Back in Boston only three days and I attend a poetry reading by Xtina Strong who is heading to Brooklyn (we should now shut the gates to deter great poets from leaving Boston for New York), and by Jack Kimball whom I was glad to have heard read. Xtina showed two films that stirred up thoughts of Sept 11, the War in Iraq, and the Katrina floods with newclips from the nemesis George W. Bush and Others, and voiceovers by Xtina posing questions about the language we use (operation, etc.) and our wartime maneuvers (another skanky word, though not included). Jack Kimball read a series of short untitled poems (what was that last haiku-ish poem of the ovary?) that gave me a sense of a person's need to write to see what can be done, and equally to question what has been done. This self is ever-ready to take some shots: when I was born I was so ugly "the doctor slapped my mother." (Sorry, don't know the exact line.) At each turn of the page, I was helicoptered into a new situation, often with an overlooker critiquing this scene. He can sure pack a wallop of voices condensed in a few words.

I'm quite horrible at this type of review, especially covering such a great reviewer as Kimball, which probably makes me want to try it more. I will not fear failure. Off I go, I will not fear failure...


Related links:

Demolicious: The great reading series, more to come in the fall
Xtina's site
Jack Kimball's blog


Now I'm off considering the possibilities of the typo "needless to see."