3:15 Experiment Poem: The County Fair
why is it during the day I have
Ideas about what to write and
at night I ghost blanks
—
after the fair
the county fair
is over–
the grand finale fireworks fades
they’re turning out the light on the ferris wheel
unleashing the bungee jump
the baby lambs go home
the pigs go to slaughter
the four hit wonders say goodbye
after the fair is over
who eats all the blue ribbon pies
and what about the cases of avocados tomatoes lettuce
who is fed by this salad
do the cherry tomatoes roll across the floor or a tongue
does the giant pumpkin go home
with the biggest zuccini?
Does the corn hook up with the
carrots and limas for succotash?
The cut roses find a secret tryst?
Who gets a new lawn from the sod?
Do the plants go back to nurseries or find themselves yards?
August 12, 2002
from Love & Terror at 3:15am: poems from the 3:15 Experiment 2001-2008
More information or to join this year’s experiment here.
Take a ride on the Poetry Train or check out ReadWritePoem!
My New Writing Project
I started a new writing project 08-08-08; at least once a week until 09-09-09 (at least 54 times in 13 moons) I loop from my house down San Jon Barranca to the Beach, then along Harbor to the Pier/Wharf to the River, up the River to Main Street and Art City and the Yoga Studio, down Main Street to San Jon Barranca and home.
I intend to observe and write about the present conditions–the seasons, the actions, the interactions–and integrate and incorporate the past–both natural and cultural history. Each week I will travel my loop and back in time 50 years, then 500, then 5000, etc.
There’s more to it, but that’s the basic plan!
I’m 21! 21,000 blog hits & Luchador to celebrate!
That’s 21,001 hits as of this minute! I can drink now! Whoo-hoo! Good thing I’m legal since I consumed quite a bit of wine, like the Luchadore below, tonight at the Animal Fair Party!
My favorite of course was an Aussie shiraz–R Winery’s 
Luchador Shiraz 2006! Pictured is “El Jefe;” we drank “Gigante”–there’s 4 different Luchadors to choose from! No surprise this came from Grateful Palate Imports and was PERFECT for the tritip BBQ, roasted corn, chili beans! Luchador shiraz can stand up to ANYTHING you might throw at it since it has so much flavor, liveliness, PERSONALITY! We were battling for the bottle, I admit! At 15.5% alcohol, it’s a tad hot (and I didn’t get a chance to cool it a bit before we drank it), but remarkably well-balanced (at least that’s what several people remarked!) And what a conversation starter! Seemed like everybody there had at least a taste as we shared glasses and conversation amongst good friends (like, wow, this is really good! for example…). You can find it for about $15, which is a great price for a wine with this much pizzazz. But hey, it’s a Chris Ringland wine–what else would you expect??
Plus I had some Red Jest, a great American bargain blend at $3 from Trader Joe’s! Definitely going back for more of this lovely, easy to drink (especially at that price!) wine! And the label was fun for the evening too. Tasted an American syrah from Radonovich Winery (good but mmmm love those Barossa Valley shiraz!) and sipped a little Velvet Moon Cab (value priced at $6 at Trader Joe’s). Split a yummy Kennebunkport blueberry wheat beer, AND carried and drank a homemade ginger-lemonade tequila-gran marnier margarita down to the beach for the fireworks (in my leopard print skirt and pill box hat! really!). Started the party off with an iced coffee with coffee liquor and irish cream! All things in moderation–hic (just kidding).
Thanks for helping me get
to 21!
Tiled over by travertine: it’s all about the tools
After I bought my major fixer-upper house in 2001, my first project was remodeling a bathroom. I redesigned it to accomodate my washer/dryer (the gas dryer had been in the kitchen for 5 years!), and to take out an awful shower insert and replace it with a clawfoot tub which we refurbished. I found a lovely purple tile in Taos and so this is now the purple bathroom. I took my first bath in the tub the night I gave birth to my son in 2003. Read more…
3:15 Experiment Poem 8/18/06: words for the dodo
something about writing the date at 3:15am
makes you feel how fast the days go by
it’s not the same as writing the date
on a check–too many distractions
perhaps it is the malodorous whiff
of the passage of time itself
experienced by marking time
night after night in the
quiet breath of 3:15am
on the one hand opportunity
for grace for words not your own
to spill forth & trouble the page
on the other the terrible temptation
to turn off the alarm & turn over
each night an opportunity gained & lost
each night an opportunity briefly weighed
as light goes on
as pen touches down
as date is recorded
as seconds tick by
as cool night air flows in &
transforms into breath & words
that may or may not
make it to the page
be birthed into the world
be remembered be shared
be driven into day
they belong only to that silent moment
eyes close head body hand pauses
poem takes flight
words do not always belong
to the Wright Brothers
but instead to the dodo
beautiful
important
extinct
This poem was written at 315am August 18, 2006 as part of the 3:15 Experiment started at Naropa in 1993 by Danika Dinsmore & Bernadette Mayer.
Join the 315 Experiment August 2008 here.
Don’t join the dodo!
PS I hope to get a you tube up on this one soon!
3:15 Experiment Poem: 8/04/02 Jasmine & Jaguar plus YouTube
August 4, 2002 3:15am
the night blooming jasmine’s scent
climbs the walls finds the window
jumps inside invades my bed
like the tide it is stronger
certain times of the evening
right after dusk like the datura
it muscles its way in
it spends the year preparing
for this gathering its energy
then pouring it out
summer in a burst
if driving the freeways now
top down be prepared
it can go freeway speeds
overwhelm you with desire
knock you out with fragrance
be careful too at home
combined with gardenia tuberose
your dreams jungle like
tropical you become
a jaguar awake in the
morning disturbed aroused
charged the heady scent
in your self conscious
causing your ego to make demands
to know no limits
the jasmine’s power in your
blood having traveled the
oxygen in your cells
changing you forever
This is a poem from the 3:15 Experiment where crazy poets everywhere wake to write in the middle of the night, half awake, half asleep. To join us, to learn more, or to read other 315 poems, go here.
It’s also posted in response to the prompt from readwritepoem to write about smell, and you’re invited to take a ride on the Poetry Train!
Wish me luck–I’m trying to get this up with audio/musical/art track via garage band and whatever else I can find!
AUGUST 4 update–Click below to view the you tube I made of the poem with music and images!
I’m in LOVE! w/my MacBookPro & iPod Touch!!
My old MacBook fell, went boom, and the screen looks like someone shot it and it bled blue…a long slow death, the blue blood oozing across the screen in a cobwebby pattern, the pattern growing with time, a blue blob growing, eating up my productivity, eating up my desk icons, my pull-down menus, my dashboard…I was blogging blind!
Finally finally finally I broke down and bought myself a new laptop. I splurged on a MacBookPro which I bought through the Apple store. Using my educational discount ($100 on this model), I also got rebates on a new printer and an iPod Touch. The MacBookPro arrived at my door within 48 hours, and the iPod the next day, just in time to learn how to use it and set it at 3:15am to wake me to write for the 3:15 experiment! I admit I was a virgin when it came to these machines…let me just tell you that they incredibly beautiful, sleek, and seductive–a saphire gin martini up with a twist…Now I’m jonesing for a G3. sigh*
MacBookPro comes with iLife, a package which includes Garage Band. Last night, I taught myself how to use it. I recorded two poems with music, as well as a really swinging rockabilly song! I recorded the poem in the post previous to this and the poem in the post following this one.
The challenge now is to figure out how to get them liberated from my laptop and unleash them on the web!
Any tips??? Help!
3:15am Weds Aug 10, 2005
this writing practice
in the middle of the
night
at 315
is a lesson in
impulse
this is not a time to
think so hard but of
first thoughts not
thoughts on thoughts
at 315 in the morning
you’re too sleepy to
bother to do anything
else–and if you
do think too hard
casting about your mind
searching for something
to write about
rejecting this idea and that
you will be up for
too long
you will never get
any sleep
you will never
catch any poems
either
I am doing the 3:15 experiment again this August; for more details or to join go here
I will be posting 3:15 poems form past years, especially those which pertain to doing the 3:15 experiment in the hopes that I can convince you to join me!
We Went to the Animal Fair
We went to the Animal Fair
The Birds and the Beasts were there
The Big Baboon by the light of the moon
was combing his auburn hair
You should have seen the monk
he climbed up the elephant’s trunk
the elephant sneezed and fell on his knees
and what became of the monk? the monk?
and what became of the monk?
http://ksolo.myspace.com/music/Children-s-Fun-Songs/Animal-Fair
sing along!
(Kids singing the song in case you forgot the tune or need some kid energy…)
We haven’t been to the Ventucky County Fair yet this year. We will, for sure, like we do every year, and see animals and visit the building named after my great grandfather, Elmer Paquette. His name is painted above the doorway. Maybe next year I will laminate a story with photos about him and post it so people will know that Elmer Paquette was a real person who moved to town in 1906 and was a barber and then a caretaker of Seaside Park where they hold the fair every year.
We live close enough that we can hear the fireworks go off every night at 10pm. I used to ride my bike down to the beach every night to watch them; now with a child, it is harder to do that with his bedtime and all, and the trees have grown up enough in the 10 years I’ve lived here that I can’t see them very well from out front of my house.
Every year for the past 11 years, I have had a preBurning Man costume party on a Saturday night during the fair where we parade down from my house to the beach to watch the fireworks go off over the ocean. This year of course the party theme is ANIMAL FAIR, and we’re encouraging people dress as inspired by the song. Prizes! Prizes! Prizes! and possibly some notoriety. It’s the second Saturday this year; potluck, BBQ, dancing, shenanigans galore and lots of kids running around like the happy little wild things they are.
So break out that playa animal finery and come on over anytime after 5pm! If you have too much to drink, you are welcome to sleep over in the back yard or on the deck, and have pancakes and clean-up with us!
RSVP below and let us know what you will be bringing (Hint: we are particularly fond of sparkling red Aussie shiraz! Which reminds me you may know a different version of Animal Fair with these lines: The monkey he got drunk/he slipped on the elephant’s trunk…
art predator 