Myth of Arrival

Let this be a new "Introduction," as you might have noticed, things have changed. A bit of blog body modification. The source of all knowledge, Wikipedia, says this of "mutilation" and "Extreme" body modification:

Body modification (or body alteration) is the permanent or semi-permanent deliberate altering of the human body for non-medical reasons, such as spiritual, various social (markings) or aesthetic. It can range from the socially acceptable decoration (e.g., pierced ears in many societies), over religiously mandated (e.g., circumcision in a number of cultures) to corporal punishment and provocative statement by the rebellious (e.g., nostril piercings in punk subculture), some even get physically addicted to the kick of a painful procedure.

Some even get physically addicted … How true! Just like that twenty-second ear ring, once I began fumbling about with formats and colors on my blog, there was no stopping¹. I never would have imagined, however, how difficult choosing functional colors can be. I guess I am not as much of a fan of "Atomic Vomit" Green and "Little Mermaid Kelp" Blue as I thought. Odd.

This leads us to Today's Question: Do you get points for sending me a letter with all the letters there, just not in the right order? Friends of Cooley Gardens (one of the few public gardens in Lansing) wrote to me asking for money, a letter to "Azchary." The 1995 Poet's Market² (under heading: Red Cedar Review editor) spelled it "Jachary." But that is better than what one of my residents called me two nights ago: "Hey, poop boy!" Poetry and fecal matter; covering all the grounds.

I didn't post this yesterday, partly because I ran out of time before I had to flee to work and partly because I find multiple posting on the same day hideously lugubrious³. However, it has come to my attention I need to submit another poem for publication. Today it is GUIDANCE TO THE WÜNDERKIND and the magazine of choice is The Madison Review. The poem in question is neither a sonnet or villanelle, but in wonderful free verse! Yes, there was a time (was it ten years ago already?) when I was writing long, rambling odes to drag queens that looked a little like this (but with better line breaks):

… the streets are long - we

hurry from lit pool to
lit pool - someone has
scrawled Purgatory in
crayon on the pavement
at our feet …

1. Actually, it was Shelby who did all the work. I just sat by her watching. Also, there was no fumbling at all, nosireebob, she knew exactly which key to hit [back]
2. At a steal! Only $2.95 + plus shipping. [back]
3. Not because I know the really meaning of "lugubrious" but because it is such a fun word to say: lugubrious, lugubrious, lugubrious. Eat your heart out Robert Hass. [back]

This entry was posted on Saturday, October 22nd, 2005 at 9:39 pm and is filed under Introduction, Original Poetry. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.