“Eating the Pig” by Donald Hall
Twelve people, most of us strangers, stand in a room
in Ann Arbor, drinking Cribari from jars.
Then two young men, who cooked him,
carry him to the table
on a large square of plywood: his body
striped, like a tiger cat’s, from the basting,
his legs long, much longer than a cat’s,
and the striped hide as shiny as vinyl.
Now I [...]
Worried about ants at your July 4th picnic? Worry some more.
A single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world, scientists have discovered.
Argentine ants living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan belong to the same inter-related colony, and will refuse to fight one another.
The colony may be the largest of its type ever known for any insect species, and could rival [...]
“‘One day, feeling hungry’” by Gyneth Lewis
One day, feeling hungry, I swallowed the moon.
It stuck, like a wafer, to the top of my mouth,
dry as an aspirin. It slowly went down,
showing the gills of my vocal cords,
the folded wings in my abdomen,
the horrible twitch of my insect blood.
Lit from inside, I stood alone
(dark to myself) but could see from afar
the brightness [...]
Some Photos and a Fun Video Slideshow from the E-Verse Party at R.U.B.A.
Check out some photographs from the E-Verse anniversary party at R.U.B.A.! See all your favorites, Paul, Ernie, Lynn, Kara, Jessica the Contessa, Ffej, Niamh, and of course DOMO!
Full StoryErnest Hilbert Radio Interview on WDIY (Listen Here Now!)
In a radio interview that aired on Monday, June 15th, from NPR-affiliate station WDIY, host George van Doren talks with poet Ernest Hilbert about his new book, Sixty Sonnets, the history of the sonnet, what makes a poem work, and the reasons why people read poetry.
Listen now by clicking here. High quality recording. Approximately 22 [...]
“Never Again Would Bird’s Song Be the Same” by Robert Frost
He would declare and could himself believe
That the birds there in all the garden round
From having heard the daylong voice of Eve
Had added to their own an oversound,
Her tone of meaning but without the words.
Admittedly an eloquence so soft
Could only have had an influence on birds
When call or laughter carried it aloft.
Be that as may [...]
Top Five People who Became (More) Famous Due to Michael Jackson
5. Alfonso Ribeiro: A talented kid who had already had a bit of success, but his imitation of Michael Jackson in a Pepsi commercial catapulted him to fame.
4. Weird Al Yankovic: Already a staple of Dr. Demento, his “Beat It “spoof, “Eat It,” both lyrics and video, put him in a whole new category of [...]
Full Story“Julian of Norwich” by Kathleen Jamie
Everything I do I do for you.
Brute. You inform the dark
inside the stones, the winds draughting in
from this world and that to come,
but never touch me.
You took me on
but dart like a rabbit into holes
from the edges of my sense
when I turn, walk, turn.
*
I am the hermit whom you keep
at the garden’s end, but I [...]
“Couple” by Justin Quinn
The Irish poet Justin Quinn sent me this kind e-mail, and I asked if I could reprint his excellent poem. It appeared in Poetry Ireland Review earlier this year. Here is his letter:
Dear Ernie,
So picture me this fine Sunday morning, proud owner of Sixty Sonnets, reading through it again with pleasure, only to come upon [...]
Staff Writer Bethany Gives Us Top Five Republicans Active in the Condemnation and/or Prosecution of Bill Clinton for Adultery who Themselves were Later Caught up in Adultery Scandals:
5. Helen Chenoweth: while representing Idaho in Congress, she demanded Bill Clinton’s resignation over the Lewinsky affair, saying “I believe that personal conduct and integrity do matter”. However, Chenoweth was engaged in a six-year long adulterous affair with her then boss, Vernon Ravenscroft.
4. Newt Gingrich: spearheaded congressional investigation against Clinton and Monica Lewinsky while simultaneously [...]
Full StoryFarewell, Prince Michael . . .
I will admit to considerable sadness and surprise upon learning of Michael Jackson’s death. I first heard the news on the BBC yesterday afternoon, accompanied by endless shaky footage from a helicopter hovering over the hospital. I called my wife, Lynn, who was on a train en route to Washington, DC. There are very few [...]
Full StoryCome join us on Saturday night for an E-Verse party
Saturday, June 27, 2009 at 9:00pm till . . . . we’ll figure that out that night.
Ruba Hall
414 Green St
Philadelphia, PA
It’s been ten full years, and July 1st will start the eleventh year of continuous operation here at E-Verse Radio! Hard to believe. We wanted to have a tenth anniversary party, but E-Verse assistant producer [...]
“At a Reading” by J. D. McClatchy
Anthony Hecht’s
And what if now I told you this, let’s say,
By telephone. Would you imagine me
Talking to myself in an empty room,
Watching myself in the window talking,
My lips moving silently, birdlike,
On the glass, or because superimposed
On it, among the branches of the tree
Inside my head? As if what I had to say
When it is last [...]
Top Five Book Series that Celebrate the British Empire
5. H. Rider Haggard’s Allan Quartermain series
4. C.S. Forester’s Horatio Hornblower series
3. George MacDonald Fraser’s Flashman series
2.Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe series
1. Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin series
Extra:
Anything by Sir Richard Francis Burton
Extra extra:
Anything by Winston Spencer Churchill
“An Awkward Phase” by Bill Coyle
Sex can be salvation: once I finished
The Satanic Bible, that glorious mixture
of Freud and Nietzsche garnished with batwings,
I snapped up its sequel, The Satanic Rituals,
at the same bookstore in Salem, Mass.
I got as far as the instructions for the Black Mass.
There, with the forces of darkness gathering
around me in my bedroom (I swear I sensed [...]
Top five public weeping outbreaks
5. Glenn Beck
4. Jimmy Swaggart
3. Jim Bakker
2. Jim Boehner
1. George H.W. Bush
Full Story
