astronaut bath

Thursday, 14 October 2010

If you're in Northampton/Amherst and didn't already know about this, it's tonight! Come hang. 8pm at Flying Object in Hadley on Route 9. There will be surprises.

comments | | Read More...

"Further Than Near. Closer Than Far."

Tuesday, 12 October 2010

Further Than Near. Closer Than Far.


I hardly ever fall asleep;
but when that time draws near,
I can't help but think about
how I wish you were here.
When my mind is at rest,
I submit freely to my dreams
and thoughts of you always erase
how harsh love sometimes seems.
When my emotions envelop me,
I just lay back and sigh
and that image of you appears
every time I close my eyes. 
I don't know where you are
or when you will appear to me;
but one thing that remains certain
is you are all I've hoped you'd be;
so I happily fall asleep
after staring at the stars
knowing that you're thinking of me:
Further than near. Closer than far.


You're nowhere near my grasp; 
but your presence is enormous.
I have yet to view your face;
but I already know you're gorgeous.
I live for the precious moments
that I spend thinking of us.
I've yet to enjoy your company;
but I still get that rush.
I fancy you when loneliness looms
and your radiance catches my ire
as warmth fills this cold room
whilst my heart overflows with desire.
You effortlessly take me higher
when others could barely meet par.
Distance can never extinguish our fire:
Further than near. Closer than far.


I just can't wait for the day
when I can finally behold your beauty
and melt away this vice of sadness
that constantly strived to subdue me.
It's never easy stepping out on faith;
because sadness usually follows my sublime;
but for you, that chance I'd take
because I know you're my last first time.
I don't need you for means of solace
or to pacify me through my pain
because life has taught me the importance
of thanking God for every drop of rain.
Don't get me wrong: We all need help
when pushing through the muck and mire;
but I want you to be my yearning
rather than something that I require.


I want our love to endure
through the toils of every season.
That will show me your heart is pure;
purging the need to doubt for any reason.
I love how your fair countenance shimmers
even though I have yet to see.
I know you're more than a fading glimmer
of what you promised you'd be.
Our time together is secure and safe.
God always holds firm to what is due
and when he's ready to reveal your face,
His loving light will lead me to you.
You already possess the best of me
as well as the healing emotional scars.
Our love will surely perpetuate destiny:
Whether further than near, or closer than far. 


Written By: Devin Joseph Metz

comments | | Read More...

all beauty stands before the world and before the world

Friday, 8 October 2010

I have some new work in Kill Author. Strangest/strongest feeling responses. Check them out, and check out the rest of the issue, which is full of good stuff. Kill Author is edited anonymously. Each issue is fairy godmothered by a different dead author. Vonnegut is the patron saint of this new one, which is cool: "Because we are readers," Vonnegut says, "We don’t have to wait for some communications executive to decide what we should think about next – and how we should think about it. We can fill our heads with anything from aardvarks to zucchinis – at any time of night or day."

For example: there is no such thing as anything that isn't aesthetics. We can smoke by ourselves in the parking lot of KFC, in a truck with the bed missing. We can hang Christmas lights up days before Halloween. We can race with Kirk Cameron in our dream and somehow remember the exact number of the Seavers' house in Growing Pains. We can think the clouds look like ripped up prom dresses. We can tell someone we're fine in an ambulance on the first day of Fall, or we can drive the ambulance, or we can claim that we invented apples, and we can move to the woods where no one will disagree, and where the first day of Fall will look very crisp indeed.

comments | | Read More...

Lonely astronaut face-to-face feelings that flip language pancakes by flashlight.

Tuesday, 5 October 2010

Over at the flatmancrooked blog, Bl Pawelek asked me ten playful questions about We Are All Good If You Come Out In the Next Five Minutes They Try Hard Enough. Play is serious too. Play MacGyvers the sadness of language's meaning disabilities. Bl is not short for Bill but for Byline, which one of Pawelek's old editors accidentally wrote for his first name. Seems fun to accept this and make it your own. Embrace the public construction of self. Don't let the public construct for you. And so on. Topics covered in the question-fest include: a one paragraph breakdown of how Levinas/Buber are behind all my poems, stuff about recognition of love and human carrot cake, burnt chili, pop rocks, mirror neurons, thank-you notes, Q-bert tattoos, colonies of chest bats, and the future. Thanks to Bl. Thanks by line. Thank you line by line.

comments | | Read More...

right and good and interesting that they're moments

Saturday, 2 October 2010

Erin McNellis wrote a fun and smart review of We Are All Good If I Drink Enough Coffee They Try Hard Enough over at her blog. Some things she talks about include: quirky sincerity, Frank O'Hara pants, coy symbology, mustard gas hyperbole, and sidelong glances. Also, McNellis mentions books about codes named after famous painters. Also she talks about the long prose poem "Now You Try" in the middle of the book, which is full of things that are supposedly telling and which is maybe my personal favorite artifact in the book—if not favorite poem—because it is a huge mess of text that repeats and repeats one sentence structure with only minor jiggles.

In other news, the left side of my stove doesn't work. Don't worry: I know why!

In Other news, here's an idea: how about let's stop fucking harassing people to death over who and how they want to love.

In even other news, my mood increases amazingly when my boots can withstand anything.

In odd other news, the word "stuff" used to only mean a quilted shirt worn under chainmail. Everybody put your stuff on. The world is coming for you, and the world has a sword.

comments | | Read More...