comments on "Interoceptor"

"Interoceptor" was published in The Tomcat, a poetry journal out of Petaluma CA that saw a few issues back in 1990 and thereabouts.

I like it. It needs work. How to change it to make it better? Throw out the fear of making it worse. This is probably what will happen at first. I'd like to see a version of "Interoceptor" I'm really proud of, instead of intrigued by but find slightly embarassing. I'm reminded of Renee Gladman introducing her reading last night by saying she was going to read a sex scene and she wasn't sure she was going to be able to say the word "pussy" without blushing. That kind of embarassment should be OK. Rather I'm thinking about the failed metaphors, the yellow foam like a shaken soft drink or the bricks of the wall of air. So I'll be attempting revisions and you'll see them here.

I haven't been to poetry readings much lately. I went last night to the Holloway Poetry Series on UC campus. Renee Gladman, Pamela Lu, and Chris Chen. Chris looked good with a shaved head. Renee remembered my "Hundred" piece from years ago. Pam read way too long. I wasn't going to say that because Pam said, "I read your blog!" and I want to say only nice things so people will like me. Fortunately I did enjoy "Ambient Parking Lots" (some of it very funny) so as too long poetry readings go it coulda bin wurs. And the torture chairs of the Maud Fife room didn't afflict me so bad this time because (a) I had a jacket thick enough to wad up for padding and (b) all that yoga has strengthened my back to the point I don't always have to lean my weight against an object outside my body. I asked Pam if I could excerpt from "Ambient Parking Lots" for HCR. My poetry pages are almost full.