing republic—roughly the Roman equivalent of a rockstar. He could terrify a general or win a woman (or boy) just by inviting him to be the hero of a poem. Caesar begged for his friendship, and, what’s even more remarkable, Cicero shut up when he spoke.”

Catullus wrote many love poems, and he wrote many hate poems. He wrote mythology. He translated Greek poets like Sappho and Callimachus. He has a short, absurd play with two characters, one of which is the front door to a house, who tells us that the father-in-law knocked up his son’s wife in a famous political family because his son is impotent. He writes heart-wrenching poems about his brother’s death, and people that have died at war. He belittles men (mostly ex-friends and politicians) for the small size of their—well, manhood. He has poems about waking up with prostitutes and many more poems about the tumultuous relationship with his lover, or his main lover, who he names Lesbia, but is known to be the historical character Clodia, who just so happens to be the wife of a conservative consul.

THE LONG EMERGENCY

PEAK OIL FLAT
Karen Hagen

Haven't been this engaged since the SHOCK DOCTRINE. Behold the Long Emergency. Hard to believe LE has been out since 2005. Currently tackling PEAK EVERYTHING by Richard Heinberg. Check out him out below.

Tyler Doherty

Bootstrap is proud to announce the addition of Tyler Doherty to our posting team here on the blog. We think that Tyler is one of the greatest living poets around. We are also going to print a new book of poems by Tyler (we also published his first book--Bodhidharma Never Came to Hatboro (of which we only have about 30 copies left.)) We would love to print all 1,000 pages of his various manuscripts. But, we imagine it would cost about $10,000. We would be happy to accept a donation to do this--are you an angel? Until then, you are going to have to wait for his book and read his blog posts here--poetic haibun spontaneous Buddhist improvisational jazz Philly poems...everything he writes is gold.

Peace people.

Ryan's collarbone is not connected to his...

...scapula

A Separated Shoulder XRay modified to easily show bones. Notice the separation between the end of the collarbone and the scapula. This is what my x-ray looked like.

Type III

In a Type III AC separation both acromioclavicular and coracoclavicular ligaments are torn. A significant bump is formed by the lateral end of the clavicle. This bump is permanent. The clavicle can be moved in and out of place on the shoulder. It may take 12 weeks to heal, and physical therapy can be beneficial. It may take even longer for the shoulder strength to approach feeling normal. The injured shoulder may not be able to take the abuse that it could previously, but for most purposes it will be quite usable and sufficient. However, there still is controversy as to whether or not surgery may be necessary for optimal shoulder use in sport. (photo of x-ray and info from Wikipedia)

What does this mean? It means it hurts like hell--much more than when I broke my left clavicle in high school (playing hockey). I am eating pain pills like skittles. I think I'll be able to type with two hands pretty soon (as long as I stand with the keyboard properly positioned)--but no painting. And when I stop taking pills, I'll probably be able to read more effectively.

How did this happen? I forgot I was 32, terribly out-of-shape, and as I dove for a basketball and landed awkwardly, my body fell apart. This solidifies my platonic leanings that my body is a prison.

Peace People.

Ry