idea/okay KAT PARR

poetry

IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS

In kat parr, poetry, writing on 24 May 2010 with no comments

we raise a glass to you
and your narrow-hipped swagger
your unflinching blue eyes your half-smile
your pacing on porches your small cups of comfort
the bile rising your steady hands your
swift feet ready to flee crime-scenes as yet
undiscovered your quick
violence your sordid past your
unwashed sheets and naked pillows
your heap of bathtowels your bravado
your sly flirtations and notes passed [...]

A SATURDAY POEM

In kat parr, poetry on 8 May 2010 with no comments

“Going Back to China” by Willis Barnstone (From 5 a.m. in Beijing: Poems of China). A perfect companion to today’s suddenly cool weather and the view from my bookshop’s wingback chair, where I watch for people who never come in.
Outside, the full moon is memory light
knifing those of us who look up and remember.
People drive [...]

WRITING FOR READING

In gradschool, kat parr, poetry, reading, writing on 27 March 2010 with 1 comment

Last night I attended an open mic at Monkey Wrench Books hosted by Queer Sol, an arts collective based here in Austin. I read three poems: “Girl dies in Arizona,” “An afternoon at the museum,” and “Monologue of a mystery writer.” I haven’t read in years — I think the last time was in New [...]

THE MARGIN FADES

In kat parr, poetry, travel on 12 March 2010 with no comments

A fragment of Tennyson’s poem “Ulysses” has been circling in my head, the same three lines, over and over:
Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’
Gleams that untravell’d world whose margin fades
For ever and forever when I move.
I have a headache and can’t sleep. Tomorrow Austin, my own four walls and my own pillow. The daily [...]