http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/section-22-member-pages en 2000-2008 stephan@shakespearesmonkeys.com stephan@shakespearesmonkeys.com 42.65614 -71.334 Sat, 22 Nov 2008 06:00:39 GMT Yet Another Community System http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 59 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10274-soft-wear http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10274-soft-wear ~android love~ Suter Bill The imPersonal Space of rws Fri, 21 Nov 2008 15:09:58 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10274-soft-wear#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10274 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10274 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10274 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10273-acorn http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10273-acorn here we love and rest our heads here you touch me here we are unwound here I am your lover here our hands unclasp and here I bid you leave and in my hand, one acorn that you will never see   Ruth Elliott Callooh's Odd Socks Fri, 21 Nov 2008 14:47:16 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10273-acorn#comments 1 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10273 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10273 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10273 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10257-the-rocks http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10257-the-rocks A boulder gateway flanked by patchy grass began the tarmaced car-park behind the house. I smell the hot bitumen they burned for re-surfacing: black glar fuming the throat; the suck of shoe-soles on still-setting tack. I hear the slap of trainers leap-frogging clustered lumps on playful dares to get from here to there - the teeter on granite slab then leap of faith. Glacigenic erratics, Midlandian moraine - your polished quartz is a glint in time. When my ice-age melts, I jump the years to land on permanent shale and solid rest. Your isotopes are through and through me: their half-life clicks my Geiger counter. ... more» u668857 The Personal Space of U668857 Fri, 21 Nov 2008 09:58:10 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10257-the-rocks#comments 2 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10257 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10257 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10257 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10271-behind-her-eyes http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10271-behind-her-eyes Smart girl who had a less than perfect body image. At 16 who knows the difference Zealy, Kee - being an ex auditor and DBA any other names are unprintable Only In The Eyes of the Beholder Thu, 20 Nov 2008 23:00:54 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10271-behind-her-eyes#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10271 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10271 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10271 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10215-cheesy-sentiments-for-honest-feelings http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10215-cheesy-sentiments-for-honest-feelings   Where once the light could not stroke In the many shadows inside my heart When life had played another cruel joke The darkness you’ve since torn apart   Your quiet love shone right on through Past the shards and between the tears Changing old clichés to something new Slowly erasing all of my former fears   A kiss, a look, a smile, a laugh Your solid strength around my soul ... more» Shannon McEwen Shan's Crap (Shannon McEwen) Sat, 15 Nov 2008 21:33:12 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10215-cheesy-sentiments-for-honest-feelings#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10215 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10215 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10215 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10197-the-cenotaph-and-the-beaver http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10197-the-cenotaph-and-the-beaver   Head bent earnestly    Ten whole            Long              agonizing seconds Of stillness   Raindrops plop                        PLOP.                              plop ... more» Shan Shan's Crap (Shannon McEwen) Thu, 13 Nov 2008 13:05:12 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10197-the-cenotaph-and-the-beaver#comments 1 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10197 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10197 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10197 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10204-meeting-jackie http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10204-meeting-jackie Babbling in sunlight, lisping alluvial flows, a bend we called the "Crook", undercuts the far bank, where leaning ash and willows disperse the light through leafy petticoats. I'm mid-stream, immersed in silver-lined libations, glinting luminous slips and spills, before the "Crook" deepens. Half blind from the glare, I hardly see Jackie who calls in wild surprise, to see our childhood dance about my fly-line's mend and backward loop in the holy streams of home. To meet by chance, below the Burngibbagh where salmon leap - I blink our moment back before she bustles away behind the salley's summer rustles. ... more» u668857 The Personal Space of U668857 Thu, 13 Nov 2008 09:56:50 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10204-meeting-jackie#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10204 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10204 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10204 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10027-beacon-oh-beacon http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10027-beacon-oh-beacon Beacon Oh Beacon Guardian harbor light Isolated towers height Beacon Oh Beacon Surrounded by infinite liquidity Crumbling antiquated serendipity Beacon Oh Beacon Ancient productivity cast By a saviour past Beacon Oh Beacon Maroon banded finger tipped Iron cage light bereft Beacon Oh Beacon Gull winged sail Circling amid sky blue pale Beacon Oh Beacon Demise articulated at last As waves engulf last gasp       kzealy Only In The Eyes of the Beholder Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:01:00 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10027-beacon-oh-beacon#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10027 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10027 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10027 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10001-celery http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10001-celery you arrive as the last carrot is chopped my eyes still wet from onions today we have music and at the window red leaves dance shadows on his laundry waiting for me to hang beside my own beneath you I smell the celery on my hands       callooh Callooh's Odd Socks Mon, 03 Nov 2008 15:20:04 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10001-celery#comments 6 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10001 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10001 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10001 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10012-when-flirting-just-isn-t-enough http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10012-when-flirting-just-isn-t-enough ~a bit tired of 'politics as usual'~ rws The imPersonal Space of rws Sun, 02 Nov 2008 00:54:57 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-10012-when-flirting-just-isn-t-enough#comments 3 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/10012 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/10012 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A10012 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7376-some-thoughts-on-the-fertility-of-turtles http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7376-some-thoughts-on-the-fertility-of-turtles Not being conversant in 'critique', I accept the notes below may constitute utter bollocks - but they may also reflect the extent to which poetry can capture the imagination of the reader. I've recently read a host of comments in the discussion thread regarding 'bad poetry'. For me, bad poetry is stuff written and published for the exclusive benefit of the writer, to fulfill a personal need, with no regard for the reader. How do you identify a writer's motives? Well, I have no idea - that's as far as I got :> Perhaps it's a gut feeling, although the comment process usually proves to be a solid indicator of attitude. So, anyway - a personal appreciation/exploration of... The Futility of Turtles - Austin Gorsuch  Title - two aspects...does it make me want to read the poem? The Futility of Turtles? Why? I have no idea, but I care because it's a statement, and I'm a sceptic - so that's a 'yes'. Does it say something meaningful about the poem? How should I know? Revisit... The car did not stop. Wheels continued to spin as my father and I looked to the curb - the struggling turtle attempting to work its way back onto its feet. "The car did not stop." Classic first line delivery - monosyllabic, abrupt. Impact - the importance of first impressions/primacy. A line with consequences, preceded by caesura/endash. "The struggling turtle" - (intention behind the use of) definite article (i.e. not a/any old struggling turtle, but the/this one) - implying that the turtle in question has been noted/noticed prior to the reader's attendance, an integral part of this story. So, was it struggling before the (assumed) incident with the car? Or is the car incidental, yet also relevant in metaphoric terms? Does this epitomise the futility of turtles? Did it merely fall off the pavement and tip over into the road, onto its back? If the result of an RTA, wouldn't this have been 'the turtle, struggling, attempting to...'? So perhaps - turtle struggling, car doesn't stop = life goes on, wheels continue to spin, and the reader constructs a drama to accommodate meaningful interpretation? Its legs, splayed to the sunlight, flailed in the crisp breeze of a day just beginning. Observation - no intervention, no interpretation, attitudes or feelings expressed, purely (superficially) descriptive (detached?), with no indication as to where this is going, beyond 'a day just beginning' (there's more to come..) Suggestion of assonance (splayed, flailed) and onomatopoeia (crisp breeze) Contrast (re. 'Later') - sunlight, crisp breeze = a fresh, new day Later, I went out with Mother. She told me stories about how she had been dreaming of being raped, of shooting her husband, and as I tuned the voice of convolution into a studded white noise, Mother capitalized, no 'possessive' pronoun. Formal/impersonal? Alien? Contrast between 'my father and I', + two stanzas of shared experience - and 'Later, I went out with Mother.' - stark, unembellished one-line event. Stories - fantasies/self-indulgence, emphasised by combining 'stories' with 'dreaming' (intentional redundancy). Contrast 'dreaming' with violence of rape and shooting. Joined-up writing ...tuned/voice/white noise. Convolution (compare revolution/evolution - progress/outcome) Studded? Sardonic allusions to...? Ornamental? Hard (rivetted, but not rivetting?). Star-studded? (many connotations e.g. poetic aesthetics & media) Also, interesting (re. discussion thread on use of commas) to see end-of-line comma combined with double line break - says 'this is connected, but' (?) (hesitation - example of the art of manipulation?) And finally (yeah - right)...'being raped, shooting her husband'. The relationship, or not (and the relationship) - repression/distortion > inverse displacement & aggression - fantasy/futility. I began to imagine her, on her back, her arms reaching in futility for the sky from the dark recesses of her verdant shell. The turtle metaphor doesn't appear out of nowhere, we've already 'seen' the 'real' turtle, so this readily paints a picture and forms a strong impression. "I began to imagine" - where/how far would this have gone? Sentiments of (unknown) depth. The 'Mother'/turtle pose - portrays helplessness/hopelessness, but also consistent with a 'rape' scenario and even suggestive of someone having been shot? (irony/poetic justice? - hmm) But the BIG one - 'verdant'. Verdant?! That's a flag - ambush ahead :] Too clichéd to be anything else? Perhaps, but also marked as lush, fertile . Considering implications of 'lush', but probably too far removed. Verdant qualifying shell - no, too involved for my limited resources. I laughed (foolishly). Why foolishly? Shame? Embarrassment? Indifference towards the plight of the turtle? Applying the turtle metaphor to Mother? The mocking of Mother's dreams? Painting the shell green? Or was it foolish to laugh - Mother is looking at me like I'm weird/stupid/disrespectful. Pay attention! More misdirection? Ha! How stupid is that - making such an elementary error. (which one?) After all, her shell has no color. "After all" - seemingly innocuous, but replete with overhanging meaning here. Conclusion, whether explicit or implicit - as important as first lines even when misunderstood, or a complete mystery, as long as it looks/sounds/feels like a conclusion. So, even metaphorical turtles have shells & shells have colour - which leaves a further metaphor... shell = no life = no colour? And the title...The Futility of Turtles...that's a 'yes'. Final note: If you're still awake - really, you should get out of your shell more often :> Final, final note: I always attempt to approach every poem as being entirely fictional, irrespective of what I may or may not know (if anything) about the writer. Assumptions lure, attribution theory rules... ... more» aphasic Aphasic's athenaeum of illiteration Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-7376-some-thoughts-on-the-fertility-of-turtles#comments 3 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/7376 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/7376 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A7376 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5658-acrostic http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5658-acrostic I believe that NOmen est omen, i.e. our name, given to us without our consent, is an umbrella under which we live. An omen Mira The Personal Space of Mira Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-5658-acrostic#comments 4 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/5658 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/5658 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A5658 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8778-c.-e.-chaffin-s-links http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8778-c.-e.-chaffin-s-links I'm new to this monkey business so don't know quite how to go about posting things, or what the etiquette is, so I thought I'd just start with links to my website and blog, where you can sample publications and follow my ongoing journey with poetry and manic-depression, the latter seen through the eye of a physician/poet. I've also linked my magazine, The Melic Review, presently on hiatus but with eight years of archives C. E. CE's Personal Space Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-8778-c.-e.-chaffin-s-links#comments 4 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/8778 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/8778 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A8778 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4733-ch-47-chinook-crashes-in-rescue-attempt.-sixteen-die. http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4733-ch-47-chinook-crashes-in-rescue-attempt.-sixteen-die. CH-47 Chinook crashes in rescue attempt. sixteen die. memory sleeps beneath time’s blanket, closes its eyes, and disappears in dream. life is leveled, edges beveled smooth and regular. days pass. thirty-seven years later a helicopter is shot down in Afghanistan. men are lost and fear chokes me again, high above hills and jungle, taking fire from below, a Chinook just like theirs, frantic to fly away. norm The Personal Space of Norman Milliken Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4733-ch-47-chinook-crashes-in-rescue-attempt.-sixteen-die.#comments 5 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4733 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4733 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4733 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4508-from-the-challenge http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4508-from-the-challenge saved by Stephan anstey AmaNana's Personal Space Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4508-from-the-challenge#comments 0 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4508 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4508 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4508 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3282-giving-the-beach-back-to-the-tourists http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3282-giving-the-beach-back-to-the-tourists   Translucent moonlight slips from midnight skies, whitewashes my salty moist skin with splashes of light. Beads of warm sweat trickle, between winter white breasts, stirrings arouse my calm center, as we lie on a native bed of sand and shell. Tied loosely to moorings, far off fishing boats bobble and creak. The Atlantic murmurs; channel markers faintly chime under a spill of silver stars. Quivering beneath this elegant canopy, I reveal myself to bursts of dream light, letting my flesh rhyme with yours. The whimsical tide plays with the gulls; a westerly breeze swishes through sea oats and beach grass. Your fragrance lingers among temperamental pleasures, summon once calm waves to crest again and again. In the lavender-streaked dawn, we search the sand for tossed undergarments and washed up shells while beachgoers march towards the sea, stomping on the sunbleached boardwalk, smelling of sunscreen and last night’s margaritas. ... more» Anne My Words, My Time: Poetry of Anna Blake Godbout Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3282-giving-the-beach-back-to-the-tourists#comments 4 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/3282 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/3282 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A3282 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3835-jesus http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3835-jesus Jesus? Doctah Idges Mistah_Kurtz_HeDead: Daniel Ridges Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3835-jesus#comments 8 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/3835 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/3835 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A3835 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4689-josie-s-fiction-trite-and-true http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4689-josie-s-fiction-trite-and-true Please read. Comment if you like. My hope is that it will reach you somehow. That I can shape something new under the skin, behind the eyes. But it's only fiction, right? Josie The Personal Section of Josie Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-4689-josie-s-fiction-trite-and-true#comments 5 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/4689 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/4689 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A4689 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3634-love-never-dies-of-natural-causes. http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3634-love-never-dies-of-natural-causes. Love never dies of natural causes. Its passingless delicate, than the changing of seasons. The reason for our demise? He neglected to tell me. Or perhaps;I neglected to listen, but he never said much anyway. The autospy reportwas inconclusive. The coroner stated the cause as; irreconcilable differences. the bodies were releasedto the family and the children ......... the only survivors, mourned their loss. c. Alana L. 2006 anstey Alana: A Voice Too Long In Silence Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-3634-love-never-dies-of-natural-causes.#comments 1 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/3634 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/3634 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A3634 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-6412-lying-in-bed-being-beautiful-next-to-you http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-6412-lying-in-bed-being-beautiful-next-to-you Inspired by a Shakespearean at Midnight Anne My Words, My Time: Poetry of Anna Blake Godbout Sat, 01 Nov 2008 19:24:40 GMT http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/article-6412-lying-in-bed-being-beautiful-next-to-you#comments 9 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/post.php/article/6412 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/comments/feed.php/article/6412 http://www.shakespearesmonkeys.com/links/trackback.php?anchor=article%3A6412