Dick Allen, Poet Laureate of Connecticut, recently shared this poem that he wrote some years back, plus this quote from John Hickenlooper, Governor of Colorado: “I refuse to say his name, in my house, we’re just going to call him Suspect A.”
A Curse
We will not toss a fig to, nor remember
The thieving CEO, the slipshod builder,
Dope-pusher, crack-smoker, Mafia mobster.
We want to hear their names no more.
Smudges on the landscape, insects in dogs’ fur,
The drunken driver, the occasional wife beater,
The sniper crawling out from under God knows where,
We want to hear their names no more.
Mad or not, the serial axe-murderer,
The airplane hijacker, the suicide bomber,
Who cares what sad lost shapes their childhoods were?
We want to hear their names no more.
Let them be swept up by some janitor
And never mentioned in a single prayer.
Let every feature of them disappear.
We want to hear their names no more.
For they are dung and spit and gelatin and scar,
The dribble soaked into a chewed cigar,
Old knots in dirty hair, crepuscular.
We want to hear their names no more.
-Dick Allen
Present Vanishing (Sarabande Books, 2008)
News from Delaware: JoAnn Balingit
JoAnn Balingit with the Rhode Island Poet Laureate, Lisa Starr, in New Hamsphire for the Poetry & Politics conference
JoAnn Balingit, poet laureate of Delaware, reports that her newest chapbook, Forage, is now available from Wings Press as a hand-sewn edition and in ebook editions. http://joannbalingit.org/2011/books/forage/
She also shared news that the Delaware Division of the Arts has sponsored her local branch of the National League of American Pen Women to become an affiliate of the Alliance of Young Artists and Writers. “Thus we can revive the Delaware Scholastic Writing Awards in 2012, to recognize Delaware’s talented 7th through 12th grade writers with awards and possible scholarships.” See more on this at http://www.artandwriting.org/ORG/AffiliatePages/Show/DE001W
Poetry & Politics Conference With 12 Poets Laureate in New Hampshire
(from left) Dave Parsons, JoAnn Balingit, Bruce Dethlefsen, Lisa Starr, Walter Butts, Marjory Wentworth, Dick Allen, Julie Kane, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg & Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda
A dozen of us gathered in Concord, NH Oct. 13-16 to explore and celebrate poetry as it relates to politics, community, social change Sponsored and organized by the New Hampshire Writers’ Project, especially by its director George Geers in concert with NH Poet Laureate Walter Butts, the event sent us on the road on Oct. 14 to read with superb NH poets throughout the state, and then on Oct. 15, we participated in panels as part of an all-day conference on Poetry and Politics. The event was capped by a reading featuring all of us, and afterwards, we met to plan future gatherings, events and project.
Participating poets laureate were:
- Dick Allen, Connecticut
- JoAnn Ballingit, Delaware
- Walter E. Butts, New Hampshire
- Bruce Dethlefsen, Wisconsin
- Marie Harris, New Hampshire
- Julie Kane, Louisiana
- Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Virginia
- Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Kansas
- David M. Parsons, Texas
- Betsy Sholl, Maine
- Lisa Starr, Rhode Island
- Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina
Poetry AND Politics: “On the Road” Friday, October 14, 2011 — here where we went:
Poet(s) Laureate: Walter E. Butts (NH), Richard Allen (CT), Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (VA) and Marie Harris (NH)
Local Poet(s): Faculty and student poets
Venue: Southern New Hampshire University, Robert Frost Building, Walker Auditorium
Poet(s) Laureate: Julie Kane (LA) and Lisa Starr (RI)
Local Poet(s): Catherine O’Brian
Venue: Concord Public Library, Auditorium
Time: 10:15 a.m. to Noon
Poet(s) Laureate: Walter E. Butts (NH) and Richard Allen (CT)
Local Poet(s): Faculty and student poets
Venue: New England College, Simon Center, Great Room
Poet(s) Laureate: Bruce Dethlefsen (WI)
Local Poet(s): Maudelle Driskill
Venue: Abbey Greenleaf Library (in downtown Franconia)
Poet(s) Laureate: Dave Parsons (TX)
Local Poet(s): Rodger Martin, Jim Duffy, Bill Doreski and Jeff Friedman
Venue: Keene State College, Mountain View Room, 3rd floor, Student Union Building
Poet(s) Laureate: Caryn Miriam Goldberg (KS)
Local Poet(s): Peter Money and April Ossman
Venue: Lebanon Community College, Auditorium
Poet(s) Laureate: Betsy Sholl (ME) and Marjory Wentworth (SC)
Local Poet(s): S. Stephanie and Sid Hall
Venue: Toadstool Book Store in Milford
Panels at the Poetry & Politics Conference, Oct. 14th:
9:30 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. – Poetry & Community – with David M. Parsons, JoAnn Balingit, Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Lisa Starr, Betsy Sholl: What is the role of poetry in the community? What are possible activities that might be undertaken on national, regional, and local levels? We’ll discuss existing community building programs and examine how they work. Panelists will provide information on programs within their respective states they’ve found particularly effective, followed by questions/answers.
11:00 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. – Poetry & Education – with Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Julie Kane, JoAnn Balingit, David M. Parsons: How might poetry be introduced into public school curriculum? We’ll discuss various poets in the schools programs, funding issues, and strategies for effectively integrating poetry within a larger educational context. This panel will include readings of student work from anthologies and other texts, and be followed by a Q&A.
1:15 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. – Poetry & Social Justice – with Marjory Wentworth, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, Walter Butts, Lisa Starr, Bruce Dethlefsen: How might poetry provide a discourse for social justice activism and address racism, environmental dangers, poverty and other troubling issues confronting our society? We’ll read relevant poems, discuss existing programs in prisons, migrant camps, and urban centers, and examine matters of social responsibility, activism, and poetry. Followed by a Q&A.
2:45 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. – Poetry & Politcs – with Dick Allen, Marie Harris, Marjory Wentworth, Caryn-Mirrriam-Goldberg, Bruce Dethlefsen: This panel will continue the discussion begun at the 2003 first gathering of State Poets Laureate by then New Hampshire Poet Laureate Marie Harris. Once again we’ll explore poetry’s capacity to bring about social, political, and cultural change during these particularly challenging times. We’ll look at programs and activities that have emerged during the past decade, and consider poetry’s future role. Followed by a Q&A.
Poetry Month In Kansas And Beyond
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, the Poet Laureate of Kansas, shares her poetry month activities:
To the Stars Poetry Contest: Weekly poetry contests (two categories; professional and amateur writers) will begin April 1.
Kansas Daily Poem in Your Pocket: Receive a poem written by a Kansas poet along with a daily writing prompt each day of April by sending an email to KSpoetlaureate@gmail.com or download poems from the KAC website.
150 Kansas Poems in 2011 to Celebrate Our Sesquicentennial: Subscribe, view regularly, and submit your own poetry. 150Kansaspoems.wordpress.com for details (click on “Guidelines” in upper right-hand corner for details on submitting poems).
Poet Laureati: A National Convergence of Poets Laureate: Learn details of the event. Listen to upcoming radio shows on this event, which happened March 13-14 in Lawrence. Visit United Poets Laureate.
An Endless Skyway: Poetry from the State Poets Laureate: The first-ever anthology of poetry from state poets laureate — almost 40 in all — was edited by Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, plus three poets laureate emeritus Marilyn L. Taylor (Wisconsin), Walter Bargen (Missouri) and Denise Low (Kansas). Get your copy today through Ice Cube Books.
Other ways to celebrate:
- Poet Laureate of Kansas: Learn about past and present Poet Laureates of Kansas.
- Write From Your Life: Poet Laureate of Kansas Mirriam-Goldberg offers “Write From Your Life” monthly columns and podcasts offering writing inspiration and exercises to readers and listeners. She also offers National Poetry Month tips, links and writing exercises.
- National Poem In Your Pocket Day: Keep a poem in your pocket on April 29 to hand out and scatter around businesses, homes and organizations.
- Poem on the Range: If anyone should be doing Poem on the Range, it’s those of us who live where the deer and antelope play. Take photos of all that’s poetic to you, or make audio and video recordings, then upload them to a big map of Poems on the Range across America.
- Poem a Day: Sign up to receive a daily poem via email.
March Mascot: Joyce Brinkman
After Poet Laureati, Joyce Brinkman, poet laureate emeritus of Indiana, wrote this poem about her experience and flight home.
March Mascot
Like a shiny gray bullet
Delta Flight 1890 speeds
along the runway, while
across a brown band of ground
above a parallel landing strip
a Kansas City hawk appears
to race the plane. Black-
kissed wing-tips dip and
lift as the raptor’s regal head
cuts into the air ahead.
When the weighty mechanical
bird takes flight, the hawk lowers
its dark tail-feathers to settle
on the lane of natural turf
between the two hardened
surfaces of white. Standing
erect, its soft white underbelly
ripples in wind currents and
lightens in the eastern sun.
After taking off with this avian
escort, it will be harder to root
against the Kansas Jayhawks.
As April — not so much the cruelest month as National poetry month — approaches, we will be sharing what we’re doing as poets laureate of our respective state. 
Kelly Cherry, poet laureate of the Commonwealth of Virginia,will be leading a bimonthly reminiscence group at a nursing home that draws on poetry. She’s also traveling near and far to give readings: to Halifax, VA as well as Madison, WI to read and also give a talk about poetry. In addition, she’ll be reading to pre-K children at a local education center, judging a poetry and a fiction competition, and writing two essays about poets. Learn more about Kelly’s writing at her new website, www.KellyCherryBooks.com.
You can also read some of Kelly’s poetry in An Endless Skyway: Poetry from the State Poets Laureate.
Poet Laureati-ed
Marjory Wentworth (SC), Joyce Brinkman (IN) and Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda (VA)
I return to the world I knew before this event to find it slightly different. For one thing, the house is cleaner due to the mad rush of cleaning all last week so that we wouldn’t cringe at the spider webs on the ceiling while showing some poets laureate where they would be sleeping. For another, the sun is out, snow and rain are gone, and so are the poets laureate: the last having just left as the 19 of them sprinkle near and far in all directions. Some are home already, and some — like Peggy Shumaker and her wonderful husband, Joe, who will travel for two days to Alaska or like Lisa Starr, who may be on the long ferry from Rhode Island to her inn on Block Island — are still in process.
David Romtvedt (WY), Denise Low (KS) and Ken Lassman
As for me, I alternate between horizontal and semi-horizontal (sitting in bed, typing or checking email, or simply dozing into surreal and buzzing snippets of dream). Graham Nash sings “I Am A Simple Man” on itunes, and I fee like a very simple woman listening to it. The squirrel waits on the branch to leap onto the bird feeder. The cat sleeps on a pile of blankets one of the poets used. The Christmas lights around the bedroom window droop across thumbtacks.
Karla Morton (TX) and Mary Crow (CO)
I’m not exactly sure what happened during these days, but I do know I hugged many people, swam with others in tandem through conversations about vocation and passion, healing and imagery, the hunger to find the right words, the necessity of listening to other, and where to find Thai food on Mass. Street. I watched audiences leaning forward, intent and awake. I heard all weather variations of poetry: sonnets about liberal arts, free verse on the damage fathers can do, elaborations on the danger of the hot dog man, and wry deconstructions of our need to be adored.
I also found friends for life: poets and poets laureate I just met, and yet they were instantly big brothers or long-lost cousins sharing a bag of ginger snaps with me late at night in the kitchen or duck spring rolls at a candlelit dinner yesterday. There will be radio broadcasts of portions of the event on Kansas and Kansas City Public Radio stations, and a video or two soon, but for now, this is what I know.
Walter Butts (MO) and Norbert and Katherine Krapf (IN)
I also know whatever happened was, for me at least, extraordinary: made of running back and forth on my back deck near midnight, throwing snowballs and shovels of snow at each other; taking pictures of one another taking picture of one another; immersing myself in conversation with four women in the corner of Free State Brewery as we all ate big steak together; and squeezing into a car with poets laureate of five states to maneuver the weather of this state.
Thank you to everyone who came, listened, read, stayed, drove, fed, housed, asked questions of and provided answers for this gathering flock of blackbirds this weekend and the big sky we poured ourselves through on the way to each other.
