We have..er, had..an ash tree in our backyard. When Linda and I got married nearly 25 years ago and bought our house, the back yard had too many trees so that some were crowding out others. Chinese tallow trees had this ash crowded out so that the ash was stunted. We had the tallow trees removed, hoping the ash would thrive. At first it appeared to work. However, after a few years, the ash started having leaves wilting in the latter, hottest part of summer each year and some of the highest branches died. Thrice we had an arborist remove the uppermost dead and sickly branches. I wrote a poem about "My Sickly Ash" back then. We nursed the tree along as long as we were able, but this spring it was obviously dead. No major branches at all leafed out. Last week we had an arborist come and cut it down and grind away the stump, leaving only a pile of wood chips where the tree once stood. We had a family of red-headed woodpeckers that made a nest in the dead branches each year for the past ten years. Every summer we have enjoyed four or five woodpeckers at our bird feeders. I hope cutting the tree down won't mean we will lose our woodpeckers. Anyway, I wrote a poem about cutting down the ash. The arborist told me he thought the problem with the ash was that in its early years it failed to develop an adequate root system to support the rapid growth spurt that followed removal of all its competition for nutrients so that the uppermost branches were not supplied with enough nutrition to survive the hottest part of each summer. This made the tree sickly and more vulnerable to disease. Now the poem:
A Dis-Ash-ter
A great tragedy occurred today.
I lost a friend of twenty-five years.
Slowly ‘he’ had just withered away,
death by amputation it appears.
My friend suffered from a misspent youth.
Older peers’ actions stunted his growth,
causing him to lack good roots; in truth,
he was sick as youth and adult both.
I did what I could to promote health
and improved life over the past years,
but all vigor was taken by stealth
this winter; spring confirmed my worst fears.
I contracted a professional man
to handle my friend’s untimely demise.
This arborist in a two-hour span
dismembered him without compromise.
With ropes and chainsaws, branch after branch
came crashing down to cover the ground.
I thought I saw two woodpeckers blanch
as their nest in a dead limb wasn’t found.
Soon the ash tree’s stump was ground away.
All that remained was a pile of wood chips.
Cutting down my ash made it a sad day.
(I’m glad I couldn’t read those woodpeckers’ lips!)
If you are wondering about the title, it comes from an old joke. What happened when grandma backed into the fan? Dis-assed-her.
Cheers!
Harry
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Saturday, March 13, 2010
We are having glorious spring-like weather.
The past few days have seen simply gorgeous weather here in Shreveport. Spring has sprung! Temperatures in the mid-70s with blue, blue skies. The grass is starting to green - which also meant yard work to get rid of all the leaves, mow down the weeds, and spread weed killer & grass feed. Fortunately for me, my wife does the yard work. (Hey, I'm terribly allergic to all kinds of weeds and grass or I would be doing it.) The yard looks much nicer after we got through. Yes, we...I spread the weed & feed.
The Bradford pear trees are all in full bloom with their springtime-only white blossoms, while the tulip trees are displaying their tulips in full force by the hundreds. The squirrels are chasing each other around wanting sex. Birds are building their nest for their soon-to-be-here eggs. Yes, spring has definitely sprung!
Being a poet, the past few days of wonderful weather naturally inspired me to pen a new poem for the occasion. Here it is:
Springtime Renewal
Winter’s cold grip is broken
finally by the sunny warmth
of spring’s earliest days.
The earth rejoices!
Brown lawns become tinted
with green – mostly weeds,
to be sure, but new grass will
come close behind.
The Bradford pear trees shed
their winter-bareness with a
sudden outburst of delicate,
white blossoms…such beauty.
The tulip trees are ablaze with
hundreds of pink blossoms,
creating a tree-borne field of
gorgeous tulips in the air.
Everywhere plants of every
description are displaying
new growth in celebration
of the end of winter’s reign.
Squirrels chase one another
in amorous foreplay, while
birds gather the makings of
a nest, soon to be egg-filled.
Oh, how primitive Man must
have been gladdened by early
spring days, for they meant he’d
survived the meanness of winter.
Spring signals the renewal of
nature’s bounty, a return of
comfort and plenty. As spring
brightens Man’s outside world,
it makes his spirit soar above
winter’s depression. Springtime
strikes a chord of hope within Man,
hope born of eons of life’s renewals.
I hope you all are experiencing springtime weather as well. If not, hang on because it won't be too much longer.
Cheers!
Harry
The Bradford pear trees are all in full bloom with their springtime-only white blossoms, while the tulip trees are displaying their tulips in full force by the hundreds. The squirrels are chasing each other around wanting sex. Birds are building their nest for their soon-to-be-here eggs. Yes, spring has definitely sprung!
Being a poet, the past few days of wonderful weather naturally inspired me to pen a new poem for the occasion. Here it is:
Springtime Renewal
Winter’s cold grip is broken
finally by the sunny warmth
of spring’s earliest days.
The earth rejoices!
Brown lawns become tinted
with green – mostly weeds,
to be sure, but new grass will
come close behind.
The Bradford pear trees shed
their winter-bareness with a
sudden outburst of delicate,
white blossoms…such beauty.
The tulip trees are ablaze with
hundreds of pink blossoms,
creating a tree-borne field of
gorgeous tulips in the air.
Everywhere plants of every
description are displaying
new growth in celebration
of the end of winter’s reign.
Squirrels chase one another
in amorous foreplay, while
birds gather the makings of
a nest, soon to be egg-filled.
Oh, how primitive Man must
have been gladdened by early
spring days, for they meant he’d
survived the meanness of winter.
Spring signals the renewal of
nature’s bounty, a return of
comfort and plenty. As spring
brightens Man’s outside world,
it makes his spirit soar above
winter’s depression. Springtime
strikes a chord of hope within Man,
hope born of eons of life’s renewals.
I hope you all are experiencing springtime weather as well. If not, hang on because it won't be too much longer.
Cheers!
Harry
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Reconnecting with an old friend from high school
I had a good experience this week. I reconnected with one of closest friends from high school. I attended Lanier Senior High School (appropriately named after the poet Sidney Lanier) in Macon, Ga, graduating in the Class of 1962. Five of us "brains" (or "nerds" or "bookworms" or whatever they called us straight A students) were a close group, maybe originally thrown together for protection but later being good friends throughout high school. After graduation, we all scattered to the winds. I went to the U of Ga-Athens and my closest friend went to U of Va. I majored in science (microbiology); he majored in philosophy. After getting his Ph.D. in Philosophy, he went to medical school a few years later. Then he published a book about "near-death experiences" (a phrase he coined) in 1975. I knew the book did well and made him into somewhat of a celebrity -- Oprah, speaking engagements, that sort of thing. Then I guess I got busy with my life events and lost track of him for years.
A few weeks ago I saw his name mentioned in a blog I was reading, and I got to wondering how he was doing today. At age 65, who knew what he might be capable of doing, if even alive. So, I Googled him. Wow! Is he ever successful! He has now published over a dozen books after "Life After Life" (his groundbreaking 1975 book) and has sold more than 20 million books. I emailed his website email address, not sure what response to expect. Happily, I received an email shortly from his wife saying I should call him. I tried and ended up talking stiffly into an answering machine. I left my number and waited. That same afternoon Raymond called, and we chatted a long time catching up on old times. We agreed to swap books. I mailed him copies of my latest two poetry books, and he is mailing me a copy of his newest book about to be released. All around, it was a great experience. So, I guess you CAN travel back home sometimes and reconnect with a distant past.
Check out Dr. Raymond Moody on Google and examine his books on Amazon.com. His "Life After Life" still sells well every year. Raymond is healthy, walks 3 to 6 miles daily, and travels the world as invited speaker. He is a busy man. And an extremely successful author!
Raymond has done a much better job than I did keeping informed about the careers of our Lanier group. (Curt McM had a career with the government in San Francisco; Walter P works with computers in SC; and John O is a psychiatrist in SC) Each of the group has done well in life. Each left Macon to pursue his career. Go nerds of the world! I tell you, ladies, if you want a successful man as your husband, marry a nerd. :-)
Cheers!
Harry
A few weeks ago I saw his name mentioned in a blog I was reading, and I got to wondering how he was doing today. At age 65, who knew what he might be capable of doing, if even alive. So, I Googled him. Wow! Is he ever successful! He has now published over a dozen books after "Life After Life" (his groundbreaking 1975 book) and has sold more than 20 million books. I emailed his website email address, not sure what response to expect. Happily, I received an email shortly from his wife saying I should call him. I tried and ended up talking stiffly into an answering machine. I left my number and waited. That same afternoon Raymond called, and we chatted a long time catching up on old times. We agreed to swap books. I mailed him copies of my latest two poetry books, and he is mailing me a copy of his newest book about to be released. All around, it was a great experience. So, I guess you CAN travel back home sometimes and reconnect with a distant past.
Check out Dr. Raymond Moody on Google and examine his books on Amazon.com. His "Life After Life" still sells well every year. Raymond is healthy, walks 3 to 6 miles daily, and travels the world as invited speaker. He is a busy man. And an extremely successful author!
Raymond has done a much better job than I did keeping informed about the careers of our Lanier group. (Curt McM had a career with the government in San Francisco; Walter P works with computers in SC; and John O is a psychiatrist in SC) Each of the group has done well in life. Each left Macon to pursue his career. Go nerds of the world! I tell you, ladies, if you want a successful man as your husband, marry a nerd. :-)
Cheers!
Harry
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Winner in 2009 Tom Howard Poetry Contest
The official, full results for the 2009 Tom Howard Poetry Contest have now been posted.
My storoem, The Nature Trail, won a $100 prize as one of seven poems in the "Most Highly Commended Award" category. Two other of my poems were "Highly Commended" (My Mother's Rodent Phobia) and "Commended" (Dog Pack Attack).
The complete listing of cash prize winners for the 2009 Winners may be seen by going to the home page of http://www.winningwriters.com and clicking on the contests at the left of the screen.
This is the second year in a row that at least one of my storoems/poems has won a cash prize in this contest. I really enjoy this contest and urge other poets to enter the 2010 Tom Howard Poetry Contest.
My storoem, The Nature Trail, won a $100 prize as one of seven poems in the "Most Highly Commended Award" category. Two other of my poems were "Highly Commended" (My Mother's Rodent Phobia) and "Commended" (Dog Pack Attack).
The complete listing of cash prize winners for the 2009 Winners may be seen by going to the home page of http://www.winningwriters.com and clicking on the contests at the left of the screen.
This is the second year in a row that at least one of my storoems/poems has won a cash prize in this contest. I really enjoy this contest and urge other poets to enter the 2010 Tom Howard Poetry Contest.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man won another award!
I received word today that my poetry book "Poetic Musings of an Old, Fat Man" won an award in the 2009 Readers Favorite Book Reviews and Award Contest. In the Poetry Category, PMOFM received an Honorable Mention Award. (This book also won an Honorable Mention Award in the Readers Views' Readers Choice Awards in 2008.) This makes two awards for my latest poetry book. Nice!
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Entering Poetry Contests
Greetings, All ~
I enjoy entering poetry contests. Whether my poems place well or not, it is fun to anticipate the judging. For last year I won two cash awards (2nd place / $1,000 prize and High Distinction / $200 prize) in the 2008 Tom Howard Poetry Contest. Nice! Money plus the ego boost of being an award-winning poet. This last year (2009) I entered the War Poetry Contest with two excellent entries...but did not make the final cut. Oh well...I tried. I also entered the 2009 Tom Howard Poetry Contest. The results will be announced 15 February; one more month of waiting to hear official results.
Here is one of my entries:
The Nature Trail
When I am a lad about the age of ten,
my mother takes my older sister and me
to visit a park to which we’ve never been.
“It’ll be fun. You’ll love it. Just wait and see.”
The place is fantastic! It has a lake, a swimming pool,
even horseback riding, and, for old folks, a nature trail.
After lunch, Mom insists we do the trail. Like a fool,
I argue that I don’t want to waste my time...to no avail.
We join a tour, guided by an older girl of college
age. There is this flower, that flower, and look...a tree.
So boring! I should be swimming. Then we come to a ledge,
a place where the path narrows to five feet across maybe,
with a sheer wall of rock on the left. The ground steeply drops
down about eight feet to a shallow, rocky creek on the right.
The guide is leading, until beside some old bush she stops,
lifting a branch to show something or other. The sight
of a seven-foot-long coachwhip snake lying at her feet
causes her to scream and run. She must be a track star!
The poor, harmless snake is startled out of its sleep
and takes off “running” also, catching up before very far.
Looking down, seeing the snake along side, she accelerates.
So does the snake. Still neck and neck upon their coming
to a fork at the end of the narrow ledge, neither hesitates,
the snake going left, the guide right, with both continuing
to run until clear out of sight. Our small group still stands
in shocked surprise. Then laughter erupts. As we start to
continue along the path, another park guide, this one a man,
comes galloping over from the horseback-riding trail to do
what he can to assist. When he asks what has happened here,
my sister lifts the bush’s branch to explain. Out comes
a second coachwhip, startling the horse to see a snake so near.
He rears. The guide falls over backward, begins doing some
somersaults down the incline, before splashing face down
in the creek, letting out some curse words I had thought only
old sailors knew. It was great! Thus went the day that I found
out Mother was right about how much fun nature trails could be.
Wish me luck with my contests entries this year. I encourage other poets out there to enter contests. It's fun, and you just might win recognition for your work and even a little money.
Cheers!
Harry
I enjoy entering poetry contests. Whether my poems place well or not, it is fun to anticipate the judging. For last year I won two cash awards (2nd place / $1,000 prize and High Distinction / $200 prize) in the 2008 Tom Howard Poetry Contest. Nice! Money plus the ego boost of being an award-winning poet. This last year (2009) I entered the War Poetry Contest with two excellent entries...but did not make the final cut. Oh well...I tried. I also entered the 2009 Tom Howard Poetry Contest. The results will be announced 15 February; one more month of waiting to hear official results.
Here is one of my entries:
The Nature Trail
When I am a lad about the age of ten,
my mother takes my older sister and me
to visit a park to which we’ve never been.
“It’ll be fun. You’ll love it. Just wait and see.”
The place is fantastic! It has a lake, a swimming pool,
even horseback riding, and, for old folks, a nature trail.
After lunch, Mom insists we do the trail. Like a fool,
I argue that I don’t want to waste my time...to no avail.
We join a tour, guided by an older girl of college
age. There is this flower, that flower, and look...a tree.
So boring! I should be swimming. Then we come to a ledge,
a place where the path narrows to five feet across maybe,
with a sheer wall of rock on the left. The ground steeply drops
down about eight feet to a shallow, rocky creek on the right.
The guide is leading, until beside some old bush she stops,
lifting a branch to show something or other. The sight
of a seven-foot-long coachwhip snake lying at her feet
causes her to scream and run. She must be a track star!
The poor, harmless snake is startled out of its sleep
and takes off “running” also, catching up before very far.
Looking down, seeing the snake along side, she accelerates.
So does the snake. Still neck and neck upon their coming
to a fork at the end of the narrow ledge, neither hesitates,
the snake going left, the guide right, with both continuing
to run until clear out of sight. Our small group still stands
in shocked surprise. Then laughter erupts. As we start to
continue along the path, another park guide, this one a man,
comes galloping over from the horseback-riding trail to do
what he can to assist. When he asks what has happened here,
my sister lifts the bush’s branch to explain. Out comes
a second coachwhip, startling the horse to see a snake so near.
He rears. The guide falls over backward, begins doing some
somersaults down the incline, before splashing face down
in the creek, letting out some curse words I had thought only
old sailors knew. It was great! Thus went the day that I found
out Mother was right about how much fun nature trails could be.
Wish me luck with my contests entries this year. I encourage other poets out there to enter contests. It's fun, and you just might win recognition for your work and even a little money.
Cheers!
Harry
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Meet Magdalena Ball
Today I am honored to have as my guest Magdalena Ball or Maggie to her friends. Maggie recently published a new book, Repulsion Thrust, just released last month. First, let's get to know Maggie a bit better.
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. Her short stories, editorials, poetry, reviews and articles have appeared in a wide number of printed anthologies and journals. She is also the author of the newly released poetry book Repulsion Thrust, as well as the novel Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything, and three other poetry chapbooks: Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then.
Let's learn more about her newly released poetry book Repulsion Thrust.
Title: Repulsion Thrust
Author: Magdalena Ball
ISBN: 978-1906609306
Page count: 110
Format: paperback
Release Date: 2 December 2009
Category: Poetry
Distributors: Bertram Books, Gardners, Baker & Taylor, Ingrams
Publisher contact: Neil Marr at BeWrite Books ntmarr@bewrite.net
Author: Magdalena Ball maggieball@compulsivereader.com
Award-winning poet Magdalena Ball has released a new book of poetry that moves across a terrain not often the fodder of poetry. Following up on her chapbook Quark Soup, Ball combines her pursuit for scientific meaning with the steely-eyed observations of a poet, seeking answers to the human condition through Quantum Physics, and measuring human aging against technological singularity, or the loss of love against ecological destruction. Repulsion Thrust tackles big subjects not often the fodder of poetry: quantum physics, astronomy, time travel, ecological destruction, and technological singularity, all viewed through the lens of the human condition. It’s an extraordinary and original collection.
Now for a bit of Q & A:
Maggie, please tell us about Repulsion Thrust.
This is my latest book, released a month ago by BeWrite Books. It's a full-length poetry book which is in three sections. The first has an overall theme of "The Black Dog" (as in Churchill's - e.g. depression and pain), the second is environmentally and technologically/futuristically focused, and the third is an almost lighthearted (for me) synthesis of the first two -- a kind of answer to the clash of the first two notions. As always with my work, there's a fair amount of influence from the 'sciences', from quantum physics to psychology, geology, evolution, and astronomy. I think, in many ways, that Repulsion Thrust is much more intense and grander in design than anything I’ve written before. I’ve been able to cover a wide terrain, which forms almost a kind of philosophy for me – about the world we live in, the role of humanity, and my fears and hopes about the future. I’m particularly happy about the gorgeous cover, which is from a painting by Australian artist Scott Jackson called “Reaching for the Sun”. I feel that it really captures that simultaneous sense of bleakness and hope that the book has.
So what’s the connection between science and poetry?
I know (all too well) that there are forms of science which are rote, and systematic, but at the edges of science, and in some of the arenas we’re playing in now, there is so much that is new to us, and outside the scope of our existing knowledge, that a poetic leap has got to underpin the hypothesis. I’m thinking about nanotechnology and the pace at which it’s changing our perceptions. I’m thinking of quantum physics and how different things are the quantum level than they are in classical physics. I’m thinking of SETI and their scientific search for life (not UFO sightings!), or the first few minutes of the universe. I’m thinking of Large Haydron Colliders and particle smashing (how poetic is that? Or am I the only one who thinks the notion of smashed particles poetic?!). To get into those places that science is going, you need to make a kind of cosmic leap. The hard work and mathematics will surely follow (and might have preceded too), but without the imaginative leap and wonder, you wouldn’t even be thinking about things like the first few minutes of the universe or colliding galaxies. To me the poetic elements are very strong.
What draws you to poetry?
I’ve always loved writing poetry. Its medium I find most natural and always have –in fact there are times when my convoluted metaphors (in everyday conversations) can get a bit much for people! When I was doing a DPhil at Oxford, my supervisor was always telling me off for my overt use of the metaphor, and of course he was right – there’s a place for poetry and academic writing is probably not the place! I do love the way in which poetry can go one step further than a structured sentence – it forces you to push out the limits of language and say more – more about life, more about a moment, more about relationships, more about those things that matter. It isn’t always easy to find the right word, structure, or phrase, but when it happens, I feel like something entirely new is being created. You can do that in prose too, of course, but with poetry, it’s always what you’re aiming for. There’s never any space for simple connectors, or words that are there to just help the reader (other than footnotes). I love that immediacy.
How can we purchase your book?
Always my favourite question! You can drop by Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Repulsion-Thrust-Magdalena-Ball/dp/1906609306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261262555&sr=1-1 For a hard copy of the book.
A very inexpensive ebook (£1.00!) can be found at:
http://budurl.com/RepulsionThrustebook
More information can also be found at:
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/images/RepulsionThrust.htm
The book can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Powells, and good bookstores everywhere. Just ask for it! The ISBN is: 978-1906609306
We can't leave without a sample of Magdalena Ball's poetry:
Repulsion Thrust
take any web
worldwide or otherwise
poke holes
break boundaries
make it new
that kind of thing
no silk is strong enough
for your anger
it isn’t yours really
its mine
my mother’s, your father’s
you get the idea
genetic instructions
writ in your
knit brows
use it
thrust through the repulsion
turn it to love
what else is there?
Here are just a few excerpts from the numerous highly favorable reviews Repulsion Thrust has reviewed thus far:
"Precise and exciting. Words sizzle on the page. Images steeped in the physical world work beautifully to illuminate complex emotions and states of mind. Magdalena Ball is an important poet." Joan Schweighardt, author of Gudrun's Tapestry, Virtual Silence and other novels.
"Magdalena Ball creates a stunning impression with her first full-length collection, Repulsion Thrust. Her poems speak of experience, wisdom, and curiosity and welcome the reader to embrace a voyeuristic ride. Beautiful, haunting, and honest, Repulsion Thrust is a powerful collection with a refreshing voice and an open heart." Lori A. May, author of stains
"Using physics and philosophy, phobias and facets of astronomy and math, the poems in Magdalena Ball’s new book, Repulsion Thrust, are manuals and kones to scientifically and whimsically imagined new worlds; they are forthright and experimental, they are futures you really hope are not true. Reading her book is like reading the poetic version of 1984 by George Orwell, where humans are really not human any more. And you might even feel like you are smarter, more hip to science." Nanette Rayman Rivera, writer and editor
"Ball’s poetry is wholesome, blending the rational and the irrational, the physical and the metaphysical, together with the real and the surreal. The result is a an unusual and compelling book. Repulsion Thrust is a poetry book to be read very slowly in order to savour every word, every metaphor, and to immerse oneself in the rich and colourful imagery, to be touched by despair but also by hope and love." Beatriz Copello author under the gums' long shade
"This debut full-length poetry collection by Australian poet Magdalena Ball is full of poetic thrust, propelling the reader through thought-provoking and beautifully crafted considerations of love, illness, identity, genetics, the environment, planet – and more" Sarah James, poet, blogger
There you have it, folks. All you need to know about Maggie Ball's newly released poetry book, Repulsion Thrust. If you aren't anxious to go immediately and buy a copy of her book, then all I have to say is you must not have been paying much attention.
Cheers!
Harry
Magdalena Ball runs The Compulsive Reader. Her short stories, editorials, poetry, reviews and articles have appeared in a wide number of printed anthologies and journals. She is also the author of the newly released poetry book Repulsion Thrust, as well as the novel Sleep Before Evening, a nonfiction book The Art of Assessment: How to Review Anything, and three other poetry chapbooks: Quark Soup, and, in collaboration with Carolyn Howard-Johnson, Cherished Pulse and She Wore Emerald Then.
Let's learn more about her newly released poetry book Repulsion Thrust.
Title: Repulsion Thrust
Author: Magdalena Ball
ISBN: 978-1906609306
Page count: 110
Format: paperback
Release Date: 2 December 2009
Category: Poetry
Distributors: Bertram Books, Gardners, Baker & Taylor, Ingrams
Publisher contact: Neil Marr at BeWrite Books ntmarr@bewrite.net
Author: Magdalena Ball maggieball@compulsivereader.com
Award-winning poet Magdalena Ball has released a new book of poetry that moves across a terrain not often the fodder of poetry. Following up on her chapbook Quark Soup, Ball combines her pursuit for scientific meaning with the steely-eyed observations of a poet, seeking answers to the human condition through Quantum Physics, and measuring human aging against technological singularity, or the loss of love against ecological destruction. Repulsion Thrust tackles big subjects not often the fodder of poetry: quantum physics, astronomy, time travel, ecological destruction, and technological singularity, all viewed through the lens of the human condition. It’s an extraordinary and original collection.
Now for a bit of Q & A:
Maggie, please tell us about Repulsion Thrust.
This is my latest book, released a month ago by BeWrite Books. It's a full-length poetry book which is in three sections. The first has an overall theme of "The Black Dog" (as in Churchill's - e.g. depression and pain), the second is environmentally and technologically/futuristically focused, and the third is an almost lighthearted (for me) synthesis of the first two -- a kind of answer to the clash of the first two notions. As always with my work, there's a fair amount of influence from the 'sciences', from quantum physics to psychology, geology, evolution, and astronomy. I think, in many ways, that Repulsion Thrust is much more intense and grander in design than anything I’ve written before. I’ve been able to cover a wide terrain, which forms almost a kind of philosophy for me – about the world we live in, the role of humanity, and my fears and hopes about the future. I’m particularly happy about the gorgeous cover, which is from a painting by Australian artist Scott Jackson called “Reaching for the Sun”. I feel that it really captures that simultaneous sense of bleakness and hope that the book has.
So what’s the connection between science and poetry?
I know (all too well) that there are forms of science which are rote, and systematic, but at the edges of science, and in some of the arenas we’re playing in now, there is so much that is new to us, and outside the scope of our existing knowledge, that a poetic leap has got to underpin the hypothesis. I’m thinking about nanotechnology and the pace at which it’s changing our perceptions. I’m thinking of quantum physics and how different things are the quantum level than they are in classical physics. I’m thinking of SETI and their scientific search for life (not UFO sightings!), or the first few minutes of the universe. I’m thinking of Large Haydron Colliders and particle smashing (how poetic is that? Or am I the only one who thinks the notion of smashed particles poetic?!). To get into those places that science is going, you need to make a kind of cosmic leap. The hard work and mathematics will surely follow (and might have preceded too), but without the imaginative leap and wonder, you wouldn’t even be thinking about things like the first few minutes of the universe or colliding galaxies. To me the poetic elements are very strong.
What draws you to poetry?
I’ve always loved writing poetry. Its medium I find most natural and always have –in fact there are times when my convoluted metaphors (in everyday conversations) can get a bit much for people! When I was doing a DPhil at Oxford, my supervisor was always telling me off for my overt use of the metaphor, and of course he was right – there’s a place for poetry and academic writing is probably not the place! I do love the way in which poetry can go one step further than a structured sentence – it forces you to push out the limits of language and say more – more about life, more about a moment, more about relationships, more about those things that matter. It isn’t always easy to find the right word, structure, or phrase, but when it happens, I feel like something entirely new is being created. You can do that in prose too, of course, but with poetry, it’s always what you’re aiming for. There’s never any space for simple connectors, or words that are there to just help the reader (other than footnotes). I love that immediacy.
How can we purchase your book?
Always my favourite question! You can drop by Amazon at: http://www.amazon.com/Repulsion-Thrust-Magdalena-Ball/dp/1906609306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1261262555&sr=1-1 For a hard copy of the book.
A very inexpensive ebook (£1.00!) can be found at:
http://budurl.com/RepulsionThrustebook
More information can also be found at:
http://www.compulsivereader.com/html/images/RepulsionThrust.htm
The book can also be purchased at Barnes & Noble, Powells, and good bookstores everywhere. Just ask for it! The ISBN is: 978-1906609306
We can't leave without a sample of Magdalena Ball's poetry:
Repulsion Thrust
take any web
worldwide or otherwise
poke holes
break boundaries
make it new
that kind of thing
no silk is strong enough
for your anger
it isn’t yours really
its mine
my mother’s, your father’s
you get the idea
genetic instructions
writ in your
knit brows
use it
thrust through the repulsion
turn it to love
what else is there?
Here are just a few excerpts from the numerous highly favorable reviews Repulsion Thrust has reviewed thus far:
"Precise and exciting. Words sizzle on the page. Images steeped in the physical world work beautifully to illuminate complex emotions and states of mind. Magdalena Ball is an important poet." Joan Schweighardt, author of Gudrun's Tapestry, Virtual Silence and other novels.
"Magdalena Ball creates a stunning impression with her first full-length collection, Repulsion Thrust. Her poems speak of experience, wisdom, and curiosity and welcome the reader to embrace a voyeuristic ride. Beautiful, haunting, and honest, Repulsion Thrust is a powerful collection with a refreshing voice and an open heart." Lori A. May, author of stains
"Using physics and philosophy, phobias and facets of astronomy and math, the poems in Magdalena Ball’s new book, Repulsion Thrust, are manuals and kones to scientifically and whimsically imagined new worlds; they are forthright and experimental, they are futures you really hope are not true. Reading her book is like reading the poetic version of 1984 by George Orwell, where humans are really not human any more. And you might even feel like you are smarter, more hip to science." Nanette Rayman Rivera, writer and editor
"Ball’s poetry is wholesome, blending the rational and the irrational, the physical and the metaphysical, together with the real and the surreal. The result is a an unusual and compelling book. Repulsion Thrust is a poetry book to be read very slowly in order to savour every word, every metaphor, and to immerse oneself in the rich and colourful imagery, to be touched by despair but also by hope and love." Beatriz Copello author under the gums' long shade
"This debut full-length poetry collection by Australian poet Magdalena Ball is full of poetic thrust, propelling the reader through thought-provoking and beautifully crafted considerations of love, illness, identity, genetics, the environment, planet – and more" Sarah James, poet, blogger
There you have it, folks. All you need to know about Maggie Ball's newly released poetry book, Repulsion Thrust. If you aren't anxious to go immediately and buy a copy of her book, then all I have to say is you must not have been paying much attention.
Cheers!
Harry
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