{if at first you don't}

I tried to post this four days ago but Blogger kept kicking me off. let's try again!

So I realize I've posted nothing but poems of late, no mention ofother people's work or what I'm reading. I promise to remedy this soon. Have been reading Sophie Cabot Black's "The Descent" which is difficult and heavy and gorgeous in moments of blinding sighs. I do need to analyze at least one of her poems to understand why the book holds me in spite of itself.

New goal: analyze at least one poem fromeach book I read.

Time is becoming scarcer as I start work full-time again. Grants, grants, grants. Brochure brochure brochure. Fortunately, the organization is wonderful (www.pasesetter.org) and the people are kind and interesting. But sitting for eight hours a day is killing my lower back, which had been giving me problems already. I need to buy yoga DVDs. I need to start working out again. Must find a gym near work or join the one by the apartment. Probably the latter. Last night's "Salon Propaganda" was amazing. On the topic of Art & Fear, folks were supposed to bring an object that represented fear to them.

Of course few did (aside from Ray who wore his mask into the house and for the first few hours) so I had everyone draw a picturere presenting their fear, then exchanged them and kicked off the discussion based on what each picture represented to the individual who'd received it. Few people actually addressed their drawing because we entered almost immediately into a focused and dynamic dialogue about how we balance the need to create art that reflects this violentand fear-filled society without reinforcing it. How our fears inform our art, in positive and negative ways. How there are fears that move us forward and fears that hang off our heels and hold us frozen in place.

Hm, I think I could have organized an interesting exercise based on freeze tag, illustrating fear. That's an interesting workshop idea. One of the main reasons I would love to either have such a booming could spend (paid) time developing programs and projects to explore concepts like art and fear with groups of people over the course of days instead of three hours at Lynne's house. but baby steps, baby steps.

and that's all she wrote, November 20. let's see now if this will post...