At-Large At Last

please ladies and gents go to http://AT-LARGEMAGAZINE.com for a "foreplay" issue from the editors, live today, a true Frankenstein.

the monkeys have learned to use tools

I put my tub o' ginger chunks all the way onto the top shelf where I can't reach it, with the rationale that at least I'll get a good stretch every time I want to eat some. Alas, I've become lazy -- I started using the spatula to get them down again. Apparently, you have to compromise an ace physique if you want to use your brainz.

At-Large-related meeting in a little while. Hopefully we'll decide on submission guidelines. Hopefully we won't just dilly-dally and stuff ourselves with cupcakes. Speaking of an ace physique.

Hey.

Let me just say this: I'm reading at Earshot. ...In June. Scroll to the bottom and see, y'all -- meantime, though, real post coming soon. Probably Saturday. I have a day off on Saturday. Yep.

the reason Berryman is intense....

....isn't that he glorifies madness, although he does, and he knows he does, and is upset that he does (this based on some conclusions from a conversation with Garrett). No, friends, the reason is his excellent syntax reversals and manipulations. Often I actually feel as though I'm reading a translation because of the newness of the language, which is never actually new - Berryman does not extend to the making of new words; he just uses existing, plain ones in an order that reeks of a scarily deliberate need to control the sequence of information revealed. This is a fairly common problem in translation; the translator often has trouble with fitting the syntax of the source language into the target language. However, Berryman's poems, which are English originals, take pretty much the translator's struggle and use it to their advantage. Observe this little bit:

"Collect in the cold depths barracuda. Ay,
in Sealdah Station some possessionless
children survive to die.
The Chinese communes him. Two daiquiris
withdrew into a corner of the gorgeous room
and one told the other a lie."

(from Dream Song 16)

"Collect in the cold depths" by itself sounds in conventional English like a command, but when "barracuda" comes in the end, the reader realizes it is the barracuda who are doing the collecting. Berryman leads the reader to expect a command, but gives her/him barracuda instead. This gives the barracuda the element of surprise -- which is perfect considering they're not only terrifying but also actually the point of the line.

Terrifying is the point, you see.

UPDATES VARIOUS AND IMPORTANT IN NATURE

February is upon us, with its multitude of writerly opportunities. Sadly I missed AWP -- I had to do some general boozing and cruising for my brother-if-I-had-a-brother Kyle's brother's wedding (phew) -- but luckily I have a sweet and sensitive boyfriend who will allow me to flash his registration tote to fool the general populace into thinking I attended. So now that that's out of the way...

...I'm back in the game. It's my last semester at SLC. This is hard to believe. The excellent Suzanne Gardinier, with whom I met yesterday, says my thesis is progressing as it ought to be. I didn't feel too worried, as I've been writing poems of roughly the same lexicon and caliber as before, an my titles have been getting infinitely snappier, but it is still good to hear.

Also, though this is a bit late, the lovely editors of Taiga have accepted two of my poems for their upcoming inaugural issue. Please peruse their extremely quotable blog for more details and updates.

And finally, in the most exciting of news -- At-Large Magazine, the brainchild of essayist, celebritologist, and BFF Rohin Guha and his many alter-egoes (including but not limited to Rohin Booyah), is taking wing under his expert guidance. (By expert guidance I mean excessive informative e-mails.) Garrett and I will be the poetry editors. Watch for updates and the like. For now, just engage in verbing and "friend" us: At-Large on MySpace.