{new poem + plug}

this might be an extension of the last one I posted, perhaps a conversation. hoping to find time to work on this after the Declare Yourself show and before 13 tonight. speaking of which, great stuff happening poetry-wise this week: scroll past the poem for details!

skinned

the corpses of gnats litter the bed
little commas, everted birthmarks
the sheets are dirty with it
and us half sexual half dead, arms
and legs akimbo, brushing

we fell on each other like overripe fruit
and they found us, all pulp and tossed
rind, exposed / our mouths hot
halved pomegranates, all
seeds running / humid logic
of lips, we asked for this

bruise, crossed ourselves
with apricot hands and husked flesh
back to pith, this sin called the insects
from their nests with its sweet slow rut
and they came, their thin wings nothing

under these hands, a carnival of slapping,
laughter at the massacre, their persistence,
their sheer numbers, what does it mean
when the animals think you’re rotting
even as you crush them one by one by one

*****************

TONIGHT! Corinna Bain & Morris Stegosaurus at Bar 13's louderMONDAYS show

I've known Corinna since she was a 17-year-old shaky-handed just-started-writing has-great-potential reader in Worcester Massachussetts who fed the Morrigan spaghetti and let us crash on her couch. NOW she is a phenomenon. Her work has simply exploded in all gorgeous ways, and I can't wait to see her read tonight!

I've known Morris since I helped boo him off the stage at the Green Mill (you're allowed to do that there.) Since that time, he has convinced me that (a) we were right to refuse to listen to him then and (b) he has so much more to give to the world of poetry and the world at large than that one-legged prostitute piece -- and he's finding more new and exciting ways to let that other poet out every time I witness him.

So join us tonight at 13 Bar/Lounge
7 p.m
35 E. 13th St., Union Square
$5 ($4 for students)
2-for-1 drinks all night
open mic + featured poets + open slam

who knows, I might even slam again

***

ALSO, on Wednesday, join the louderARTS Project as we present
Awake at the Wheel: a louderTRIBUTE

10 p.m.
Bowery Poetry Club
308 Bowery @ Bleecker

Please join the louderARTS Project as we pay tribute to the poets whose work keeps us awake and vibrating to the world -- whose poetry saves our lives.

New York's best performing poets will be covering the poems of Yusef Komunyakaa, Sharon Olds, Martin Espada, Laure-Anne Bosselaar, and Adrienne Rich. Reading on this night will be Elana Bell, Oscar Bermeo, RogerBonair-Agard, Jayme Del Rosario, SabrinaHayeem-Ladani, Syreeta McFadden, Rachel McKibbens, Lynne Procope, Marty McConnell and Rich Villar. We will also beintroducing the louderARTS Awake at the Wheel Prizefor Poetry (www.louderARTS.com/awake).

Hosted by Fish Vargas
$7 Cover
http://www.louderarts.com/awake
http://www.bowerypoetry.com

********

and finally, we've reached the final weeks of the Declare Yourself! tour, and what better place to do that than New York CITY! here's the schedule of shows, all taking place at Rockefeller Plaza (aka Democracy Plaza, until November 5, no comment.)

it's chilly out there, and chock-full o' tourists and bizness folks, so it'd be lovely and warming to see some poetry-appreciating faces.

here's the schedule!

mon oct 25th: noon
tues oct 26th: 6 pm
thur oct 28th: noon and 6 pm
fri oct 29th: noon
tues nov 2: noon
wed nov 3: noon and 6 pm
fri nov 5: noon

***

well, that's all for now. have to go find something warm to wear!