something katy

welcome, dear guests, to

[week two]

during the past week i have accepted poetry submissions from some of my favorite blogging poets. though i did not set any guidelines for the content of the poetry, i have taken the liberty of dressing this week's Ringing in a carnival/circus outfit (i hope you're ready for a bit of reading!!). for those of you interested in my experience in hosting the poetry carnival, a complimentary post to this one has been posted on po'et'ship. for those of you who are itching to get to the poetry...

our first bard is the beautiful shirley allard of housemouse. shirley, the painted woman and gifted make-up artist (keep her away from the clowns), brings her stirring poem, embracing the storm, to the big top. extra special thanks go out to shirley for her contribution to this carnival and all to follow; beyond her poetry, shirley has also designed the logo that graces the top of this carnival post!

the cotton candy stand poetess, cecilia , asked me to bend the rules a tad for her and i could refuse? the depth of silent mark is matched only by that of her other work on clear candy daily. so the poem is a bit older (only by a few months) but lines like
"growing tongues tasting the wind
feel like the knife scraping soft butter"
never get old.

you've made it past the brush of madame shirley and the sticky fingers of our darling cecilia, now it's time to meet the master.

the ring master, that is... and what would a carnival be without the booming lungs and dramatic nature of its ring master? ashraf (known to many as arch.memory) fits the bill for ring master to a proverbial T. to prove just how loud he can be, he bears all in his poem hunger. you wanted drama? you wanted a show? you wanted the finest poetry the blogsphere has to offer? you've just found your gold mine. ashraf knows, but i should tell you all too, i'm too good a friend to him to ever let his ego get such a feeding without meaning every word with the utmost sincerity.

our next featured poet is a very special member of the blogging poets' community. in fact, many of us agree that billy should represent poets101.com as Mayor:

and who better to welcome his fellow townsfolk to the festivities than our dear mayor? none, i say!! ah, he's got a fine welcome in store for you too; a sweet story of childhood antics as retold to him by his dear mother. she told it to be true is a true story of billy, the helpful little hopeful picking tomatoes for his mom. *aww* and before i go too far without saying it...

{ H A P P Y . B I R T H D A Y . B I L L Y ! }

cake and ice cream all around, but first we need to meet and greet all the other poets in this weeks carnival. what? you thought that was it! ha!! we've barely made it in the front door yet...

the following two poets are vying for your attention with their gorgeous, sizzling and tantalizing poems. welcome to the kissing booth, boys and girls!!

for the fellas, the glowing poetess mandolina dora of wet poems, has puckered up with her poem shudder. if the title doesn't clue you in... well, maybe i should let mandolina explain herself?

and for the ladies, is hardy f of torn labels. hardy, and i have told him this several times, is the best erotic male poet i've ever read. the poem chosen for feature here is a narrative/prose poem called 11:47. this is a quintessential hardy f poem in that before you even finish reading the piece, you will no doubt empathize with at least one of the characters and be itching uncontrollably for more. don't worry, there's lots more where that came from ;)

now that we've got you all hot and bothered, let's rearrange things with scott. maybe the right word is scramble... either way, track marks is bound to get your knickers in a twist. every good festival needs a sculptor, right? be it ice, clay, marble or your mind, scott's collection of poems on 30 Days: poem will keep you reeling!

you've had your face painted by shirley, shared some sweets with cecilia, been greeted by the tipped top hat of ashraf, handed a ripe tomato by billy, had your way with mandolina and hardy, been all sorts of spun around by scott and now it's time for the show!!

first up is resident cowboy and sushi chef brian boutwell of the boarding house. when he's not throwing knives for the carnival, brian writes austere prose poems and short, staccato works like to lorna. simple in form and vernacular, this poem might take you only a minute or two to read, but will leave you in a dusting of thought and imprint upon you a distinct southern flair.

on the other side of the ring, dodging brian's knives, is the talented poet and stilts-acrobat erin of poetic acceptance. keeping her balance all the while, erin delivers a gorgeous reading (yes, AUDIO!) of her entry to the bards, below morning's edge. the rhythm and intonation delivered by erin's reading of her piece is sure to make this poem an instant hit with all who hear it!

hearts go out to bob of average poet (an anything but average poet in all respects) - having been warned against sever flooding, he's decided to stick it out. would calling him the aqua-man be inappropriate? i'll go no further. his poem was inspired by the tsunami that crashed ashore just after christmas this past year. this is the flood watch.

rising above the flood plains is a lightening bug. or is that travis j morgan of zen moon flying the trapeze? japanese in tradition and aesthetic, t.j.'s acrobatics are bound to astound. the gymnast of poetry, and one of the few modern poets who pulls of a regular ababcdcd rhyme scheme with candor and charm, i am proud to present travis as a member of the carnival this week!

our spotlight turns to the center ring where mike of an unknowing mind will thrill with tales of those long lost beasts of the new world; a reader of minds, whisperer of fortunes, predictor future events and a provocative story teller, let us follow mike into the dorms and dare not to look back.

all the way from khazakhstan (i'm totally not joking) is russell. russell is without a doubt the finest human cannon ball (or was that yuckelbel's cannon?) this carnival's ever seen. and with each flight through the stratosphere of the big top, russell waves hello to all who dare dream the impossible. like he said, "It doesn’t hurt so bad..."

go - no don't, that's his name. go, or gobuick, is a herbivorous chicken geek* from the appropriately titled geek poet. while he only dines on the green stuff, his dedication to the art form is beyond comparison. ah, so dedicated in fact that we have two poems from go. yep. two. yep... i couldn't decide (yep, am a bit indecisive at times). from the pit then, is summertime & the line.
[note: have only just 'met' go; therefore, would like to thank him for agreeing to be give the role of probably the ickiest carnival gig in history, and all the while, he's a veggie! thanks go! i owe you.]

and last be most defiantly not least is the affectionate and ever-so-clever glenn of crunchy weta. we don't ask why he's crunchy, it just goes without saying. or, maybe he's got us all under his spell. he is, after all the world's greatest hypnotist! (without a doubt!) he'll tame your senses; do not doubt him.

i would like to thank all 15 of the poets who contributed to this week's carnival. though it took many hours to compile, compose and adjust, i have had the absolute best time reading and rereading the poems sent to my attention and giving you all silly circus jobs! thanks too, to all who have read and who continue to support poets of all shapes and sizes throughout the galaxy.

[[addition 7/3/06 7:30am] randall gray of tanata sent me an email which i recieved this morning. in it was a gift of unspeakable value...

FOR KATY AND BILLY (CARNIES)
People (the stuffy ones) say poetry's dead
Irrelevant nonsense, ego-fed
But where else than a poem is one to find
Transcendent rhythm for the mind
That speaks of secrets, odd and dark
And frees the soul's creative spark
And leads me clicking down a hall,
So I feel as if I've been to a carnival?

...and what better way to end a carnival about poetry than with a poem? hmmn?

super uber special thanks to Randall for the lovely gift, and for being so sweet about it too!]

NEXT WEEK'S CARNIVAL is at Ashraf's house ^_^
send a recent poem from your blog to ashraf
(please include a hyper-link to the poem)

and now, a word from our sponsors.
this week's poetry carnival has been brought to you by:

&

also brought to you by Poets101.com

*A performer at a carnival (Colin Swanson) who swallows various live animals and bugs. Sometimes this extends to biting off the heads of chickens. The Geek would usually perform in a "geek pit". This sense of the word dates back to the 1920s, and possibly comes from the 16th century word geck, originally of Middle Saxon origin. In English the precursor word "geck" or "gecke" was used by Shakespeare: "Why have you suffer'd me to be imprison'd, kept in a dark house, visited by the priest, and made the most notorious geck and gull That e'er invention play'd on?" (Twelfth Night, V.i). The word also thought to appear in Cymbeline (wordorigins.org).
-wikipedia.org