This is my poemscape. Over the course of the last few weeks I've been writing a long poem (made of many interconnected short poems) about complexities. Mike Tyson is a complex figure. He's in the poem. Love is a complex emotion. It's in the poem. Residing is a complex placement. It too is in the poem. All in all, it wound up being as tall as me. Which isn't as tall as I used to be, but still, pretty tall. There are people who do not like this poem, but I've read it too, and I think it's pretty good. Maybe you can hear me read some of it over the course of the next few weeks:

1. This Sunday, the 27th, you can hear me read it in Chicago at Myopic Books (1564 N. Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL 60622) sometime between 7 and 8 pm along with Erika Jo Brown, Matthew Klane and Adam Roberts.
2. The next weekend (April 2) you can hear me read with the Black Ocean crew at Nemesis Tattoo in Iowa City for the Mission Creek Festival Lit Crawl sometime between 5 and 6.
3. Two days later (April 4) I'll be reading in Newton, Iowa for the Celebration of the Literary Arts with Debra Marquart at the local DMACC campus sometime between 11:15 and 12:15.

This sounds like a lot, I know, but remember, I do have a 6' 2" poem to read. It's a tall drink of water, that poem, and I'd hate to get its shit wrinkly squeezing it into one of these.

Also, Matthew Zapruder will be reading in Iowa City this Thursday, 7pm, @ Prairie Lights. You should probably be there...

Sometimes cities move at you like lava and you think, briefly, this is a dangerous situation. But then you find yourself sitting just across from New Jersey in a place called, The Poet's House, and you feel glad that such houses have yet to be swallowed by America's flowing glow. And hey, you say to yourself, there are places that take you to Coney Island, and you begin to dream of growing land masses, cyclones and the beautiful uselessness of such things in March. That's when you find yourself in a place called Alphabet City reading poems with people you quickly fall in love with and then spend the rest of your night talking about Indians, Ted Berrigan, seeing billboards unlike anyone else because you made them, and how, regardless of their resistance, you will make Jan and Deb miss you when you leave. The next morning, you will wake up with a flight to catch, a handful of mix cd's for everyone's mother, as well as a mouthful of strawberries, and be glad that the lava hasn't caught you yet. Maybe you will be glad about this tomorrow too, but it's so hard to know such things, what with all that shifting astrology...

You should totally head over here and get this magazine. Not only am I in it, but I also helped make it. It's totally rad; a great read and not too shabby to look at. Pick one up, it's totally classy and earth toned to boot!

Also, there is a release party in NYC next Sunday. The details are here. I'll be reading along with lots of other folks, so come on out, pick up a magazine and read along as it plays out LIVE right in front of you! Things really shouldn't be this amazing, but sometimes they are...