10 Ideas for Lessening Mass Shootings in the USA

 What would you add?

Two New Poems in Hearth & Coffin!

A huge thank you to Hearth & Coffin literary journal for publishing two of my new verse poems, "To Summon Love" and "Glossolalia," in their "Strange & Unusual" issue! 

"Catfish" Reading

In the lovely art and performance gallery Bill Arning Exhibitions in Houston on Sunday, May 23, at 5 PM, I'll be reading "Catfish," a lengthy poem about about being in love with an ideal but perfectly fake man on Grindr, from my imagistic poetry collection Catfish and After, published by Brighten Press. Books will be available for sale and signature.

Also during that evening's event, poet David LeJeune will read from his Hardcore Epic Queer Erotic Saga.

Please join us. It will be a gay old time.

Final Call for the Scorpio Anthology!

 

Final call! 

Submit your SCORPIO-themed writing to an anthology of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction from Brighten Press. 

Deadline January 15, 2021.

 Previously published work welcome.

http://brightenpress.com/creatives.shtml

Gifts Video

Merry Christmas! I've created a new video for my poem "Gifts" from the book Catfish and After, which is at least somewhat holiday-appropriate. Enjoy!

Attention Scorpios!

Attention Scorpios! (And those affected by Scorpios.)

Brighten Press is seeking writing for an anthology of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction with a SCORPIO theme. 

Deadline January 15, 2021. 

Previously published work welcome. 

For more details, please visit Brighten Press.

Huge Sale on Framed Photos!

 

I've slashed prices for the holidays at the Citysqwirl Etsy store! My original framed photographic collages are now more than 50% reduced -- with free shipping!

There are also three new 4-panel 4"x4" photo collages in 10"x10" frames up in the store:

Red Flowers Photo Tetraptych

New York City in the Snow Photo Tetraptych

Yellow-Orange Flowers Photo Tetraptych

There are also 8 other photo collages available at the Citysqwirl Etsy store. I hope you'll visit and find one you love for yourself . . . or to give to someone you love for the holidays.

Reopened: Call for Scorpio Writing

Reopened! Brighten Press is seeking writing for an anthology of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction with a SCORPIO theme. Deadline January 15, 2021. Previously published work welcome.

More information and instructions on how to submit to the Scorpio anthology at Brighten Press.

Fire the Liar

The current Republican in the oval office is heinous on every level, but his greed and inability to tell the truth are the worst. Time to let a caring, thoughtful, honest human run the country again. Vote Biden/Harris for President 2020.

Framed Photo Etsy Shop

The new Citysqwirl polyptych (collage) framed photograph store is open on Etsy!

I spent the last few weeks gathering my favorite photographs I've taken, reformatting them to 3.5" x 3.5" or 4.5" x 4.5", with a .25" white margin all around, and getting them printed. Then I began the process of mounting curated sets in triptych and tetraptych frames I bought.

Earlier, after much searching, I had ordered 8 vertical triptych 16" x 6" frames with 4.5" x 4.5" collage mats from Michaels, but they went out of stock and only 1 arrived. So I had to regroup and order square 10"x10" frames from Amazon, each with tetraptych (also sometimes called quadtych or quadriptych) 3.5" x 3.5" collage mats. 

I think the mounted pictures in the sets I put together came out really beautiful. I hope you agree!

All of these photos were taken in or around the Clear Lake area of Houston, Texas, with the exception of the white hydrangea above, which was taken in Quogue, NY, and the butterflies, which were taken at the Cockrell Butterfly Center | Houston Museum Of Natural Science.

Click on any picture to see that listing on Etsy.

Literate Discussions 14: "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens

A fun, in-depth chat with M. David Hornbuckle, in his Literate Discussions series, about one of my favorite poems, "Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird" by Wallace Stevens. 

It's totally, like, Zen, man.

Wallace Stevens

Thirteen Ways of Looking at a Blackbird

I
Among twenty snowy mountains,  
The only moving thing  
Was the eye of the blackbird.   

II
I was of three minds,  
Like a tree  
In which there are three blackbirds.   

III
The blackbird whirled in the autumn winds.  
It was a small part of the pantomime.   

IV
A man and a woman  
Are one.  
A man and a woman and a blackbird  
Are one.   

V
I do not know which to prefer,  
The beauty of inflections  
Or the beauty of innuendoes,  
The blackbird whistling  
Or just after.   

VI
Icicles filled the long window  
With barbaric glass.  
The shadow of the blackbird  
Crossed it, to and fro.  
The mood  
Traced in the shadow  
An indecipherable cause.   

VII
O thin men of Haddam,  
Why do you imagine golden birds?  
Do you not see how the blackbird  
Walks around the feet  
Of the women about you?   

VIII
I know noble accents  
And lucid, inescapable rhythms;  
But I know, too,  
That the blackbird is involved  
In what I know.   

IX
When the blackbird flew out of sight,  
It marked the edge  
Of one of many circles.   

X
At the sight of blackbirds  
Flying in a green light,  
Even the bawds of euphony  
Would cry out sharply.   

XI
He rode over Connecticut  
In a glass coach.  
Once, a fear pierced him,  
In that he mistook  
The shadow of his equipage  
For blackbirds.   

XII
The river is moving.  
The blackbird must be flying.   

XIII
It was evening all afternoon.  
It was snowing  
And it was going to snow.  
The blackbird sat  
In the cedar-limbs.

Writer's Block Pep Talk

 Originally written for English Composition I students before they tackled an Academic Research Essay first draft.

All writers feel like they're stuck sometimes.

It can be confusion about what you should write next that stops you from putting down the next word. Or it can be an unwillingness to focus, to concentrate, to get started. It could be a feeling that whatever you write will be crap, so why bother? Or that it's too hard. It could also be resentment that it's required. Or it could just be that you have other stuff you'd much rather do and that's distracting you.

Let's go through those issues:

1. Confusion about what's next. If you have an outline, follow it exactly. If you don't have an outline, write one. Outlines really work as ladders to help you climb through the writing process so you don't get stuck in figuring out the next step. Follow the essay format.

Also, if you can't figure out the next sentence, think about imagery -- often, describing something with your senses will help you move forward.

Another possibility is to skip the difficult choice for now and write a different section. There's no rule that says you must write the essay in order. If you're stuck on Reason 1, write the Conclusion . . . and go back to Reason 1 later.

2. Don't want to write. Sometimes the act of writing, especially the idea of sitting down and getting started, feels loathsome and repulsive. The first step to fixing that is sitting down and writing something, anything, just to get the language flowing. You can always delete this "throat-clearing" later.

Switch up your method. If you usually write in a notebook, write directly on your computer or your phone. Or if you always write on your laptop, try pen on paper.

Sometimes it also helps to change your environment. Go someplace else where nobody is bothering you and there's a calm atmosphere.  Often the action of choosing a new or different location to write helps put you in the mindspace to get work done.

You might also want to switch up your music, or have some comfort food. Caffeine helps, too.

3. It's going to be crap. Yeah, it probably will. So what? You can fix it later. In a first draft particularly, don't let perfectionism, fear, or your internal editor stop you from writing words. Allow yourself to be awful at first. Who cares? You're not chiseling this essay onto a marble headstone -- you're writing on paper or in a word processor, and everything can be changed easily. 

Don't worry about grammar or spelling or generalizations or generics or whatever other rules you have in your head. Those can all be revised. You have to check for that stuff afterward anyway, so don't worry about it up front. Blurt out your first attempt just to fill up the pages.

4. Writing is too hard. Yes, writing is very difficult. It's hard for everyone. Don't throw yourself a pity party about it. Language is slippery, and it's tricky to reach for what you want to say and find the best, clearest way to express your ideas.

But you can do it. You are better at writing than you think. Center yourself and write what you know, think, and feel, in your own words. Your writing is valid and worthwhile. Your voice is necessary in this world. Other people need to read your work because your exact experience is unlike anyone else's.

Write like you're talking, telling a story, explaining to someone -- a friend, parent, sibling, teacher, boss, priest, child, significant other -- your ideas. Sometimes it helps to actually talk through your essay with someone. Explaining it out loud will help focus your thoughts into words.

Don't get fancy or give yourself extra difficulties in the language. It helps me to repeat a line of Gertrude Stein's: Sometimes the best way to say it is just to say it.

5. I have to write, so I don't want to. Yeah, I'm a rebel too. Nothing is fun if it's required. Then it's work, right? Then it's a chore. So how can you make it fun? How can you make writing feel like play? Enjoying yourself while writing will make it enjoyable for the reader, too. Make sure you care about your subject, that you're genuinely curious about what you're writing -- that will help you stay engaged. Be funny, be smart and silly, get stylish and cool. Put on a stupid hat or a ridiculous outfit and shake your shoulders to upbeat music as you write. Let go of the resentment, and get it done.

You can also reward yourself with a treat for getting a specific amount of writing done: If I finish Reason 2, I can play Xbox for an hour. Beware of rewarding yourself with cookies, though! That's how I got fat.

6. There are a million things I'd rather do . . . or that I have to do. Certainly it isn't always easy to find the time to sit down and write. It helps to have a set routine for when you work. You can't wait until you feel inspired. It's so easy to procrastinate and find other tasks. My kitchen is never cleaner than when I'm on a deadline. But when you catch yourself doing something other than writing your essay, ask yourself, Is this necessary right now? If it is, then finish it up. But if not . . . admit that you're distracted. Get back to writing. Sit in the chair and write some words.

Use a timer. Set a countdown for 20 minutes and get that clock ticking. During that time, don't allow yourself to do anything else but write.

If you can't write at that moment, do the next best thing -- research your subject. Sometimes reading other people's ideas will help motivate you to argue with your own. But stick to researching your essay! Don't let yourself go down the wrong rabbit hole.

I hope some of those ideas help you get unstuck and plow through the first draft.

Remember: the best trick to get writing done . . . is doing some writing.

Citysqwirl on YouTube

Trying to build up my YouTube base -- please take a second and subscribe to my poetry and humor channel, if you would be so kind?

Citysqwirl on YouTube

Thanks, baby.

My Issue with the Excellent LGBTQ Civil Rights Law Supreme Court Decision

In response to this New York Times article, "Civil Rights Law Protects Gay and Transgender Workers, Supreme Court Rules," by Adam Liptak, June 15, 2020, from where I also got this picture.

I am absolutely thrilled with this decision by the Supreme Court, and pleasantly surprised by Roberts and Gorsuch joining the majority opinion. But it pains me greatly to have to agree with the horrible Alito and Kavanaugh that "sex" does not legally cover "sexual orientation" or "gender." I would much prefer that those be added to the 1964 law as separate protections.

Sexual orientation, or sexuality, the direction of love and attraction, is not sex, which refers to physical biology. My sexual orientation is homosexual, because I am attracted to members of my own male sex (and my own male gender). Although I suppose an unproven case could be made for genetics being the determining factor in sexuality, this is uncertain enough to separate sexuality from biological sex.

My gender, the socio-psychological-spiritual identification aspect of the gender spectrum, is also heavily freighted toward male alignment for me, but again, gender is not sex. There are those of male sex and female gender, and vice versa, and a huge range in between and outside that spectrum.

Sex, sexuality, and gender are all entirely deserving protection in this civil rights employment law, but it is reductive to consider them the same thing. I certainly applaud this decision to broaden the legal shield, but I hope more accurate specification will be forthcoming.

Literate Discussions 7: William Carlos Williams

I enjoyed taking part in this sprightly discussion with Professor David Hornbuckle from the University of Alabama at Birmingham on his show Literate Discussions about two classic Imagist, Modernist poems by William Carlos Williams, "The Red Wheelbarrow" and "This Is Just to Say."

Reading "Prophet"

A reading of my poem "Prophet" from the book Render, against a backdrop of film noir, government educational movies, and gay-panic PSA collage. Originally created for the Creative Pois-On series #CreativityWillSaveUs, episode 10.

Here's my video:

Here's the whole Creative Pois-On episode 10, which is definitely worth a watch!

Render is available in paperback and Kindle editions at Brighten Press.

Reading "Merge"

New video up on YouTube: reading my poem "Merge" from the poetry book Catfish and After, surrounded by video collage of nostalgic childhood moments from the 1980s, family wishes from the 1960s, parading elephants, a clown, American traditions, military iconography, and hot men exercising. The lines of poetry are included in the video.

Catfish and After is available in Kindle and paperback editions from Brighten Press.

Final Call for Submissions to The Book of Scorpio!

Final call!

Brighten Press is publishing a paperback and e-book anthology of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction with a SCORPIO theme.

Deadline March 31, 2020.

Previously published work welcome.

Details at Brighten Press.

"Catfish" Reading Video

I was invited by the lovely Bill Arning to give a poetry reading at the Flatland gallery tonight, but of course that has been postponed as we all virally die and the world ends. But I thought I might as well record the long poem I was intending to read anyway, as we’ve all gone virtual as it is.

I’ll be reading the poem Catfish, from my poetry book Catfish and After, Brighten Press. 2019. I began it when I was in the throes of falling in love with a gorgeous, smart, funny, deaf architect on the chat app Grindr. We had been chatting for a month non-stop daily, diving deep into one another, telling stories of our lives and sharing our hopes and terrors and depressions, connecting on a level I hadn’t experienced in nearly a decade. His pictures were sexy and stunning, with his deafness explaining his introversion and unwillingness to meet right away. It also seemed to explain his reluctance to tell me his last name or phone number.

But as I invested more in him emotionally over the coming weeks, it set off all kinds of alarms that I couldn’t find any trace of his existence online. The red flags flapped, but he was so consistent in his stories and personality that I couldn’t imagine he wasn’t who he said he was. I’m an insightful storyteller, with a powerful bullshit detector. I couldn’t possibly be deceived to such an extent. As I panicked and churned with emotion, I began to write about it, and the raw material for this poem spilled out over the coming weeks.

After I learned the truth, after I recovered, after I wrote the poetry cycle After, I cut and honed this cyberfraud material to pare it down to the poem I’m going to read right now.

This is Catfish, from Catfish and After, by Gene Hult.

Available in paperback and Kindle editions at brightenpress.com.

Open Writing Call for The Book of Scorpio!

Brighten Press is publishing a paperback and e-book anthology of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction with a SCORPIO theme. 

Deadline March 31, 2020. 

Previously published work welcome.

Submission guidelines and more information:

http://brightenpress.com/creatives.shtml