when you find bliss savor it

for real i dont know who said this

joseph campbell perhaps

kilgore trout prob

ably not but oh

doesnt it sound just like something

someone would say

this is the place to be

Tonight the place to be is Laughing Goat (17th and Pearl in Boulder, Colorado) at 8:00PM.

A Night of Pretty Regular Insanity

Where the featured guests are Emily Owens (author of After All We Only Ever Listened to The Refrigerator Hum [Baobob Tree Press]), Jonathan Montgomery (author of Taxis and Shit [Monkey Puzzle Press]) and Allison Langley.

I  have both of these books (read them more than once [one more than the other]) but never-the-less I enjoyed them tremendously.

Special appearances by Girls Just Wanna Have Us, Distance Engine and Marcus Palmer.

It is guaranteed to be a night to remember!

this also is vanity

applying my mind to wisdom madness and folly
there is nothing new to be gained under the sun
there is nothing new to be learned and honored
nothing that i have not already loved and lost to
the business that god has given to sons of men

five minutes at a time (75)

"my raccoon has hepatitis" woody allen

fear and loathing in the holding cell

(in memory of hunter s thompson)

i too am chilled to the marrow
sleepless
longing for rest
relief from these chains
and shackles
and scared of the darkness

i hear you outside my window
vying for my attention
cat-calling and cackling
throwing rocks
i hear them plunk and clink
against the steel bars

five minutes at a time (74)

resisted the urge to chop mom up
into little bits and tiny pieces and 
strewn across the grocery store

five minutes at a time (73)

two pots of tea at trident
and a pepsi at lolitas
and a bloomsbury review at eads
and a drive back to denver
some spontaneous research on
an american playwright

five minutes at a time (72)

nursing a sleep deprivation hangover

five minutes at a time (71)

i drove to boulder three times
i bought an awesome purple rose
i basked in the glow of a meteorite
i talked and laughed and smiled
and i shook like chihuahua

who let bukowski in?

now the bastard wont leave

he sits at the kitchen table in my mind

like a sous chef swilling the cooking wine

he is cleaning his nails with a fork

you dont know what love is

five minutes at a time (70)

while smoking in front of trident
i sculpted a turkey in
the snow
first the right wing
then the left
and the neck
the head and legs

did i mention i used my
foot im such a tool

sculptor of yellow snow

five minutes at a time (69)

i think i need a new battery
a spanking new battery
an energize
me
for my keychain
my thankless fucking keychain where
the panic button
wont work worth a shit

five minutes at a time (68)

beauty is what we feel

fire and ice

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.

Robert Frost

five minutes at a time (67)

so denver is out of the question today
dont want to spontaneously combust

five minutes at a time (66)

so im still working on the panic thing

five minutes at a time (65)

so im off to equivicate with the all high and mighty assed god of sleep

five minutes at a time (64)

please come to denver

let the games begin

im feeling downright scrappy!

friends night out

So tonight my friends Amy and Rafal and Satan and myself head to Boulder Theater to see a show by the incredible Meshell Ndegeocello.

five minutes at a time (63)

i press my
fingers hard against my
closed eyelids my
VOILA
a kaleidoscope

this is how it is

so i will focus right now...

Considering a fellow Tridentian's interest in co-founding a non-profit publishing house in Boulder.

Considering a crash course in the ABC's of grant writing.

Considering the 2010 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Denver (April 7-10, 2010), where more than 500 Presses, Publishers and Journals will wreak total havoc with more than 400 scheduled events.

Considering the venue I have been entrusted to select in Denver for one night of said conference. This reading will be dually co-ordinated by Ahadada Books (of Toronto and Tokyo) and Unlikely Books (akin to Unlikely 2.0 and formerly known as Unlikely Stories [where I was formerly Art Director]).

Considering my art and poetry submissions both pending and anticipated.

Considering the contrary poetry book reviews lounging undone on my back burners.

Considering my unfinished manuscript(s).

Considering Lenny's suggestion ... that I write mini poetry book reviews and submit them to The Bloomsbury Review. 

Considering the Press Kit listing of 30 invited features at said conference next year, and the 7 invited features at said secondary reading [myself included]).

Considering my unpreparedness.

Considering alternatives to panic attacking.

Considering my four ancient cameras and the equipment and the ramifications thereof.

Considering saving clams for a laptop and/or implied camera contriband.

Considering flying my son to join me at said conference next year.

Considering that he might be truly bored at said conference.

Considering that freelancing for hire (again) is probably out of the question in this new fangled digital age.

Considering selections for an art exhibit next year.

Considering why bees are up my ass every time I go outside the house in Denver to smoke.

Considering dabbling with Tanka and other short forms again.

Considering writing more articles for Sketchbook.

Considering my complete lack of unused photograghs to manipulate.

Considering developing the ample pile of exposed film in my underwear drawer.

Considering developing the two test rolls I shot this week.

Considering the features to invite to the reading series I'll be hosting at Trident next year.

Considering what to do with the next five years of already paid Poetry Victims domain access.

Considering how short life is.

Considering this.

justin arlen spahr-summers

happy birthday 

my son
(im glad i called and talked to you just now ... freakin night owl [i have no idea where you get it from])

five minutes at a time (62)

oh pinch me please

five minutes at a time (61)

i have this electric brown eyed dream

five minutes at a time (60)

its best to just let me do it

five minutes at a time (59)

and i like to shoot poets

five minutes at a time (58)

i am fully armed now

five minutes at a time (57)

checking flash units

checking lens after lens

checking batteries all around

checking

five minutes at a time (56)

being that i am committed to getting out and mingling actually

talking to people i have dug my dusty cameras out of storage

five minutes at a time (55)

touché

five minutes at a time (54)

early to bed
early to rise
says a poet

five minutes at a time (53)

the great foggy electric

of

two thousand and nine

five minutes at a time (52)

while you sleep in boulder dastardly

fog sweeps through the deserted streets

five minutes at a time (51)

today i find courage in the grunt work
the big behind the scenes tinkering
that most of us miss in the kitchen
things like rationalizing my desire
things like strategy and trying not
to overthink something pretty basic

five minutes at a time (50)

twice last night the mannequin in the parking garage

scared the crap out of me

five minutes at a time (49)

i love the way you move

five minutes at a time (48)

i think funk music could heal the world

amy everhart kicks some national slam ass

(an interlude)

 

Perhaps you heard the announcement at Mercury Cafe on Sunday night.

If you weren't there, the news is that Denver poet Amy Everhart won the 2009 Singles National Slam Competition. I was delighted to hear this, Amy puts on quite a show.

Reading poetry live (the way we do) takes courage. Performance poetry takes something more than courage. I admire that!

Here is a link to a blog entry I made on March 23, 2009 (about an Amy Everhart Slam performance).

i think they were mandalas (therfore they were)

five minutes at a time (47)

ill try not to panic next time

five minutes at a time (46)

and im drinking some warm
izze sparkling clementine
from who knows where

five minutes at a time (45)

this morning i cultivated some courage

five minutes at a time (44)

this is an example of other things
that require my undivided attention

five minutes at a time (43)

i like the little holes in urinals
i like to pee directly into them
one at a time top to bottom

five minutes at a time (42)

please correct me if im wrong
i couldve sworn i just saw you

five minutes at a time (41)

this is a new season

five minutes at a time (40)

lenny and i spoke of seasons
tonight the seasons of ones life
while nick was a podium seasons
came and went through my mind
i recognized one after another i
understood something of importance
but i couldnt quite put my finger on it

five minutes at a time (39)

it impresses me that at any moment
my new little orange lighter
could burst into an inferno instantly
torching me from head to toe

five minutes at a time (38)

after the folding of clothes therapy i
reach for this very steno pad

five minutes at a time (37)

and those bastards keep selling books i
want

five minutes at a time (36)

ive had so much of this magic brown
eyed tea im
shaking like chihuahua

five minutes at a time (35)

what doesnt burn
doesnt count

five minutes at a time (34)

do you hear the roar of the fire
the flames engulfing one another
wood snapping and popping
the red sizzling in my head?

theres a multitude of kindling in here

five minutes at a time (33)

brown eyes
brown eyes
brown eyes
brown eyes

five minutes at a time (32)

a handful of electric coins

five minutes at a time (31)

cooling my jets in denver

five minutes at a time (30)

fancy dancers
gotta whole lotta nothing on me

five minutes at a time (29)

and that awful rowing towards home

five minutes at a time (28)

purple oars up to here

five minutes at a time (27)

purple rain
all the way from tulsa to salina

five minutes at a time (26)

boulder
or i might get busted

five minutes at a time (25)

do not encourage them

five minutes at a time (24)

do not touch these words

five minutes at a time (23)

do not feed these words

five minutes at a time (22)

tonights available words
are witheld for your protection

five minutes at a time (21)

ive said my goodbyes
ive checked the tire pressure
and all the fluids
ive filled the gas tank
ive packed my suitcase
ive cleaned out the car
ive run down the dream

five minutes at a time (20)

freedom is the declaration
freedom is the acknowledgment
freedom is the friendship
freedom is the honesty
freedom is the forgiveness

the total sum of
what happiness you know
and what happiness
you dont know

freedom is the energy

five minutes at a time (19)

the bench im sitting on
is dedicated to the memory
of larry k arnett
while i have no clue who this is
somewhat baffled as i am
real time i do however
appreciate his righteous bench

five minutes at a time (18)

im tired of the profiling
watched suspiciously by
every cop who spots me
im in oklahoma where
my bag is frowned upon by
a significant percent of
the population in general

five minutes at a time (17)

memories are the strongest here

five minutes at a time (16)

there is this squirrel
lurching hesitantly towards me
closer and closer
he stares me down
and moves closer
he stops about six feet away
he is so shy
i can appreciate his dilemma
but i have nothing to offer
but cigarettes and pepsi
he runs away

five minutes at a time (15)

the sun is warm today
and there is just the slightest breeze
i sit in woodward park
alone on a bench in the shade
writing and thinking and thoughts
and reading
and waiting to come home

five minutes at a time (14)

i met my grandson today
and ate lunch with my daughter
and her cousin
and her cousins kind of adopted daughter
across the table we reached
for love and food
and baby and stories
and smiles
and hope

five minutes at a time (13)

last night we chewed some very old fat
my old friends the brothers and
me

who do you love? we said
when you slept with my girlfriend we said
what do you know? we said
when i loved your sister we said
what do you believe? we said
and your cousin

five minutes at a time (12)

trimmed

five minutes at a time (11)

the farther i drive away from
myself the closer i am

five minutes at a time (10)

a fool moon (i mean full moon)
is about to become someone
trees thrash in the wind
a storm is brewing
it looks like something
is about to happen around here

five minutes at a time (9)

i dont want to misplace you

five minutes at a time (8)

i have seen your face on every u turn sign
from colorado
to kansas
to oklahoma

stigmata

mother mary

eleanor rigby

five minutes at a time (7)

a stretch of freshly mown grass lies before me
i want to run
and run and run around
in circles like crazy
leap about do cartwheels kick
my feet into the air
take a chance
i hope not to fall flat on my face

five minutes at a time (6)

there are some noisy assed birds in wichita let me tell you

five minutes at a time (5)

im so electric this computer
in kansas keeps freezing all
up in here

five minutes at a time (4)

giggling with mom

five minutes at a time (3)

i stop the car under
neath an electrical line
do you hear the buzz?
do you feel it?
i look up thinking
ill jump as high as i can
i know i can do this

five minutes at a time (2)

watch a beard grow

five minutes at a time (1)

i want to reach up and brush them away
these clouds
i want to feel them like flowers
of lovely once scented
hair slowly between my very own
fingers i want to
touch
i want to know what this means
this thing to be wild

call me crazy

So I absolutely love to drive!

Perhaps I have alluded to this before.

In fact, I drove to Boulder twice today for no good reason (knowing full well that I wasn't even going to get out of the car). I came in on 28th Street, turned left on Pine, drove behind the hotel, turned left on Broadway, turned right on Spruce, turned left on whatever the hell that street is, turned right on Pearl, drove past Trident, turned left on 9th Street (the other street must be 10th Street), turned left on Canyon, turned right on 28th Street, and drove to Denver (each time).

While I am very antsy, and anxious to be on the road ... I will miss Boulder.

Boulder is like a beautiful gifted poet, and I will miss her.

Until next time...

(it is here that I make a sweeping Sharkesperian [i mean Shakesperian] sort of Beatle bow)