Julia Vinograd

put a food stamp on this poem and eat it.

Hello Friends,

I’m going to cheat a little bit today and send you a series of short poems (instead of just one poem) by my favorite street poet, Julia Vinograd. These excerpts are from her collection Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.

Enjoy.
Ellen

SPRING

There’s coke
in the spoon
of June.

■

GRAFFITTI

Bathrooms inspire me.
I write my best poems
with my pants down.

■

BOREDOM

We repeat ourselves
helplessly
like hiccups.

■

WIFE

She hangs his laundry
out to dry
between her thighs.

■

THE F.B.I.

Not even lovers
look so close
and see so little.

■

HITCH-HIKING

Couples don’t stop.
They have their own problems.

■

HARD TIMES

put a food stamp on this poem
and eat it.

■

STREET MORALITY

Everything is permitted,
but nothing is taken seriously.

■

WHAT NOW?

We’ve forgotten the rules
we were trying to break.

■

Poet Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011, Poem-a-Day April 12, 2009, and Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.

Poem-a-Day April 10: Hands Wide Shut

Prayer

Dear Lord
Show me
The way—
Take
My heart
And throw
It away

Lord, take
My heart
And throw
It out

Lord, throw
My heart
Way out

Hello Friends,

When you read poet Robert Glück’s “Prayer,” do you picture hands closed in prayer, or hands wide open in prayer?

There’s something of Kay Ryan in the cadence over these short choppy lines. I’m also reminded of a handful of other prayer-related poem-a-days from past Aprils: Julia Vinograd’s “Ballad,” Maia McAleavey’s “This is not a love poem, 1895,” and Kathleen Peirce’s “Object Tension.”

I hope you’re enjoying National Poetry Month! If not, don’t forget to submit your unsubscribe request in the form of a heroic couplet.

Thanks,
Ellen

Poem-a-Day April 26: Blame Picasso.

Hello Friends —

I’m happy to report Operation Distribute Pocket Poems in Long Beach was a success! I hope you enjoyed Poem in Your Pocket Day in your own way.

Today’s poem is by the unofficial poet laureate of Berkeley, California, Julia Vinograd — who has been blowing bubbles and recording street life on Telegraph Avenue for the past 40 years. She also holds an MFA from the University of Iowa (that’s like the poetry equivalent of an MBA from Harvard, very fancypants prestigious).

Sometimes reading hurts —
Ellen

WHAT PICASSO DID TO ME

I got this big thick heavy hardcover Picasso book
with pictures, platitudes, basically poundage
and carrying it home I pulled a muscle in my wrist.
My right hand’s gone cubist,
angles askew as Picasso’s women
crying into pointed teeth and sideways jaws.
My wrist throbs with the last scream of Guernica;
I’ve become too historical to haul myself into a bus
or pour tea,
I even use my other hand in the bathroom.
Picasso’s painted me into a corner
where the blind man sits
pulling my muscle on his blue guitar.
In the bullring my wrist’s already trampled
into the bloody sand
among thrown Spanish roses and oranges.
Neither bull nor matador know I’m alive
but I am alive, my wrist hurts.
The wars got into my wrist,
it’s all in the wrist.
Picasso’s using my wrist to paint
curly women and naked minotaurs
and I want my wrist back.
I’d like to throw the book at Picasso,
I want out of his book that bit me,
I’ve got an ace bandage and a grudge
while cubist tears roll down billboard faces.
So the paint won’t leak out. Or the pain.
Or the world spilling out of my wrist, hurting.

Poem-a-Day, April 25: Berkeley Street Cannibals

BALLAD

Tell me the evening,
tell me the day,
and tell the night
to stay away.

Tell me a story,
tell me a game,
tell me everything
except my name.

Tell me a picture,
tell me a song,
tell me what
went wrong.

Hello Friends,
Along with being one of the most ancient poetic forms, the ballad is also one of the most universal: it pre-dates the written word and can be found across almost every language, every country, every culture, and every century. Today’s balladeer is the street poet Julia Vinograd, from her collection Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.
Enjoy.
Ellen

“Ballad” by Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 12, 2009.
Poet Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.

Poem-a-Day, April 12: Berkeley Street Cannibals

BALLAD

Tell me the evening,
tell me the day,
and tell the night
to stay away.

Tell me a story,
tell me a game,
tell me everything
except my name.

Tell me a picture,
tell me a song,
tell me what
went wrong.

Hello Friends,

Today’s balladeer is Julia Vinograd, from Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.

The ballad form pre-dates the written word and is firmly rooted in the oral traditions of storytelling and song. Along with being one of the most ancient, the ballad is also one of the most universal poetic forms: it can be found across almost every language, every country, every culture, and every century — right on through twentieth century Berkeley, California.

April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. If you wish to be unsubscribed from this Poem-a-Day email list at any time, please reply to this email with a friendly unsubscribe request (preferably in heroic couplet form). You may also request to add a consenting friend to the list, or even nominate a poem.

To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.

Enjoy.
Ellen

“Ballad” by Julia Vinograd was also featured for Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011.
Poet Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 20, 2007.

Poem-a-Day, April 20: shorter than haiku

DOWNHILL

I don’t have a home
and I live there
all the time.

Hello Friends —

Today’s poem is by Julia Vinograd, from Berkeley Street Cannibals: Selected Poems, 1969-1976.

April is National Poetry Month, and I am celebrating by emailing out my own eclectic selection of one poem per day for the duration of the month. If you wish to be unsubscribed from this Poem-a-Day email list at any time, please reply to this email with a friendly unsubscribe request (preferably in heroic couplet form). You may also request to add a consenting friend to the list, or even nominate a poem.

To learn more about National Poetry Month, or to subscribe to a more official-like Poem-a-Day list, visit www.poets.org.

Enjoy.
Ellen

Poems by Julia Vinograd were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 12, 2009 and Poem-a-Day April 25, 2011.
Poems shorter than haiku were also featured for Poem-a-Day April 5, 2008; Poem-a-Day April 14, 2008; and Poem-a-Day April 2, 2009.