Day Five, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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bus stop

My poem “The Bus Stops Here” has been posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (9 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). Many thanks to Jim Feeney, who provided this title and also last year’s “Never Drink Anything Blue.”

The Bus Stops Here

Your mind is a county fair
but the entrance shifts

every time I approach, and
the rides fade or hum away…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “The Trees Burn at Midnight,” was sponsored by Charlotte Hamrick, who also sponsored last year’s “With Summer’s Purpled Awe.”

Title sponsorships and 3-word sponsorships are still available. And remember, you can combine the two to force me to use not only your title, but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own. And can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?*

The  sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me.

If you can’t think of a title, Think Dink! A $30 donation will get you my 2015 chapbook If Your Matter Could Reform, Barton Smock’s Infant Cinema, Jamie Hunyor’s A New Sea, and Tim Kahl’s full length book, The String of Islands, thanks to the generosity of Dink Press founder and editor Kristopher Taylor!  A limited quantity is available, so order earlier rather than later.

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for supporting poetry! Only 25 poems to go!

* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.

Day Four, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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sew

My poem “The Underbelly of This Seam” has been posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (9 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). Many thanks to Ursula, who provided this title and also last year’s “Before We Knew.”

The Underbelly of This Seam

Slides beneath your gaze, unnoticed,
but the joining satisfies that particular

urge, combining two separates
into one whole, creating this new…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “The Bus Stops Here,” was sponsored by Jim Feeney, who also sponsored last year’s “Never Drink Anything Blue.”

While title sponsorships are steadily dwindling (about half remain), plenty of 3-word sponsorships are still available. And remember, you can combine sponsorships to force me to use not only your title, but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own. And can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?*

The  sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me..

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for supporting poetry! Only 26 poems to go!

* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.

Day Three, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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suds

My poem “Doing the Dishes in High Heels” has been posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (9 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). Many thanks to Pleasant Street, who provided the title. Pleasant also sponsored last year’s “A Cheese Omelet at Midnight.” Hmm. Is she conspiring with my wife to keep me in the kitchen?

Doing the Dishes in High Heels

I have seen you mowing the grass in open-toe
sandals, cigarette in mouth, cursing the dogs’ ill-placed

deposits, and I’ll never forget the night you sashayed
around the bed in negligee and flip flops while singing…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “The Underbelly of This Seam,” was sponsored by Ursula, who sponsored last year’s “Before We Knew.”

While title sponsorships are steadily dwindling, plenty of 3-word sponsorships remain. And remember, you can combine sponsorships to force me to use not only your title, but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own. And can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?*

The  sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me..

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for your support! Only 27 poems to go!

* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.

Day Two, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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banjo

My poem “While Listening to Fleck, Hussain and Meyer, I Consider Children’s Book Titles, Hops and the Ongoing Search for Meaning” has been posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (8 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). Many thanks to the wildly talented Stephanie L. Harper, who sponsored this piece and coerced me to use the words “monstrous glisson glop” in the body of the poem. I admit that she did not force me to use the form, but somehow it seemed necessary…

While Listening to Fleck, Hussain and Meyer,
I Consider Children’s Book Titles,
Hops and the Ongoing Search for Meaning

If we unravel the threads, removing
context, by what means do we regain it?
You say monstrous glisson glop, behooving
me to counter with a Williamette…

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem, “Doing the Dishes in High Heels,” was sponsored by Pleasant Street. I may have taken this one in a slightly different direction. Maybe not.

While title sponsorships are steadily dwindling, plenty of 3-word sponsorships remain. And remember, you can combine sponsorships to force me to use not only your title (can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?)* but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own.

The  sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me..

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for your support! Only 28 poems to go!

* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.

Day One, Tupelo Press 30/30 Project, August 2016

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Nose

My poem “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” will be posted among today’s offerings of the Tupelo Press 30/30 Project (8 poets have agreed to write 30 poems apiece in 30 days, to raise funds for Tupelo Press, a non-profit literary publisher). Many thanks to the anonymous donor who provided the title.

Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider

To paraphrase Williams, this is just to say
that I ate the Reese’s Cups, alone, in my room,
with glee – all of them – and I don’t care what
you say or think. I’ve been called worse things:

Click here to see the rest of the poem.

Tomorrow’s poem is titled “While Listening to Fleck, Hussein and Meyer, I Consider Children’s Book Titles, Hops and the Ongoing Search for Meaning.” The title is mine, but Stephanie L. Harper sponsored the poem and asked that I include the words “monstrous glisson glop” in the body of the poem. I’ll get you for that, Stephanie! 🙂

While title sponsorships are steadily dwindling, plenty of 3-word sponsorships remain. And remember, you can combine sponsorships to force me to use not only your title (can anyone challenge last year’s co-winners of Worst Title in the History of the 30/30 Project, Ron, Plain Jane and Mek?)* but also three words that I’d likely not use on my own.

The  sponsored poems are a blast to write, and the titles lead me to poems I’d not otherwise conceive. If you’re inclined to sponsor a poem, Donate to Tupelo, and please let me know as soon as possible what your title is or which three words you’ve foisted upon me..

For information on sponsorships (and my other incentives), click here.

Thank you for your support! Only 29 poems to go!

* The titles are, respectively, “Calvin Coolidge: Live or Memorex,” “Your Armpits Smell Like Heaven,” and “Reduce Heat and Simmer Gently Without Cloud Cover, Till Sundown. Serves 2 – 7 Billion.” “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider” is definitely a strong contender for this honor.

Update to August 2016 Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge

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image

In August I am participating in the Tupelo Press 30/30 challenge, a fundraiser for this outstanding nonprofit publisher. I have pledged to write 30 poems in 30 days, and hope that you might follow along and consider supporting poetry and literary publishers by making a donation. Every bit helps. To make this fun, and with hopes of enticing you, I’ve instituted a few incentives:

Name That Poem! For a $10 donation, you provide a title, and I’ll write the poem during the marathon. As of July 30, only 20 titles remain – I have five in hand, with another five committed. Be imaginative. Make the title as long or as interesting as you wish – consider this a dare! We begin the month tomorrow with “Nose-Picking Reese’s Hider,” which was sponsored by a generous anonymous donor.

Use These Words, Poet! For an $11 donation, you can offer 3 words that I must use in a poem. Why only 3? Because I’m (a) chicken (pawk, pawk!), and (b) I hate relinquishing control of my poetry’s language. Yes, yes, I know. This says horrible things about my character. But look at it this way, you could combine the first two incentives to force me to use your title AND three words that I likely wouldn’t use otherwise, which is about as much control as I’m able to give up (shuddering). Be kind. Or not.

Isn’t Broadside a Military Term? Well, yeah, but in this case it’s also a printed poem. For a $15 donation, you’ll receive sometime in September a signed broadside (printed on 8.5 x 11 paper or card stock) of any of the poems I produce during the 30-30 marathon. Your choice.

Editors, Critique My Poem! For a $20 donation, one of the participating editors, chosen at random, will critique your poem(s) (no more than three pages total, either one poem up to three pages long, a two-page poem plus a one-page poem, or three one-page poems). This is a wonderful (tax-deductible for U.S. participants) opportunity to have experienced lit mag editors examine your work and let you know what they think of it.

Participating editors include: Karen Craigo (whose recently released volume of poetry, No More Milk, is a must-read!), nonfiction editor of Mid-American Review and an editor of Gingko Tree Review; Jennifer Finstrom, poetry editor of Eclectica; Jeff Santosuosso, editor of Panoply; Anthony Frame, editor of Glass Poetry Press (which includes Glass: A Journal of Poetry) and poetry editor of Indianola Review; and Matt Larrimore, Editor in Chief of Four Ties Lit Review.

Think Dink! A $30 donation will get you my 2015 chapbook If Your Matter Could Reform, Barton Smock’s Infant Cinema, Jamie Hunyor’s A New Sea, and Tim Kahl’s full length book, The String of Islands, thanks to the generosity of Dink Press founder and editor Kristopher Taylor!  A limited quantity is available, so order earlier rather than later.

If none of these incentives appeals to you, but you’d still like to help, I’m open to suggestions. Last year I sent signed poems to several donors, and even recorded a poem for another’s blog. Don’t limit yourself to the aforementioned incentives. Think big! Let’s have fun!

If you choose to sponsor me, please click on the links to my Tupelo Press 30/30 donation page, or after August 1, visit the 30/30 page, click on the donate button, and then my name. And please inform me of your donation and provide your contact info via email at robertokaji at yahoo dot com or through Facebook so that I may thank you and arrange or send your premium.

If you’ve seen through this blog or other outlets enough of my writing to last your remaining days, you might consider a $99 subscription to Tupelo’s regular subscription series (which I have done), which garners you nine books from one of the country’s top literary presses! If you choose this option, please indicate in the comments that you are subscribing to the 9 books for $99 option, specify “in honor of” and insert my name, “Robert Okaji,” to show your support for my efforts.

For more information on the 30/30 Project, and to read the daily poems, see: https://tupelopress.wordpress.com/3030-project/ I’ll likely post updates daily, but we’ll see. Things are going to be hectic. No matter what, I look forward to reading your comments. Thanks very much!

Many, many thanks to Karen Craigo, Jennifer Finstrom, Anthony Frame, Matt Larrimore, Jeff Santosuosso and Kristopher Taylor for their generous spirits and willingness to help out.

His Softness

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shoes

His Softness

What name would survive
had you not stepped into the water

that day? Memory assigned
a separate word, another given,

and the face I’d placed with you
appeared in front of me

fifteen years later, in another
setting, miles away

and still breathing. How
may I honor you

if not by name? I recall
the gray ocean and how

umbrellas struggled in
the wind, and reading

in the weekly newspaper
a month after

that you had never emerged.
Now your name still lies there,

somewhere, under the surface,
unattached yet moving with

the current, and I,
no matter how I strain,

can’t grab it. Time after time,
it slips away. Just slips away.

.* * *

Many thanks to Sarah Rivera, who sponsored this poem and provided the title during last August’s Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge. “His Softness” was published in January 2016 in the inaugural edition of Mockingheart Review. I am participating in this August’s 30/30 Challenge, and appreciate any support you’re able to provide – good thoughts, encouragement and donations to Tupelo Press are all welcome.

Q&A With Editor Matt Larrimore

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Five editors have generously agreed to help me with the Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge, by providing, for a modest donation of $20, critiques of poetry. Matt Larrimore, founder and editor of Four Ties Lit Review, answers a few questions for us.

Matt L

Which three words best describe your favorite poetry?
insightful, unpretentious, craftsmanship

Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?
I’ve been in love with poetry since I encountered Rudyard Kipling’s If as a 10 year old. I’ve been spell bound by Robert Frost, Anne Sexton, Sharon Olds, and yes Billy Collins. I’ve studied poetry in earnest for the last nine years, earning a BA in English (Northern Colorado), a MA in Creative Writing (Poetry, Northern Arizona), and a MFA (Poetry, Old Dominion) So, I suppose I’m influenced by academic writing though I try my best to resist it. I’ve worked on 8 annual collegiate journals as well at the last five issues of Four Ties Lit Review, which I founded in 2012.

What sets apart the poems you accept from those you turn down?
Good poems are very clear, the reader has no doubt what the poem is saying, and then they say something interesting. If those two attributes can be combined with a poem that is well executed technically, you really have a good chance of getting published or at the least getting some quality feedback.

If you were a poetic form, which would you be?
Theoretically, I’d like to be Sonnet but in reality I’m more of Sestina that ignores the rules in the third and fifth stanza in order to make a point that might already be obvious.

Do you pay much attention to cover letters? What do you like/dislike about them?Honestly, No. Though I do use them as material if I enter into a conversation with the author (poets are authors) like earnest feedback or a personalized acceptance / rejection. We ask for a bio which serves a similar purpose and occasionally helps us to contextualize a piece, though if we have to do that it’s already unlikely we’ll publish the piece.

List three favorite poets, an admirable animal, and your go-to beverage.
 How about 3 you might have to look up? Fred Dings, Gary Short, Pamela Uschuk

The industrious Beaver – but I love how wolves improved the ecology of Yellowstone.

Summer / Spring – Ice coffee          Fall / Winter – Mocha

Bio:
Matthew Larrimore was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland, but spent six years in the west, Earning a BA at Northern Colorado then a MA in English, Creative Writing emphasis, in 2012 from Northern Arizona. After teaching for a year he relocated to Virginia to earn his MFA in Poetry from Old Dominion University. He’s an annual journal veteran, and founded Four Ties Lit Review in 2012. He teaches composition and literature as an Adjunct Professor at ODU. His own work has appeared in The Princess Anne Independent, The Noise, Poetry Pacific, and Aproposthearts.

* * *

Please consider supporting poetry and literary publishers (specifically Tupelo Press). Perhaps one of these incentives will entice you?

 

 

 

 

 

Q&A With Editor Karen Craigo

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Five editors have generously agreed to help me with the Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge, by providing, for a modest donation of $20, critiques of poetry. Karen Craigo, author of the poetry collection No More Milk, nonfiction editor and former editor-in-chief of Mid-American Review, reviews editor of SmokeLong Quarterly, an editor of Gingko Tree Review, and the managing editor of ELJ Publications, answers a few questions for us.

Karen Craigo

Which three words best describe your favorite poetry?
Something to say. I like poetry that tries to express something important or deeply felt—an emotion, say, or a philosophy—more than I like poetry that is merely showy. This is not to say that I don’t enjoy some language-centered work, and I definitely feel that an openness to experimentation and play benefits all poetry.

Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?
I’m from Ohio, and I was raised in Gallipolis, a small river town in the Appalachian part of the state. I was a journalist for almost a decade before heading off to get an MFA, and small-town journalism is where my heart is, although I’ve been teaching college writing ever since. When I’m not working, I enjoy my home and my family, and I love to read mystery novels and watch classic TV.

What sets apart the poems you accept from those you turn down?
It’s a little hard to say, actually. Occasionally, I just really like it—meaning that I connect with it on a personal level. A poet can’t really write toward that; sometimes things just click, and maybe those writers just get lucky because I’m especially receptive toward what they’re doing. But more generally, I like to be surprised by something—an image, a rare insight—and I like utter control of form and diction. Any form will do, mind you—I’ve accepted formal poems and sprawling, irregular-looking poems. Form can’t be an afterthought, though, and it can’t be accidental. I need to see that the artist has thought form through.

If you were a poetic form, which would you be?
I think I’d be an unfinished villanelle—it’s the obsession, the same thoughts turning back on themselves again and again, but without the healing resolution of that final decisive quatrain.

Do you pay much attention to cover letters? What do you like/dislike about them?
I don’t. I used to, when the submissions came in paper form, but now that they’re electronic, it’s an added step to look at bios. They’re necessary; they’re a polite convention, and I like to keep things cordial. I actually think something is lost when poets aren’t permitted to present themselves the way they want to—sort of like how something is lost when with singles instead of albums. It’s not a big deal, though—the poems end up speaking for themselves, and when I’m feeling interested, I look at the whole shebang.

List three favorite poets, an admirable animal, and your go-to beverage.
Carl Phillips, Michelle Boisseau, and Ocean Vuong.
The noble narwhal.
2% milk.

Karen Craigo is the author of the poetry collection No More Milk (Sundress, 2016) and the forthcoming collection Passing Through Humansville (ELJ, 2017). She maintains Better View of the Moon, a daily blog on writing, editing, and creativity, and she teaches writing in Springfield, Missouri. She is the nonfiction editor and former editor-in-chief of Mid-American Review, the reviews editor of SmokeLong Quarterly, an editor of Gingko Tree Review, and the managing editor of ELJ Publications.

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Please consider supporting poetry and literary publishers (specifically Tupelo Press). Perhaps one of these incentives will entice you?

 

 

 

 

 

Q&A With Editor Anthony Frame

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Five editors have generously agreed to help me with the Tupelo Press 30/30 Challenge, by providing, for a modest donation of $20, critiques of poetry. Anthony Frame, the editor of Glass Poetry Press, and poetry editor of The Indianola Review, answers a few questions for us.

Anthony Frame

Which three words best describe your favorite poetry?
Musical, sharp, open.

Would you mind sharing a bit about your background?
I’m a Midwestern, blue collar poet who spent most of his life in academia. I have English degrees (BA & MA) from The University of Toledo and I did one year of an MFA before dropping out. I spent five or so years working as an adjunct before taking a full-time job in my family’s pest control business. I write poems (and occasionally essays and reviews) and I edit Glass Poetry Press (which runs a chapbook series and an online poetry journal) and I edit the poetry section of Indianola Review.

What sets apart the poems you accept from those you turn down?
Well, I like pretty poems – so a sense of music and rhythm in the language is usually pretty important to me (though, it should be said that there are many types of music and rhythm in our language). I also like poems that have an edge. So, there’s a balancing act there between the lyrical and the gritty. I also am drawn to poems that are unexpected. If I’m not surprised after reading the poem, it is unlikely to stay with me.

If you were a poetic form, which would you be?
Either the paradelle, because I ramble and repeat myself, or the sonnet, but a faux sonnet because iambs are hard.

Do you pay much attention to cover letters? What do you like/dislike about them?
Not at first, I don’t. I read a submission first, then, later, look at the cover letter. The cover letter doesn’t matter, unless it is bad, so I recommend, as first principle, that cover letters should do no harm. Then, it is nice to know a bit about the author, especially if it informs his/her/hir work, a bit about how they found the journal, and how they plan to achieve total world domination. Or around five to six recent publications. Either is good.

List three favorite poets, an admirable animal, and your go-to beverage.
Poets: Li-Young Lee, Alison Stine, and Kazim Ali (first three on my mind – ask me again tomorrow and there will be three other equally admired poets).

Animal: kakapoo

Beverage: hot tea (I’m a teetotaler so … yeah, tea)

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Please consider supporting poetry and literary publishers (specifically Tupelo Press). Perhaps one of these incentives will entice you?