Michael Spring poetry page
from books: blue crow (Lit Pot Press, Inc.), and Mudsong (Pygmy Forest Press)
the woman Miles Davis turned down
she was that bruised
note
he was
looking for:
something to put into his mouth --
a sound as blue as Sugar
Ray Robinson's shadow
dance before crushing
LaMotta against the ropes --
but slow, round
as Jack Johnson's barreling
moan when he met a woman like her
oh, yeah
she was a match for him
and there he was
walking along the edge
of a lake front
thinking of her --
the taste of her lips
before he told her maybe
another time --
he knew what he was doing
she was the jass in jasmine
the last opiate of flesh
the leaves of mullein --
no, the green purr mullein would make
if it were a sound
(first appeared in Sulphur River Literary Review)
surrealist in time
there are no more trees
to pull out of his body
each hole bulges with an eye
like a ripe morning attracting
swarms of clocks and watches
he closes his eyes
and becomes nothing more
than a clay quarry
he hears the artists of the new world
marching across his forehead
dragging and clanging their giant spoons
they know what time it is
they are hungry
(first appeared in Midwest Quarterly)
what do you want?
when you said you wanted
a tree
I ran to the nursery
and bought a sapling
when you said, no
you meant firewood
for the winter
I said I am
the very tree you want
and handed you the ax
(first appeared in Literary Potpourri)
mud song
I walked past the Oregon ash
and cattails
through the soggy fields
of tufted hairgrass
to slow my thoughts
on cobra lilies and sphagnum moss
I've decided
I'm going to dedicate my life
to this field
and to its swamps and bogs
I'm finally listening
to the prophet of worms
and the gospel of mycelium and rock
and there the turtle's mantra
and there the song that mud makes!
it rises like fog through my body
I'm on my hands and knees
watching as they disappear into the mud
I'm changing into a bear
or a stump or clump of berries
no, I'm changing into a root
or tongue or tentacle
(first appeared in Iota)
Dendrocalamus asper
so this is what its like
to rise above the earth
rhizomes sending shoots
through the bony mud
of my body
culms tunneling
through my heart
and brain
mist from clouds
sweep over me
I like the metallic taste
of electricity on my tongue
my fingers are the leaves
one hundred feet
off the ground
I no longer want wings
(first appeared in The Pedestal Magazine)
cob house
"building with cob is like growing a tree"
Ianto Evans
we will build our house
with cob
on the south-facing slope
below the maples and firs
brimming with birdsong
overlooking the mint and mudflowers
where the dragonflies
are blue-green slivers
of lightning
flashing from the cattails
and rosehips and rushes
we will sculpt our house
amorphously
coalesce
rather than construct
build the walls the way a tree
grows
allow the windows
to appear
with the intelligence
of branches
already we are treading with bare feet
shuffling through the mixture
of clay, sand, water and straw
feeling the sun on our skin
and the sweat
running rivulets down
the steep terrains of our backs
we are stomping and mashing
dancing the mix into cob
allowing our bodies to know
the elements
we are working with
soon our hands will knead
and form it into loaves
soon we will tear off a piece
with our teeth
and taste the gritty resolve
(first appeared in the Cob Web)
the pickaxe
the pickax we used
to carve the curvilinear trench
for our cob house
sleeps
behind the rock pile
like some prehistoric
bird
beak down
in the red clay
it is trying to escape
the sounds
of engines and clocks
and the voices
in radios and telephones
but we haven't forgotten
that our hands
are its wings
and we will use it again
flying
without machines
into the earth
(first appeared in The Pedestal Magazine)
books and chapbooks
poetry chapbooks:
Moving Through Stone, published by Cyrano Press (1999). Finalist for Northwest Writers Coalition Small Press Poetry Award. Limited copies only available at the Book Bin in Corvallis, OR. 541-752-0040
Edge of Blue, published by Siski Press (2002) is available for $7.00. Also includes line drawings by author.
poetry books:
Blue Crow, selected for the Literary Potpourri Poetry Series (2003). $10.00.
for more info, visit:
http://www.litpotpress.com/Spring/Spring.html
-- REVIEW by Terri Brown-Davidson in The Pedestal Magazine:
http://thepedestalmagazine.com/Secure/Content/cb.asp?cbid=3528
blue crow was nominated for several awards, including The Norma Farber First Book Award.
blue crow has recently been translatted into Portuguese by students at the University of the Azores. A bilingual edition is forthcoming by The University of Azores and Brown Univesity.
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Mudsong, his second book of poems, has been published by Pygmy Forest Press, 2005.
available for $12
(a selection of Mudsong won The 2004 Robert Graves Award sponsored by Imago Poetry/UK)
for more info: Contact michael at bluecrow_4@yahoo.com
visit:
ourworld.cs.com/mudsongpoetry/myhomepage/favorite.html
REVIEW of Mudsong by Collin Kelley in The Pedestal Magazine http://www.thepedestalmagazine.com/Secure/Content/cb.asp?cbid=4732
Mudsong has been nominated for The American Book Award
bio, etc.
Michael Spring currently lives near the Oregon Caves, OR. In the past, Michael has worked many jobs: in a group home for adults with mental and physical disabilities; a counselor for abused and neglected children; a martial arts instructor; a line cook; a small press editor; and a used book buyer. In 2000, he was Fishtrap's Writer-in-residence.
Michael is a natural builder with cob. He also works as a poetry editor and teacher. He co-edits Riven Poetry Journal with Eric Dickey (see the links below). In the early 90s, he and paul notzka published and edited the now defunct, but energetc magazine "open unison stop" and Paisley Moon Press. Michael has also spent many years as a poetry promotor and events coordinator, for such orginizations as: The Blue Moon Cafe, da Vinci Days Festival, Earth Day, Corvallis Folk Festival, and the Willamette Literary Guild.
He recently won The 2004 Robert Graves Award (Imago Poetry/UK).
Michael's poems have appeared in numerous international and national publications. Following is a list of some favorite places his poems have appeared or are forthcoming:
Ascent (Canada), Atlanta Review, ART/LIFE, Black Bear Review, Bogg, California Quarterly, Chiron Review, Dublin Quarterly (Ireland), Electric Acorn (Ireland), Fireweed, Green Fuse, Haight Ashbury Literary Journal, Imago Poetry-The 2004 Robert Graves Award (UK), Iota (UK), Japanophile, Literary Potpourri, m.a.g, Main Street Rag, Midwest Quarterly, Minotaur, NEO (Azores, Portugal), The New Imagist (Ireland), Northwest Literary Forum, Octavo Poetry Quarterly, the Oregonian, Painted Moon Review, Paris/Atlantic (France), Pedestal Magazine, Pierian Springs, Pittsburgh Quarterly, Poems Niederngasse (SW), Poetry Motel, Poetry Now, psychopoetica (UK), Pulsar Poetry Magazine (UK), Rain City Review, Raintown Review, Raven Chronicles, Saber Azores/SAAL (Azores, Portugal), sidereality, Snow Monkey, Southern Ocean Review (NZ), Steelhead Special, Stirring, Sulphur River Literary Review, Talking Leaves, Talus & Scree, To Topos Poetry International, Tule Review, Verse Libre Quarterly, Verve, West Wind Review.
Michael also draws and paints. He has his first feature as an artist appeared in Literary Potpourri. Although this was his first appearance "with color", he's had line drawings published in several small press magazines. His first public show appeared in Cave Junction at the Blue Moon Cafe.
michael's email: bluecrow_4@yahoo.com
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((author photo by Danene))
this page last updated August 2005
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