Phoebe North's Blog, page 6
April 14, 2013
Poetry Sunday: The Ballad of Sandy and Dave
What’s this? Anew poem?! I know. I’m shocked, too.
Warning for some adult themes.
The Ballad of Sandy and Dave
(On the Occasion of the Death of LucasArts)
1
Dave got fat.
Of course he did, though it wasn’t as if the tentacle hadn’t warned her.
All those years ago, sidling up alongside her in that moss-perfumed basement, he—he?—it pressed a sucker against her ear and whispered her a fortune:
Boys like that will always love the bottle first, then the Sunday game. Boys like that will turn into rotten ap...
April 1, 2013
New Spring
Our upstairs neighbors are moving, and leaving behind a garden plot that was full of brown leaves and stones. My landlady asked J, “Does Phoebe want it?” Of course I do. So I spent this Easter Sunday digging, turning over soil, sowing rows of lettuce and radish seeds, working my hands into the dirt.
It was an appropriate way to mark the end of the month, and the new possibilities of spring. I haven’t blogged much these past few months, other than poetry Sundays (which I need to resume, soon)....
March 17, 2013
Poetry Sunday: Penelope at the Death of Odysseus
This poem, written in 2009, was one of the last ones I penned in graduate school.
Penelope at the Death of Odysseus
and Before her Marriage to Telegonus, his Son
Husband, in your absence the branches of our bed
have grown heavy, gnarled as my hands. Tonight,
when I spread your body beneath the canopy of silver leaves,
my fingers ache. I peel old limbs free from sand-stiff clothes,
giving you only the tenderness I’d give
to any stranger: to undress him, to draw the sponge over
his blood-caked brow, to...
March 10, 2013
Poetry Sunday: The Well-Wisher
This poem from 2008 was written in a workshop with lovely poet and human being Sidney Wade, who was also my thesis adviser. I used it to open my graduate thesis,Squall Lines, because it quite neatly introduced the themes countained therein.
THE WELL-WISHER
“If you ever had magic powers descend on you suddenly,
out of the blue, you’ll know how Jane felt.”
- Edward Eager, Half Magic
Tomorrow will be the morning of discovery.
A translucent egg, as big as the bough of your arms,
will lie on the sidewalk...
March 3, 2013
Poetry Sunday: Polonius, After Death
I wrote this poem in the first year of graduate school, in a workshop with poet and critic William Logan. William usually had pretty restrictive guidelines for poetry assignments (in terms of form or syllabics or even words included). But to be honest, I have no idea what the assignment was here. Theremusthave been one.
Polonius, After Death
I never thought I’d meet my children here
beyond the darkness, stirring listlessly
like curtains swirled by idle wind, not speaking,
and never speaking to me....
February 27, 2013
Come watch me blush and mumble at my very first event!
Residents of Shelton, WA and the surrounding area, I’ll be appearing on March 12th at the Shelton Timberland Library with some lovely ladies from YA Highway. It’s my very first event, so you can imagine that I’m excited (and a little terrified!). I’ll be handing out signed postcards andStarglass swag and soaking up the awesome from more experienced authors, including Kirsten Hubbard, Kody Keplinger, Veronica Roth, and Kristin Halbrook. Sumayyah Daud, author of 2014′sBegin Again will also be a...
February 26, 2013
The sci-fi geek stamp of approval: Zenn Scarlett by Christian Schoon
Last week, when I wrote about my decision to (mostly) quit reviewing, I mentioned my hope that I might someday get to add my own words of endorsement to an upcoming novel. When I made that decision, I had no idea that an opportunity would come only a few days later!
When Amanda Rutter, editor of the wonderful young adult SF/F imprint Strange Chemistry, contacted me about debut author Christian Schoon’sZenn Scarlett, I was intrigued. She describedZenn Scarlett as follows:
Zenn Scarlett is a brig...
February 24, 2013
Poetry Sunday: Sonnet for the State Fair
Happy Sunday, everyone! Today I have a poem for you that had its genesis way back in 2007.
SONNET FOR THE STATE FAIR
We are at a crossroads in Augusta
when the dark grasses start shooting up.
Blooming wild roses crack gray asphalt,
curling over the humming curves of neon lights.
The Ferris wheel groans as the kudzu jams
its girders, smothering the sun-burnt lovers
who read each other’s bubbled flesh
like Braille in the steel baskets. Moon-eyed,
the Jersey heifers bellow in the barn.
Prize roosters rise...
February 19, 2013
Why I (mostly) quit reviewing
If you follow me on goodreads, you may have noticed some changes recently. I removed most of my stars and am no longer posting a lengthy review of each and every book I read. I initially thought I might stay mum about this change, but the other day I found some speculation online about my motives–was I bowing to the pressure of my author-peers?–and so I thought I might offer some clarifications about this decision.
The truth is, no one asked me to stop reviewing. Not my agent, not my editor, n...
February 17, 2013
Introducing Poetry Sundays: On Melancholy
I used to be a poet.
I’ve written about this before. As a teenager, I started out in fan-fiction, and then, around age 16, discovered Allen Ginsberg. He spoke to me in a very specific and personal way that only a dead poet can. He’s the reason I went to school next to the Paterson Falls; his voice graced all of my post-high school mix-CDs. Because of Allen, I loved reading poems, and loved writing them, too. I got a master’s degree in it, and at the end of my experience at the Univ...
