So…anyone here know about whether or not the New York Yankees have been eliminated from the playoffs?

Because boy, that’ll sure be sad for a lot of people, if the New York Yankees are eliminated from the playoffs.

Yankees fans will be hugely disappointed if the New York Yankees are eliminated from the playoffs. I think what will really make them sad is the number of Red Sox fans who, in spite of their own team imploding horribly, will nonetheless take great pleasure in the idea that the New York Yankees have been eliminated from the playoffs.

Pleased keep me posted, ok? I want to know whether or not the New York Yankees have been eliminated from the playofffs.

I’ve been kinda deliberately not spending a lot of time on the computer for the last few days, which has been quiet and very nice, especially while I’ve been recovering from whatever this intestinal bug’s been doing to me. Still not 100%, but probably close to 95%, so I’ll run with it.

Reminder to NYC and environs: I’ll be at Bar 13 for the louderARTS spectacular with Faro on bass on Monday night, October 9, for a feature of “Jim’s Fall” and maybe, just maybe, an added bonus poem or two…Come down and say hi.

As of right now, we’ll also be doing a show of it on Nov. 14 at Gotpoetry in Providence, something we’re hoping to record for DVD. Details to follow.

(Normally, I’d be leery of featuring in my own venue because of my concern over it being seen as an ego-thing, but John P thought it would go well, so we’re going to do it.)

In other news: Today is World Smile Day. Go do an act of kindness for someone and make them smile.

I normally don’t pay attention to such things…but Harvey Ball, the guy who invented the smiley face for a Worcester insurance company’s internal morale program back in 1962, was a heckuva nice guy and I thought I should celebrate yet another part of Worcester’s heritage of invention. We’re responsible for barbed wire, the liquid fueled rocket, the space suit, the snap-on/snap-off socket head, the modern Valentine’s Day card, the diner, and the birth control pill, among other things…

Yeah, I like the smiley face best. : )

I am so tired of arguing about the line between page and stage! I just got done sending off a reply to someone on Gotpoetry who probably didn’t deserve my ire to the level I delivered it, but so be it…

Here’s how I look at it, once and for all:

Read my stuff. Watch me on stage. Tell me where the line is in my work so I can rub it out and draw it anew.

DONE.

There comes a point where sense — logical, rational thought — can only take you so far toward truth. When you reach that point, you have to trust that the illogical leap, the irrational image, will get you close to where you want to land.

Poets dumb down their work too much. While accessibility is important to me, I recognize that sometimes the only way to write the poem that needs writing is to write it knowing that people may or may not make their way to it when they see/hear it.

We have to trust our audience more. We need to not be frightened for their misunderstanding if we don’t fill in all the gaps.

Sometimes, it’s ok to write for other poets, or for a more poetically educated audience. One of slam’s downsides is that it’s made immediate general audience appreciation the be-all and end-all of performance poetry.

If I don’t leave you puzzled sometimes, leave you scratching your head and reading and re-reading poems to eke out all the meaning you can, I’m no better than Matty Furmanek or any Hallmark Card. People shouldn’t expect art to always make sense. Sense is only one source of knowledge, and I want to mine all sources of knowledge in my poems.

ETA: I just corrected the spelling of Matty Furmanek’s name from “Furmaniuk.” I realized when I was looking at it that I spelled it the way my almost-roommate at Harvard spelled his name, which he pronounced the same way. Zygmund Furmaniuk, aka Ziggy (of course). One of the smartest guys I ever met. He hated poetry. Maybe he was onto something.

As usual, Patricia was “wow.”

After an intense women’s open mike and a short break, she read a mix of old stuff and new, including (by request) “Skinhead,” which I don’t think I’ve heard her read in — Jeez, eight years maybe? She also did, once again, “34” and once again made me tear up.

Glad I went.

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Every time I complete a project, I find myself staying away from writing poetry for a short bit — two or three weeks, usually.

That’s happening right now, in the aftermath of preparing and premiering “Jim’s Fall.” Almost as if the effort it took required a break to cool down a bit.

I’ve learned not to worry about this, but I still feel the tug of the phantom poem — the one that’s not there but makes you think it is. I’ve tried to capture this one once or twice, and it’s been fruitless — so I’ve learned to let it go.

For someone who writes everyday and tries to get a solid new poem together two-three times a week, it ain’t easy.

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More later — early morning and a day of errands ahead.

In order to get to sleep:

0.5 of one individually wrapped herbal supplement

3 Lithium

1 Shot of Maker’s Mark

Mix well and drop off.

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Anyone going to see pswordwoman at Smith College tomorrow night? I’m planning on it.

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I no longer believe poetry can change the world. I’m not sure I ever really did, but I’m certain now.

I’m wearing a T-shirt I got in Austin that shows the silhouette of a poet at the mike on the front with the letters “POET” on the picture.

On the back. the shirt explains that “poet” means “professional oratory education technician.”

Christ — I don’t want to make my poems educational. If people take a lesson or decide on a course of action as a result of the poem, that’s their business. I’ve become as skeptical of that effort as I am of commercials that get people to buy stuff.

I’m not a writer of persuasive speech — at least, not anymore, not primarily.

I don’t want to educate. What I’d like to think I do is illuminate — shine a light on hidden stuff and let people see it differently.

Again, if things shift as a result, fine. But that’s not my primary job. And I’m not even going to try to pretend otherwise anymore.

Remarkably liberating to give up all that heavy responsibility. 😉 Let others try to change the world through poetry. I wish them luck.

I’m just showing this off to someone….

The personal details of my life in the last year have been pretty chaotic.

Today, I’m just feeling tired of them. Today, I feel like I’ve been wasting my time.

Today, I decided to take greater control of them.

We’ll see what happens next.

when you’re sitting on the porch in the early AM and you find yourself warming your hands on your computer.

Faro and I did “Jim’s Fall” last night live for the first time with a real audience last night.

I have to say this was the most creatively satisfying thing I’ve done in years. When we got up on that stage, it was like everything fell into place even more so than at our rehearsals (which were amazing).

The poems elicited laughter in the right spots, gasps in the right spots, and the ending impact was what I’d hoped, especially with the accompaniment that we’d worked up for the last three poems.

Keep in mind that we did exactly two sessions before we recorded — Faro did the first five poems one night, the second five on the second, and we decided to get a track down on the third to see how it sounded. When we heard the playback, we looked at each other and said that was good enough.

The CD has a kind of dry, insular quality to it — because we weren’t trying to do a final take. The first recording was really just for us to listen to how it sounded. But the lo-fi aspects of it make it sound claustrophobic and creepier (I think). You have to understand that we did this live, straight through, with me leaning above the internal microphone on the digital 4-track while Faro played, w/o effects, about 6 feet away through his smaller Fender amp (we used a Gallien-Kruger head and an Ampeg cab last night, with a handful of effects on two pieces only).

It was a great night. And Faro KILLED in his solo encore. At 18, the guy has so much upside potential it’s scary.

This wouldn’t have worked without him…I’ll never do these poems again without him backing me up.

Next step: we’re in NYC at Bar 13 on October 9; I think we’ll try to book some more shows together as well, and maybe work up some music for a couple of other of my poems.

As for Jim…well, I have to continue with the series now, as I have to literally get him out of the hole he’s in at the end of this series. Not right away, though; I need to let it simmer a bit.

Thanks to all who came out and bought books, CDs, and/or offered love and support. Being able to stretch in the atmosphere of the Java Hut was crucial to making the night work, and I can’t offer enough of my gratitude to let you know how I feel today. I know Faro feels the same.

Ten minutes till the feature…

I’m uncharacteristically nervous, but this is going to kill…

Back in an hour or so…

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Damn. What a set.

For immediate release, or relief if you so desire:

Tony Brown, Worcester-area poet and general lowlife, will be performing a suite of poems at the Java Hut, 1073-A Main Street, Worcester, MA on Sunday night, Sept. 24th.

Sez Brown, “These poems, once known as “The Jim Poems” but now titled “Jim’s Fall,” recount a story of suburban madness and desperation. I’ll be performing them to a live soundtrack created by an extraordinary bass player, Steven Cafaro (aka known as “Faro,” pronounced “Fah-row”).

We’ll have both a chapbook and a CD of the work available for purchase on Sunday night — chapbook is 6 dollars, CD is 7, and both for 10. Such a deal.”

Brown is the author of numerous chapbooks, is a monthly columnist for Gotpoetry.com ( http://www.gotpoetry.com ), and has published his work in several anthologies. Faro is a member of a number of bands including the band “Empathy.”

The Poets’s Asylum, the weekly reading at the Java Hut, kicks off with an open mike around 7:30. Feature will follow the open.

For more information, directions, etc., please visit the Asylum website: http://www.poetsasylum.org