DN 89

I am finally starting work on laying out dreams and nightmares 89, the May issue. It shouldn't take too long; I think I have everything I need.

jealousy, sex, evolution -- explained tomorrow

http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/04/evolution-lecture.html

tornado weather

Early morning tornadoes missed us.


basil binds peat -- tray canopy glows

detitled

vascular tissue
discreetly clothed; something's wrong
barking the wrong tree

barking up the wrong book

My latest poetry book came out as an e-book. I've never read an e-book, and I will continue to not do so as long as the things I want to read are available in dead-tree format. I can already see a day, probably within the next few years, when I will have to get an e-book reader because the younger authors whom I follow will probably publish only in that format. Sad. You can't look at a wall full of bookshelves covered with e-books, all stored on a single electronic device 6 inches high and 4 inches wide, and get the sense of satisfaction that musty pulp gives. Just last night I started reading a novel by Kate Wilhelm, published in the 1970s, which my wife bought back then, and some of the pages fell out! You don't get that kind of excitement from an e-book. Plus, when you fall asleep reading a bark book, and it falls to the floor, so what, even if the dog does eat it. The same certainly cannot be said for an e-book reader.

where to get my books

You can get all of these from me, signed, at no extra charge.

Brushfires ebook http://dreamsandnightmaresmagazine.blogspot.com/2011/04/brushfires-on-smashwords.html

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Nursery Rhyme Noir, tales of death & humor in a land where nursery rhymes are news reports. $11

REVIEWS http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wual/arts.artsmain?action=viewArticle&sid=14&id=1470478&pid=217
http://ttapress.com/fix/reviews/nursery-rhyme-noir/
http://www.writersforum.org/books/book.aspx?ID=197
http://www.slothjockey.com/books/bryant_shelly/hasp_deadbolt.shtml

http://www.amazon.com/Nursery-Rhyme-Noir-Deadbolt-Files/dp/0982106831/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1291997839&sr=8-5

ebook: https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/samsdot

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The Simian Transcript, flash fiction: SF, fantasy, horror. $10

http://www.cyberwizardproductions.com/Banana_Oil_Books/The_Simian_Transcript_by_David_C_Kopaska-Merkel.html

http://www.amazon.com/Simian-Transcript-David-Kopaska--Merkel/dp/193602117X/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1291997839&sr=8-7

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Separate Destinations, collaborative SF & fantasy poetry. $7

http://www.dplus66.com/sd.html

ONE COPY LEFT

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Night Ship to Never, more collaborative genre poetry. $8

http://issuu.com/cyberwizard/docs/night_ship_science_fiction_fantasy_poetry_preview

http://www.amazon.com/Night-Ship-Never-Kendall-Evans/dp/0982135211/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1291997839&sr=8-6

after an earlier tsunami

one that was her children


new visions persist
ions mined in solitude
children dream of light

where is the mother
her fragmentary patterns
each passenger searched

murky water burns
strange fish guide the new clippers
gnaw silica growths

tight-skinned space crawlers
mouth exudates heal lesions
on the pitted hull

I swim endless blood
yearn to love your skin your lips
eat urban toxins


End


Star*Line, 2006

reprinted poem

Segmented Worm Defense League


So many enemies;
bird, vole, salamander,
angler, captain of industry,
cruelly misnamed worm snake,
and the burrowers from within:
bacterium, protist, fungus;
they need protectin’!

They meet regularly,
dream of dominion,
pass resolutions,
raid fishing holes,
picket garden fences,
swap genetic material.

Maybe the league itself
is in segments.
(one for grass raising,
one for nematode relations,
one predator, one prey,
bylaws and soil amendments,
and so on)
and has no prejudice
against the worms that are
undivided wholes.


The end


Publ. Fuhu, 2005

no use for lawyers

Man Bites Lace


Oh yeah, she's cute in her new
Victoria's Secret underthings
but no matter how you
dress her up
an Arcturan lass'll
treat you rough
make you want to eat your own head
and if your spermatophore ain't up to snuff
plant some dearly departed's children
where Arcturus don't shine
to hatch hungry before too long
making clear the futility of divorce.

New poetry from "Brushfires"

Sample poem from "Brushfires," my latest book:



Wild Gods


The bellowing of the ox
chant of the dedicants
shuffling round the fire
two by two, under the ash poles

like follows like,
as above, so below
thus reads the Book

but the stars
those damnable leering stars
and the tossing of trees
across the vale
the wail, low at first
growing louder, higher
these don't meet expectations

the worshipers falter
turn away from the sacrifice
face into the gale
What wild god comes now?


The end

satyr day

ain't no tractors
on this farm world
hand work

evolution lecture

Thursday of next week (Apr. 28), 7:30 PM, University of Alabama biology auditorium. Dr. Brad Sagarin talks about sex differences in jealousy.

http://bama.ua.edu/~evolution/schedule10-11.html

Recent lectures are free from iTunes: http://itunes.apple.com/us/itunes-u/alabama-lectures-on-lifes/id404003891?ls=1

the invasion, over almost before it began

Them aliens et Maw too?! Well, shucks, I knew she had bad taste, but dang! Still, I don't figger on replacin' them ugly curtains just yet. Wash her off and put 'em back up.

this here faded spot
was her spleen or kidney
20 years later

and your little god, too

having received further instructions
Mopsy had always hated being named for
the big bag was lying there
pizza paid with check forged
ordering online not just for cavemen

"Arf," she said

out this window

bright birdhouses
in an unlived state
hard to sell orange

Brushfires on Smashwords

My latest book of poetry, "Brushfires," is now available as an e-book from Smashwords, at the price of $2.25. Here is the link:

http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/54253

Brushfires includes a lot of new poetry never published anywhere else, as well as poems covering the last couple of decades of my work. And it has a cover by the incomparable Richard Fay.

If you want some examples of the kind of poems I write, check out the archives of www.strangehorizons.com

what if I promise not to enjoy it?

Dr told me not
to work but here I am
working, oog



not a title so much as a reworking

sick

sick
sick sick
sick sick oog

no title but I got this view

she wing-flutters
and he feeds her beak to beak
childhood memories

we ain't in KS no mo

storm kills my
internet so no Sat. pome
alive again




PS - no damage at my house, no injuries in city, from km-wide tornado.

How's it smell, without its nose?

Signed copies of my books in a UU fundraiser tomorrow night. If you don't get one, I have them right here. I'll even inscribe them to who- or whatever you like at no extra charge. jopnquog at gmail.com. Paypal works.

I really can't believe

Friday fell off the shelf
when I slammed the door
I can't find its nose

I can't believe

I just spread Thursday on my toast!

or did I mean fantaqueue?

my mail shredded
over the eldritch marsh
brownie justice
I'll not forget
the bowl of milk again

skiffy-kew

left dictionary
out for the brownies
paper still blank

sciku

oyster stands
still for 80 my
I stoop for a pearl

I do have a garden

peas rise
from parting blossoms
Wednesday we feed

from an unpublished poem

from "Sky Dancing"


I search for the magical door
towards which I had been flying.
I find it not, instead I apprehend a quiet song that,
even as I hear it,
grows ever louder.
Louder and louder an inhuman voice calls wordlessly
and I am suspended
in a void.
Suddenly I realize I am not suspended, and
what I hear is no voice.
I hear the wind
in my ears
as I fall.

shopping for a new hat

So I don't think I've mentioned here, yet, that I am running for president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association. It will be a challenge to maintain the level of excellence to which we have become accustomed under the leadership of Debbie Kolodji. I plan to do my best, and I'm looking forward to an exciting time.

Alabama Museum of Natural History summer expedition

FW

Hi Everyone: The Alabama Museum of Natural History has a few slots left for students for this summer’s Paleo Expedition – see their website http://www.ua.edu/academic/museums/history/wordpress/?page_id=75 for more details. There is also a weeklong ecology workshop for science teachers and educators – Continuing education credits available!

Please pass this announcement along to anyone you know who might be interested...


EXPEDITION 33
Summer 2011
Discover Alabama’s diverse natural history by participating in the 33rd Annual Museum Expedition Camp! Participants will have several fun and unique opportunities to work with scientists in the fields of paleontology and ecology as part of actual scientific research to examine Alabama’s intriguing natural heritage. Students, teachers, and adults will spend a week at the Expedition field camp situated in Greene County, Alabama and work with scientists to learn collection techniques, laboratory procedures, and specimen identification.

The Museum Expedition combines real exploration, with real science to create a unique experience and lasting friendships. THIS IS NOT YOUR ORDINARY SUMMER CAMP!


SHARK WEEK: Explore the prehistoric past when Alabama was submerged beneath a shallow sea teeming with sharks and other menacing marine predators. Scoop up shark’s teeth from the gravel deposits in creeks, uncover ammonites from ancient sea beds, and perhaps even excavate a Mosasaur, the Tyrannosaurus Rex of the sea! Our Museum paleontologist and other scientists will lead you on a real scientific expedition to find real fossils and uncover the mysteries of Alabama’s wild marine past!

Two Sessions: Mini-week 1 – June 1-4 (6th, 7th, and 8th grade students – cost $175)

Week 2 – June 5-11 (Open to anyone age 14 and up – cost $350)

DISCOVERING ALABAMA ECOLOGY WEEK– TEACHER WORKSHOP: Join other teachers and educators from around the state for a unique opportunity to discover the rich natural diversity of Alabama. Participants will wander through the meadows, wade in the streams, and paddle on the rivers to become immersed in hands-on study of the geology, soil, water, plants, animals, and people that make up this diverse ecosystem.

One Session: Week 3 – June 15-18 (Teachers and Educators – cost $150)

SURVIVOR WEEK: Working in teams, participants will test their outdoor skills while exploring meadows, wading in streams and paddling down rivers with scientists to conduct a “bio-blitz” of field research and nature studies of the Alabama Black Belt ecosystem. During the afternoons, each team will compete in challenging activities to win immunity and a chance to be named the Ultimate Expedition Survivor!

One Session: Week 4 – June 19-25 (Open to anyone age 14 and up – cost $350)


Course Credit: Students can earn elective high school credit through advance arrangements with their school and the Expedition staff. Teachers can earn University of Alabama continuing education units or professional development hours.

Registration: Space is limited to 20 participants, so contact us soon to reserve your spot. To register for one or more weeks of the program, please complete a registration form (click and print the document below) and return it along with a $50 deposit to reserve a space to participate in the Museum Expedition 33.

Friday's poem

skin of the galaxy
popped by a pointy fast ship
stars leak out

headlights of an oncoming pooooooooooooome

receptors
gravid with visions of food
it's a jungle in here

hall of mirrors
spills emerald flesh

nebulae condense
behind her eyes
a star is born

free

where is my desk
oh Lord and whence this white stuff
home base touches self

2011 Rhysling nominations

http://www.sfpoetry.com/ra/rhyscand.html

tanka

Below her
the high pass
an egg hatches
phoenix in flight
crimson all the way down

e plebneesta

cultural
evolution a perfect mirror
the names have changed

my kingdom for a title

trumpet lilies poke up their heads
wasn't one right here?

Flash story from "The Simian Transcript"

A sample story from my book of flash fiction, "The Simian Transcript." The book is $10 postpaid, signed, from me.


Are you my mother?


Mama was reincarnated as a rhino last week. This really sucks. She won't fit through any of the doors, so she sleeps in the carport. I don't like hugging her now, because her skin is so hard and dry. It is like grandma's hands were last winter when she ran out of hand lotion – G-double r-gross! And, she can't drive me to soccer practice, so I have to wait for Leslie. She's so busy with her "singing career" (ha ha) she always forgets to pick me up and I get home late.

It was great though when Rodney was teasing me at the bus stop, pulling my hair and trying to pinch me. He makes me so mad! His arms are longer, so I can never pinch him back. But this time Mama came running across the road from our house. The ground was shaking and everything. Rodney wet his pants, when all she did was knock him down with the side of her head. When Selena's brother came back as a Jaguar, and some guy from Central High was bothering her, her brother ATE him. I mean, even ate his shoes. He is still locked up, but it was so worth it. The guy came back as a banana slug. What a loser!

Another time, a parade was going by and I couldn't see anything. She let me ride on her back and then I could see really well. There was a giraffe in the way. When she told it to move I thought they were going to fight and I was really scared. Giraffes are big!

But mostly it's a real pain. Like when we wanted to go to the drive-through at Wendy's, but Leslie didn't have any money and mom wasn't there because she doesn't fit in the car anymore. So all we had was leftover macaroni and cheese, and that is really yucky the second day. All she said was "you can cook if you don't like it."

If she dies, maybe she will come back as something cuddlier. I hope it happens soon.


The end



The book is $10, signed, from me.

Tiny fleas

And us to bite 'em


we dug tunnels
beneath the ship's integument
we throve, I swear
we didn't kill it
but when explorers
returned from the anterior
we knew:
they had video of
a void bigger than our colony
filled with the corpses
of starved neurophages

we, the dead ship and fellow travellers, were
orbiting a moribund globe

world-ship rots
humanity trapped in an airtight tomb

then the alimentarians
our sisters in endo-domicility
sent word
the tapeworms were shedding cysts
launching capsules into space
and did we want to hitch
a ride?
there'd be other leviatha
somewhere in immensity

so we sent a dozen healthy
youngsters with seeds, tools
records of our people
in each dispersum
mermaid purses the size of jetliners
simulated treats for hungry giants

our progeny could eat the elephantine larvae
cultivate nutritious fungi in
the resultant cavernacula
carve out homes and prosper

Homo hyperparasiticum would survive

the title of this piece ... but that would be telling

hand me that noun
the work of poetry
goes faster with help

My last cabal story

I think this is one of my best. Dystopia, but not all bad. http://www.dailycabal.com/2011/04/magic-shake/