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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Jai Narayan on October 3, 2004, at 17:43:58
Behind every great man
there sits a rat.
And behind every great rat,
there's a flea.
Beside the flea there is an encyclopedia.
Every now and then the flea sneezes, looks up,
and flies into action, reorganizing history.
The rat says, "God, I hate irony."
To which the great man replies,
"Now now now, darling, drink your tea."I just attended a reading by this humble, understated, and funny man. I laughed till I cried. My god the humor of this man!
It reminds me of my mother and father guffawing about James Thurber.
Posted by Atticus on October 3, 2004, at 18:10:08
In reply to Little Poem with Argyle socks by James Tate, posted by Jai Narayan on October 3, 2004, at 17:43:58
Interesting. Reminds me also a bit of one of my favorites, P.G. Wodehouse, if he were crossed with Roald Dahl with the tiniest pinch of Evelyn Waugh added. By the way, I'm curious; did my little jot of satire about McDonald's and mass consumption in my previous poem leave you uninterested or merely confused? You haven't commented on it. I'd be curious to hear what you had to say. ;) Atticus
Posted by Jai Narayan on October 4, 2004, at 9:01:51
In reply to Re: Little Poem with Argyle socks by James Tate » Jai Narayan, posted by Atticus on October 3, 2004, at 18:10:08
Hi, I spent the entire weekend at our local Literary Festival and loved every moment! What a feast. I feel happily filled up with all kinds of writing stimuli.
I wanted to respond when I had more time. You will get my feed back today.
I have missed you.
I think you would have loved this festival. the last speaker was last night. Dennis Lahane...."Mystic River". He was brilliant and such a powerful speaker.
You know that's one thing I miss is hearing you recite your poems. I bet that's great.
Anyway you would have feasted on all the throaty voices....the words, the sentences, the prisons of paragraphs.....
I laughed till I cried. I didn't even eat. It was so rich.
Always wonderful to hear from you.
Posted by Atticus on October 4, 2004, at 14:27:30
In reply to Atticus...., posted by Jai Narayan on October 4, 2004, at 9:01:51
And it's always good to hear from you. I've never actually recited my poetry publicly. I do read it aloud as I'm writing it to see if the rhythm and meter are working out (perhaps one long line needs to be broken into two smaller ones to get the reader to consume the words at the proper pace, but I can only tell this by actually saying it). Or maybe I've spit out a string of Bob-Dylanesque "Subterranean Homesick Blues"-style rhymes that go on a word or so too long, so I know to cut after hearing myself say it. The festival sounds like it was a lot of fun. I should go to more things like that (I work at a bloody university, for God's sake -- it's not like it would take much effort). I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. During my weekend, I finally managed to set the clock on my new DVD/VCR combo, which required five days of intense study of the manual and five days of utter failure until, by sheer dumb luck, I accidentally pressed a button on the controller and the programming screen came up. I also got a new tattoo to celebrate finishing that huge editorial project I was directing. The tattoo still smarts, but it's so Pop Art graphic that I think it'll look pretty cool once it's healed. It's a bright red lightning bolt on my left forearm higher up than the cutting scars. It's also an exclamation point. Bright crimson outlined in heavy black. It's the chest insignia of a satirical comic-book character called Madman. The dark irony of his chest symbol and his name appealed to me. But on a practical level, once the cutting scars begin to fade a little more, I figure the tattoo will call attention away from them and help make me less self-conscious about exposing them in public. Ta! ;) Atticus
Posted by Jai Narayan on October 4, 2004, at 16:32:45
In reply to Re: Atticus.... » Jai Narayan, posted by Atticus on October 4, 2004, at 14:27:30
have you thought of getting a tatoo that includes the scars? make art of it? I too have scars on my wrists and wondered about having a tatoo.
Like in Ray Bradbury's story, "The Illustrated Man."
I loved that story.
Ta, Jai
the lady with the silvery lines that shine out and embarrass. Making me vulnerable at the worst moments. they are like walk signs over the arterterier: our blue highways.
Posted by Atticus on October 5, 2004, at 10:55:42
In reply to Re: Atticus...., posted by Jai Narayan on October 4, 2004, at 16:32:45
Hi Jai,
Unfortunately, scar tissue is of a much rougher and denser consistency that normal skin, so it doesn't hold ink well, and if it does, it tends to do so temporarily; the scar eventually starts to bleed through and disrupt the color. I've had this happen personally with a tattoo on my left shoulder adapted from a medieval Irish illuminated manuscript. The scar was from a fencing injury, of all things. Tiny, but it sure did mess up that design when its white line began to bust out. And before I'm redirected by Bobby, let me add that I think "Alice in Wonderland" is a superb example of absurdist, satirical writing and of great value as a template for viewing the world's brutal absurdities through humor, which is of great psychiatric value, and yada yada yada. ;) Atticus
Posted by Jai Narayan on October 5, 2004, at 11:23:12
In reply to Re: Atticus.... » Jai Narayan, posted by Atticus on October 5, 2004, at 10:55:42
Posted by Gabbix2 on December 2, 2004, at 20:58:04
In reply to Alice in Wonderland was my childhood bible :) (nm), posted by Jai Narayan on October 5, 2004, at 11:23:12
EWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW That book gave me the creeps. It still does. All those things popping out of nowhere saying mean things and people talking and not making any sense, the red queen in the background "off with her head! off with her head!" She was like my old live in landlady.
Far to much like real life for me. No I'm not being facetious. When I was on effexor and having aural hallucinations that's what I hallucinated too, it had that much of a detrimental effect on my psyche.Oh dear must quit talking about non-poetry on the poetry site, or Dr. Bob will have my head.
Oh I know Here's a poem for Jai.
ee cummings -I know he's everyman's poet, but I love him I love him.
Psst, it's really effie's head.Here is little Jai-Jai's head
her brains are made of Gingerbread
when the day of judgement comes
god will only find 6 crumbs.
Posted by Gabbix2 on December 2, 2004, at 21:16:06
In reply to Re: Alice in Wonderland was my childhood bible :) » Jai Narayan, posted by Gabbix2 on December 2, 2004, at 20:58:04
before I wrote my own, about Alice In Wonderland being too much like real life for me. I guess I'm not unique.
This is the end of the thread.
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