Ear Eater 5

                  Shaun Gannon began the marathon Ustream chats. Lately there have been a plethora of these going on, allowing for mere passers-by to become fully engaged. “I am Shaun Gannon” is to Shaun Gannon as “I’m Rick James Bitch” is to David Chappelle. While it is funny, it isn’t all that he offers. Shaun writes other poems as well.  Some of those other poems were read by his geologist friend who got somewhat intoxicated.  Once this ‘pre-gaming’ party ended, we headed off to the next Ustream party. We bounced.  

                Ear Eater 5 came up next. People waited anxiously for it to begin. People began discussing teeth. Cassandra Troyan’s teeth looked great. All of a sudden they broke into song, specifically “I believe I can fly”. The song moved the multiples of people residing in cyberspace. Since this group resides and publishes poetry on the internet, it only makes sense that they would try to interact on Ustream.

                Someone explained to us the importance of unicorns. While we had the beginning, we learned how nice an apartment you can get in Chicago. I feel that it was really strange moment when Ken Baumann read a poem from another laptop. Those in the Ustream listened to him as he read from a remote location. For a brief moment, I realized one of the goals which bring together the boykitten movement. Perhaps more so than any other literary movement, it openly embraces the internet. Most other literary movements usually shun the internet or aren’t as savvy about using it. Boykittens know how to use it. 

                The readings were great. I felt strange watching it from such a far distance. Oddly, my experience with poetry readings in real life are not as good as they are online. Perhaps the poets are more active knowing that they are being judged by an anonymous audience. Anonymity on the internet means it can get a bit harsh regarding the criticism. Some of the criticism is rather crude, but some of it misses the point entirely of the work (see Kat Dixon’s article ‘DadaGate’ as it has been dubbed). 

                Brett Gallagher began with “Vessel”. I liked the reading. Seeing his body’s rotation as he read showed a certain affection and attention to his own work. This sounds silly but a lot of writers tend to treat readings as a formality rather than a performance in and of itself. In this case Brett treats it with proper attention. Considering the sheer amount of words, he didn’t get very tripped up, as if he had practiced this quite a bit. Passion emanated from his delivery, it felt wonderful. Note “Vessel” will be in full-fleshed form at some point in the near future. Look out for it. 

                Online poetry readings bring love. Even those who felt sad in the beginning grew happier as the chat progressed. People merely talking to each other brought joy. Slowly the host Cassandra Troyan and the virtual host Steve Roggenbuck began working in tandem. It can be strange giving attention to two parties happening simultaneously. The two groups began to merge together as bizarre forms of flattery fused the two groups together. ‘Driving Me Wild’ ended up being a major chant of the night. But the next reading ended up allowing for silence on both sides, serving as a palette cleanser to some degree due to its quiet nature.

                Devon King came with musical accompaniment. Usually poetry readings don’t include an entire backing band. They were surprisingly quiet. Percussion and drones accompanied the reading. I liked the drones a lot; they grew more and more massive. For me the drones appeared to be well done. At first I didn’t get why the drums were there, but slowly it began to form a full whole. Each tap and hit worked against his reading’s tempo. By having two separate rhythms, it allowed for an extremely weird poetry-music hybrid. 

                “Sex Hair” began Carrie Lorig’s reading. Apparently she was born in Poland, studied in Wisconsin, and has generally been all over. Her poem about horses was enjoyable, as I have a thing for animal-centric writing. ‘Our flow is hard’ introduced her poem which she explicitly stated “was not about periods”. LetPeoplePoems published this wonderful weirdness. Despite being so far, she had a surprisingly strong performer. “Swamp Gods” celebrated the rivalry between swamp things. NewWaveVomit got some attention to, as Ana C hung out in the chat room. Her poems were extremely funny as was her delivery. Then, in case we weren’t sure if she was a good sport, she wore a blanket under the drunken audience’s request. 

         

            Finally, the end drew nigh. The laptop itself ran out of energy as this happened, almost exhausted by the sheer amount of literature it had consumed and shared. We left as virtual guests as the party winded on down into a drunken, debauched haze (or so I imagine). 

                It was totally worth it.

Stacey Teague

                 Whenever I think about the usefulness of twitter (a thought I have a lot) I think about a few people who actually make the experience worth it. These people are precious few, since so many twitter accounts appear to be bots or just shameless promotion. Encountering one of these people is akin to finding a four-leaf clover, you’re very lucky if you do. 

                Stacey Teague happens to be one of those people who make my twitter feed a better place. Thanks to Steve Roggenbuck’s wonderful project (#poetrybyemilydickinson) I noticed she was in on that digital poetry orgasm. Not sure if she was a poet, I checked her blogspot which she shares with her friend Susan. She is. 

                A lot of her poems seem to focus on animals. Perhaps she’s an animal person or enjoys thinking about their perspective on our overburdened life, all of its complications. Yet those animals have no idea how hard we have to work so they can just lollygag around the house, eating and sleeping. Things I should be doing.

                 “Post-Coitus” is the feeling of melancholy after coitus. It is also the name of Stacey’s first poem for NewWaveVomit. The poem’s focus seems to be on one of those low-key, mellow days which are tailor made for reflection. Even the sentence within the poem mentions how she talked about nothing much with her sister, who she loves. 

                “I Remember Everything” recollects a relationship in smeared details. Little bits and pieces of personality are displayed in the strangest of memories, for squishy moles and salts. Her line about “I love you” and how it can mean that or not mean that was particularly enjoyable. It makes me think of the words we say out of obligation rather than actual affection. Or the opposite could be true, where someone knows of the value of the words and refrains from saying it. 

                The last poem “Here are some of my “statement poems” feels like it should have another position, definitely before “I Remember Everything”. Perhaps it was Stacey’s intention to have thoughts on a previous relationship to come before details of the relationship, of making breakfasts and wet skinny jeans. 

                For LetPeoplePoems, she continues these thoughts on relationships. Dinosaurs are involved, actively listening. Since they are only dinosaurs, they don’t have to listen very hard. They only need to say ‘hmm’. “Brachiosaurus” appears to be a kind-hearted leaf-eater, who tries to comfort Stacey as she looks out on the harbor. Plus, she gets to climb on his back and find out about the bands he’s listening to, though we never hear any specific bands mentioned. 

                The other dinosaur poem “Diplodocus” expresses the narrator as a dinosaur. She expresses how we are vegetarians for moral reasons. Humans are aware of our own existence, making us feel a little crummier than the dinosaurs.  Due to this awareness, we feel heavier than several-ton extinct creatures. That is a bummer. 

                Her poems have a few running themes or conditions. I notice for nearly all of them it is raining or the words give an impression of rain. This may be due to her location in general, I’m not sure, and I’ve never been to New Zealand since I’m not a huge Lord of the Rings fan. Umbrellas get a great deal of mention, as do harbors and being wet in general. Animals are revered, particularly dinosaurs. Relationships form the basis of most of her poems. These are shown off in realistic ways, without being too happy or unhappy. It is a rare feat to capture a relationship in poetry without veering too heavily towards positivity or negativity. 

                She’s currently making a poetry anthology and needs submissions from New Zealand and Australia. Anyone from either of those locations should join immediately.

Neon Glittery

                The way I understand people on the internet is the same way I do in real life: through music. Knowing whether or not they have similar musical interests to me means a great deal to me. So when I saw they not only had ‘Super’ compatibility to me on Last.FM but had their own abstract DIY electronic project as well (see here) meant I probably should check out more for the potential hope she might be awesome. She is. 

                Neon Glittery (aka Elizabeth Ashley Arnold), the name suits the Arkansas native well. Whether it is her music, photography, or poetry, she radiates happy colors. The music comes across as some lo-fi experimentation which references bits of glitch, particularly my favorite song “dragonflies”. The pictures are this weird combination from a multitude of sources. You can see what I mean by looking at the illustrations she did for Loop Loop Endogenous Nightscape. She did the lettering as well, painfully reminding me how awful I did in calligraphy class.

                Besides all of these accomplishments, she’s also a poet. Her writing is published on her own blog and in various online publications such as Metazen and NewWaveVomit. I’d suggest reading both, but I’ll go over her NewWaveVomit submissions.

                “SHHHH…..” makes me hope someday I can see the Gulf of Mexico, a place I’ve never visited. I really liked “Untitled 3” a lot. A kid sleeping in for weeks on grey cotton sheets reminds me of May 2006. Somehow I find its short length to be reassuring, like comforting me that such behavior is okay, a kind of ‘Virtue of Laziness’. Personally I think laziness is underrated but then I’m a sloth.

                “Untitled 7” is perfect. I just want to republish it because it is exactly what I wish I could have as an email signature for some office job where I’ve developed senioritis and no longer care about my responsibilities because I’ll be gone shortly. Of course, that’s just a fictional made-up scenario with no basis in reality. Personally I’ve never done that and gotten sat down by a supervisor being asked to politely not do it again. 

As I put this poem down via copy and paste, I want Neon Glittery to know this made me so absolutely happy. It conjures up the spirit of the CoBRA art movement. CoBRA drew inspiration from children’s paintings and such, so I feel it’s a somewhat apt comparison. For wonderful work see the below:

.make sense of this (NON)sense-tence.

i g0T p0CKETFULLS &

L0CKet(r0CKETFueLS)fuLLs

0

big

DREAMs.

                Dedicating a poem to a compost rock n’ roll (Untitled Haiku) and drawing inspiration from Valentine’s Day are both great. I like how she’s able to pack so much into such little statements. The rest of the poems express the happy images of hammocks and greasers. Good memories to capture. 

                Going through all her material, she’s a one-person art movement. It is pretty impressive resume to touch upon poetry, music and poetry with the same attitude. You could call it flippant. That wouldn’t exactly capture the sheer overflowing, over-pouring of ideas. She maintains six TUMBLRS, several blogs, and has collaborated with others over the internet. I like what she does. You should too.

Richard Chiem

                When I first met heard of Richard Chiem, I noticed he began following me on Twitter. Then he invaded my blog with a question for Steve Roggenbuck for an interview called the “Pseudo-Social Scavenger Hunt” for the (Youth is Write Series). After I discovered why a question was on my blog for someone named Steve Roggenbuck, I told him it was awesome. He thanked me for using my site. 

                “Old Tampons” is the first short story of Richard’s I’ve encountered. It is about long distance relationships. Richard originally submitted it on “NewWaveVomit” and it resonated with a lot of people. First he read it aloud and you can hear it here. Personally, I enjoy his delivery of it. If it is possible for someone to sound like a poet, Richard Chiem sounds like one. He sounds similar to my college poetry teacher. Though my college poetry teacher was called “Mr. Beardsley” (which he might have legally done in order to teach poetry more ironically) one of the most ridiculous names I’ve encountered in my entire life besides “Bea Trout”. Richard’s work is well-thought out with an emotional core that makes the effort more than worth it. 

                A few fine individuals created a short film based off of his poem. Michael Inscoe, Meggie Green, and Melinda Wheeler star in it. All of them match the energy I get from reading the poem. If you’re more of a visual person, or don’t enjoy reading poetry, then you can watch the Youtube video right here. They have a well-chosen soundtrack as well, which is important to someone as obsessed with music as I. 

                “Long distance relationships are like believing in God and do you want to believe in God again?”

                The above introduces you to the poem. For me, it was strong. I’ve never been in a long-distance relationship. I wonder; what if I fell in love with someone. Could I manage to have the faith needed to let that connection stay strong, or would I just let it be, parting with one last hurrah as I moved away. I’m happy then that Richard’s story basically ruminates on that very emotional decision.

                A lot of religious metaphors are in the poem as well. They are beautiful. Using “Christ” in two different situations gives both the absolute highs and lows of a single word with all the baggage it entails. Having it mean the hurt and suffering Christ had at being so alone. Having it mean the pure joy and kindness he literally embodied as he embraced others to make them whole again. 

                Personally, I adored this poem. The hurt both of them feel is vividly portrayed. I couldn’t have asked for more direct language. As I read it, I feel sad at the amount of space and time countless others must have felt as they started out on a long-distance relationship. Both parties feel an unequal amount of hurt as they leave each other, her to go to Boston, him to stay on the West Coast. It was well-paced and gorgeous. Even as it was sad, it had hope for the times they met and were happy together. 

                I’d strongly suggest checking him out. He’s number #23 on Online Literary Power along with the editor of Vertebrae, an online journal of literature and art. If none of this means anything to you, he’s also really nice. That counts the most.