Juliet Cook's Blog, page 12

Uncloistered Poetry Live - August 12

Uncloistered Poetry Live this Saturday!

At The Attic on Adams
1701 Adams St, Toledo, OH

Featured readers Shei Sanchez, Juliet Cook and the Notorious Pink. Features are followed by open mic.
https://www.facebook.com/events/242045778621507

Yes I am a part of a poetry reading this Saturday August 12, starting at 4 PM! I'll be reading some poems from my two newest chapbooks (mentioned below)and will have a few copies of each with me for sale.

My poetry chapbook red flames burning out (Grey Book Press, April 2023)

red flames burning out is available from Grey Book Press HERE - http://www.greybookpress.com/titles/

It is also available in my own Blood Pudding Press shop HERE - https://www.etsy.com/listing/1474135657/new-red-flames-burning-out-a-poetry

It will also be available at Saturday's reading. My poetry chapbook CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR (Gutter Snob Books, July 2023)

CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR is available from The Magical Jeep HERE - https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/doom/140

It is also available from Amazon HERE - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3KE6QSri7SdVZ9EvZet0EuUhju862Ju9jlnhpWqUiPlZ8tSi7Qce0z0TE

It is also available in my own Blood Pudding Press shop HERE - https://www.etsy.com/listing/1527609127/new-contorted-doom-conveyor-a-poetry

It will also be available at Saturday's reading. (doom bunny not included with purchase)

Stuck in the basement with dead feet and eyes...

Disconcerting dream last night in which I was downstairs in a dank basement and had fallen asleep on the floor. The basement itself was not horrific, it looked like the basement in my parent's home. I don't know why I was sleeping down there though. (In real life, when I was a kid/teenager still living in my parent's home, I would sometimes go down into the basement to be by myself. To poke around at potentially interesting stuff, mostly books that might have been considered inappropriate for my age at the time, so I'd read them downstairs in the basement. The Exorcist for example. I remember finding that book in the basement and reading it. I also sometimes used the downstairs space to walk around in circles and tell creative stories inside my head, before I had reached the point where I could extract the creative thoughts/words in my head onto paper). So I don't have many bad memories about my parent's basement, because it seemed like a place where I could do what I wanted, because nobody else was there.But in the dream, I was an adult asleep in my parent's basement for an unknown reason and it became disturbing and disconcerting when I couldn't get up. I heard my (dead) dog whimpering from the shut door upstairs and I realized he was probably worried about me or needed to be taken outside. I tried to open my eyes and tried to stand up so I could climb back upstairs and care for him, but my feet wouldn't work. When I quickly fell back down the first time, my initial reaction was that it was just a fluke because I wasn't very awake yet and had tried to stand up too quickly.But then I tried to stand up again and fell back down again. Several times I tried and kept falling back down on the ground. I started to panic, because it seemed like neither of my feet worked anymore. I also couldn't see very well either and at first I thought that was just because the basement was dark, but then I realized it was because I couldn't seem to open my own eyes all the way or my eyes weren't working anymore. So suddenly both feet and both eyes had lost the powers or abilities that tend to be taken for granted. I still had to try to manage a way to get upstairs and help my dog, but I couldn't walk normally and couldn't see normally and nobody was there to help me. I tried to tell my dog I was coming, but he just kept whimpering. Last thing I remember is that even though I still couldn't walk or see normally, I somehow managed to slowly stagger my way to the staircase and start clutching the handles on each side and forcing myself up step by step. Then my alarm woke me up before I found out if I could make it all the way up the stairs. (Maybe the vision issues in the dream were partly because I was trying to wake myself up from the dream, but couldn't until my alarm went off. But it all felt rather unsettling, depressing and doom-ish on a variety of levels...)...

A photo of the moon looking pink and pretty...

A photo of the moon, August 1, 2023, a bit before midnight...

Here's what I read about the August 1 moon:

"The astronomical event, dubbed the Full Sturgeon Moon, is set to take place on Tuesday, August 1, 2023, at 2:31 p.m. EDT or 7:31 p.m. UTC. This phenomenon will be one of two supermoons in 2023 and will also be the Full Moon in Aquarius."

I took quite a few photos in three different phases in the course of a little over an hour I think (a little after 11:00 PM until a little after midnight, I think).

I took a lot because I didn't think they'd turn out very well and wasn't sure I'd capture the pink color, but they turned out better than expected, so I'm sharing one here...
pink moon

It's Raining Centipedes...

Woke up about an hour before my alarm was set for me to get up today and started unexpectedly writing some poem lines. That hasn't happened in a while, so I ended up feeling excited and energized enough to get up about half an hour before I had planned to so that I could try to finish the poem.
I think I finished it, but it feels even weirder and more WTF than usual and includes centipedes (among other things) and also the last collaborative poem I was working on included centipedes too, not sure where these centipedes are coming from, but at least they're not dolls (or are they?).

While working on the new weird poem, I noticed this other new poem (completed? in-progress? I don't know yet...)...that I must have written a few days ago and then forgotten about. Me and my out-of-whack brain waves, but I'm happy I have two new almost done poems and a few collaborative poems in progress and I'm sorry I'm behind on almost everything else.

Oh and I ended up incorporating a recently acquired word for a certain foot deformity into today's centipede poem, so I'm pretty sure that's something new.

Then I semi-randomly looked up centipede socks and found some.
Then it started pouring rain (and thunder and lightning) and maybe that's because my new poem is called "It's Raining Centipedes".

I also found out about Sinéad O'Connor dying (at only age 56), which makes me sad.

She was one of my favorite singers back when I was in high school (and beyond). I loved her first two albums, at the time I felt like I didn't know anyone else who was as into her music as I was, so my Dad went to one of her concerts with me. In later years, I saw her perform at one of the Lilith Fair concerts, attended with my sisters, and she was wonderful.

Sinéad O'Connor  singing Troy (Live) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1lV21J75vFE 

Me and my doom bunny holding my CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR!

Me and my doom bunny holding my CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR.

***
"Try this pill until you run out of power.Let your body and brain get usedto this manufacturer's version of this pill,and then you will be switched to another like your brain is just a light switchlike your brain is just a pluglike your brain is just a hole in the wall hotel room with a bath tub that doesn't work anymore.So you either die underwater or elseyou'll have to handle new pill side effects againand again and again and again and again.Sometimes I feel like I'm on a bad dream carousel,moving in rickety circles, taking turnssitting on different unnatural broken animals."in the poem "INDUSTRIAL CAROUSEL" in my new poetry chapbook, CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR, published by Gutter Snob Books in July 2023.
get it HERE - https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/doom/140

or get it HERE - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3KE6QSri7SdVZ9EvZet0EuUhju862Ju9jlnhpWqUiPlZ8tSi7Qce0z0TE

or please feel free to let me know if you'd like to acquire a copy directly from me...

More of my CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR!

"You can't throw away an open wound.You can't stop it from dripping until it pours
down every ceiling in this house, every room you enter
even though you pretend to feel safe and able to stick
it into one room's drain. What if that drain never unclogs?"

in the poem "THROWING IT AWAY DOESN'T MEAN IT DIDN'T HAPPEN" in my new poetry chapbook, CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR, published by Gutter Snob Books in July 2023.

A photo of my new poetry chapbook, CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR (underneath a light purple skull head), which is newly available from Gutter Snob Books.

get it HERE - https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/doom/140

or get it HERE - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3KE6QSri7SdVZ9EvZet0EuUhju862Ju9jlnhpWqUiPlZ8tSi7Qce0z0TE

or please feel free to let me know if you'd like to acquire a copy directly from me...

"I can tell you the leeches and parasites inside me / have always joined forces with confetti" (inside my CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR)...

"I can tell you the leeches and parasites inside me
have always joined forces with confetti.
My glittery brain waves rip the bandages off,
bite back, then cover the wounds with more words.

My mental kaleidoscope collides with another Martini.
I like it sweet and I like it strong. My drinking buddy
is a hot pink narwhal named Mister Melodramatosis."

the beginning of the first poem, "With a Cherry on Top of His Tusk" inside my new poetry chapbook, "CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR", newly available from Gutter Snob Books!

get it HERE (as of right now, there are only 3 copies remaining here) - https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/doom/140

or get it HERE - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3KE6QSri7SdVZ9EvZet0EuUhju862Ju9jlnhpWqUiPlZ8tSi7Qce0z0TE

or let me know if you'd like to acquire a copy directly from me...

Another new comment about my CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR poetry chapbook!

"I’ve been a fan of Juliet Cook’s poetry for a long while, but her latest book from Gutter Snob Books is nothing short of brilliant. Full of metaphors that’ll make your head spin, and brave honesty that makes you want to dig deeper within your own heart. Some of the most poignant poetry you’ll read this year."Dan Denton's thoughts on my new poetry chapbook, CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR (Gutter Snob Books)!

CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR is now available via Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3EXO41KfukDQTv7b_jaYyLQhGUJhWAM6sKTGF516b02RbOSy9CV0w_ER4

Or if you'd like to acquire one directly from me, just let me know. It costs $13 plus $3.95 shipping for a total of $16.95.

photo by Dan Denton

A NEW review of my "CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR" poetry chapbook!

Thank you very much to James Lawson Moore for his new review of my new poetry chapbook, "CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR", newly published by Gutter Snob Books!

"Juliet Cook’s latest chapbook, “Contorted Doom Conveyor,” is a brilliant attempt at misdirection. Through deceptively simply structured verses the author uses deceptively bubblegum-induced imagery to describe the passions, the longings, and the inner demons of a war torn mind. The war is fought completely on the internal—the soul at war with itself as it seeks comfort from the madness. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. Please check it out."

CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR is now available via Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/Contorted-Doom-Conveyor-Gutter-Books/dp/B0C6W7C2HV/?fbclid=IwAR3EXO41KfukDQTv7b_jaYyLQhGUJhWAM6sKTGF516b02RbOSy9CV0w_ER4

Or if you'd like to acquire one directly from me, that's a possibility too. Just let me know. It costs $13 plus $3.95 shipping for a total of $16.95.

My copies of CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR have arrived!

I received my author copies of my latest poetry chapbook, CONTORTED DOOM CONVEYOR (Gutter Snob Books) in the mail!

I also received some preordered copies to sign and send back to the publisher!

Those interested who haven't yet acquired a copy can acquire a copy here (they'll be shipping out next month, July 2023) - https://www.magicaljeep.com/product/doom/140

Or if you'd like to acquire one directly from me, that's a possibility too. Just let me know. It costs $13 plus $3.95 shipping for a total of $16.95.