i have a cold. it is alright though. i am just tired all the time. also my pipes sound like the song underground by tom waits and they make that noise from 4 am to 5 am.

the world is not perfect.

working on some new poems.

finished duties of an english foreign secretary. will write real thoughts on it soon. i liked it a lot, and will probably come back to it again a few times to let it sink in, but i feel that it is too long. it's around 106 pages and, for me, other than the first poem, it didn't start to grab me until around page 33. i think macgregor card has an incredible way with a refrain and uses this to great and incredible effect in his longer poems, but sometimes you have to trudge through a lot in order to get there.

it is though a beautiful book full of genuine beauty. i just wish it was shorter and every poem had some impact. an argument could be made that if every poem hit you hard then you wouldn't appreciate it as much, but i feel that i've read enough poetry that i find boring to just not want to read any more.

also read 19 names for our band, which maybe wasn't as consistent as some books, but that i felt was genuinely strong and sustained my interest. plus it made jokes and that is always a good call i feel.

if the top of my head is not going to be taken off, i want to be goddam entertained.

sarah manguso told me once that if the top of her head is not going to be taken off, that she wants to play video games while listening to choral music.

sarah manguso is pretty great some of the time.