CIEL

A Beautiful Moment in Between Sadnesses

Walking down the hill to West Portal this afternoon, I heard footsteps behind me. I turned around and encouraged the nice looking gent to pass me by. We started chatting, and it turned out that Sengay lives in the house a few doors down with the Tibetan flag and rows of tattered prayer flags. We talked about the wave of crime that has hit our neighborhood in the past months, including a drive by shooting. The talk led to morality and respect for life. "We Tibetans don't eat fish because taking one life to feed one person is not balanced. "That's why we eat yak. One life feeds many." And, of course we spoke about China. All this in the midst of China's devastating earthquake, Myanmar and one of my favorite artists' passing - Robert Raushenberg. The good thing about Raushenberg however is that he is one artist that didn't have to die to be appreciated. Some of my best moments visiting New York in these past years have been the two major Raushenberg shows - one at the Whitney and the huge retrospective at the Metropolitan just a couple of years ago.

climate change, global warming, poetry, San Francisco, Untitled, Writers

We're All in This Together

It was in a fairly deflated state that I arrived at Kit Kennedy's house for our monthly "Submission Support Group." I started the group as a service to WNBA members after i discovered that having a partner in the submissions process helped to keep my motivation up. I'd decided in advance that I was going to listen and do my check in after the others were through. Each of the five writers had stories of taking risks, overcoming blocks, and managing the mixed results. Mixed results was what brought things back to balance for me. Yes, I've been working hard, sending out piles of submissions, and I've been having success. Yes, there are setbacks. Yes, we have to keep a level approach to both the wins and the losses. One friend said that when she'd gotten her manuscript back from a NY agent who had indicated that she was interested, she knew she could have been devastated. But she made a conscious effort not to go there. That helped. And now that I'm back in my life I see the complexity of this job; the moments of success mixed with the continued struggle. You never really do arrive, or at least, not for very long.

Authors, creative process, Fiction, Literary Agents, San Francisco, WNBA, Writers

Teach Your Children

In honor of National Poetry Month my niece chose me as the poet whose work she would be explicating. I was in New York at the time Adam proposed the idea of an ivideo interview with Amy's class. I must say it was pretty boss sitting up on the 23rd floor of the "W" overlooking Times Square and being interviewed about my work. Amy and I had had a phone call the night before and chosen two 'kid friendly' poems from "Seeking Center:" "Soccer Mom," and "The Finish Line." At the end of our discussion on rhyme schemes, enjambment, metaphor and alliteration, Amy's teacher asked if I had any last comments. "While I think explication is fine, what I'm not hearing is questioning how the poems made the students feel. Since the first job of a poem is to move you, even to change you, I'd suggest surveying the class for their emotional reaction." It was a great opportunity and lots of fun. Thanks, Amy!

Authors, creative process, poetry, Writers

The Artist's Pain

It was a bad day yesterday. After a great 3 month stretch winning fourteen publications, I came home from New York to a stack of rejection notices. How quickly did I lose all perspective? Oh, about 8 hours. Forgotten were the acceptances that I was so excited about: featured poet on PoetryMagazine.com, Poetica and StrangeRoad.com, the award won just last month, and the stellar endorsement I received from our California State Poet Laureate, Al Young - an endorsement I had pursued for over two years and was sure would change my life forever. In the middle of my bad day, I heard on "Fresh Air" an interview with Helen Hunt (WHO doesn't love Helen Hunt?). Hunt was describing her frustration with her inability to do a scene from her recent movie "Pay It Forward." "I just went into my dressing room and realized I'd let everyone down," Hunt reported. And, she talked about facing the daunting task of having to rewrite the screenplay for her newest movie, "Then She Found Me." Her honesty helped put things in perspective. And thank you to my husband and other dear friends' loving support who listened.

Authors, creative process, poetry, Writers

Sex at the Metropolitan

There's been a lot of hoopla over the Courbet show at the Metropolitan in NYC. Courbet, the Impressionist painter who hailed from the French countryside burst onto the Paris art scene in the 1800's. Rejected for his realist style, he started his own salon, as well as the movement in self-referential painting (he painted over 20 self-portraits!) and became a rock star. Many artists followed in his footsteps. The first two galleries of the exhibit are tame, focusing on Courbet's self portraits and French countryside. It's the middle gallery where things really heat up. As a commission, Courbet painted "The Origin of the World," a graphic depiction of (as they say in polite society), a woman's pudenda - in fact, each hair is so lovingly rendered it could be mistaken for Photorealism. Observing the throngs and their sidelong glances at the risque paining was a delicious, poetic pleasure. In the main gallery (the "Origin of the World" is behind a small wall in a 'side gallery' - interesting...) is "Sleeping," a large painting depicting two women in bed. You could feel the heat. While crowds gathered around these paintings, I registered the discomfiture - should I look? Should I look away? Interestingly, the men were less shy, and I hope that many of them had more than a prurient interest - the painting was quite beautiful and masterfully done.

creative process

Skirmish at the Protest

Went down to the Embarcadero to be counted among the protesters of China's Human Rights Violations. Ironically, we were greeted by a large video screen and a KC and the Sunshine Band recording of "Get Down Tonight." Although it was tempting to hang around, we skirted the Embarcadero to see what was happening. The torch ceremony was going on at McCovey Cove and in the hour and half we waited one skirmish broke out between the Tibet protesters and the proud Chinese supporters. In a frustrating move, the Olympic committee took the torch on a boat and did not parade it down the Embarcadero as planned.

San Francisco

Hollywood Comes to San Jacinto

Since we've lived on our quiet street out here in the "Inner Farallones" (read: SW part of San Francisco, inside the fog belt) there have been commercials filmed at our scenic park down the street with its Art Deco Fountain and tall eucalyptus trees that offer straight shot viewing of the Pacific. But today when over eight trucks lined up at the end of our block I had to find out what was going on. It's Hollywood filming "Mission Street Rhapsody" with Benjamin Bratt. "I hope you're not trying to pass this off as the Mission," I joked, knowing how Hollywood gets so confused. "No, this is where his cross-town love interest lives." Great! Maybe that will bring come street cred and cool to our outwardly conservative looking hood. There are posts on Bratt's blog with a longer description of the movie. Maybe I'll get my beret out and wander down the street...

Poetry Magazine Feature

The Spring issue of PoetryMagazine.com features five new poems of mine. They're in excellent company. Fady Joudah, a Palestinian poet of some note, Penelope Schott and other accomplished writers each have pages with fantastic work. Mary Barnett, editor, did an excellent job in honor of National Poetry Month. Over the weekend at Green Gulch Meditation Center I connected with poetry lovers Nancy Hollis and D'arcy Reynolds. D'arcy is a composer who has put Chana Bloch's poetry to music and Nancy is a chiropractor with a deep love of the craft. After so many occasions where I feel like the odd person out it was a pleasant and affirming surprise. April is National Poetry Month, so go out and enjoy poetry. Take an evening to go to a reading (Gallery Cafe next Monday night in San Francisco; Billy Collins at Herbst Theater perhaps), buy a book of poetry, or read a poem on-line. As I say, 95% of poetry might not float your boat, but 5% will rock your world. So keep a lookout!

Authors, creative process, poetry, Writers, san francisco c, san francisco zen ctr

Women's National Book Association Supports Indie Bookstore

WNBA-SF had our bi-annual group reading at Bookshop West Portal last night. Neal Sofman, owner of BWP, and his staff were gracious and welcoming hosts. The readers were fantastic. Lucille Lang Day, Alice Friedland, Cynthia Borris, Kit Kennedy and Pam Reitman were all inspiring and fresh voices. Alice's book, "Outside Child" is the first in a trilogy about New Orleans. A must read. In the spirit of serving the comunity, the WNBA welcomed new members and old creating a supportive and exciting atmosphere.

Authors, Fiction, WNBA, Writers

SLAMMING!

Saturday night Youth Speaks filled the San Francisco Opera House (that's 3,200 seats!) with poets, poetry lovers and poetry supporters. The event was the 'final slam' in a series of slams held around Northern California. Invited by Adam's colleague from Kapor Enterprises, Inc., Stephen DeBerry, I ran into Beth Lisick at the VIP reception. Beth will be the 'talent' for WNBA- SF's 40th Anniversary Gala at the St. Francis on June 7th. From the box, the kids looked fantastic. Ranging from age 14-19 they reflected the bay's multi-culti landscape beautifully. The poetry ranged from the sublime to the rhetorical but as the MC stated: This is not about victory, about winning. Writing the poem is the victory." Talk about teaching kids about the value of process. Also, over the weekend, Writers Corps. were at Intersection getting the same royal treatment. Their evening included readings by well known poets Linda-Watanabe McFerrin and Jack Hirshman, San Francisco Poet Laureate. Thank goodness for National Poetry Month!

Authors, creative process, poetry, Writers