Shamefully Slack

Yes, I have been, about posting.

Just finished "Plus Shipping" (Bob Hicok). I'll have to go back and scan it again to collect my thoughts, but my impression is that that it picked up traction as it went along, and that it will be interesting to compare it to his more recent work. I got a sense ... I don't know ... of some of the work being a little too "on the nose", and a few otherwise superior metaphors just don't quite fit where they're placed. But I enjoyed it, espcially the sense of ... possibilities in his work. Not poetic possibilities, I don't mean. Possibility in life, pinpointing the potential for the strange and wonderful all around us. Which is one of the things I enjoy most about poetry, anyhow.

Kelli has baby birds ... my friend Debbie has four baby towhees under a foxglove in her garden ... I have half-grown robins in my poplars. Life is good.

If you're trying to root something, first find a weeping willow, cut some fresh branches, and stick them in water. Something about the chemical makeup of willows makes them exuberant rooters; if you stick your other cuttings in with them, likely they will root as well. I've had spectacular success with a rex begonia ("Miami Storm", see above), african violet, and hydrangea (so far) using this method.

Very interesting article here in The Guardian about deep brain stimulation as a treatment for intractable depression.