Phases
He found himself a box
a small, undistinguished box
to put himself into.
Not all of him, a part
unlamented by him, the part
most recently over
and ready to be forgotten.
Not forever - he knew
that was not possible - he knew
though it would try its best
not to fidget, to keep still,
not try to turn over, still,
it could not rest
forever, it would have to knock
at one side or another, knock
hard at times, just tap
at other times to recall him
to its time, pinpoint him
to its place on his map
for a moment or two, a year or so.
*
When he first laid it in the box
on top of the older parts in his box
he watched it settle in
without a sigh, a shrug, a lock
he closed the box without a lock
a sigh, a shrug, a smile.
SKETCHBOOK, April-2008
Someone Else's World
There's a time of will, of stout-hearted sensibility
when all may not be right with the world
but it is your world, with all its back-breakers,
its griefs, its bumps in the night ...
it is your world, where stumblings or spectres,
disturbances or despair are dare-able,
when you can settle in to work or cry or fight,
when to shatter the black knight
or be shattered
is real.
And then, there's this: tremors
under your feet, shaking the coffee cup
you've raised to your mouth; tremors,
like the aftershocks of an earthquake,
every few days, or hours. Nothing
catastrophic or unexpected, just tremors,
from the rupture in someone else's world,
rumbling through yours.
HAMMERS - 1998
Saturday, July 02, 2011
Wednesday, June 01, 2011
June Featured Poet on Emerging Novelist's Site
I'm pleased and honored to have been chosen the June Featured Poet for the web site of emerging Guyanese novelist, Rosaliene Bacchus - click here. You will also find this a fascinating site weaving through Rosaliene's journey, joys and travails - look at the videos, listen to the music, read the words.
Saturday, March 26, 2011
"Musetta" Graces PoetsArtists Magazine
The beautiful art magazine, POETS/ARTISTS, has published "Musetta's Last Waltz" in its April, 2011 issue - a beauty for both the art and the poetry. You can get a print or digital copy of the magazine or download a pdf/preview by clicking the cover - your choice - here
Friday, February 18, 2011
More POETRY Online and Off & Another PUSHCART NOMINATION
Online right now are new and not so new poems at these journal sites:
RUSTY TRUCK
HEAVY BEAR
Click on the December/2010 cover, then Table of Contents, then page number by my name.
WAR CRIMINALS WATCH
This is part of the World Can't Wait organization based in NY; click on the POETS page and scroll down for "Mankiewicz"
POETRY MONTHLY-UK
Click on December issue/#26 - @p.13 - Sorry, there is no Table of Contents
Print journal, MUSE, out of Cleveland, re-published "This Is Not a Dream" for their special section on Imprisonment, 2010.
Another PUSHCART Nomination: Thanks to the editors of OFF THE COAST for nominating "My Last Signore" from their Spring 2010 issue.
RUSTY TRUCK
HEAVY BEAR
Click on the December/2010 cover, then Table of Contents, then page number by my name.
WAR CRIMINALS WATCH
This is part of the World Can't Wait organization based in NY; click on the POETS page and scroll down for "Mankiewicz"
POETRY MONTHLY-UK
Click on December issue/#26 - @p.13 - Sorry, there is no Table of Contents
Print journal, MUSE, out of Cleveland, re-published "This Is Not a Dream" for their special section on Imprisonment, 2010.
Another PUSHCART Nomination: Thanks to the editors of OFF THE COAST for nominating "My Last Signore" from their Spring 2010 issue.
Monday, January 10, 2011
New Availabilty for WIRED and CANCER POEMS
The WIRED and CANCER POEMS chapbooks are now available on Cervena Barva's "Lost Bookshelf" page: cervenabarvapress.com
Friday, December 03, 2010
New Poetry at UK Web Site
POETRY MONTHLY INTERNATIONAL has just published a relatively new poem of mine, "When Art Is Not Enough." You can download a .pdf at PoetryMonthly.com. Click on "latest issue", then "December" - you'll find my work on page 9 - many good poems here - take a look.
"1 DAY LESS" on the Big Screen
For those of you in the Los Angeles-Santa Monica area, a screening of the 1 DAY LESS video will be featured at the Academy of Entertainment & Technology, 1660 Stewart St., in Santa Monica on Friday, December 10, 8:00pm - Hope to see you there ....
Friday, October 15, 2010
Poetry in MUSE - from Cleveland's LitCenter
Cleveland's LitCenter has re-published "This Is Not a Dream", from my chapbook WIRED, in its journal MUSE. It's the June, 2010 issue, focusing on imprisonment of all kinds. You can order a copy from the website - the magazine is a good looking, 8X10 glossy with very provocative words and images from many perspectives.
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
DVD of "1 DAY LESS"
The DVD of the May 29, 2010 performance of 1 DAY LESS is now complete and ready for the Sol Huroks of today to promote - It has been beautifully edited by filmmaker Marc Saltarelli, is fully titled, and contains our information email address: 1DAYLESSopera@gmail.com.
The video is not for sale, but composer David Javelosa has put up an excerpt on YouTube - click here.
Thanks again to everyone for your comments and encouragement.
The video is not for sale, but composer David Javelosa has put up an excerpt on YouTube - click here.
Thanks again to everyone for your comments and encouragement.
Friday, June 11, 2010
Performance of 1 DAY LESS
The performance of ONE DAY LESS at a pretty full house in the Broad 2nd Space in Santa Monica CA went very well - especially considering less than 8 hours of rehearsal time at the space itself, having to fly in our baritone lead from an Opera Festival in the midwest the day before the performance, not getting our director until a week before, etc., etc.
But we did it - my congratulations and thanks to our singers Luvi Avendano, Jocelyn Lee, Sabine Esmaili, Claudio Saez; our instrumentalists Evelyn Mann, Jill Flomenhoft, and Michael Intriere; and of course to the other half of "we" - composer David Javelosa.
The performance was also beautifully filmed by director Marc Saltarelli.
Please contact me via email (above) for future performances and further information.
But we did it - my congratulations and thanks to our singers Luvi Avendano, Jocelyn Lee, Sabine Esmaili, Claudio Saez; our instrumentalists Evelyn Mann, Jill Flomenhoft, and Michael Intriere; and of course to the other half of "we" - composer David Javelosa.
The performance was also beautifully filmed by director Marc Saltarelli.
Please contact me via email (above) for future performances and further information.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
1st Full Performance of 1 DAY LESS
Composer David Javelosa and I are thrilled to announce that the first full performance of our opera, 1 DAY LESS will take place Saturday, May 29th at the Edye Second Space of the Santa Monica Performing Arts Center. This is a semi-staged production featuring exciting young singers and instrumentalists - and is just the beginning!
Here's a bit from of the press release from Santa Monica College:
CONTACT: Bruce Smith FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Information Officer DATE: May 11, 2010
(310) 434-4209 www.smc.edu
A DREAM OPERA AT SMC
What do you get when you put a dream, Maria Callas, a poet and a Santa Monica College professor together? The answer is an experimental opera titled “One Day Less,” which will debut at a free concert in the Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
It began when widely published poet and Pushcart Prize nominee Angela Mankiewicz had a powerful but now vague dream. Then, she heard a story about opera legend Maria Callas in her last years. Shortly before she died in Paris, a near recluse at 53, an unnamed colleague ran into her and asked Callas how she was. She replied: “Caro, every day, thank God, is one day less.”
The mysterious dream and the story gave birth to Mankiewicz’s first opera, “One Day Less.” The underlying theme is alienation. The setting is in the not-too-distant future where people are marginalized by physical deformities. The lead characters meet by chance to find that they have mirrored disfigurements and are compelled to fall in love with each other. Faced with bureaucratic regulations and social stigma, they ponder conceiving a child, but are separated by the powers that be, bringing the story to a tragic ending.
What began with a dream turned into a play, which then evolved into the libretto. “Where the dream ends and the libretto takes over, I no longer have much idea,” Mankiewicz says.
To read the entire release, click here (If necessary, click on "Search Issue Archives" for Vol.11/Issue 49)
Here's a bit from of the press release from Santa Monica College:
CONTACT: Bruce Smith FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Public Information Officer DATE: May 11, 2010
(310) 434-4209 www.smc.edu
A DREAM OPERA AT SMC
What do you get when you put a dream, Maria Callas, a poet and a Santa Monica College professor together? The answer is an experimental opera titled “One Day Less,” which will debut at a free concert in the Edye Second Space at the SMC Performing Arts Center on Saturday, May 29 at 8 p.m.
It began when widely published poet and Pushcart Prize nominee Angela Mankiewicz had a powerful but now vague dream. Then, she heard a story about opera legend Maria Callas in her last years. Shortly before she died in Paris, a near recluse at 53, an unnamed colleague ran into her and asked Callas how she was. She replied: “Caro, every day, thank God, is one day less.”
The mysterious dream and the story gave birth to Mankiewicz’s first opera, “One Day Less.” The underlying theme is alienation. The setting is in the not-too-distant future where people are marginalized by physical deformities. The lead characters meet by chance to find that they have mirrored disfigurements and are compelled to fall in love with each other. Faced with bureaucratic regulations and social stigma, they ponder conceiving a child, but are separated by the powers that be, bringing the story to a tragic ending.
What began with a dream turned into a play, which then evolved into the libretto. “Where the dream ends and the libretto takes over, I no longer have much idea,” Mankiewicz says.
To read the entire release, click here (If necessary, click on "Search Issue Archives" for Vol.11/Issue 49)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
New Poetry Online and In Print
Two recent publishings for your consideration:
"Good Times" published in CLARK STREET REVIEW #70, available at PO Box 1377, Berthoud, CO 80513 ($3) and "My Last Signore" from OFF THE COAST-Spring/2010, available at PO Box 14, Robbinston, ME 04671 ($10), and online at www.off-the-coast.com
Thanks for reading.
"Good Times" published in CLARK STREET REVIEW #70, available at PO Box 1377, Berthoud, CO 80513 ($3) and "My Last Signore" from OFF THE COAST-Spring/2010, available at PO Box 14, Robbinston, ME 04671 ($10), and online at www.off-the-coast.com
Thanks for reading.
Thursday, April 01, 2010
2 For Today
The Children's Hour
A lonely kid, like most other kids, stuck
inside an omnipresence I didn't know;
always on edge, searching for clues to show
me how the rules work, show me how to make
my self touchable, teach me how to fake
being part of what I was attached to
by a trick of blood. How could they be sure who
I was if I did not remind them, take
them to the bed they gave me? Off a hall-
way, a pentagram of sounds, thick and hard,
a plot to kill, so insignificant
the sounds are swapped like jokes to pass a dull
day among deeded rooms, I am not barred
from or asked to enter. I move my scent
to other space, my chant
unheard. Space is made for me but none is mine.
I look into my eyes and check for signs
I'm here. And when I win
I tell them. I have to. Tell them. If they
forget my name, I will forget it too.
HAWAII REVIEW #45/95
==============================
A Villanelle Variation For My Last Duchess
Dedicated, with much admiration, to the memory of Browning, the Master Poet
They tell me my painting remains on the same wall.
"My last duchess," he repeats to each father come to
propose
his pubescent child's worthiness to succeed me
to imperial riches and papal honors, and to be painted.
The Duke has had several Raphaels and Berninis moved or
removed
but, they tell me, my portrait remains on the same wall.
Does the Duke consider, you think, how Fra Pandolf
may color her cheeks and drape her gown to highlight
the lovely child's worthiness to succeed me?
She will revere, unfailingly, the Duke's 900-year old
name; but should she falter she may, perhaps, be comforted
by my portrait remaining on that same wall.
They say the Duke has grown fond of my glance, the same
glance that so distressed him and must be guarded against
by the chosen child, however demure, who succeeds me.
I wonder that I have ever been happier than here in the
convent:
I bestow my glance as I desire, including to my dear Duke.
They tell me, again and again, my painting remains on the
wall. I pray
that will give solace to the father of the worthy child who
succeeds me.
SKETCHBOOK - 2008
A lonely kid, like most other kids, stuck
inside an omnipresence I didn't know;
always on edge, searching for clues to show
me how the rules work, show me how to make
my self touchable, teach me how to fake
being part of what I was attached to
by a trick of blood. How could they be sure who
I was if I did not remind them, take
them to the bed they gave me? Off a hall-
way, a pentagram of sounds, thick and hard,
a plot to kill, so insignificant
the sounds are swapped like jokes to pass a dull
day among deeded rooms, I am not barred
from or asked to enter. I move my scent
to other space, my chant
unheard. Space is made for me but none is mine.
I look into my eyes and check for signs
I'm here. And when I win
I tell them. I have to. Tell them. If they
forget my name, I will forget it too.
HAWAII REVIEW #45/95
==============================
A Villanelle Variation For My Last Duchess
Dedicated, with much admiration, to the memory of Browning, the Master Poet
They tell me my painting remains on the same wall.
"My last duchess," he repeats to each father come to
propose
his pubescent child's worthiness to succeed me
to imperial riches and papal honors, and to be painted.
The Duke has had several Raphaels and Berninis moved or
removed
but, they tell me, my portrait remains on the same wall.
Does the Duke consider, you think, how Fra Pandolf
may color her cheeks and drape her gown to highlight
the lovely child's worthiness to succeed me?
She will revere, unfailingly, the Duke's 900-year old
name; but should she falter she may, perhaps, be comforted
by my portrait remaining on that same wall.
They say the Duke has grown fond of my glance, the same
glance that so distressed him and must be guarded against
by the chosen child, however demure, who succeeds me.
I wonder that I have ever been happier than here in the
convent:
I bestow my glance as I desire, including to my dear Duke.
They tell me, again and again, my painting remains on the
wall. I pray
that will give solace to the father of the worthy child who
succeeds me.
SKETCHBOOK - 2008
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
"POLITICS"
In America
A child sitting on the edge of a cot
in the cell of a jailhouse;
his head droops into his folded arms,
the toes of his stocking feet
skimming the ground;
10 feet above his head is a slice of light
onto sky and barbed wire.
On someone’s sidewalk there are teddy bears
and candles, photographs and photographers.
In a hospice for dying children there is wailing,
there are caresses and prayer, hope
for an end to grievous pain.
Not in this cell, in this jailhouse
no candles, no caresses; a slice of light
onto sky and barbed wire.
SKETCHBOOK, 2009
==================================
Considering “Empire” by Kaplan – The Day After
Warm, always warm
every day, warm
not hot, never hot, warm
everyday, warm
every night
A bird, not an eagle
dozes on a railing,
a suspended railing
in danger of melting
into the smoky milk
of a triumphal arch
while smaller beings
too new to remember cold
poke, scamp about
in yellow light,
and plot
PROTESTPOEMS.org, 2009; GUYANAJOURNAL.com, 2010
A child sitting on the edge of a cot
in the cell of a jailhouse;
his head droops into his folded arms,
the toes of his stocking feet
skimming the ground;
10 feet above his head is a slice of light
onto sky and barbed wire.
On someone’s sidewalk there are teddy bears
and candles, photographs and photographers.
In a hospice for dying children there is wailing,
there are caresses and prayer, hope
for an end to grievous pain.
Not in this cell, in this jailhouse
no candles, no caresses; a slice of light
onto sky and barbed wire.
SKETCHBOOK, 2009
==================================
Considering “Empire” by Kaplan – The Day After
Warm, always warm
every day, warm
not hot, never hot, warm
everyday, warm
every night
A bird, not an eagle
dozes on a railing,
a suspended railing
in danger of melting
into the smoky milk
of a triumphal arch
while smaller beings
too new to remember cold
poke, scamp about
in yellow light,
and plot
PROTESTPOEMS.org, 2009; GUYANAJOURNAL.com, 2010
Monday, March 29, 2010
2 LOVE POEMS
Old Age, Alone: A Love Poem
If I must live a long time
without you, I will grieve
but I will not mourn.
If no one of blood or brain
stops by to touch my face
or roll me into sunlight,
if no one is left to speak
to me as if I still exist
or nod at my babbling,
I will start the tape at August,
a hot afternoon, when your breath
questioned mine and our lust-
driven, love-drenched epic began.
I will dawdle over every frame,
mouth every syllable, until
the reel whips to its end. I will
sob and shake my head like a forlorn
beast; I may even call out your name.
And if I'm touched and rolled and
spoken to and heard, I'll wait
until they've gone to press my heart
and start my tape, again.
Comstock Review, 1997
===================================
Forever & Forever & Forever
"This is forever - we are in it now" - A. R. Ammons
What are you looking for, Beloved,
what do you seek?
Why ask me such questions, Beloved?
You are not as meek
and wide-eyed as you pretend to yourself
to be, a Byronic Don Juan,
sultry newborn, happy hostage
to your own innocent charm;
You know as well as I, your make-believe
Venus, that all my tricks
of seduction, my blinding beauty
are out of Kabala books.
And what does Kabala say, Beloved
what do the books say?
That forever is a pretty thought, Beloved
a thought we create
in our own image of unending love
and pleasure for as long
as we want to stay in this place, drawing
each other's breath, as long
as we want to promise, as long as we see
ourselves in each other's eyes,
in each other's sighs;
this is Forever, Beloved, it is now.
JerseyWorks.com – Summer/2008
If I must live a long time
without you, I will grieve
but I will not mourn.
If no one of blood or brain
stops by to touch my face
or roll me into sunlight,
if no one is left to speak
to me as if I still exist
or nod at my babbling,
I will start the tape at August,
a hot afternoon, when your breath
questioned mine and our lust-
driven, love-drenched epic began.
I will dawdle over every frame,
mouth every syllable, until
the reel whips to its end. I will
sob and shake my head like a forlorn
beast; I may even call out your name.
And if I'm touched and rolled and
spoken to and heard, I'll wait
until they've gone to press my heart
and start my tape, again.
Comstock Review, 1997
===================================
Forever & Forever & Forever
"This is forever - we are in it now" - A. R. Ammons
What are you looking for, Beloved,
what do you seek?
Why ask me such questions, Beloved?
You are not as meek
and wide-eyed as you pretend to yourself
to be, a Byronic Don Juan,
sultry newborn, happy hostage
to your own innocent charm;
You know as well as I, your make-believe
Venus, that all my tricks
of seduction, my blinding beauty
are out of Kabala books.
And what does Kabala say, Beloved
what do the books say?
That forever is a pretty thought, Beloved
a thought we create
in our own image of unending love
and pleasure for as long
as we want to stay in this place, drawing
each other's breath, as long
as we want to promise, as long as we see
ourselves in each other's eyes,
in each other's sighs;
this is Forever, Beloved, it is now.
JerseyWorks.com – Summer/2008
Monday, August 31, 2009
"Poet of the Week" on PoetrySuperHighway
For the week August 31 - September 5, 2009, I will be the featured poet on Rick Lupert's Poetry Super Highway website:
http://poetrysuperhighway.com/PoetLinks.html#top
http://poetrysuperhighway.com/PoetLinks.html#top
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
1st Opera Preview at Electric Lodge
The very first taste of ONE DAY LESS was performed by Emily Hayes, soprano and David Javelosa, composer stepping in as the male lead, June 1. We got a 10minute shot in Venice CA at MAX10 - a performance lab - with a few props, a couple of masks, David's electronics and Peter Ludwig's improv cello. It went well, good feedback, more auditions coming and lots of work this summer, hoping for a full concert performance this Fall.
POETRY UPDATE
I am pleased to note that Jennifer MacPherson from Comstock Review, a very early publisher of my poetry,has posted reviews of all my chaps: AS IF, AN EYE, WIRED,and CANCER POEMS on the Comstock Review web site: http://www.comstockreview.org. Comstock is an excellent poetry magazine, for poets and readers - do take a look.
Also pleased to note that the Guyana Journal has re-published "Considering Empire: The Day After" in their latest issue: http://www.GuyanaJournal.com - a fine journal of poetry and prose and news focusing on Guyanese communities in the U.S. - open to all writers.
Also pleased to note that the Guyana Journal has re-published "Considering Empire: The Day After" in their latest issue: http://www.GuyanaJournal.com - a fine journal of poetry and prose and news focusing on Guyanese communities in the U.S. - open to all writers.
Sunday, May 03, 2009
NEW POETRY ONLINE +++
New poetry has just been published at the excellent site: www.November3rdClub.com
Besides topnotch poetry, you will also find provacative essays and editorials on our world - hope you will take a look.
ALSO - recent print publications containing my poems are: CLARK STREET REVIEW #64 (POBox 1377, Berthoud CO 80513 at 3.00) and LEAGUE OF LABORING POETS, Fall/2008 (POBox 1226, San Clemente, CA 92674 at 3.00)
FINALLY - my opera collaboration with composer David Javelosa continues. We are now at the auditions stage and preparing for a brief workshop presentation in June. Will keep you posted.
Besides topnotch poetry, you will also find provacative essays and editorials on our world - hope you will take a look.
ALSO - recent print publications containing my poems are: CLARK STREET REVIEW #64 (POBox 1377, Berthoud CO 80513 at 3.00) and LEAGUE OF LABORING POETS, Fall/2008 (POBox 1226, San Clemente, CA 92674 at 3.00)
FINALLY - my opera collaboration with composer David Javelosa continues. We are now at the auditions stage and preparing for a brief workshop presentation in June. Will keep you posted.
Sunday, March 01, 2009
"WRITING FOR HUMAN RIGHTS"
A new poem, "EMPIRE", is currently available online
at an excellent website: http://www.protestpoems org
Once at the site, click on my name on the left of the screen;
if it is no longer there, look for it under "February, 2009".
Comments via email, as always, always welcome.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Announcing new poetry in January's ISTANBUL LITERARY REVIEW --
3 poems - recent and older - have just been published in this beautiful journal. To read them and other fine work, go to http://www.ilrmagazine.net.
Thank you for reading - comments welcome.
In addition, for those with young children, nieces, nephews, godkids, students, et.al, check out TARGET stores and online for the GRUMMEL Stories on SHOOFLY cds.
Monday, November 17, 2008
New Poetry at SKETCHBOOK
The good people at SKETCHBOOK have published some of my recent poetry in the September issue, albeit, a little late:
http://www.poetrywriting.org/Sketchbook3-9Sep08
Thanks for reading.
http://www.poetrywriting.org/Sketchbook3-9Sep08
Thanks for reading.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Variation on WILLIAM BLAKE
My presumptuous variation on the great poet William Blake's THE MENTAL TRAVELLER is now available at Lyrical Ballads: http://www.lyricalballads.net.
Go to Archives section, then the July issue. It's a good little magazine with big plans
Thanks for reading - comments welcome.
Go to Archives section, then the July issue. It's a good little magazine with big plans
Thanks for reading - comments welcome.
Friday, August 08, 2008
"Something a Little Different"
Small Press icon Hugh Fox interview of ACM is at online version of WILDERNESS HOUSE LITERARY REVIEW, issue #3/2 - under ESSAYS:
http://www.WHLREVIEW.com
I think you'll find it fun, funny, irreverant - and "a little different."
Comments, of course, are welcome.
http://www.WHLREVIEW.com
I think you'll find it fun, funny, irreverant - and "a little different."
Comments, of course, are welcome.
Tuesday, July 08, 2008
New Poetry Online + Final LAURA HANSON
You will find new poetry on the beautiful, international SKETCHBOOK page at http://poetrywriting.org. I'm a bit late posting so if you can't find me under "current issue", click onto "archived issues" and then click on May 31, 2008 - Volume 3, Issue 5.
And -- the final installment of my novella LAURA HANSON is out from ESC! MAGAZINE. You can get a .pdf of the issue with this link: http://media.libsyn.com/media/escwebs/ESCv12n1w.pdf
Comments welcome
And -- the final installment of my novella LAURA HANSON is out from ESC! MAGAZINE. You can get a .pdf of the issue with this link: http://media.libsyn.com/media/escwebs/ESCv12n1w.pdf
Comments welcome
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