Poem in Your Pocket Day 2013

Tomorrow is National Poem in Your Pocket and once again it kind of snuck up on me and I didn't have the time to do a nice layout like I think I will do all year long.

However I do have a poem to print and share tomorrow. It's called I Have News For You by Tony Hoagland and I kind of felt like he'd been in my head when I read it. Maybe you can relate to it, too.

Here is the scan of what I will handing out to people I see tomorrow.

You still have time to find a poem and print it out. There are ones all ready to go on the official Poem in Your Pocket website or you can find your own.

Happy Poem in Your Pocket Day!

October in the Railroad Earth

Stopped at the train tracks today on a golden October afternoon. I took pictures of the train and immediately thought of the Kerouac prose piece October in the Railroad Earth.

It's about his days working on the railroad in San Francisco, which he often calls Frisco (I think he was the last person allowed to call it Frisco). His time on the railroads didn't really last too long, like most of the stuff he did, but, like a good writer, he got lots of material out of it.

THERE WAS A LITTLE ALLEY IN SAN FRANCISCO back of the Southern Pacific station at Third and Townsend in redbrick of drowsy lazy afternoons with everybody at work in offices in the air you feel the impending rush of their commuter frenzy as soon they'll be charging en masse from Market and Sansome buildings on foot and in buses and all well-dressed thru workingman Frisco of Walkup ?? truck drivers and even the poor grime-bemarked Third Street of lost bums even Negroes so hopeless and long left East and meanings of responsibility and try that now all they do is stand there spit- ting in the broken glass sometimes fifty in one afternoon against one wall at Third and Howard and here's all these Millbrae and San Carlos neat-necktied producers and commuters of America and Steel civilization rushing by with San Francisco Chronicles and green Call-Bulletins not even enough time to be disdainful, they've got to catch 130, 132, 134, 136 all the way up to 146 till the time of evening supper in homes of the railroad earth when high in the sky the magic stars ride above the following hotshot freight trains-it's all in California, it's all a sea, I swim out of it in afternoons of sun hot meditation in my jeans with head on handkerchief on brakeman's lantern or (if not working) on book, I look up at blue sky of perfect lostpurity and feel the warp of wood of old America beneath me and have insane conversations with Negroes in several-story windows above and everything is pouring in, the switching moves of boxcars in that little alley which is so much like the alleys of Lowell and I hear far off in the sense of coming night that engine calling our mountains.

That's the first paragraph. 

I've had Kerouac and the Beats in my head because I am currently cleaning out my storage unit and I have boxes filled with many books on Kerouac and the Beat Generation writers. Most of them were bought in the Bay area in the 80's and 90's. I am selling some on The Cedar Chest shop right now and will probably list more soon.

I remember one night around 1995. I had been reading Carolyn Cassady's memoir of her time with Neal and Jack (It's called Off the Road and I remember it being one of the best books I'd read about that time) and one night I had a particularly vivid dream that I was there in that apartment hanging out all night with Jack, Carolyn and Neal, drinking, dancing and taking pictures. The one scene I remember the most was Jack sitting on the floor cross legged (I was standing up looking down at him) in a light blue-grey sweatshirt and he just wouldn't shut up. He was really obnoxious.

Poem In Your Pocket Day!

Tomorrow is National Poem In Your Pocket Day.  It's part of the month long celebration of National Poetry Month every April.

I heard about this day last year and was looking forward to participating all year long. I'm a subscriber to the Poem a Day emails from Poets.org. When I would get one I especially liked I would flag it (well, star it is what Google uses). Today I went through and found my favorite of the starred poems and created a layout for it and printed it up.

My plans were to do the layout old zine style cut and paste, but the day kind of snuck up on me. When I realized it was tomorrow and I was actually going to be out and about tomorrow I wanted to make sure I took the time to make some poems for my pocket. People will be receiving the poem Detail of the Woods by Richard Siken. Here's a scan of my layout.

You can participate and print up some poems that Poets.org have all ready to go. Or you can print out one of your favorite poems. 

It's a great way to recognize poetry and National Poetry Month. Plus, you might discover a new poet you really like, like I did. Have fun!

inspired

Last Thursday I got home from work and was waiting for a postcard club friend to come by and pick up some items I had photographed for the auction that was happening that next night. Friday night was the annual auction and dinner for the postcard club I am a member of, The Webfooters.

I love the Webfooters. They're a great bunch of people I am getting to know and I really like spending time with older people. At 45, I am one of the youngest ones there!

Saturday and Sunday was the annual Webfooters Sale so it was a full weekend of postcard and vintage ephemera madness. Both events were fun. I got some great stuff. I had never been to an auction before, but more about that later.

The point of this is last Thursday. It was a pleasant sunny evening and I opened the windows to let the air come in. I watched the tulips sway in the breeze and I opened my mail in the quietness of the house. In one package was a book that I had ordered.

The book was Postcards to Box 464 by Amanda Laughtland. It was the most absolute perfect time for me to receive that package and I sat in the stillness and read the book cover to cover.

Amanda, a poet and teacher, was given a box of postcards, all of which had been sent to a couple that she was very close to growing up. She took the different postcards and created poems out of them. She moved words around, changed phrasing, maybe added in some things, but all the while she tried to keep true to the postcard while also perhaps infusing it with another deeper meaning.

The result is a wonderful selection of poetry and history. The love she felt for these people who owned box 464 comes through in some way as well. And so does the love of their friends who sent postcards from all over.


October 20, 1954

At Fisherman's Wharf, we felt
like fish ourselves, lured in
by the catch of the day. I love
these restaurants for their names-

Alioto's, The Grotto, Vista Del Mar.
They sound as close to Europe
as we'll get. Had three days here
but leaving tomorrow for Reno.

Maybe I'll have some luck.

Amanda makes it look easy. I am tempted to try my hand at this kind of found poetry, but I think that it is probably much harder to do it and to do it well. The results of Postcards to Box 464 is a dreamy, friendly collection of poems that somehow manages to be carefree and deep at the same time.

It was a very pleasant hour and I am so glad I got to read this wonderful book in that way.

It is put out by a small press. If you are interested it would be such a nice thing to support small presses. You can find how to order here. Amanda's website can be found here.