David Clewell reviews my new poetry chapbook, "The Shape of a Man"

So like I was saying, Amy VanDonsel and I have co-curated a group art show where I'll release my new chapbook of poetry on Intagliata Imprints (printed by Firecracker Press): The Shape of a Man.

The art show, also called The Shape of a Man, goes down 7-11 p.m. Friday, January 6 at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 So. 12th St. in St. Louis. The event will be a potluck catered by men who cook.

From 8-8:30 p.m. -- that is only a half-hour of live poetry, for those given the hives by live poetry -- I'll perform a few poems from my new chapbook.

I'm given hives by live poetry, so I'll perform duets with musicians: Fred Friction (spoons), Roy Gokenbach (electric guitar) and Josh Weinstein (double blass, clarinet). Furthermore, I will perform through a sculpture, With Solid Stance and Stable Sound by Noah Kirby.

Since even thirty minutes of me live as poet, even with musicians and a sculpture, is too much without a break, I'll do two micro sets and a real poet, St. Louis' and Salt Lake City's own Stefene Russell, will perform one manly poem in between.

To pump up the release of this chapbook, which someone else is paying for and I want him to get his money back!, I asked Missouri poet laureate and my old buddy David Clewell to advance-review my book. And here is what Clewell said:

*

On THE SHAPE OF A MAN

Musician/poet/agent provocateur Chris King discovers some acutely painful sharp angles that contribute to The Shape of a Man. These are poems full of beer, bad guys, car rides, near-talismanic ears of corn, and a laundromat where the speaker’s determined to see his dirty laundry through, all the way to dry—to “pay for / heat, finish something, for once.”

If there’s sadness and regret along the way, these voices manage to find their own kind of resolve in the tenacity of their singing—the distinctive music King makes of language that can’t help saying how, sometimes, it’s amazing we’re still here. In “I Love Taverns When They’re Empty,” the speaker insists that “…it takes courage to enter a bar / when it’s empty, that, or / desperation. I admire courage and find / the desperate quotable.”

I admire the honest desperation in this collection, and I find the courage nothing less than quotable.

—David Clewell

***

Image is the print "Re-in-cur-nation" by George D. Davidson III, which will be exhibited at The Shape of a Man.

JUMBOTRON HUMANITY COCKROACH POEM

JUMBOTRON HUMANITY COCKROACH POEM

By Chris King

Once upon a time there was
a man, his beer, a ballgame, and a cockroach.
The man, so simply himself,
so fully inhabited in his ballcap,
his bleacher stadium seat.
This man owned the sun on this day on his face.
Slept. Cockroach climbed in his beer.

Was no press conference for cockroach climbing
into beer, but not back out,
nor zoom in on man resplendent after nap
in sold-out game of himself,
gulping down sun-warmed remnant of beer, the roach
slipping down open gullet,
we guessed, watching the man from our bleacher seats.
Blissfully self unobserved
vanished without us knowing, like that cockroach.
Jumbotron humanity
now watching self watch self do nothing on screen.

*

Photo borrowed from the Flickr of Raikyn. I have no commercial rights to it.

Free Beethoven (and your mind will follow)

Henderson plays all Beethoven sonatas in 4 days of free shows


Peter Henderson, one of the finest pianists in the metropolitan area, will play all 32 of Beethoven’s sonatas over the course of four days in concert at St. Louis Community College at Forest Park’s Mildred E. Bastian Center for the Performing Arts, 5600 Oakland Ave.

Henderson, who teaches at Maryville University and is in the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, will play 105 movements, about half of them from memory. The house lights will be up, so musicians are encouraged to bring their Beethoven scores with them. The concerts are free and open to the public from Thursday, Dec. 15 through Sunday, Dec. 18.

“Please join us in hearing some of the greatest music ever written. Additionally, you’ll be helping to encourage Peter as he checks this item of his ‘Bucket List,'*” said Thomas Zirkle, associate professor and music coordinator at STLCC-Forest Park.

The schedule is as follows:

Concert 1: Piano Sonatas Nos. 1-4, at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Dec. 15

Concert 2: Piano Sonatas Nos. 5-8, at 7 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 16

Concert 3: Piano Sonatas Nos. 19-20, 9-11, at noon on Saturday, Dec. 17

Concert 4: Piano Sonatas Nos. 12-15, at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 17

Concert 5: Piano Sonatas Nos. 16-18, and 21, at 7 p.m. on Saturday Dec. 17

Concert 6: Piano Sonatas Nos. 22-26, at noon on Sunday, Dec. 18

Concert 7: Piano Sonatas Nos. 27-29, at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18

Concert 8: Piano Sonatas Nos. 30-32, at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 18

For more information, contact Zirkle at: 314-644-9679 or tzirkle@stlcc.edu.

* Confluence City objects to use of cliched meme "Bucket List" in this SLCC press release.
**

Beethoven painting by Rhom.

Open Studio for The Shape of a Man this Wednesday at Amy VanDonsel's

Like I was saying, Amy VanDonsel and I have an art show coming up on Friday, January 6 that also is the occasion for releasing my new chapbook of poetry. Both art show and chapbook are titled The Shape of a Man and tackle manly themes.

This Wednesday, from 7-10 p.m., Amy and I are co-hosting an open studio to get geared up for the show. We're meeting at Amy's place, 3419 Iowa in the Cherokee Street neighborhood. It's free, of course, and open to the public; but bring your own thing to drink.

Though this reminder goes out late, we're hoping to entice the other local artists joining us in the show to come out on Wednesday: that would be Kevin Belford, Ron Buechele, Jon Cournoyer, Dr. Andrew Dykeman, Fred Friction, Robert Goetz, Noah Kirby, Sandra Marchewa, Dana Smith and B.J. Vogt. We hope, if possible, that they bring the work they plan to put in the show.

We also hope to see Hap Phillips, who will be in the show, and I mean literally he will be in the show: we are exhibiting Hap himself as an exemplary man at The Shape of a Man.

The show also will include work by Oscar Alvarez, who is a small child and not to be invited out on a school night; George D. Davidson III, who lives and works in Athens, Georgia; and Matt Fuller, who lives and works in Los Angeles. We don't expect their physical presence on Wednesday night, but hopefully Oscar's parents, Anthony and Gina Alvarez, will bring him to the show on January 6.

We also are including work by the late Hunter Brumfield III. In most cases, someone's being dead would disqualify them from attending an open studio or art exhibit. However, Hunter's track record for haunting his friends is so impressive that I half-expect his presence in one manifestation or another.

Finally, at The Shape of a Man I will perform poems from my new chapbook, backed up by some old friends: Fred Friction (spoons), Roy Gokenbach (guitar) and Josh Weinstein (double blass, clarinet). I'm inviting them out on Wednesday, and if any of them can make it then we can also give our fellow artists and friends a taste of our performance for The Shape of a Man.

Should be fun!

Why it's clear The Pulitzer tonight was not me dead & gone to heaven

It was one of those nights, the feet scarcely touched the ground.
A minimalist presentation of glorious Buddhist art, artifact, touchstone, in a building that is art on the street.

Tuneful, swinging, edgy, taking its sweet time live music.

Poets in corners and out in the main spaces, dropping poetry.

The music could get a little loud for the poets in their natural voices. So people stood around the poets, their heads bowed.

This was the best way to catch the poetry as it dropped. It happened to make living shrines of the poets.

The poets read poetry by others poets, all touched by Buddhism. This meant picking through the books of poetry in advance looking for the Buddhist-touched poems.

The poets had tagged all their Buddhist-touched poems, so the books all looked like they had sprouted  dozens of little paper buds of leaves.

The people huddled around the poets like shrines, and the poets waved books that looked like they were coming to life, poetry books actively growing new pages of poetry before our eyes.

Uncle Bill, the great Soulard poet, sat watching the poets, his beard perfectly Confucian, his soul Buddhist.

K. Curtis Lyle enfolded his fellow poets in his gigantic conscious warm embrace.

Michael Castro loved Jack Kerouac's mother with Jack. Ann Haubrich loved with Kerouac the truly mad.

Allison Funk sat quietly in eternity with Kenneth Roxroth. Chris Parr fidgeted there with Gary Snyder.

Castro apologized, with Kerouac, to Charlie Parker, as Dave Stone played saxophone like Charlie Parker's godchild taking his confident time toward eternity.

Dave took a break, then it was Josh Weinstein playing the recorded music that was also, in its way, totally live. I had to talk to Dave and Josh, I consider them like my brothers, but talking with them up on the DJ balcony, somehow stupidly I missed Curtis' reading! My deepest biggest soul brother Curtis! I missed him!

That is the only way I knew I had not died and gone to heaven! In heaven I wouldn't miss Curtis' reading! And in heaven Uncle Bill would be allowed to place between the calm toes of The Buddha his little paper memorial to the dead John Lennon on the anniversary of the day the madman shot John Lennon dead!

*

The image is stock, not from The Pulitzer's great show.

The Shape of a Man: art exhibit and poetry chapbook release

I am releasing a new poetry chapbook, The Shape of a Man, on Friday, January 6 at Mad Art in the context of an art show with Amy VanDonsel and friends, living and dead; also with a brief poetry performance backed up by Fred Friction, Roy Gokenbach and Josh Weinstein, performing through a sculpture by Noah Kirby.

Press release (updated Dec. 19)!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Media Contact:
Amy VanDonsel
avd@amyvandonsel.com
(314) 265-7836

“The Shape of a Man”
Art exhibit and chapbook release
Mad Art Gallery
2727 So. 12th Street, St. Louis

7-11 p.m. January 6, 2012

New work by Amy VanDonsel.
Poetry chapbook by Chris King.

Poetry performance with musical guests.

Additional manly art by:

Oscar Alvarez, Kevin Belford, Ron Buechele,
Jon Cournoyer, George D. Davidson III
Charles and Chalot Douglas-Book,
Dr. Andrew Dykeman, Fred Friction,
Matt Fuller, Robert Goetz,
Kim Humphries, Chris King,
Noah Kirby, David Langley,
Sandra Marchewa, Hap Phillips,
Stefene Russell, Dana Smith,
B.J. Vogt, Eric Woods
and the late Hunter Brumfield III.

Also, one exemplary man – Hap Phillips – will be exhibited.

Potluck provided by men who cook.

November 18, 2011, St. Louis, MO – Amy VanDonsel and Chris King collaborate on and co-curate a small group show, the first in a projected annual exhibit series exploring the shapes that men and women are in.

“The Shape of a Man” opens Friday, January 6, 2012, at Mad Art Gallery, 2727 So. 12th Street, with a reception from 7-11 p.m. “The Shape of a Man,” explores the shapes men are in through a creative conversation between a woman and a man working in a variety of media (with help from their man friends, living and dead).

Amy VanDonsel will show new mixed media, paintings and installation, and Chris King will release a chapbook, The Shape of a Man, and perform poems from it with Fred Friction (spoons), Roy Gokenbach (guitar) and Josh Weinstein (double bass, clarinet).

The exhibit also will feature visual art by Oscar Alvarez, Kevin Belford, Ron Buechele, Jon Cournoyer, George D. Davidson III, Charles and Chalot Douglas-Book, Dr. Andrew Dykeman, Fred Friction, Matt Fuller, Robert Goetz, Kim Humphries, Chris King, Noah Kirby, David Langley, Sandra Marchewa, Hap Phillips, Stefene Russell, Dana Smith, B.J. Vogt, Eric Woods and the late Hunter Brumfield III. Also, one exemplary man – one Hap Phillips – will be exhibited in his natural, fabricated habitat.

A potluck will be provided by the men artists and other men who cook.

Amy VanDonsel creates mixed media paintings on canvas or panels and installations with paper, tape, string and found items. Her work examines textual communication and the processing of information through abstracted and figurative imagery, and combines research interests in literature and technology with handmade visual representations. She is the Director of Marketing and Development for Saint Louis City Open Studio and Gallery; plans arts and charitable events; and serves on the board of directors for non-profit Poetry Scores. Examples of her previous work may be viewed at www.amyvandonsel.com.

Chris King has been recasting his old, bad poems into the 7/11 form innovated by Quincy Troupe, alternating lines with 7 and 11 syllables and alternating stanzas with 7 and 11 lines, with results he likes enough to publish. The Shape of a Man (Intagliata Imprints) compiles his more manly 7/11s. As an “artist,” he sketches people and then has the subject sign the sketch, or makes paintings on vinyl records based on his sketchbook. He will perform his poetry with musical guests through Noah Kirby’s sculpture With Solid Stance and Stable Sound.

VanDonsel and King have previously collaborated on projects for the non-profits Poetry Scores and Saint Louis City Open Studio and Gallery. They also happen to share a birthday. VanDonsel/King plan to continue the “Shape of a Wo/Man” project with a follow-up exhibit, “The Shape of a Woman,” in January 2013 at Mad Art Gallery, then continue the themed project with future group collaborations.

What: Visual Art Exhibit Opening and Chapbook Release, with accompanying performances

When: Friday, January 6, 2012, 7-11 p.m.

Where: Mad Art Gallery, 2727 S. 12th Street, St. Louis, MO 63118

Who: Presented by Amy VanDonsel and Chris King, also featuring Oscar Alvarez, Kevin Belford, Ron Buechele, Jon Cournoyer, George D. Davidson III, Charles and Chalot Douglas-Book, Dr. Andrew Dykeman, Fred Friction, Matt Fuller, Robert Goetz, Roy Gokenbach, Kim Humphries, Noah Kirby, David Langley, Sandra Marchewa, Hap Phillips, Stefene Russell, Dana Smith, B.J. Vogt, Josh Weinstein, Eric Woods and the late Hunter Brumfield III.

Cost: Free and open to the public with cash bar.

CONTACT:

Amy VanDonsel
avd@amyvandonsel.com
(314) 265-7836
www.amyvandonsel.com

Fred Friction to join me & Roy Gokenbach at Chance Operations reading

Fred Friction exhibit, in The Skuntry Museum, Library & Beer Cellar (i.e., my basement).

I'm excited to perform some poetry tomorrow night (Nov. 28) in St. Louis at Duff's, 392 N. Euclid, on a Chance Operations bill that also includes Drucilla Wall and Julia Gordon-Bramer. Doors are at 7:30, there is a $3 cover and an open mic follows the three scheduled readings of 20 minutes each.

Like I was saying the other day, I am performing my poems with my friend Roy Gokenbach on guitar. Roy is a big deal, though you wouldn't know it. He was a founding member of a jazz trio that launched the best vocalist of this generation in St. Louis -- Erin Bode Group -- and has a feature role (Leroy) as an actor in St. Louis' greatest independent movie, A: Anonymous.

Today on an impulse I called my old buddy Fred Friction and successfully added him to the bill on spoons. Like Roy, Fred already had agreed to back me up when I release my new chapbook of poems, The Shape of a Man, at Mad Art on Friday, January 6; and this morning I suddenly couldn't figured out why I had not asked Fred to do the Duff's gig as well. So now Fred is in.

Fred is going to back me up on the spoons. We go way back in that regard. Fred used to sit in on spoons with the band of my youth, Enormous Richard. He was on the gig with us at our first-ever road gig at the Cabaret Metro in Chicago the night Operation Desert Storm broke out (January 17, 1991).

Today I decided I'll read three poems I found, by chance, in a box as I was sorting my archive (otherwise known as cleaning the basement) this weekend. I'll read a poem with Roy on guitar, then a poem with Fred on spoons, then come back to Roy on guitar; and then if I have time left in my 20 minutes I'll invite Fred to lead one on spoons. He is one of my very favorite writers in any medium.

Here is a highly poetic song from Fred's debut solo record, Jesus Drank Wine, as good as anything ever released in this rock music scene.

mp3
"La Morte D'Amour"

(Fred Friction)
Fred Friction

My set list for Chance Operations, Nov. 28, 2011
1. Object: your desire
(with Roy Gokenbach)

2. What did she do
(with Fred Friction)

3. One of the most mysterious of all the intangibles in life
(with Roy Gokenbach)

I'll be performing my poems with Roy Gokenbach on guitar at Duff's

Roy Gokenbach at the Poetry Scores prop shop, borrowing the WPA Guide to Missouri, which was used as a prop in our movie Go South for Animal Index.

Self-promotion is the curse of the independent, and I should be starting to tell anyone who'll listen that on Friday, January 6 I'll release a new chapbook of poems, The Shape of a Man, at Mad Art Gallery as part of an art exhibit of the same name (initially organized by Amy VanDonsel).

But before then -- like, next Monday, November 28 -- I'm part of a Chance Operations reading and should tell the people about that first.

I've company at the Chance Operations event, to be held Monday at Duff's, 392 N. Euclid, with doors opening at 7:30 p.m. and it costing you $3. The other poets are Drucilla Wall and Julia Gordon-Bramer; their names link you to Chance Operations posts about them (my man Tony Renner understands this self-promotion curse). I take it this becomes an open mic night after the scheduled poets do our things.

Even when I'm performing, I'll have company. I've invited my friend Roy Gokenbach to play guitar as I recite my poems. Roy is kind of a trip. He was the founding guitarist in the Erin Bode Group and also has a choice small role (Leroy) in Daniel Bowers' A: Anonymous, which I take to be the best independent movie that will ever be made in St. Louis.

Roy also used to be my barber at Wyoming Barber Shop when I lived on South Grand, inevitably just before South Grand became hip (I know, now it's not really hip anymore, again). He can really play that guitar. I really enjoyed rehearsing my poems with him at the Poetry Scores prop shop last week. I didn't record that rehearsal, and though I borrowed Roy's only copy of the Erin Bode Group CD with the intention of excerpting some of his playing to post here, I've not done that either.

So you'll just have to come down to Duff's next Monday and hear us for yourself. We'll be performing selections from my chapbook The Shape of a Man, which Intagliata Imprints will release Friday, January 6 at Mad Art in Soulard.

Occupy St Louis responds to Mayor Slay's eviction notice

Official Press Statement
Contact: media@occupystl.org

Hey Hey, Ho, Ho: The Occupiers Will Not Go!

On November 10, 2011 Occupy St Louis received notification from the city of St Louis that we have 24 hours to remove all structures and obey the city curfew laws before they would forcibly remove our non-violent occupation from Freedom Square (formerly known as Kiener Plaza). Since October 1st, we have maintained a peaceful occupation in this public space, founded on the principle that large corporations have too much influence in the actions of our government. Mayor Slay and his Senior Staff have once again validated this by bowing to pressure from the Downtown Partnership of St Louis to restrict our First Amendment Rights to peaceably assemble.

Since its inception, Occupy St Louis has been a model of cooperation and non violence, and has made Freedom Square a safer, cleaner place. The city claims that in addition to violation of curfew that the tents and supplies we have in Freedom Square are a direct violation of city ordinance and provides a safety concern. We strongly disagree and believe that our encampment is a valid form of political speech justified by the First Amendment. Additionally this precedent has been set in other occupied cities across the nation.

On November 10, 2011 Mayor Slay stated in his personal blog that the city would be creating a space for a 24/7 public demonstration. On November 9th, senior members of the Mayor’s staff attended our General Assembly to propose this space to us as a possible alternative to Freedom Square. This was not a proposal, but rather an ultimatum to Occupy St Louis. The City had already made up its mind on the course of action that it would be taking. This new space would not allow for tents or occupation, which we feel are a valid forms of political speech. This proposal was blocked by a consensus of our General Assembly. The General Assembly uses consensus as our decision making process. It allows for all participants to have an equal voice. Occupy St Louis maintains that just because one states they are using the consensus process, does not mean that they are actually using it.

Occupy St Louis hopes that Mayor Slay realizes that our freedom to assemble is not limited to one space, but guaranteed to all people, in any public space, at any time. We believe that we are engaged in a vital attempt to restore the cornerstone of American ideals: equality, unity, and social mobility. St Louis City must recognize that Occupy St Louis is not mutually exclusive with public safety and the common good, but an ally in promoting social justice and in preserving order downtown. The medium is the message and our medium is occupation.

**

Image from Annapolis Political Science.

Evidence of penpal relationship with Natalie Merchant (for Michael R. Allen)

My friend Michael R. Allen and I don't talk nearly as much as I like, but when we do, even in evanescent social media banter, it's often about Natalie Merchant, the great songwriter, singer, bandleader, and poetry scorer.

And I never banter about Natalie Merchant without bragging about being her penpal before everybody knew her name and threatening to produce evidence, which I never produce.

Well, I am sorting the archive, which is indistinguishable from cleaning my basement, and in the laying on of hands on everything that I have not thrown away or lost already, I laid hands on my archive of manuscripts, autographs and letters yesterday. And there was this from Natalie Merchant, the first letter received in 1986, which survived the ravages of time and between-home-lessness.




The penpal relationship never got much deeper than this, though I prized having the back channel of her mother's home address. Now I approach the great woman through her publisher, and have not heard back lately. Oh well, we'll always have the autograph with the quirky "private private private" coda.

Painting Enrico Caruso on records with the dead Hunter Brumfield

I curate an annual Art Invitational for the arts organization I co-founded, Poetry Scores. As a habitual sketch artist and doodler, I sometimes sneak one of my drawings into the show.

Since our Invitationals call for work inspired by the poem we are scoring and titled with a quote from it, I tend to sketch someone named in the poem: Che Guevarra (K. Curtis Lyle's Nailed Seraphim), Dante (Les Murray's Sydney Highrise Variations) McKinley's assassin Leo Czolgosz (David Clewell's Jack Ruby's America).

This year we commissioned Barbara Harbach to score Paul Muldoon's Incantata, which is really a name-dropper of a poem. From a vast array of name-checked options -- everyone from Airey Neave to Andre Derain, from Samuel Beckett to Van Morrison -- I have settled on Enrico Caruso.

Caruso is especially tempting, because he was a sketch artist himself and once took offense that the author Samuel Clemens hosted a party for cartoonists that did not include Caruso. My first attempt at a sketch of Caruso, in fact, was a sketch of Caruso sketching a caricature.



Poetry Scores now has a prop shop -- just a humble South City garage, but for whatever reason it whispers potential to the sorts of oddballs who do the work we do. It's prompted us to initiate a Writer In Residence program and makes me feel like we also have an artist's studio at our disposal.

It greatly helps in this regard that my buddy (and new Po Sco board member) Amy Broadway donated a jar of paint amongst her prop-shop-warming gifts. As I started to muse about painting Caruso, I thought it would be cool to paint him on a vinyl record, since he was one of the first international stars of recorded music released on records.

I posted on social media that I was looking for old records I could paint on, and my friend Tony Renner, a veteran Poetry Scores contributing artist, said he would put some aside for me at Vintage Vinyl, where he works.

I stopped by the record store other day. Tony put two boxes of vinyl records on the counter. I picked up one box. He said, "When you come back for the other box, I have something to show you about painting on records." I lugged one box to my car, then came back for the other. Tony was holding up a record with a portrait painted on it.

 "Did you do that?" I asked.

"No," Tony said. "Hunter Brumfield did."

I turned around and walked out of the store onto Delmar without thinking about it -- if this were a novel and not a report of fact, I would have kept walking down the street into a tavern and drank alone for half the day. But in fact, I went back into the store to get my other box of records to paint on.

Tony was smiling. I am pretty sure he knows the deal.

Hunter killed himself when we were in a band together; killed himself on the day he was supposed to help me move into my new house. His drumkit is still in the basement of my house. He has haunted me there several times. He has haunted a number of other people, often in similar ways -- in sudden, inexplicable infestations of insects with associated weird artistic shit going on.

As I picked up my other box of records, cursing about being haunted by the little prick again, I was just a week past a previous lightweight haunting by Hunter, during a visit to an art show at The Sheldon Art Galleries with Amy Broadway. Come to think of it, this was not long after I returned Hunter's painting of Mississippi blues legend Charlie Patton to its rightful owner. As always, Hunter was painting his way back into the picture.

I packed my records to paint on and drove north on Hanley to a North County church, where our conductor Jim Richards was directing the eight-piece chamber ensemble that will premiere Barbara Harbach's poetry score to Paul Muldoon's Incantata on Sunday at UMSL.

A weirdly out-of-season wasp, big as a hockey puck, got into the sanctuary, somehow, and flew around the musicians throughout the rehearsal, as if enjoying the music. It was such a nuisance that the conductor, at one point, actually conducted the wasp by shooing it away, turning the ensemble into a nine-piece. According to a certain demented way of thinking, Hunter had joined the chamber ensemble.

So, now I paint Enrico Caruso's face on vinyl records, and I keep something of Hunter's spirit alive, like "some kind of ghost," as Muldoon writes in Incantata, "who might still roam the earth in search of an earthly delight".