Kaya Oakes's Book, Telegraph

Have you read Telegraph yet? I haven't met anyone who doesn't love Kaya Oakes. Perhaps they're afraid to admit something like that with all the ninja assassin stuff surrounding Kaya, but I think it's her poetry. . . everyone seems to really dig. Word.

I think you should buy a copy at Pegasus down town, but you can buy it anywhere, even Amazon. You won't be disappointed.

I like it very much.

Plus, if you can catch one of her readings, she is great. I once took an entirely uninitiated lady friend to a Kaya Oakes reading, and she loved it.

Way to go, Kaya.

June 7, Eleanor Harwood Gallery

Poets Sara Mumolo and Jack Morgan with Photos by John Chiara at
the Eleanor Harwood Gallery:
1295 Alabama St., SF, CA.
Cross Street = 25th

I really hope to see you there for cheering and jeering. Sara Mumolo and John Chiara are totally worth seeing. . . I don't know about that Jack Morgan guy.

1 wndrfl wknd w/lrsn &c.

This weekend was New Yipes with Cynthia Sailers and Jeff Clark. The reading, like all New Yipes readings was very enjoyable.

Afterward there was a party at a house. There, I was able to talk to people like William Moor and Judith Goldman who have both recently impressed at readings. I was a little starstruck.
zI also realized that Mills must be a good school. Of course, I base this on no research whatsoever, but the poets I meet from Mills are all very nice people who seem to write edgy work that always seems fresh. That's nice.

I don't have anything mean to say. I'm getting soft.

Memorial day was Stan App and Ara Shirinyan at Moe's. Their reading was particularly fun because many of the people I met the night before were there, and the poets seemed to complement each other very well. I thought that was weird. There are people who should always read together because they go together like Peas and Carrots, and I think that Stan and Ara are like that. They both had me laughing out loud a couple times, too, and that never happens to me at poetry readings. I am kind of the quiet type of audience member, the kind that does not humpf in recognition or giggle at inside intellectual shit. These guys were really on.
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There will be a lot of changes happening here. Soon the URL will change. I've given up the ghost on the union. It's pretty much ending as far as I can see. I wish it weren't so, but all projects must come to an end. It's time to start something new. It's time to walk on water.
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Don't forget the Article Journal reading at the Eleanor Harwood gallery on June 7. Sara Mumolo and I will be reading there. I hope to have a chapbook out by then, too. Maybe you would like to read it. Maybe you would like to just have it.
.... Also! Clay Banes is finally back. Welcome back, Clay.

More fun with Poets

Two overheard
A: OMG, so how was the GGOB/Judith Goldman reading at Moe's?
B: Omigod––
A: Omigod, was it sooo good?
B: Sooooooooo good!
A: Once again, my life is proven worthless by my apparent inability to participate in anything that could give my life meaning.

If you missed the reading about which these two friends are speaking so eloquently, I pity you. I pity you.

Geoffrey G. O'Brien is always good, and I have given him enough kudos on this blog for awhile, so just know that he delivered a good read that made everyone happy.
The surprise was Judith Goldman. I hang my head in shame that I had no idea how wonderful she is until now. I had to buy her book like right quick like a quick thing that buys books.
I had no idea that I was going to be able to see her later and get my copy signed at Ralleigh's. She is a charming, intelligent, beautiful woman who I can't wait to read more of. Thoroughly impressed.
In fact, everyone was there. Everyone in the world showed up at that reading. The room was so filled with friends that I was moved to extend an olive branch to Iago. It was left extended and lonely. Unfortunate.
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Speaking of kick-ass readings, Jeff Clark and Cynthia Sailers are going to be at this month's New Yipes, May 27 at 21 Grand.
Then, on JUNE 7 (changed from May 24), at the Eleanor Harwood Gallery, Sara Mumolo and Jack Morgan, members of the original Trainwreck Union, are reading for Article Journal's "Pulp" series with John Chiara.
1295 Alabama Street, San Francisco, CA 94110
cross street is 25th
I hope to see all of you there to support the Trainwreck Union.

War Train

Poetry wars are more fun than any other kind. I love them. At one point, I thought I just wasn't up to them anymore. After all, it is very sad to fight about poetry. Poetry saddens many often; war, too. The thing is, though, everyone loves a good war from time to time.

Once more unto the breach, dear friends.
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On Saturday, many original Trainwreckers were about. It's nice to see Pablo is still the life of the party. It's nice to see Jason Bolton is still keeping it blurry. It's nice to see Sara Mumolo is still the one who keeps us smiling. It's nice to see Mo, who is so nice that people are warmer in her presence. It's nice to see that there is still a scene of poets and artists who want something other than a popularity contest. People who are about the craft and the fun. There is no replacement for such things. It doesn't matter whose boots you lick if you're not having fun. I wish that everyone felt this way. It's nice to be nice, but don't fake it. Don't fake it. Don't fake it.

Grand Central

Wow! Tomorrow already!
Call your mom, and get over to 21 Grand to see the talents of Sara Mumolo, Pablo Lopez, Tyler Williams, Jack Morgan, Beatrix Chan, Alex Snipes, with a musical intermission by Casey Speer & al.

The 51 AC will bring you to the corner of Broadway and 25th. 21 Grand is 416 25th st. EASY to find. 7:00 PM. Can't wait to see you all there.

G.G.O.B. & J.B. @ P

Tomorrow, Geoffrey G. O'Brien and Jasper Bernes will be reading at Pegasus books; did you know that?

Geoffrey has been important to the Trainwreck Union since inception. He has been inspirational to many of its members since long before the Union was even thought of.

It would be horrible for anyone to miss this reading if only O'Brien were reading. But then there's Jasper Bernes. Jasper is one of the most interesting fellows that have crossed the Trainwreck tracks recently. We are all interested in seeing how this interesting fellow reads.

If you are going to go to one reading this weekend, it should obviously be the Trainwreck Union reading on Sunday, but if you're a mama's boy, or afraid to bring your parents to a poetry reading after your English department graduation, or if you just want to go to two readings this weekend, you should go to Geoffrey G O'Brien and Jasper Bernes's reading at Pegasus tomorrow.

Too, if you would like to attend our meeting, our Junta, come to Barclay's around 4 tomorrow. Word.

Myriam Gurba was Pegasus's first prose writer in a long time. She was one of those girls whose tattooed arms give you the impression that she is probably one of the sweetest people you'll ever meet. Then, when she opens her mouth and you hear her speak and read, you know that she is one of the sweetest girls you'll ever meet. She went to UC Berkeley for Econ. Now she's writing literature that deals extensively with lesbian eroticism. She teaches high school somewhere in Long Beach. A nice little reading for Cinco de Mayo. And even though I had been drinking 2 dollar Coronas with some of the Trainwreck, and even though Clay and I were the only Trainwreckers there, she somehow managed to keep my undivided attention. That's a little hard to do with prose, methinks.
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580 Split. There were more Trainwrecks at Eli's Mile High Club in Oakland to see the lovely Erica Staiti MC a reading celebrating the release of their new publication. The three who ended up reading were TREVOR CALVERT, JENNY DRAI, and JAVIER HUERTA. All young poets who were a pleasure to see up on the stage.
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Everyone ended up at the graduate where even more Trainwreck Union members had arrived at the same idea.
Where were you?

what's up tonight

I almost forgot to mention that there is a reading tonight at Pegasus and 580 Split. Many Trainwreck Union peeps will be at both. It'll make for a great night, surely. Don't call me surly.

Can't Win 'em All.

Every once in a while, the entire universe aligns so that there is no way to avoid a disaster. Last night was one of those times. First, one little Trainwreck got sick. . . really sick. Her being sick meant that we lost our venue. Then, we lost our P.A. because the Trainwreck that owns it also shares it with someone else, and it was in use. Then we got the venue back. Then traffic was so bad it looked like we wouldn't have wine back at the reading until much too late for anyone's enjoyment. Then we found out that we could only use the space until 8:30. Then Alex Snipes was abducted by people who think he knows a little too much. Then Anne Carson was reading at DeYoung, and a bunch of people just gave up and went there. Then people started to scramble to make sure that the open mic would still continue, but it was impossible. At five o'clock, it was all clearly bootless. But I finally get to use the picture I have been saving for a true failure. That picture is one of my favorites. Sometimes the bridge is just out.

Sorry for letting all of you down.

Such a calamity will not befall the Grand Central reading at 21 Grand on 13 May. We had an organizational meeting last night concerning that reading, and everyone seems to be on the same page and on track! Wow!

Yesterday and Tonight. The End of an Issue/ the Celebration

Yesterday was Lunch Poems. It's a Robert Hass thing, and it's a big deal for a lot of folks. Four Trainwreck Union members were invited to read. They were all wondrous. Hass left early, hurting my feelings greatly.

Then we had to go tot he dean to finally end the whole police/Trainwreck thing. People ask me about this all the time, and it's finally over. All's well that ends well. No details here for obvious reasons, but it's over. IT'S OVER!

I hope that everything will get better as we can concentrate on what we set out originally to do. Have great publications, fantastic events, and marvelous projects of all sorts with the most talented people around.
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Why not get started on that tonight?! Tonight is our famous open mic at Nabolom Bakery. I hope that you all come out and celebrate a new chapter in Trainwreck Union history. This has been a very hard semester. We have all run the gamut of emotions. The failures, triumphs, tears, and fears have all come to this. Come celebrate with us.

Tomorrow's Open Mic

Tomorrow, Alex Snipes will wreck the world of poetry. I know you've all missed him as the best MC poetry has ever seen.

I know it's been hard. I know things don't always go the way you want them to go. I know that sometimes you are called into offices and jobs or both that make you wish that there were some other place, come other group, where you can just be you and not worry about all the crap in life that wears you down. Where you can forget about the saboteurs that lurk in the corners of your life, cutting you at the knees. I know that sometimes all this hurts. I know that your life sometimes looks like a train wreck. So do ours. Come be part of the Trainwreck Union. Read, rant, wax poetics with the best and worst of them. Escape for just a few minutes before you forget what life is really supposed to be about. If you've forgotten already, come rediscover.