We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
— T. S. Eliot, from “Little Gidding” in Four Quartets

Recently, a reader asked me whether I harbor feelings of inadequacy during the writing process, and, if so, how I manage to escape from writerly paralysis. He correlated the sense of inadequacy with desiring to produce great writing. Artistic ideals and expectations can become impenetrable fortresses.

I was humbled by my conversation with this reader, however, I’m not sure if I answered or avoided his questions. I understand that, since the 1980s, circumnavigating clear meaning has come to be in vogue, however I am not always stylish person. (more…)

francis cheer is a stellar band releasing their newest CD—typewriter—on Wednesday, April 30, 2008 at 9:00pm at the marquee room (612 8 ave SW, Calgary, AB) with guests government of canada. I’m not sure what cover is . . . probably $10 or $15.

If you are in Calgary, come out to hear some stunning music, meet great people, and pickup a memorable cd. You’ll be glad you did. Have a listen to a couple francis cheer songs here.

Dear Daniel,
Thank you for your correspondence!
Some writers argue that the exclamation mark only serves weak writers who cannot convey what they intend with powerful, clear language. I am not one of those people, but I wary of over-taxing the (motorways and tramlines) exclamation point. If I were to write a novel, I would imagine it would only have three or four instances of punctuated exclaim.
No, I have not received any presents for National Poetry Month. I have, however, written some poems, thereby decorating my mind. Currently, I am working on a good one about marginality and liminality. I am investigating how the intellectual study and understanding of ideals, such as justice and equity, may not translate into ethical behaviour or living. I suppose this is a version of writing about Pharisees (those who are set apart). Maybe I will add that reference in somewhere.
I remember your mother.
I hope you are always ready to cast the first stone. Remember, nothing gets done without a degree of inconsistency.
Take care of yourself,
Leif

The Most Vocal Poetry Society of Lethbridge will be airing the second hour of their recent interview with me at 3:00pm MST on Saturday, April 19th, on the U of L’s campus station CKXU. I’ll eventually post both interviews on my site, but if you’re wanting to hear the first on-air version, tune in online here.

I selected all the music for both shows.

EDIT: Looks like the show didn’t play this week . . . Sorry about that.

Yes. Navigenics is real. This is really happening (aside: can’t help but mention I’ll see Radiohead in Vancouver in August!).

So. Navigenics is a company that will look at your DNA and then tell you what health risks you uniquely have: 95% chance of colon cancer, 60% chance of Alzheimer’s, 5% chance of erectile dysfunction, etc. The company markets itself as an informational tool that you can use to better protect yourself (and, by extension, your family). With information about your health outlook, you can start taking measures now to counter those predispositions.

Right now, Navigenics works by probabilities, however in the future (perhaps even now) they will be able to indefinitely say “You will suffer from X by this age.” Pretty cool. Pretty scary. Also, they are adding more disease everyday. So you’ll get better visibility into how much you could suffer in the future. Then, you’ll have the pre-suffering opportunity to try to do something about it before it happens! However, I ultimately side with Navigenics. Ignorance is not bliss. It is simply ignorance.

I’m sure the founders of Navigenics are geeks, therefore I believe they have seen Gattaca—a movie which shows a future where people’s DNA is the primary way they are judged for relationships and employment. Although Navigenics works hard to present their product as benign and useful, they are challenged by some valid concerns from a society who hasn’t yet become accustom to what is possible with science. It might be a few years before they really start being thought of as normal.

I would be glad to have private and personal insight into my own DNA. The frightening element of this would be if that same information fell into the hands of my insurance company, my employer, or some sort of tyrannical government. I can just imagine someone losing a potential promotion or health coverage because his or her disease risks are too high.

If you have a chance, visit the Navigenics site and see how they communicate their potentially frightening product in a positive way. Those writers and marketers deserve a hand. Lastly, a reason I like Navigenics is that their service is affordable, about $2500 USD for your initial testing and then $250/year for updates, etc. It isn’t dirt cheap, but it is something most people I know could afford, if they thought it was that important.

So, does Navigenics scare you? Would you do it? Let me know.

Today at 3:00, the CKXU program “Not Your Mother’s Poetry” will feature an hour-long show on my poetry and person. Moreover, I selected the songs for the program, so the tunes will kick and hopefully establish my “indie cred”!

You can tune into the show by listening to the streaming audio here. Once I have a copy of the program, I’ll post it here.

UPDATE: This week’s show is part 1 of 2. The second hour will air next Saturday.

In an effort to have quality poetry inbreak on the daily consciousness of those who would welcome it, I have finally followed through on delivering poems to people via SMS, using twitter. If you want short poems delivered to your mobile phone, please subscribe here.

Twitter is a free service and most mobile phone companies do not charge you to receive text messages. I might not need to shout “FREE POEMS!” but I might as well. Also, if you start twittering poems, please let me know, so I can follow you.

Using SMS text messages to convey poetry, or poetic lines, has inherent constraints (140 characters, no line breaks, ect.). Particularly because I love the long poem, I am not suggesting that SMS poems will replace poetry. Instead, this form offers people a chance to have tiny pieces of art engage them unexpectedly in their day. Like all art, sometime my poems will be read, sometimes not; sometimes they will resonate, sometimes they won’t. Regardless, they exists as potential and possibility.

Since twitter is more than 5 minutes old, I know I am not the first person to imagine this application of the technology. However, I have yet to find any community formed around the idea of poets sharing lines of their work with one another. For myself, I would welcome having a few high quality writers inviting me to pause from the daily routine by sending beautiful words to my phone.

I respect some of the reservations that some people, like Robert Peake, have about technology and poetry. However, I am not looking to replace poetry with Poetry 2.0. Said again, this experiment is simply an augmentation of poetry and an invitation to pause. The power of SMS poems does not lie in the fact that they become instant or commodified, but rather that people encounter poems within their pattern of their day. This idea is not much different from putting poetry on buses or beautiful graffiti art on someone’s walk to work. The difference SMS poems offer is choice to read or not read.

So, here are my self-imposed guidelines for using twitter for poetry:

• Each SMS poem will be treated as a self contained unit. Preceding poems are not required for context.
• I will offer myself up in language. I will strive for beautiful words and for reflective utterances, not simply inconsistent ephemera
• I will offer an sms poem about once a day
• I may include lines from larger works in sms poems. I may also incorporate sms lines in larger works.

Look forward to my lines. I look forward to yours.
L