Lorine Niedecker Historical Marker

The period from which the latest batch of American Sentences is taken has now been added to the page for 2012 American Sentence highlights. Starting in early July, these recent sentences include the visit of my Father-in-Law to Seattle, our road trip to Minneapolis, Black Hawk Island (to see Lorine Niedecker’s cabin), Chicago and back and end with a poem inspired in part by seeing Dharmamitra at Teahouse Kuan Yin. He is busy translating the Flower Ornament Scripture. Feedback is always welcome. As usual, I err on the side of including sentences as they often have a journal/memory function. Enjoy:

7.9.12 – Those black walnuts wouldn’t drop in July if they weren’t immature.

7.19.12 – The manicurist won’t let me take my clipped cuticles to go.

7.21.12 – Joe & his Vietnam war tales of pizza & brandied spam.

7.22.12 – Why did the cat lick its own ass? To get the urp taste out of his mouth.

8.4.12 – At Milutis’ party, poets play badminton w/o a net.

8.5.12 – My head & hat only the first layer of landscape @ Ross Lake.

8.6.12 – I told them “we saw pictures of him when he was a little girl.”

8.8.12 – One anagram for Paul Everett Nelson: venereal pole stunt.

8.10.12 – The bad saxophone busker playing: Killing Me Softly With His Song.

8.17.12 – A man’s dilemma: first protect the Panama Hat or the baby?

8.25.12 – Performers performing for other performers on their way to perform.

8.29.12 – Last two postcard poems get mailed, now what will I use to shade Ella’s face?

9.3.12 – Monday’s sunset rays make a surrogate sun of the neighbor’s birdfeeder.

9.4.12 – She tells us about her upcoming science course: “Something about rocks.”

9.9.12 – Border Patrol: Perfecting bureaucracy one cavity search at a time.

9.13.12 – At the Miles City gas station: corn dogs, pop tarts & rock stars.

9.14.12 – The shine it makes when hitting highway pavement – bag of vomited 7UP.

PN At Lorine Niedecker’s Cabin

9.17.12 – At Black Hawk Island, once inside her cabin Lorine thunders “hello.”

9.18.12 – I don’t know what it means when they store the root beer kegs in the men’s room.

9.20.12 – Said to Chicago bike cops: “Can’t afford horses?” – (mumbled – “You be the horse.”)

9.22.12 – Wake up to see Barb sleeping on the floor on a mattress of bathmats.

9.24.12 – Standing in the shower wondering when my sandal tan will fade.

9.25.12 – Governor Walker ain’t for scab refs when they fuck over the Packers.

9.26.12 – Her voice never higher pitched than her first site of Badlands prairie dogs.

9.27.12 – Highway sign said: Caution Wildlife Crossing not Caution Midlife Crisis.

10.3.12 – She has her Mom’s profile, her Grandfather’s ears, Grandmother’s eyebrows, my mouth.

9.30.12 – Harvest Moon corona for a moment, until the dogs start barking.

10.1.12 – Lake Washington leaves escape everything but my headlights.

10.4.12 – Someone chopped off half of the highway sign & so it said “Odinville.”

10.5.12 – Too wired on Hua-yen & white tea to see the tailgating moon.