IWSG, May 2022

John Winkelman

Hello, writing community! Welcome to May, which seemed to appear out of nowhere. Then again, the first two days of May have been overcast, rainy and cold, so it’s like April never left. Or March, for that matter. Then again, the COVID pandemic is still kind of hanging in there, which means today (Wednesday, IWSG day) is March 794, 2020.

Anyway.

The Insecure Writer’s Support Group question for May 2022 is:

It’s the best of times; it’s the worst of times. What are your writer highs (the good times)? And what are your writer lows (the crappy times)?

My writer highs come from being in the zone, or in the flow, as described by Mihály Csíkszentmihályi. There are moments in the mornings when I can knock two concepts against each other in my head and from the interaction and intersection of these agents I can pull a page or so of short story, or a new scene for a novel, or the seed of a poem. These moments never seem to be predictable, but they always seem to happen within the first few minutes of a writing session. Which is to say, if I make it more than a few minutes into a writing session, that is the time when I am most likely to achieve the flow state and in that moment I am no longer writing, I am transcribing. I feel like I am in harmony with the world and the words are writing themselves.

The lows are the mornings when I am sleep deprived and still burned out from the day before, and my pen seems too heavy to hold, and someone broke into my house and rearranged all of the keys on my laptop. Or so it seems while in the grip of the ennui which is so easy to fall into and so difficult to pull myself out of. I’m feeling a touch of it right now, coming after a month full of reading and writing poetry, and attending poetry events and talking to poets. I should feel great, but instead I feel friction. I want to write, but I don’t want to write. And petulance looks silly on someone in their mid-fifties.

So the only thing to do is endure the down-times and have faith that the good times will appear again, hopefully soon, and I will be able to get back into the zone.

 

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The Bottom of the Top #18

John Winkelman

The core sample of stacked years which aligns with the 18th week of top-40 hits brings an interesting mix of hits.

1977: Alan O’Day, “Undercover Angel”

I have heard this song before, many times, though I don’t know if I was aware of it in early May 1977. I would have been seven, living in Jackson, and just finishing up second grade at Parnell Elementary school. Do I remember anything of Parnell Elementary? Faint shadows of learning left from right, and playing on huge piles of snow. King of the hill. The playground equipment of the 70s which would possibly be a violation of the Geneva Convention were it in use today. So though Undercover Angel is one of those songs that everyone of a Certain Age has heard, I couldn’t say that I heard it when it was on the charts.

1982: Genesis, “Man on the Corner”

In 1982 I was just finishing up seventh grade at Springport Junior High and hating every second of it. That doesn’t make 1982 special in any way; I hated all nine years I spent in the Springport school system, and though there were several bright spots, making the best of a bad situation is not at all the same as being in a good situation. So “Man on the Corner” is a good pick for a theme song for my adolescent years.

1987: Smokey Robinson, “Just to See Her”

Ahh, Smokey Robinson. I do remember this song, though I have not heard it in a long, long time. This would have been a month before I graduated from high school, and I was seventeen and carrying at least two torches for unwise and unrequited loves. I spent most of my junior and senior years listening to oldies, which in 1985 – 1987 meant songs from the fifties and sixties. So I may not have heard this song until after I left for college.

1992: Ozzy Ozbourne, “Mamma I’m Coming Home”

Ozzy again, with a repeat from earlier in the year. This is a really good ballad. I would have been listening to it as I drove to work at the terrible moving company where I worked for a few months, or possibly as I was walking the mile from the off-campus apartments to the student cafeteria where I worked a few hours a week for minimum wage and a free meal per shift which, considering minimum wage was around $3.50/hour, was a good deal.

1997: Kenny Lattimore, “For You”

I don’t remember hearing this song before putting this list together, but I have certainly heard of Lattimore in years past. I would have been working at the bookstore, special-ordering books by the truckload to make up for the gaps in the store inventory, and dating co-workers, as one does when working retail. I would have been growing restless with my living situation and looking for a new apartment, I believe. This is a beautiful song, and definitely would not have been my style back in my mid-twenties.

May, Suddenly and At Last

John Winkelman

New Books for the Week of April 24, 2022

This morning I opened my eyes and April was in the rear-view mirror. It was a good month, I suppose, thought the unseasonably cold weather kept me from feeling like I was experiencing spring, as such. It was nice to see the trees and shrubs slowly producing buds and blossoms and leaves in stop-motion during my walks to and from the office.

Three new book arrived in the past week.

First up is Patina by local poet Anna Renee, who I met at the Poetry and Pie monthly open mic night at The Sparrows cafe. Anna is one of the organizers of the event, and I am SO VERY HAPPY that poetry readings and open mics have returned to Grand Rapids. Poetry and Pie happens on the last Tuesday of every month, which means the next one is May 31, and I will do my very best to have a couple of poems ready to offer the audience. It’s been years.

Next is The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer by Janelle Monae. I heard about this one back in January, while attending the book recommendation panel at ConFusion. It has finally been released. so I grabbed a copy.

And on the right is The Antonio Gramsci Reader. I have been meaning to dive into Gramsci for a few years, so this is somewhat overdue.

I picked up the Monae and Gramsci from Books and Mortar on April 30, which was Independent Bookstore Day. As part of their festivities they had local poet Elle Warren writing poems in the moment, based on suggested prompts. I said “empathy” and ten minutes later, I had a beautiful poem.

In reading news, I read five issues of Poetry in the past week, which brought me to a total of 17 for the month, and am now caught up to March 2020. I think I will continue to read all the back issues on my shelves until I am caught up to present. Reading poetry at this pace keeps my mind in a good space and makes writing my own poetry easier.

I also read Patina (mentioned above), which was beautiful and heartbreaking and inspiring.

In writing news, I kept up the pace of a poem a day for the entire month of April, which felt fantastic! Just like April of last year, I focused on this one writing project from beginning to end, and came out of it inspired to continue the practice, though last year I ran head-long into several extremely stressful months and just didn’t have the energy to put to creative pursuits.

But now I have 30 new poems to edit, and this upcoming week is the first full week of the month, which means it is an editing week, so my goal is to get all 30 poems typed up and ready for review and triage. And that means that life is good.

April 2022 Reading List

John Winkelman

What I Read in April of 2022

For National Poetry Month this year, I decided to work my way through my pile of unread issues of Poetry Magazine. It was quite an experience. Last time I read this much poetry, in this much variety, was in the heyday of The 3288 Review when we were getting over a hundred submissions a month, each with as many as ten poems.

Though sidelined for a few days by a touch of the flu, as well as some crazy work hours, I did manage to complete seventeen issues of Poetry, two poetry books by local writers, and the latest issue of Peninsula Poets.

The density of reading has put my mind in a very good space and I may continue this habit well into May in order to get caught up to present.

Books and Journals

  1. Poetry Magazine #209.2 (November 2016) [2022.04.01]
  2. Poetry Magazine #210.1 (April 2017) [2022.04.04]
  3. Poetry Magazine #213.1 (October 2018) [2022.04.05]
  4. Poetry Magazine #213.3 (December 2018) [2022.04.06]
  5. Poetry Magazine #213.6 (March 2019) [2022.04.07]
  6. Poetry Magazine #214.1 (April 2019) [2022.04.07]
  7. Poetry Magazine #213.4 (January 2019) [2022.04.08]
  8. Poetry Magazine #213.5 (February 2019) [2022.04.11]
  9. Poetry Magazine #214.2 (May 2019) [2022.04.12]
  10. Poetry Magazine #214.3 (June 2019) [2022.04.14]
  11. Poetry Magazine #214.4 (July/August 2019) [2022.04.17]
  12. Alles, Colleen, After the 8-Ball [2022.04.18]
  13. Poetry Magazine #214.5 (September 2019) [2022.04.19]
  14. Poetry Magazine #215.1 (October 2019) [2022.04.20]
  15. Poetry Magazine #215.2 (November 2019) [2022.04.24]
  16. Poetry Magazine #215.3 (December 2019) [2022.04.26]
  17. Poetry Magazine #215.4 (January 2020) [2022.04.27]
  18. Poetry Magazine #215.5 (February 2020) [2022.04.28]
  19. Renee, Anna, Patina [2022.04.29]
  20. Peninsula Poets #79.1 (Spring 2022) [2022.04.30]

The Bottom of the Top #17

John Winkelman

This week brings a fun mix of 40s, four of which I have heard before, and the last, “Gangstas Make the World Go Round”, was on here last week. I like the odd synchronicities which occur over decades, which could be catnip for statisticians of a particular mindset. For instance, Simon and Garfunkel’s “Wake Up, Little Suzie” was at #40 five years (or more specifically 4 years and 51 months) before Simon’s “You Can Call Me Al” which was on the list at the 1987 spot last week.

Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam made a splash my senior year of high school, and though I have not heard “Head to Toe” in, well, decades, it immediately brought back that slight despair of being a senior in high school and still riding the bus, but fortunately the bus drivers knew what to play to keep the inmates calm.

I do not recall having ever heard of M.C. Brains, but “Oochie Coochie” was familiar, so I probably saw it on MTV at some point.

And Westside Connection was on here last week.

I suppose an interesting narrative could be pieced together from which songs were in which place on which week, looked at not as a progression through the years, but as 52 core samples which, in a given location in consensus space is a stack of snapshots of what was going on “right now, only in 1987.” And once you have data, you can twist and squeeze it to form a narrative, and tell stories vertically rather than horizontally.

1977: Wings, “Maybe I’m Amazed”

1982: Simon and Garfunkel, “Wake Up, Little Suzie”

1987: Lisa Lisa and Cult Jam, “Head to Toe”

1992: M.C. Brains, “Oochie Coochie”

1997: Westside Connection, “Gangstas Make the World Go Round”

I’m Reading a Lot of Poetry Lately

John Winkelman

Reading Material from the week of April 17, 2022

This past week was kind of rough, starting with snow on Monday and a touch of something flu-like which hit me Monday evening and lasted until Thursday night. I only missed a day of work, but was housebound for the whole week, which has not happened to me since the downtown office reopened at the beginning of March. This enforced isolation allowed me more time to read and write, but I had no focus or energy so I mostly stared blankly at various screens and slept.

But yesterday the outdoor temperature rose above 80° f, so Z and I journeyed to Holland and spent several hours sitting in a friend’s back yard, talking and enjoying the unseasonably warm and wonderful weather. And that was as healing as any amount of ginger root, lemon juice, and whiskey.

A small yet elegant pile of books arrived at the house in this past week.

First up is the new issue of Peninsula Poets, the bi-annual publication of the Poetry Society of Michigan, of which I have been a member now for several years.

Next are two new books from The Center for the Art of Translation, On Lighthouses and Linea Nigra, both written by Jazmina Barrera and translated by Christina MacSweeney. On Lighthouses is the paperback version of the hardcover which arrived here in late 2020.

In reading news, I am still working my way through my back issues of Poetry Magazine. I have caught up to 2020, which means I have only a little over a year of back issues to read until I catch up to present. Oddly this feels like I am paying off a debt of some kind. I also took a day to read Colleen Alles’ After the 8-Ball, which I picked up last week at her poetry reading at Books and Mortar. It was brilliant! I love being reminded of the vast talent emanating from my group of friends and associates.

In writing news I am still keeping up my pace of a poem a day, though that went from literally a poem a day to a poem a day average when I missed my poems for Thursday and Saturday due to being sick and utterly brain-dead. But I made up the count with a couple of two-poem days, so I will still have thirty new poems to play with at the end of the month.

The Bottom of the Top #16

John Winkelman

This week we have an interesting mix of songs. The only one I remember is “You Can Call Me Al,” which everyone on the entire planet over the age of 40 has heard.

I don’t think I ever heard of Joe Tex, and considering that he died in 1982, that is not a surprise. “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More” is a catchy song, but lyrically it has, to be delicate, not aged well.

David Lasley I have certainly heard in his capacity as a background singer for more well-known artists like Jim Croce, but I don’t think I have ever heard Lasley qua Lasley, which is unfortunate, as he has a gorgeous singing voice.

Paul Simon I have of course heard of, and “You Can Call Me Al” was a huge hit.

I have of course heard of Boyz II Men, and “Uhh Ahh” sounded familiar, so I quite likely heard it either at the tail end of college or at some point soon thereafter, likely on MTV. Boys II Men still hold up musically, 25 years on. Whole lotta talent in that group.

Of the members of Westside Connection, I have only heard of Ice Cube, and it is unlikely that “Gangstas Make the World Go Round” got much of any airtime here in West Michigan. This is another really good song, and once again, some serious talent in the group.

1977: Joe Tex, “Ain’t Gonna Bump No More”

1982: David Lasley, “If I Had My Wish Tonight”

1987: Paul Simon, “You Can Call Me Al”

1992: Boyz II Men, “Uhh Ahh”

1997: Westside Connection, “Gangstas Make the World Go Round”

Who Let All This Poetry In Here?

John Winkelman

Reading Material for the Week of April 10, 2022

This past Thursday I had the wonderful experience of attending a poetry reading for the first time in well over two years. The event was hosted by local indie bookstore Books and Mortar. West Michigan poets Colleen Alles and Kristin Brace read from their most recent collections.

The reading was wonderful! I had previously purchased Brace’s book Toward the Wild Abundance, and picked up Alles’ After the 8-Ball (pictured above, with Poe) at the event, and both poets graciously signed their books and, as the audience was small, we spent some time after the event talking about reading and writing and life during the COVID years.

I have known Kristin for several years, from her tenure at the Grand Rapids Creative Youth Center as well as the weekly open studio graciously hosted in years past by Jack and Julie Ridl.

I met Colleen back at the end of 2019, when we published one of her poems in the last issue of The 3288 Review. Shortly thereafter, Grand Rapids Public Library put in an order for the entire run of the journal, all 12 issues. As luck would have it, at the time she was an employee of the GRPL, so when word got out that Caffeinated Press was shutting its doors, they decided to add our publication to their archives. It was the largest single sale ever for Caffeinated Press, and also one of the last. So it goes.

In reading news, I am still working my way through my unread issues of Poetry Magazine. I have finished 10 of them, and might make it through another 10 by the end of the month, though I will likely take a break after the issue I am currently reading (July/August 2019) to read After the 8-Ball.

In writing news, I am keeping up my pace of a new poem every day for National Poetry Month. This years the words are coming easier than they did last year or the years before, both because there is a little less of *gestures at everything* and because I have had two more years of practice both reading and writing poetry.

The Bottom of the Top #15

John Winkelman

I started these posts because I thought that the 40th spot in the top 40 would show much more variety and frequent change than would the top spot. So imagine my surprise when last week’s #40 for 1977 was also this weeks #40 for 1977. Congratulations, Mr. Silvetti, for your consistency in the face up the constant upward pressure from the music marketing machine.

This was another week where I had not heard any of these songs before (other than Mr. Silvetti, whose “Spring Rain” is one of those which, even if you have never heard it, you have heard it). Two of the names are familiar – Roberta Flack and Simply Red, but to the best of my knowledge i have not heard those songs before. The other two, Lidell Townsell and Allure, I have neither heard of nor heard those songs, though “Head Over Heels” caused a faint frisson of nostalgia. So maybe there is something there.

1977: Bebu Silvetti, “Spring Rain”

1982: Roberta Flack, “Making Love”

1987: Simply Red, “The Right Thing”

1992: Lidell Townsell, “Nu Nu”

1997: Allure Featuring NAS, “Head Over Heels”

So Much Poetry

John Winkelman

New arrivals for the week of April 3, 2022

Maybe it’s because the pandemic has faded into the fabric of The Now, but there seems to be a surge in poetry events here in Grand Rapids. Several venues are hosting readings and open mic nights, and new events seem to be popping up every day. it could be confirmation bias, but I feel like the next few months are going to be quite exciting, poetry-wise.

Several new books made their way to the house in the past week.

First up is The Interim, written by Wolfgang Hilbig and translated from the German by Isabel Fargoe Cole. This is a repeat of sorts, as I received the limited edition hardcover of this book from Two Lines Press back in November.

Next up, also from Two Lines Press, is Masatsugu Ono’s At the Edge of the Woods, translated from the Japanese by Juliet Winters Carpenter. Ono previously graces these pages when I received (and read) his excellent Lion Cross Point.

Next, from And Other Stories, is When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold, written by Alia Trabucco Zerán and  translated from the Spanish by Sophie Hughes.

And last up is the most recent issue of Salvage which, despite being on the right side of the photo, is the left-most of my reading material lately, if you get my meaning.

In reading news, I am quickly working my way through my stack of unread issues of Poetry Magazine.

In writing news, I am keeping up the pace of a poem a day, and some of them have promise, though to achieve the promise of that promise will take more than a little editing. So it goes.