POG one

POG — it used to stand for POetry Group, but we decided a long time ago it was better if it didn't stand for anything. Yet it's in all caps and people think it's an acronym. It's NOT. Newspapers here in Tucson won't even print it, instead opting for "Poetry in Action" in press announcements, as "Poetry in Action" is the title of the reading series sponsored by POG, & often co-sponsored by Chax Press, & once-in-a-while also cosponsored by the Poetry Center at the University of Arizona. We're all for collaboration. "We" began with about 8 people some 8 or 9 years ago. I think the only constants among the people involved in the collaborative over the years are Tenney Nathanson & me. Speaking about him, that's a great block to build on. He sometimes has called us (i.e. the two of us) Mutt & Jeff, in terms of our introductions of poets. Now we have a good many more gifted people involved, including Paul Klinger, Dawn Pendergast, Tony Luebbermann, Rodney Phillips, Ana Fulford, Bonne Jean Michalski, Frank Parker, Barbara Henning, Cynthia Miller, Rachel McCrystal, Kali Tal, and John Wright, and Carlos Gallego. Now that's a terrific group, together for the first time this year, and we're off to a great start.

First reading from POG was a five-person group of visiting poets, luckily here for a conference: Elizabeth Robinson, Susanne Dyckman, Jaime Robles, Catherine Wagner, and Michelle Auerbach. I wish I could report on it all, but unfortunately I was called away on family duty that couldn't be put off. But I heard the first three, who were terrific.

Next up, this Sunday, is Linh Dinh

Linh Dinh is the author of two collections of stories, Fake House (2000) and Blood and Soap (2004), and a book of poems, All Around What Empties Out (2003). His work has been anthologized in Best American Poetry 2000, Best American Poetry 2004, and Great American Prose Poems from Poe to the Present (2003). and Three Vietnamese Poets (2001). He is also the editor of Night, Again: Contemporary Fiction from Vietnam (1996) and Three Vietnamese Poets (2001).

LINE BREAKS

A woman walks into a doctor's office with a carrot
Up her nose, a cucumber in her left ear
And a banana in her right ear.
A guy was riding in a limousine when he saw a man eating grass
By the side of the road.
The day before her abortion,
The one-eyed lady accidentally swallowed her glass eye.
"I notice that your eyes are bloodshot. Have you been drinking, Sir?"
"And I notice that your eyes are glazed, Officer.
Have you been eating doughnuts?"
"Put your coat on. I?m going to the pub for a drink."
"Are you taking me with you??
"No, I'm selling the house."

I hope to see lots of people there, this
Sunday, October 22, at 7:30 pm at Dinnerware Arts, 101 W. Sixth St., Tucson.