Saturday, June 10, 2017

I go to the hill & the hill helps me down


At the end of May I went to Ireland for a reading with O Bheal, which was fun and went well. My daughter went with me and we spent a few days in and around Cork. The highlight was the hours we spent trawling a used bookstore. She also tried on some gorgeous long dresses in a vintage shop. They were tempting but where would you wear them?

My reading —about a half hour— is here.

I've had some poems --mostly found visual poems from Misery-- out recently, and many more accepted. Three are in The Journal, a favorite publication of mine:

Frostbite, with the image of a jump suspended.
Infant Taint, which I put together the day after the November election.
I'm going up ace, a brag poem.

Ucity Review took four poems that came out last week:

Infinite Loop, a bookish poem.
What's What, about going with the flow.
On Missing the Bottom Step, about a mishap I am a victim of not infrequently enough.
Ingested Pins, one of a few poems inspired by Philadelphia's Mütter Museum.

Other recent but yet unpublished acceptances have come from Permafrost, Thrush, Zone 3, Tinderbox, Passages North, Poetry Northwest, Collapsar and Diagram.

Stupidity is a Dangerous Enemy

Stupidity is a more dangerous enemy of the good than malice. One may protest against evil; it can be exposed and, if need be, prevented by use of force. Evil always carries within itself the germ of its own subversion in that it leaves behind in human beings at least a sense of unease. Against stupidity we are defenseless. Neither protests nor the use of force accomplish anything here; reasons fall on deaf ears; facts that contradict one's prejudgment simply need not be believed--in such moments the stupid person even becomes critical--and when facts are irrefutable they are just pushed aside as inconsequential, as incidental. In all this the stupid person, in contrast to the malicious one, is utterly self-satisfied and, being easily irritated, becomes dangerous by going on the attack. For that reason, greater caution is called for when dealing with a stupid person than with a malicious one. Never again will we try to persuade the stupid person with reasons, for it is senseless and dangerous. 

-Dieter Bonhoeffer, Letters and Papers from Prison
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