Wet Poems‘ carnival of the erotic is now up, mine the tamest among them.

doctors don’t know
uncle’s heart pains
more pills thrown
into the mouth
of the wood stove

sky opens its vault,
coin-bright brisk pelting wish drops,
all a fountain and gasp-laughs:

run for tree, rain-shade cover
hand clasped through soaked sheets of wind
tongues loose as waves,

jagged breath, snag it on running,
not on how all is surface, shape soaked through,
color clung to it, saturated, don’t mention
the lightness of stroke, wiping the rivulet
of cheek, caught remarking how wetter
then wet we are, ignore tone, the

new moon pupils
fall in the lines
over the lips, dip
o

Not hosted here this time. Ringing of the bards is adult only this week as it is hosted by Wet. Naughty requirements. Deadline is today for submissions. And they do mean submission. 😉

(cross posted )

The Governor General’s Literary Award, shortlist sounds pleasing, having heard a few read excerpts at the writers festival. It’s structure and aim seems clear, with 14 people assessing quality and importance of work and then giving writers cash to do more. It seems to more promote what to read as well.

I’m not sure whether to be happy or sad about the Quills Awards short list. Shortlist of Collins and Angelou, Oliver and Neruda and an anthology of Good Poems for Hard Times? They self-described their awards point as to “pair a populist sensibility with Hollywood-style glitz”.

What is the Quills Awards goal? If everyone already knows and market saturation is reached before awards, what does publicity do for who, and what does it do for Pablo Nerudo now? (It’s a translation but.) It seems to promote who to like (I mean really really like…) rather than guide what exactly to read. Is it to reach more non-readers by making poetry more mainstream? Perhaps that’s it. But they’re already all household names and have been for decades (or am I just Ameri-centric?) Or maybe it’s to make something like a paparazzi industry /sex symbol of poets?

Brian Campbell points to this CBC article on the GG awards