The holidays are not one of my favorite things-- not that there's been much worth reporting. Time seemed to slow to a crawl from Thanksgiving through Christmas, through today. But since the new year, my mood eased. Happy New Year What's In The Box? --Barton Fink (1991) dir. The Coen Brothers One positive was sitting …
Re: Writing (Or Which Notes Do You Think I Should Cut?)
Earlier this week I was fortunate enough to revisit the 1984 film, Amadeus. I'd been anxious to rewatch it for a while and was relieved when it became available for streaming. The award-winning story (both on Broadway and in Hollywood) was about Mozart as experienced by his resentful contemporary composer-rival, Salieri. There is a sequence …
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Art Exploration or Archeologies with Kehinde Wiley and Amalisa Mesa-Bains
Sunday morning, I went to the DeYoung Museum to visit the Kehinde Wiley exhibit. I had to agree with my Lyft driver and said: "Its not a decision a lot of people would make. Going to a museum first thing on a Sunday." She agreed, but we were both wrong. The gallery of Kehinde's work, …
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The Week In Retreat
Thanks to my book, the Academy of American Poets gifted me a solid week writing retreat at the historic and gorgeous Betsy Hotel on Miami Beach, Florida. I haven't had any kind of vacation or relief from my weekly patterns since the pandemic and more than anything looked forward to getting out of my life …
New Process Note and a Toast To Black History
Poet and friend Maw Shein Win asked me to compose a process note for her students regarding writing poems for my book, MARTIAN: The Saint of Loneliness. That essay published this morning. Despite a few false starts, I thought it came out nicely. Read it here. And since I'm doing a quick check in today, …
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Halloween Top Ten
Halloween (1978), Dir. John Carpenter I have been watching reaction videos of young movie fans. Watching something I know almost verbatim over the shoulder of a millennial is awkward and wonderful and weird all the same. Its also a surprise that many of the films I grew up on 30, 40 years ago still work, …
MARTIAN Sightings
MARTIAN: The Saint Of Loneliness on sale NOW! Am thrilled to announce my second book, MARTIAN The Saint of Loneliness is on sale now. If my first book acts as an introduction into who I am, this book represents what I do as a poet. The book has won the 2021 James Laughlin Award from …
Movie Theater Memories
Roxie Theater marquee, circa 1981 Its now been just over three years since I've entered a movie theater. I never would have predicted such a thing. Never in my life would I have predicted or assumed theaters could go out of business or be replaced by screens carried in one's pocket. Never in my life …
PRE-ORDER MARTIAN: THE SAINT OF LONELINESS
Those Poems You Liked Are Coming Back Into Style Cover Art by Wangechi Mutu I've waited HELLA LONG to announce the birth of my new forthcoming collection, MARTIAN: The Saint of Loneliness which drops September 27. And here is the cover reveal, provided by artist Wangechi Mutu! Pre-orders for the book are going on right …
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Night Parade
Saturday morning—and by morning I mean two am-- My apartment shuddered from what sounded like the roar of a fleet of helicopters landing. My bed idled and vibrated. A full line of cars trafficked up the street, loud guttural ululations from Mustang after Mustang, some with volcanic radios, some from passenger voices rapping in chorus. …
The Dirty Rat 