On Movie Sets…

I have a lovely little apartment. Only after a long absence or party does it become insanely, out of control, messy. I dislike clutter and mess and, as you may have guessed by my chosen profession, I like to keep things organized. But two weekends ago I invited disorder and utter chaos into my home. I offered my apartment as a movie set to a team participating in the Boston 48 Hour Film Project. While it was a blast having everyone in my home (I mean that sincerely), making breakfast for cast and crew, and watching a film come together in less than 48 hours, I would not recommend this to the uber neat freaks of the world. Below, the beginning of disorder.

And this was just the start of the day. I’d totally do it all over again. I’ll post some photos from the movie making process and a link to the finished product, I Hate the Future, very soon. What the team created in less than 48 hours will blow your mind. It is that awesome.

On Postal Poetry…

I love shopping for books. I love browsing through the isles, looking at covers, feeling the heft of the book, the texture of the page. But I also love ordering books online. I usually only order books that I’ve already read but don’t own – and there is a delicious anticipation as I wait for it to show up on my doorstep. This past week I worked from home, and I literally watched for the mailman from my window. I was waiting for a book of poetry that I’ve been wanting for a long, long time. Cool, Calm, & Collected; Poems 1960-2000 by Carolyn Kizer. My sister turned me onto the work of Kizer when I was in my early twenties, and I own several slim volumes. It was also my sister who showed me her copy of Cool, Calm & Collected, and of course, I instantly fell in love and had to have it. That was at least two years ago. Sometimes it takes me a while to work down my list of books. And, oh, was this book worth the wait and anticipation. A full spectrum of emotion seeps through the skin of these pages. This has always been one of my favorites.

The Way We Write Letters

for Robert Peterson

We must lie long in the weeds

In places like Palo Alto or Perugia,

But none of the old Hearth & Home;

Be a Logan or Creeley, all arrowheads

And .22 cartridges studded and strewn inside,

Find new places to rest and nest. Get looser;

Get back to (you said)daytime drinking, mu-

Sic of Telemann, Schutz, Buxtehude.

Don’t keep your house in order.

If you have any suggestions for

Improving chaos, please write or wire.

We should lie long in the woods, full of light.

Old friends get published again, though losing

Their moon & vinegar. Write to me soon (I said).

Meanwhile, find a new place too,

Where air, not character, is cool.

Not Sausalito. San Gimignano?

There, despite psychiatry, towers simply are

In a piercing, lyric, prodigal confusion,

Regulated. Well, remember Heller in Paradise.

Madness & you (we both said). Stay sane and annoyed,

Drunk in the daytime. Call your book Home for the Night.

But don’t go home tomorrow. Write me instead

From the meadow. Turn on the poem & the light.