| Mermaid Song | |
| by Kim Addonizio | |
for Aya at fifteen Damp-haired from the bath, you drape yourself upside down across the sofa, reading, one hand idly sunk into a bowl of crackers, goldfish with smiles stamped on. I think they are growing gills, swimming up the sweet air to reach you. Small girl, my slim miracle, they multiply. In the black hours when I lie sleepless, near drowning, dread-heavy, your face is the bright lure I look for, love's hook piercing me, hauling me cleanly up. |
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The Mermaids Sing to Me
What Do Women Want?
| “What Do Women Want?” | |
| by Kim Addonizio | |
I want a red dress. I want it flimsy and cheap, I want it too tight, I want to wear it until someone tears it off me. I want it sleeveless and backless, this dress, so no one has to guess what's underneath. I want to walk down the street past Thrifty's and the hardware store with all those keys glittering in the window, past Mr. and Mrs. Wong selling day-old donuts in their café, past the Guerra brothers slinging pigs from the truck and onto the dolly, hoisting the slick snouts over their shoulders. I want to walk like I'm the only woman on earth and I can have my pick. I want that red dress bad. I want it to confirm your worst fears about me, to show you how little I care about you or anything except what I want. When I find it, I'll pull that garment from its hanger like I'm choosing a body to carry me into this world, through the birth-cries and the love-cries too, and I'll wear it like bones, like skin, it'll be the goddamned dress they bury me in. |
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Let’s go on a Date
While it probably doesn’t need to be pointed out, I am new to the world of blogging and computer programming. That’s really no good excuse for not posting the dates of the book discussions that we are ostensibly here to discuss, but there it is. Here for your edification are the dates and locations of our book discussions. The time for all of them is 2 pm. Sharp. Oh, who are we kidding? 2 pm-ish.
Library:
3/3: “Tell Me” by Kim Addonizio
3/24: “The Immaculate Invasion” by Bob Shacochis
4/14: “Bee Season” by Myla Goldberg
City News:
2/11/07 Wickett’s Remedy ” by Myla Goldberg
3/4/07 Creatures of Habit by Jill McCorkle
4/1/07 The Poet’s Companion by Kim Addonizio
Myla Golberg and the Decemberists
The Decemberists – Song For Myla Goldberg Lyrics
For those of us not hip to the names of failed Russian revolutionary movements, check out this Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decembrist_revolt or skip it and believe me when I tell you that the name was given to group of officers commanding about 3,000 men assembled in Senate Square, where they “refused to swear allegiance to the new tsar, Nicholas I, proclaiming instead their loyalty to the idea of a Russian constitution. They expected to be joined by the rest of the troops stationed in St. Petersburg, but they were disappointed. Nicholas spent the day gathering a military force, and then attacked with artillery. With the firing of the artillery came the end of the revolt in the north.” I can’t find the reference but I’m pretty sure that Milan Kundera refers to the Decemberists in his book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, which I am, frankly, afraid to reread now, having read so much recent criticism of Kundera’s supposed misogyny. I don’t think I could bear it if it’s true. My early love of Phillip Roth has been irrevocably tainted by rereading, I can’t lose Kundera. What about you guys? Thoughts on the Russian Revolution, bands from Portland Oregon, Bee Season or songs that mention writers? Oo er. I’ve had a brilliant idea. I just picked up some signed copies of Honoree Jeffer’s Gospel of Barbeque and Outlandish Blues. I had thought that I would parcel them out to people I particularly love and think worthy of Ms. Jeffers but perhaps if readership picks up I’ll sponsor a “best response” contest and send one to the lucky winner. What do you think?
Links to Author Interviews
Clicking on the author’s name below will take you to an interview with that author. I found Myla Goldberg’s particularly interesting since she professes the same philosophy of writing and working that Mark Spragg shared with the Literary Connection three years ago, and I’ve not heard it from any other writers. Let me know what you think.
Myla Goldberg
Kim Addonizio
Jeff Hawthorne Bullock
Bob Shacochis
