More Book Title Poems

My new bookcase! Which I put together mostly by myself. Every book shown here was written by a Central Texas author. I love living in such a vibrant literary community. — My new bookcase! Which I put together mostly by myself.

I recently got a new bookcase, which necessitated the reorganization of my books, which resulted in books EVERYWHERE, which led to more BOOK TITLE POEMS. Yea! I first discovered this lovely little time-consumer about a year ago when two titles sitting side-by-side on my shelf made me laugh. A lightbulb went off in my head and three hours later my house was a mess and I’d written this piece for my blog.

What are book title poems? It’s pretty simple, really. They’re a type of found poetry where you create poems out of book titles. And I was definitely not the first person to have this idea. Just google “book title poems” and you’ll find all sorts of examples of this art form, ranging from the super sweet to the naughty. In fact, if you do google it, one of the first links that will pop up is from my friend Annie. Her poems are awesome, and we have several of the same books. What’s funny is I didn’t discover her book title poems until after I’d already written mine. 🙂 If you like this idea, you should definitely check out Annie’s post because she has links to other good book title found poetry, as well as tips for how to create your own.

Ok, so here’s what I came up with this time. The poems are typed out for your convenience, since some spines are difficult to read. Also, while I’m hardcore and stick to only books I have in my house and don’t add any additional words to my poems, I do format and sprinkle in punctuation where necessary to enhance the meaning.

Enjoy!

* * *

This is the first poem that emerged from my pile of books this time.

Inhaling the Silence

Stargirl,
Wish girl,
Shopgirl,
speak
the words
under
the words,
little women,
inhaling the silence
within these walls.

“Within these walls” was just too good of a last line, so I had to use it again.

Brave New World

I was told there’d be cake
at the gates of darkness—
a mango-shaped space,
accidental joy.
Quicker than the eye
things fall apart.
A monster calls
out of my mind.
The skin I’m in shrieks
at midnight
much ado about nothing.
Even cowgirls get the blues
within these walls.

Here’s one about the writing process, specifically about the process of getting a great idea in the middle of the night and realizing in the morning that it doesn’t make any sense.

On Writing Poems That Last Forever

The eleventh hour,
something’s brewing—
a light in the attic,
notes from the midnight driver,
anything but typical.

The trouble with poetry,
it all changed in an instant.
Fear of flying,
the place my words are looking for
(places left unfinished
at the time of creation)
come with me.
The things they carried:
pure drivel.

This is my favorite one. I think it’s haunting.

I Kill the Mockingbird

I know
why the caged bird sings.
The god of small things
eats, shoots
& leaves.
We the living
shiver.
All that lives must die.
My wicked
wicked ways
walk two moons
on the road.
Remember me like this:
the prince of mist,
red as blood,
sailing alone
around the room,
going
going
to kill a mockingbird.

I’m also partial to this one. And I think it’s the most visually pleasing of all the poems.

The October Country

As I walked out one evening
walking the black cat,
vampires in the lemon grove
schooled the death catchers.

This I believe:
There is no long distance now
the sky is everywhere.

What my mother doesn’t know:
I have lived a thousand years
at the gates of darkness.
Holes linger
where I’m calling from.

Sometimes short and sweet is the way to go.

untitled

Rats saw god
in the kingdom of ice,
mortal coils
surviving Antarctica,
misery
salting the ocean,
the light fantastic.

The Last Generation

When you are engulfed in flames
in the lake of the woods,
eat, pray,
love little green men.
Speak
the machineries of joy,
call it courage.
Only you can save mankind.

This is another favorite. Habibi is the Arabic word for “beloved.”

Habibi

Before I die,
remember me like this:
the giver off the road,
the book thief
tap dancing on the roof,
lord of the flies
walking the black cat.
Speak my own true name:
habibi.

I wanted to format this poem as two voices. The first voice (on the left) is hers, and the second voice (on the right) is his. The centered sections are left to interpretation, maybe things they both agree on. There was no way to make this format work in the photo. I couldn’t get the books to balance that way. But I created the visual I was going for below.

It was getting pretty late when I created these last three. I was running out of books and things were getting weird…

Evidence of Things Not Seen

The turtle of Oman
     surviving Antarctica
A monk
     swimming the writer’s journey
The miniature wife
     writing down the bones
The illustrated man
     saving fish from drowning
Brown girl
     dreaming the thirteenth tale
The book thief
     giving thanks

Dept. of Speculation

We the living wonder
how did you get this number?
What have you lost?
A wrinkle in time,
the box,
the secret life of bees?
Let’s explore diabetes
with owls.
This is the story
of a happy marriage:
not quite
what I was planning.

Don’t Read This!

Johnny and the dead
eat, pray, love
@ the restaurant
at the end of the universe.
A pig with six legs
sees behind trees.
Frankenstein, Dracula,
Mr. Mysterious & Company
(a confederacy of dunces)
linger forever.
Which witch
rides a dread legion?
The outcasts of 19 Schuyler Place
wonder.

* * *

I think I’ll stop there. They just got weirder and weirder after that. I hope some of these made you smile. If you decide to create some of your own, have fun and enjoy the mess. 🙂

A Few Poetry Updates

This post is for all the poetry fans out there. (But the rest of you are more than welcome to read it too. After all, we lovers of poetry are a very open and accepting crowd, always happy to add a few more members to our club.)

I have a few pieces of poetry-related news I’m excited about and I want to share them with you.

First, I have a poem in this year’s Texas Poetry Calendar. It’s on the August month-view page, so if you’re flipping through looking for the date when the temperature is finally going to become reasonable again (somewhere around mid-September, hopefully) don’t forget to pause and read “August in Texas.” It won’t cool you off, but it will at least remind you that, yes, it’s this hot every year and, no, the heat won’t last forever.

Next, I also have a poem in this month’s issue of The Texas Observer. My haiku appears on page 42. I’m excited to be published in this magazine, but I’m even more thrilled that my favorite poet, Naomi Shihab Nye, is the person who selected my little poem. I first heard Naomi speak when I was a senior at UT in 1998, and I have loved her work ever since. I own over a dozen of her poetry books, as well as her novels for young readers and her books of essays. My favorites are Fuel (poems), Never in a Hurry (essays), and This Same Sky (poems she selected from around the world). Any book that has her name on it is worth a read. Her introductions breathe life into all the collections she edits, and she has an amazing gift for connecting with people via podium, page, or in person. Naomi is the poetry editor for the Observer, and she always includes a short message about the poems she chooses. Her sweet comments about my haiku mean so much to me.

Last, but definitely not least, I’m on the board of the Austin Poetry Society, which is about to kick off a new season of monthly meetings and contests. We have some great guest speakers lined up this fall, so if you live in the Austin area and you’re one of those people who likes poetry, consider joining our society. You’ll get access to our newsletter (cleverly named the Museletter) as well as eligibility to enter our monthly and annual contests, where you can earn cash prizes for your work.

And even if you’re not a member of APS, you can still be a part of The Poetry Caravan of Austin, a new and very worthwhile program where volunteers give free poetry readings at senior homes, memory facilities, and shelters in the Austin area. Our fall schedule is now online, and it’s easy to sign up. If you’re curious, check out our Facebook page to learn more and hear from some of our volunteers.

Well, that’s about it. Thanks for letting me plug my news, as well as the poets and organizations I love and believe in. Oh, and just so you know, if you made it to the end of this blog post, you probably are a fan of poetry, at least on some level. (Come on, admit it.)

5 Cool Books to Read When It’s Hot Outside

The heat index yesterday in Austin was 104 degrees. That kind of temperature just makes you want to climb into one of the compartments on the frozen food aisle and take a nap on the bags of edamame. But that’s a good way to get kicked out of your favorite grocery store. The next best way to survive the heat is to curl up in a dark, air conditioned room with a good book. If you choose the right book, you can transport yourself out of the hot, humid central Texas air, and into a winter wonderland.* Here are five books guaranteed to cool you down at least a few degrees.

[* Warning! Winter wonderlands are not always pleasant places.]

I’ve given each book three different ratings:

Entertainment Value = How much I enjoyed the story, regardless of the weather.
Iciness Factor = How much it made me want a sweater while reading.
Squeamish Scale = How much it disturbed and/or traumatized me.

(Note: Ratings are on a scale of 1-5, 5 being the highest. Also, my levels of squeamishness and cold-tolerance may differ from yours.)

1. Greenglass House by Kate Milford

This charming middle grade novel is set in a big, ramshackle inn on the top of a snowy hill overlooking an inlet of harbors in the middle of winter. Milo and his parents run the inn and it’s usually empty during the cold season, but this year a succession of odd characters arrive, bringing with them mystery and adventure.

Entertainment Value = 5 – I loved this book. To read my full review of it, click here.
Iciness Factor = 3 – The descriptions of the snow and the wintry winds and all the coats and galoshes they put on before going outside will definitely make you shiver, but there are also plenty of scenes by the fireplace and lots of hot chocolate.
Squeamish Scale = 0 – Nothing to scream (or squeam) at here.

2. Surviving Antarctica: Reality TV 2083 by Andrea White

This is a cool book (pun intended). It’s a historical fiction novel set in the future. (Um, what?) The year is 2083 and five fourteen-year-olds are re-enacting Robert F. Scott’s 1912 doomed expedition to the South Pole for reality television and a chance to win big prizes, if they survive. The story combines futuristic technology with quotes from the real explorers’ journals and makes for a gut-wrenching and gut-freezing read.

Entertainment Value = 4 – This is a fast-paced, interesting take on the dystopian genre. Fans of The Hunger Games would enjoy it.
Iciness Factor = 4 – The descriptions of blizzards and snow blindness and ice crevasses and Antarctic temperatures will definitely transport your senses to a cooler climate.
Squeamish Scale = 2.5 – It’s been a while since I read this, but I only remember a couple of things that truly gave me the heebie jeebies. One had to do with eyes, and I’m pretty squeamish when it comes to eyes.

3. One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn

Nothing keeps you cool like a day in a Siberian prison camp. Ivan Denisovich Shukhov was wrongfully sentenced to ten years of labor in one of the coldest places on earth. Solzhenitsyn’s novel depicts one of his three thousand, six hundred, and fifty-three days of internment.

Entertainment Value = 4.5 – A great read. Ivan handles the cold, hunger, and injustice of his situation with dignity, strength, and even optimism.
Iciness Factor = 5 – This book will chill you to your bones. And make you hungry for bread.
Squeamish Scale = 2 – I don’t remember anything violent or gross in this book, only general suffering and despair.

4. The Shining by Stephen King

A family of three spends the winter at a luxurious hotel in Colorado. That’s one way to summarize this book. Another way is… A writer with a history of alcoholism and abuse, his nervous wife, and their strangely gifted five-year-old son take on the job of off-season caretakers at a haunted hotel. Horror ensues.

Entertainment Value = 5 – I can’t believe I waited so long to read this book. It’s amazing. To read more of my thoughts on The Shining, click here.
Iciness Factor = 3 – If you want it to make you even colder, you can always put the book in the freezer like Joey did on Friends. I always loved that episode. Although, now that I’ve read the book, I know that Joey was actually describing the movie.
Squeamish Scale = 4 – This book is high on the squeamish scale, but it’s my kind of squeamish. Good scary stuff.

5. In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette by Hampton Sides

This nonfiction book tells the story of George De Long and the thirty-three men who set out in 1879 to try to reach the North Pole on the USS Jeannette. Two years into the voyage, after being trapped in the ice for more than a year, the ship sank, stranding the crew almost a thousand miles north of Siberia.

Entertainment Value = 3.5 – This is a well-written account that reads like fiction in many ways. It’s interesting and informative and gripping, but very harsh in places.
Iciness Factor = 4 – It takes more than a hundred pages to actually reach the arctic, and Sides doesn’t dwell on the cold as much as Solzhenitsyn does, but the very thought of being marooned on an ice pack should cool you off sufficiently.
Squeamish Scale = 4.5 – If you’re squeamish about things like frostbite, syphilis, starvation, and dogs dying, be wary of this book.