BIBLIOPUNK POETRY PODCAST

An Ignominious End

Wed, 9 Nov 2011 17:27:43 -0500

THIS JUST IN...

Q & A

Wed, 26 Nov 2008 19:05:24 -0500

A simple permutation poem.

the day the poets went on strike

Sat, 15 Nov 2008 08:02:45 -0500

A brief excursion into an alternate reality.

LAST THURSDAY AT THE SUPERMARKET

Fri, 11 Jul 2008 00:35:35 -0400

A short prose poem.

MIRROR DIPTYCH

Thu, 3 Jul 2008 00:58:46 -0400

A re-posting of The Re-Verse, now with its companion piece, the palindromic poem The Return. I thought the two pieces would be best heard together as they were originally written. They are reflections of each other as might be appropriate for a two-part poem inspired by mirrors.

SOMETIMES

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 07:47:11 -0400

Stein once said, if you enjoy my work, then you’ve understood my work. I hope you enjoy this poem.

THE MOTHERS

Thu, 19 Jun 2008 16:27:12 -0400

A wee prose poem parable.

DOGGROWL

Fri, 6 Jun 2008 05:54:13 -0400

A little piece of doggerel written for my niece and nephew, ages 4 and 7.

THESE MY PEOPLE

Thu, 22 May 2008 03:15:54 -0400

If our personal identities are simply the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves, then who we are is very much a language game.

NURSERY BOOK CONFIDENTIAL

Sat, 12 Jan 2008 21:01:41 -0500

Poem for Bill Knott. The inside scoop on all those characters from childhood...

THE FLOWERS OF MT. PLEASANT

Sun, 6 Jan 2008 19:43:04 -0500

A short, simple poem that breaks a powerful taboo by mentioning one’s own death and the deaths of loved ones. I believe that the human brain, hardwired for survival through millions of years of evolution, simply cannot fully comprehend it’s own inevitable demise. Thus, we all live in a state of perpetual denial, paying lip service to the reality of our eventual deaths without ever really coming to terms with this as an actuality. None of us ever truly believes we will die.

MAN OF STEEL

Sat, 29 Dec 2007 19:55:57 -0500

Anecdote from my childhood. (Sorry, Stephen T., wherever you are.)

GAMES FOR THE YOUNG AND YOUNG AT HEART

Sat, 22 Dec 2007 23:39:59 -0500

Short activity book for for the budding, young nihilist in your home. Good for very rainy days...

from EULOGY FOR CITY LIFE

Fri, 14 Dec 2007 01:41:30 -0500

Three stanzas excerpted from a longer, unfinished piece. Each stanza is a cinquain, a poetic form that requires a strict adherence to a predetermined syllable count for each of the poem’s five lines.

A VERY FINE VALENTINE

Fri, 7 Dec 2007 14:10:19 -0500

A children’s poem...

TXT MSGS 2 MRCL DCHMP

Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:24:11 -0500

Inspired by Duchamp’s short film “Anemic Cinema”, which features short text spinning around in spirals (though my text is very different in style than Duchamp’s.)

FIVE O'CLOCK MONDAY MORNING THE ALARM CLOCK RINGS

Fri, 23 Nov 2007 13:36:13 -0500

Poem for Kyle, who works too hard.

THE ANNEXATION

Sat, 17 Nov 2007 11:40:51 -0500

Short piece from the upcoming book “Bones”.

RAISING AND BREEDING AN AUDIENCE IN CAPTIVITY

Tue, 13 Nov 2007 15:42:30 -0500

A poem about the kind of artist who erroneously believes the audience is the enemy. (Not a self-portrait!)

LIES OF PSYCHOLOGY

Fri, 26 Oct 2007 13:08:45 -0400

As much a sound poem as meditation on the distance that separates us from knowing others. Part of the “Bones” series.

THE INCUBATOR SONG

Fri, 19 Oct 2007 22:47:41 -0400

A poem I wrote for my nephew who has been affectionately known as “Sausage” since that day I first saw him lying in the incubator.

THE NOTE

Sun, 14 Oct 2007 01:26:23 -0400

Another from “Night Realities”...

ENVOI

Sat, 6 Oct 2007 19:09:25 -0400

“Go, little book...”—Geoffrey Chaucer

A poem written as a send-off for my new book of poetry, “Bones”, in stores early 2008.

THE FLIRTATION

Tue, 25 Sep 2007 00:05:54 -0400

My first book, Cigarette Salad, revisited. I actually wrote two other entirely different poems called “The Flirtation” before settling on this one. Third time lucky?

LUCID

Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:20:30 -0400

One day during a first-year psychology class I learned about lucid dreaming—when the dreamer realizes they are dreaming while the dream is still going on. With this knowledge the dreamer can often control the outcome of their dream even as it unfolds. That night I had my first lucid dream. Here it is...

THE GLASS HOUSE

Fri, 7 Sep 2007 01:27:56 -0400

Every one of us has known a “Glass Man” in our lives—one who plays at the role of protector (of family, of friends) when all along he is in fact being very carefully protected. From “Night Realities”.

MIST

Fri, 31 Aug 2007 15:53:43 -0400

Another dream poem from the collection “Night Realities”.

PAPERCLIP THE MOON

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 17:36:36 -0400

Another surreal rant—this one inspired by slippery corporate shiftiness.

HOME IN MY POCKET

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 16:38:29 -0400

My first professionally commssioned poem, written for a signage/wayfinding company’s website. The theme of looking for direction was inspired by the arrows pointing in different direction found in the company’s newly designed logo. The poem relies on the very simple observation that smaller words can sometimes be found spelled out inside larger words. This poem is also part of my on-going series of stripped-down poems called “Bones”.

THE SUN IS DEAD

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:35:32 -0400

Another dream poem from my series “Night Realities”. A disturbing encounter with contemporary political violence, the dreamer’s ambivalence towards the terrorist and his secret service opposite number rings clear. Though a member of Amnesty International in my waking life, in my dreams, like many of us, I am something else entirely.Perhaps only by recognizing the violence latent in all our psyches can the cycle be broken.

TOODELOO

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 11:42:43 -0400

Tetchy from a fresh bureaucratic run-in, I present this serio-comic rant.

THE 4 SAY-SO'S

Sat, 4 Aug 2007 21:51:57 -0400

The complete version of this poem on the seasons appearing in its entirety on this podcast for the first time.

GENEALOGY

Sat, 28 Jul 2007 10:58:44 -0400

A playful poetry experiment in non sequiturs, this will appear in the next issue of Rampike magazine.

A POET IN THE FAMILY TREE

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 17:35:10 -0400

The wonderful thing about children is they simply accept you for who you are. My niece and nephew, aged 3 and 6, know me as the uncle who writes “silly poems”. They also sometimes jokingly refer to me as “Uncle Monkey”. I thought I’d write a poem about how they must view having this strange creature known as “poet” as a part of the family.

SYSTEMS TEST

Fri, 13 Jul 2007 23:02:33 -0400

THIS IS A SYSTEMS TEST.
PLEASE IGNORE THIS MESSAGE.

FUZZY HAMMER.
ICECREAM BREAST.
LEATHER SARSPARILLA.

THIS CONCLUDES THE SYSTEMS TEST.
SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE...

ANOTHER DEAD IRAQI

Sat, 30 Jun 2007 02:32:51 -0400

Once again a slightly surreal political poem.

LITTLE SUN, O LITTLE SUN

Sun, 24 Jun 2007 19:28:21 -0400

According to developmental psychologists in many cases a child under the age of 5 may well believe the sun physically follows only him or her around all day. Here’s a poem based on that phenomena, written for my 3-year-old niece.

COPING WITH THE WAR ON TERROR

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 22:44:32 -0400

A satiric treatment of an important issue.

THE FATHER WITH 3 DIFFERENT BRAINS

Sat, 16 Jun 2007 21:41:05 -0400

Happy Father’s Day!

THEREFORE NEVERTHELESS MOREOVER

Sat, 9 Jun 2007 21:42:10 -0400

Note the power of language to create the appearance of meaning without actually saying anything at all.

SIMMER PART 2

Mon, 28 May 2007 12:14:02 -0400

Not content to write merely one summer poem this year, I wrote a second.

GRAVITY ZERO

Sat, 26 May 2007 03:55:32 -0400

Poem for Kristin who here defeats gravity in more ways than one. (Kristin—1 Gravity—0)

MY THREADBARE BLACK ARMBAND

Fri, 25 May 2007 18:07:43 -0400

Inspired by the Euripides quotation, “Never that which is shall die,” which seems like a touching, wise and crazy thing to put on a tombstone. The speaker in this poem tries (valiantly? foolishly?) to expound upon this argument for immortally. This quixotic effort is as tortuous and strained as it is human.

BROKEN RECORD

Fri, 25 May 2007 02:14:33 -0400

“Why don’t you love me like I love me?” The eternal question, eternally reiterated, here in this recording as in life.

THE DOOR—PERFORMANCE PIECE

Fri, 25 May 2007 00:36:04 -0400

Spoken word refrain from a line by Victor Coleman.

WISH FULFILLMENT

Sat, 12 May 2007 15:38:50 -0400

Sometimes dreams are obscure and sometimes, though perhaps somewhat bizarre, they as obvious as can be. A dream I had during my time in Ireland.

LOSING HOME

Sun, 6 May 2007 22:59:57 -0400

A dream I had the day we sold the family home of 37 years.

WHERE IS MY HOLLYWOOD ENDING?

Mon, 30 Apr 2007 23:38:12 -0400

The last poem I wrote before quitting smoking. When I gave up cigarettes I mourned their loss as one would mourn the death of a beloved pet. A beloved pet that was secretly trying to kill me...This poem tries to capture some of that despair.

SPRUNG!

Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:28:22 -0400

A new poem written last Sunday for my niece and nephew, a mulligan’s stew of parts of speech, heralding the much-appreciated arrival of temperate weather in Toronto.

THE COMPLETE POEM NOIR

Mon, 16 Apr 2007 02:07:34 -0400

The ten-part poem tribute to film noir here in its entirety. Settle in, this podcast is longer than my usual.