"'Everyday Poetry' Honors Dirty War Dead," by Bill Cormier from the Associated Press, discusses Poesia Diaria, edited by Virginia Giannoni, a collection of small notices published in Argentina newspapers called "recordatorios."

*****

Check out other Poetry News.

When I'm not reading poetry, I love reading those Taschen art biographies. First, artists paint (hehe) interesting lives. Second, the paintings included in the biographies often work as excellent poetry prompts.

I'm reading about Italian painter Giorgio de Chirico at the moment. De Chirico worked as a surrealist and thought his life was connected to that of Friedrich Nietzche. As he found his voice (or do painters find their vision?), de Chirico grew increasingly fascinated with enigma.

Quick quote: "To become truly immortal, a work of art must escape all human limits: logic and common sense will only interfere." -Giorgio de Chirico

There's a lot of truth in this quote by de Chirico. While rules are the foundation of good writing, great writing often bends or breaks the rules slightly. The "imperfection" makes the work memorable and beautiful. It's not always the case, but technically perfect can often be perfectly technical (and boring). So getting back to de Chirico, art must push beyond the logic and common sense of good writing to become great writing.

Anyway, here are two poetry-related de Chirico images:

"The Poet and His Muse"

"The Delights of the Poet"

To get back to one of the reasons I read these art biographies, use these two images to jumpstart your own poem. If you feel so inclined, feel free to share on here.

Happy holidays!

...by Robert.

First off, this is the only time I'm going to accommodate one of these "tags" to do a list (all future requests will be ignored--excepting if my mom were ever to actually get online, create her own blog and then tag me, though the chances of that are pretty thin). Second, I'm only doing this one because I was tagged by Nancy's mom from her Lillian's Cupboard blog, which is a nice blog (and yes, that's the tagging rules I've set up for this blog--only mothers of the Poetic Asides founding bloggers can tag me, and, even then, only once per lifetime).

The rules were: When tagged you must linke to the person who tagged you (which I've done above); Post the rules before your list (doing this moment); List 8 random things about yourself (preparing to do); At the end of the post you must tag and link to 8 other people (which I do not plan on doing); Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog, linking back to your meme (again, "not gonna do it").

Here are 8 random things about me:

(drumroll)

1. I have a scar in the middle of my left eye brow from when I was a wee baby and got in a car accident with my father and little brother David. Apparently, this was back when people regularly tore seatbelts out of their vehicles and did not safely secure baby seats. In addition, baby seats weren't put in the back seat automatically (as they are, nowadays). So the story goes that David's seat got flipped in the car accident and was hanging upside down crying his head off, though without any physical damage. Meanwhile, I smacked my head up against the dashboard and began bleeding all over my face but did not cry (probably more a result of some concussion than any "baby toughness").

2. Around the age of eight, I remember volunteering to let the neighborhood "big kid," who was probably like 12 and hanging out with all these kids between the ages of five and eight, powerdrive me into the ground more than 10 times in a row. For those who don't know, a person who is powerdriven is turned upside down and basically dropped onto his head. (Yes, again with the abuse to my head.) It's amazing I did not become some kind of broken neck statistic back in the day.

3. My favorite movie is It's a Wonderful Life. There's a scene near the end that always makes me tear up--even if I only see that scene completely out of context of the rest of the movie. Of course, there's more to me loving that movie than just one scene. It actually has quite a few okay moments throughout.

4. I'm allergic to peppermint. While I can suck on a candy cane without sneezing, biting into peppermint usually causes an "Aaaaaachoo!"

5. I have two sons, ages four and six. They are absolutely wonderful and amaze me constantly.

6. Our department is having a holiday party this afternoon, which is why I've totally gone crazy with the blog posts this morning, I'm sure. Who's ready for some yummy lunch and dessert--and a white elephant gift exchange? Of course, the answer is me.

7. Which reminds me, I would've totally won my 3rd grade elementary school spelling bee if I would've remembered the "w" in answer. I spelled it A-N-S-E-R, and as a result, I had the wrong answer (hahahahaha, that one never gets old--don't laugh).

8. And these 7 reasons all led to me becoming a poet. Basically, it's unavoidable when you have a lot of early head trauma, mild allergic reactions to candy, two children, an upcoming party, 2nd best spelling skills, and a penchant for sappy black and white movies.

Be warned: It could happen to you. Now, my stomach is rumbling, and I'm gonna head on over to party central. Have a great weekend!

"Spam, spam, spam, spam, and poetry," by Charles Fleming from The Los Angeles Times, discusses junk emails and asks whether there is poetry hiding within. Of course, any long time reader of this blog knows the answer is "Yes, of course." In any event, always fun to read about the intersection of Spam Street and Poetry Drive.

*****

Check out other Poetry News.

"Three cheers for the epic poetry of jargon," by Jonathan Guthrie from the Financial Times, applauds the clever use of jargon by businesses to discourage further correspondence with clients. While this kind of "poetry" is great for businesses, it should be stated that poets will likely have the same effect on their readers if their poems are filled with an obscure personal jargon: Effectively, writers will cut off further correspondence with their readers. While business jargon could add a bit of authenticity to a poem, use with caution.

*****

"Report Reveals All Poetry is Rubbish," by Amateur Writer from Spoof.com, is a spoof on the importance of poetry reporting on a "1500 page report titled Poetry: Really, what is the Point?" If you're easily offended by poet or poetry put-downs, I would not recommend reading this "fake" report. But if you need a good laugh on a Thursday morning, you've probably already clicked on the link.

*****

"A poet forged in heartbreak," by Don Aucoin from The Boston Globe, profiles poet Afaa Michael Weaver, a former factory worker, who is now hitting his stride on the national scene, including a cover spot on this month's Poets & Writers. Interesting read, for sure.

*****

Check out other Poetry News.

"Jury reads prose penned by 'lyrical terrorist,'" by Claire Truscott and agencies from Guardian Unlimited, reports on Samina Malik, who dubs herself a "lyrical terrorist." As a result of her poetry (including a piece called "How to Behead"), Malik received a 9-month suspended jail term for violations of anti-terrorism legislation.

*****

"Search for First Missouri Poet Laureate Continues," by Laura Spencer from KCUR news, reports that 137 poets have been nominated to be the first Missouri poet laureate. Assuming no other state leapfrogs them, Missouri will be the 42nd state to establish a poet laureate post.

*****

Check out other Poetry News.