Saturday, September 20, 2014

SNOW WHITE MOTH


Since this strange summer began
I've been compiling a little book
of new poems and stories.
Here's the line-up so far:


OVER MILKWEED
ED STOREY, THE 2 STORY MAN
PLASTIC JOBS
THE 5 MILE SMILE
A DUCK
A CAT
SNOW WHITE MOTH
MORE THAN ONE BLUE MOON
THE GREAT COMPOSERS
200 ZOOS
THE SPECTACULAR FAILURE OF GASTON LeFLUE, 1891
THE GIRL WHO IS THE RIVER
HUCKLEBERRIES
A SILENT MOVIE
BATTLESHIP
NEW SHOES
SMILE REPAIR
A BAT
A RABBIT
THE PIANO TUNER
A COYOTE
THE BLACKTOP SON
TWO CROWS
THAT FLOWER
CROWS
DOUBLE TAPPED HORN
BLACKBERRIES
PEACH
GRAPEFRUITS
THE OLD PLAYGROUND
RICHARD IS GONE
THE REDDISH DOG
SUMMERTIME IS GONE
THE DARK BOAT
4 BOUQUETS
THE LOCAL AUTHOR



Friday, September 19, 2014

aloha!


15 years at Western Washington University Library
farewell and thanks for the memories


last day at library


Today's my last day at the library.
Will be moving to the Art Department
on Monday. Bon Voyage! Aloha!
This is what a library looked like
in the 1600s. Fun!


Thursday, September 18, 2014

improved



elephant book


Here's another hint to
my forthcoming book
for Good Deed Rain...
hmmm...something to do
with an elephant...



Wednesday, September 17, 2014

the card catalog


With only three days left at this job
I’ve been worried about the fate of
the last card catalog in the library,
the only remaining passenger pigeon,
the lone buffalo. Twice it’s been
condemned to the junk heap by
the ruling powers of the library.
And twice it’s been saved, once
by Claire, and most recently by me.
I’m utterly baffled why a library
wouldn’t want to keep such a part
of their past, but that seems to be
the approach of certain libraries.
I tried all over to find someone here
to care for it and fortunately,
at the last cliff-hanger minute
an office has been found for it!
This beautiful card catalog can
remain in the library where
for many years into the future
people will be glad it’s still here.


One of my first jobs when I started
at my college library in 1984 was
typing the cards and putting them in 
the catalog. Good memories of that.

Friday, September 12, 2014

and how...



Thursday, September 11, 2014

nash metropolitan



In 2012, I self-published a little book called TRAVEL
featuring poems of Ohio. (Most of these were collected
in my new poetry book, PLAYGROUND available 
from Amazon.com.) The TRAVEL book featured 
a photo of an old Nash Metropolitan that was sitting
in a weedy lot near Sandusky, Ohio. It's such a great little
relic of a car, like a Richard Scarry bathtub on wheels. 
This week, Larry Smith sent me a photo of the car
and it's still there, waiting for someone. 



Tuesday, September 9, 2014

2 weeks

This comic is from the October, 1979
School Library Journal. I just gave
my two weeks notice at the library
where I've worked for 15 years.
Moving to the Art Department!


Friday, September 5, 2014

Chandler stories


I'm still rereading Raymond Chandler's short stories.
I love these night desk house detectives who end up 
in deep. Just came across a great description of a dark
drive in the detective's 1925 Marmon touring car:
"I let the Buick lead me away from the straggling 
lights of Las Olindas, through a series of small beach 
towns with little houses built on sandlots close to the 
ocean, and bigger ones built on the slopes of the hills
behind. A window was lit here and there. The tires
sang on the moist concrete and the little amber lights
on the Buick's fenders peeped back at me from the 
curves."