Here are eight days' worth of poems in The Stafford Challenge. All shadormas, like in the last post — nine of them.
On Day 116, 12 May 2025, continuing with shadormas. I bought this bass because I'm having surgery in ten days and my doc said I couldn't carry more than 10 pounds during my recovery. Basses are often heavier than that, but not this one.
New Bass: Six-String Longhorn
New turquoise
Jerry Jones Bass VI.
Having it
converted
to BEADGC.
Gonna be sweet. Rock!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
The letters in the penultimate line refer to tuning, from lowest string to highest. The bass is currently tuned to E standard (EADGBE) one octave lower than a guitar. After it's converted, the lowest string will be 5 semitones lower, tuned like a 5-string bass with an extra higher string.
On Day 117, 13 May 2025, our Stafford Challenge small group had a Zoom meeting this morning where we wrote for seven minutes and shared. I wrote a longish paragraph about a visual memory and then ended with a shadorma. Here it is, slightly edited.
In Morning Sun
Glowing disk,
corner of my eye,
gold halo
on the wall,
bright wheel of thin laser beams,
some small spider's home.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Here's a picture that looks a lot like what I saw that morning in the early '90s.
On Day 118, 14 May 2025, shadorma again today. They're addicting! Looked out the window for this one.
Time
Old willow
outside hangs green leaves.
Long twigs sway.
Up high, dead
branches. What has this tree glimpsed
over its long years?
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
On Day 119, 15 May 2025, today's shadorma is on the same topic as yesterday's — the willow tree in my partner Renee's backyard. I found out today that it grew from the side of the stump of a willow that had been felled thirty or more years ago. The phrase "long years" alludes to yesterday's poem.
Phoenix
This willow
was resurrected,
it turns out.
She grew from
a cut-down old willow's stump,
her long years doubled.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Here's a picture of the willow tree's trunk. The stump it grew from was where the greenery is in the foreground. The stump is now gone, disintegrated over several decades since the old tree was cut down and the new tree (now old) has grown.
On Day 120, 16 May 2025, using Robert Lee Brewer's Write Better Poetry Wednesday prompt 738 from this week: "a sleep poem." Again, a shadorma, using some strong enjambments.
Dreamless
Deep sleep . . . dream?
Gone. A faint feeling
that something
happened, then
faded. Car . . . hill . . . rain . . . sliding . . .
what? Sleep slip per y . . .
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
On Day 121, 17 May 2025, had writer's block today, so did the Stafford thing for today's shadorma.
Bill's Advice
Writer's block?
Lower your standards.
Still got it?
Just lower
them some more. William Stafford,
that's genius. It works!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
On Day 122, 18 May 2025, rote this shadorma in a moving car . . . very literal!
Heading to a Gig
Caravan
on the road again:
world-famous
Byron's Bar
in Pomeroy. Deja Blue
rarin' to rock out!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Actual photo from the road just now. Our band gear
is in that van up ahead, driven by our saxophonist. |
Here are photos of the flyers from Byron's for our show tonight:
On Day 123, 19 May 2025, yup, it's a shadorma! The line breaks ended up being very useful!
On an Online Article About the
4 Signs of Unconditional Love
The first sign:
"Having your boo's back!"
Renee loves
washing my back.
I love to soap hers. Our love's
unconditional!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
I wrote two shadormas today. In The Stafford Challenge facebook group, people were writing hippo poems. Here's mine. I've been sticking to one poem a day in the group, but what the hey.
Syllables
The count in
"hippopotamus"
is just right
for — uh-huh! —
shadormas. Exactly five:
"hippopotamus"!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
And in addition, an internal rhyme between "shadormas" and "hippopotamus." Woo-hoo!
On Day 124, 20 May 2025, a primer on the shadorma, in the shape of a shadorma.
How to Write a Shadorma
It's easy.
Just count syllables:
3 5 3
3 7
5. But be eloquent — fast —
'cause there's not much room!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
On Day 125, 21 May 2025, a little shadorma fun.
Shaking the Shadorma
My name's Vince,
shadormaholic.
I can't stop
writing them!
Shadorma Shanonymous . . .
where are you fine folks?
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking.
Ingat, everyone. ヅ
Here are eleven days' worth of poems in The Stafford Challenge. Each daily comment below was written on each given day. As the days developed, as you will see below, I began to write a series of shadormas on Andy Warhol. In fact, all the poems in this post are shadormas, a form I've grown to love writing. All of these are also ekphrastic . . . an occasion I've equally grown to love writing.
On Day 105, 1 May 2025, I'm at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, today and tomorrow. I thought I'd write another poem about the Ear of Corn water tower they have here. This is a shadorma — a Spanish form with syllabics 3/5/3/3/7/5.
Bad Stand-Up: I’m Here Till Friday
—a shadorma
I once knew
an old guy named Dick
Rochester.
This water
tower is Rochester Dick,
shucked corn standing tall.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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My photo of the Ear of Corn
water tower in Rochester, MN.
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On Day 106, 2 May 2025, I'm still at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, where they have wonderful art on the walls. I saw an incredible print by Andy Warhol yesterday on May 1st. Here's an ekphrastic shadorma.
Mayday (M’aidez)
after Andy Warhol, Orangutan
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Light lemon,
an orangutan,
endangered,
looks at us
from forty years ago. “Help
me . . . we need your help.”
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Orangutan
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
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On Day 107, 3 May 2025, home from Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. Writing again on a beautiful print by Andy Warhol I saw there. Once more an ekphrastic shadorma.
Thwarted Courting
after Andy Warhol,
San Francisco Silverspot Butterfly
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Butterfly
seeking a sweet mate
for ballet,
skyward dance,
but no other silverspots
for her whole life now.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, San Francisco Silverspot Butterfly
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
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On Day 108, 4 May 2025, I've decided to write ekphrastic poems on the entire Andy Warhol series I saw at Mayo Clinic recently. I thought the Orangutan poem was a one-off. But this is now the third ekphrastic shadorma on those prints.
We Can Save Them!
after Andy Warhol, Bald Eagle
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Bald Eagle
— our country’s symbol
no longer
endangered
two decades from Warhol’s art —
flying future skies.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Bald Eagle
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
The Bald Eagle was declared neither endangered nor threatened in 2007. They are flourishing today.
On Day 109, 5 May 2025, another ekphrastic shadorma on one more print from the Andy Warhol Endangered Species portfolio I've been working with.
Megalith Speaks
after Andy Warhol, Black Rhinoceros
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Indigo
huge mountain am I,
blood orange
obelisk
spiking from my face, sheer cliff.
To the end I stand.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Black Rhinoceros
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 110, 6 May 2025, once again, an ekphrastic shadorma on another print from the Andy Warhol Endangered Species portfolio I've been working with . . . today #5.
Parable
after Andy Warhol, African Elephant
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
I recall
those six old blind men,
snake, spear, fan,
tree, wall, rope . . .
stupid. I'm just Elephant.
Noble. Happy. Me.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, African Elephant
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 111, 7 May 2025, one more ekphrastic shadorma on a different print from the Andy Warhol Endangered Species portfolio ... #6 of 10.
Tree Frog Euphony
after Andy Warhol,
Pine Barren Tree Frog
(Endangered Species, 1983)
Frog's keyboard
imaginary
on tree branch
plays soft frail
melodies, ethereal
music . . . almost gone.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Pine Barrens Tree Frog
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 112, 8 May 2025, a humorous ekphrastic shadorma — I hope it's funny! — on another Warhol Endangered Species print . . . #7 of 10. I wanted to squeeze the Cowardly Lion in there somehow but ran out of room (a good thing, probably).
Tiger Reigns
after Andy Warhol, TITLE
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Lion what?
You know he's no king.
Not one stripe,
that Lion!
Look at me: orange and black —
Rex! Tiger's your King.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Siberian Tiger
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 113, 9 May 2025, on yet one more Warhol Endangered Species print . . . ekphrastic shadorma #8 of 10.
Black and White Seas
after Andy Warhol, Grevy's Zebra
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
We Zebras
ruled the savanna,
our vast herds
horizon
to horizon once . . . the sun
rose and set on us.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Grevy's Zebra
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 114, 10 May 2025, the penultimate ekphrastic shadorma on Warhol Endangered Species portfolio . . . #9 of 10.
Prayer of the Bighorn Sheep
after Andy Warhol, Bighorn Ram
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
O Mountain,
you are our refuge.
We climb, stand
on your cliffs,
laugh at silly predators
below. Safe, great heights.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Bighorn Ram
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
On Day 115, 11 May 2025, the last ekphrastic shadorma for Andy Warhol's Endangered Species series from 1983. It's been a great little project.
Panda Flirting
after Andy Warhol, Giant Panda
(Endangered Species series, 1983)
Odors, smell . . .
our talk. Scent markers
say friend, foe,
female, male.
We rub love notes on trees, rocks:
come on up . . . I’m here.
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Andy Warhol, Giant Panda
(Endangered Species series, 1983). |
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking.
Ingat, everyone. ヅ
On 5 January 2025, I had the pleasure of making a poetry presentation at the Cedar Valley Unitarian Universalists at Cedar Falls, Iowa. I didn't have a topic per se, but just presented some poems from my book Dragons & Rayguns.
I created a handout to distribute that showed four poems, including the two concrete poems in the book. The goal was to introduce the audience to speculative poetry (science fiction, fantasy, and horror) as well as to different types of poetry: the curtal sonnet and carmina figurata. Here's the handout (click on each image to see it larger):
Besides the poems in the handout, I also read others from Dragons & Rayguns. There was lively discussion afterward, with plenty of interesting questions.
Here are some photos from that event (click on each to see it larger).
Many thanks to Al Hays for organizing this event. Wonderful audience, thank you.
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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One of my favorite activities as Poet Laureate is to perform poetry with music.
I had that opportunity on 9 November 2024 as a featured poet for the Poetry in Motion event within the Mic Check Poetry Festival sponsored by Iowa City Poetry. The featured poets were Shayna "Akanke" Marie, Mister Aubs, Kelsey Bigelow, Vince Gotera, Donika Kelly, and Samm Yu. Music accompaniment to the poetry came from the Blake Shaw Trio jazz band. The emcee for the event was Caleb "The Negro Artist" Rainey.
Here is the flyer for the event (click on it to see it larger).
When it was my turn, I performed the poems "Gawain's Rap," "Letter to Bob Boynton, Music Prodigy," "Blues Channel, Northwest Airlines / Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose," and "Rock and Roll."
Here are some photos from that event (click on each to see it larger). First, my partner Renee and I; second, a photo of my performance.
Interestingly, the poem "Blues Channe, Northwest Airlines / Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose" was originally written for a poetry-plus-music event in San Jose in 1995, where poets performed with the Eddie Gale jazz band. So that poem has been performed with live music twice. Another interesting tidbit about that poem is that I actually wrote it while on the plane heading to that event. Here's that poem:
Blues Channel, Northwest Airlines
Flying from Minneapolis to San Jose
Son House. Sonny Boy Williamson. Sonny
Terry’s blues harp howling like
a wolf in a Georgia pine forest.
Freight train tunneling through California
redwoods. Red beans, rack of ribs
in a Kansas City firehouse. Hoochie
coochie man. Cajun catfish
with a mess of greens, okra, cornbread—
gumbo! Mumbo-jumbo, Muddy
Waters jamming with Memphis Slim
in a Mississippi roadhouse. Piano
keys plinking and clunking hot
as tar sizzling. Chicago rooftop.
Guitar chunking heavy as an aircraft
carrier, dreadnought, juggernaut, not
like brandy snifters or cut crystal.
How long has this been going on?
They call it Stormy Monday. How long,
sweet Mama, how long? Boom boom boom boom.
Bass drum, tom-tom, high hat, snare.
Brown hair, blonde hair, redhead, black
dreadlocks flowing like weary blues.
Robert Johnson. Langston Hughes.
Summerhouse, whorehouse, smokehouse blues.
—Vince Gotera, first appeared in Phoebe (1996).
Poetry in Motion was a really wonderful, memorable event, with excellent poetry performances and an equally excellent jazz ensemble. Here's a video of the entire event:
Many thanks to Caleb Rainey for organizing this event. Along with Lisa Roberts of Iowa City Poetry.
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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Another cherished activity I engage in as Iowa Poet Laureate is giving poetry lectures.
On 6 October 2024, I was honored to give the Mackin-Mailander Guest Lecture at Clarke University on the topic "An Asian American Poet on Race and Diaspora." Here is the flyer for the lecture (click on it to see it larger).
My lecture that afternoon was a tour throughout my career of poetry I've written and published on race, ethnicity, and the Philippine diaspora. It was a very enjoyable event with lively discussion afterwards, and then visiting with audience members who wanted their books signed. Fun as always! Here are some photos from that event (again, click on each to see it larger).
Here's the poem I was reading in that last photo above, where I'm showing slides of statues of the 1500s Philippine hero Lapu-Lapu.
Just War
Pale blonde sand glaring white into his eyes,
Lapu-Lapu stood on the beach with his tribesmen.
His wooden shield — a vertical rectangle rounded
at top and bottom, scalloped inward on the sides —
rested on a sinewy left arm, his lean legs slightly
spread, brown muscled chest rising, falling, softly.
Clenched in his right hand, his sharp kampilan,
a hefty metal sword with ornately carved hilt.
Tramping up the sand from rowboats beached
on a reef, los conquistadores labored in helmets
and breastplates, cutlasses drawn. In the lead,
Ferdinand Magellan, a dandy’s pointed beard,
sweat stinging his eyes in harsh tropical sun.
With a crash of wood and metal, like trees
falling under the typhoon’s wind and thunder,
the two met, swords arcing like lightning bolts.
Thrusts, parries . . . then Ferdinand’s eyes
opened wide a moment as Lapu-Lapu’s blade
swooped over his, an eagle diving from the sun.
The Spaniards turned, fled as Lapu-Lapu thrust
the severed head into the blue dome of sky.
Magellan’s vaunted circumnavigation: a lie.
Lapu-Lapu, brave brown defender, circumcised
that vainglorious invader’s ultimate round trip.
—Vince Gotera, first appeared in Pinoy Poetics (2004).
This poem dramatizes the killing of Magellan by the Filipino chieftain Lapu-Lapu during war, so that, as the poem says, Magellan never actually completed the circumnavigation of the world, though he is often credited with that feat. Just a little correction of history.
Many thanks to Professor Gina Burkart for organizing this event. She's a former colleague at the University of Northern Iowa, and it was a treat to see her again.
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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One of my most cherished activities as Iowa Poet Laureate is to give poetry readings. My first two poetry readings as Poet Laureate were hometown events . . . readings in Cedar Falls, Iowa.
The first was a release reading for my book Dragons & Rayguns. This was a reading put on by my press, Final Thursday Press, in their twenty-four-year-old reading series, the Final Thursday Reading Series, on 29 August 2024. Here is the flyer for that event. (Click on it to see the image enlarged.)
That was a really memorable evening. It began with an open mic featuring local writers, followed by my reading as the featured speaker for the night. There was also a great Q&A discussion afterwards. A truly wonderful release event for my book. Thanks to Jim O'Loughlin, publisher and editor-in-chief.
The other Cedar Falls reading took place at the Cedar Falls Public Library on 7 October 2024. This had a different vibe from the earlier reading highlighted above. The audience was made up of many friends and other people from the community. Here is the advertising flyer for that event. (Click on the image if you'd like to see it larger.)
This event had a very laid-back ambience. My reading was followed by a warm conversation with the audience about the book and its background. Thanks to Matthew Bancroft for organizing the evening.
Here are some photos from the October reading:
Something that was visually emphasized in both flyers was the book cover done by my son, graphic artist Marty Gotera. I asked him to include a dragon and a raygun in a comic-book-inspired look, which he accomplished very nicely. I also appreciate the fonts he used (designed?) for the book title. Beautiful!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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I had the pleasure today of visiting Professor Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure's class at the University of Northern Iowa to discuss my poetry with the students.
This is one of my favorite duties as Iowa Poet Laureate: to visit with classes at colleges and schools. Here are class visits I've made so far.
| 17 May 2024 |
Poetry Writing
Professor Kim Groninga
Wartburg College
Waverly, Iowa
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| 19 September 2024 |
Critical Writing About Literature
Professor Jim O'Loughlin
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa
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| 30 September 2024 |
Craft of Poetry
Professor Jeremy Schraffenberger
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa
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| 5 February 2025 |
Freshman High School Class (Zoom)
Ms. Erin McLaughlin
Bedford Secondary School
Bedford, Iowa
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| 3 April 2025 |
7th Grade
Ms. Kristin Johnson
Humboldt Middle School
Humboldt, Iowa
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| 4 April 2025 |
4th Grade
Ms. Tanja Jensen
Clarion-Goldfield-Dows School
Clarion, Iowa
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| 6 May 2025 |
Multicultural Literature
Professor Pierre-Damien Mvuyekure
University of Northern Iowa
Cedar Falls, Iowa
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I have some photos from my visit with Professor Schraffenberger's class. It happened the day before Halloween, so I went in costume: as Han Solo from Star Wars. The class was held in the University of Northern Iowa's Communication Studies black box theater. I knew some of the students who had been in my classes the previous semester just before I retired. (Click on the images if you'd like to see them larger.)
I hope to be invited by more teachers and professors to visit with their classes.
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
Ingat, everyone. ヅ
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An enjoyable part of my Poet Laureate duties is meeting with informal and formal study groups. On 2 October 2024, I was happy to meet with the Waterloo Women's Study Group at St. Luke's Episcopal Church in Cedar Falls. There was lively discussion at the session, and I'm grateful to Leesa Talbot for inviting me and organizing the event.
I gave a presentation that day on "Poetry and Music." I had a handout that day that gave my background in music:
I have been a musician for over 60 years. I started playing guitar at about age 11 and bass around age 33. I can also play drums at a decent level (probably for 50 years or so), well enough to play in a band with straightforward rock songs. I have played in various bands since grade school. I am the bassist for the rock band Deja Blue. We are the house band at the Screaming Eagle in Waterloo, playing every Wednesday, 7-10pm. I also play in a duo, Groovy News, with my daughter Amelia, and I play bass at St. John Lutheran Church (Cedar Falls) on Sundays.
I started off with two music-related poems by Black poets: "The Weary Blues" by Langston Hughes, and "Psalm" by Chanda Feldman. Then I presented some of my own music poems: "Letter to Bob Boynton, Music Prodigy," which had been recently published in Rattle, one of today's most renowned poetry magazines; a couple of hay(na)ku sonnets: "Santana at Woodstock 1969," "Fanny," "Rock and Roll," "Prince Rules" (a concrete poem), and "Letter to Hendrix in Paradise." One of these poems was quite new, having been written just the day before the event. Here it is:
Fanny
June
fingers aflame
lead guitar mama
Jean
tasty licks
deep bass precision
Nickey
mysterious, reclusive
passion piano hammond
Alice
solid drumscape
snap kick shimmer
women trailblazing rocking
walking the earth
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
Fanny was the first all-woman rock band signed by a major record label, putting out four albums in the early ’70s. Because of sexism in the rock world, they never achieved the fame they deserved, although they were championed by David Bowie and others. Their most recent album is Fanny Walked the Earth (2018). Check out Fanny: The Right to Rock, a documentary about their stunning story, shown on PBS and now streaming. Take a look also at their website: Fanny.
Here's a video of Fanny on the BBC show Old Grey Whistle Test in 1971:
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Video: “Fanny - You're The One - on BBC Old Grey Whistle Test”
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This poem is a hay(na)ku sonnet. The hay(na)ku, invented by the poet Eileen Tabios, is a word-counting form: 1 word, 2 words, 3 words, in 3 lines. In my invention, the hay(na)ku sonnet, there are four hay(na)ku stanzas followed by a closing stanza that has the first 2 lines (1 word, 2 words) squished together so the line count overall reaches the sonnet’s usual 14. I hope you enjoy this poem!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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Something that I do as part of my Poet Laureate job is visit with civic groups to discuss poetry. On 3 September 2024, I had the pleasure of making a poetry presentation at a meeting of the Rotary Club of Cedar Falls. Many thanks to Greg Holt for setting that up and hosting me.
My presentation that day was on "Poetry and Business." I began with a couple of poems by James Autry, probably the premiere US poet on the topic of business. Jim is an Iowa poet as well, and retired editor in chief and president of the Meredith Corporation’s Magazine Group. During his career, he often presented poetry to business groups. You can watch Autry doing this in a video titled The Living Language from the Power of the Word video series. In this video, he reads poetry to an audience of managers at the Principal Financial Group. In the rest of the video, he also discusses his poetry with Bill Moyers in the video, particularly about his childhood in Mississippi. Along with his books of poetry and memoir, Autry wrote about management and leadership; he also gave workshops and lectures on those topics. You can read a fine bio of Autry in the website Mississippi Writers and Musicians.
The Autry poems I presented that day were "On Firing a Salesman" and "What Personnel Handbooks Never Tell You" (both of these poems appear in the video mentioned above). I then also read three of my own poems on business: "My Father's Business"; "Letter to Bob Boynton, Music Prodigy" (a poem about my early days in the music business — I'm now a bassist in a rock band); and "Out of this World" (a funny poem about a laundry business in my most recent book, Dragons and Rayguns).
Here's a poem of mine I presented that day:
My Father's Business
When the boy Jesus was lost in Jerusalem
and his worried parents finally found him, he said,
“Why are you looking for me? Didn’t you know
I must be about my father’s business?”
In my first job, I too was about my father’s
business. Just as my father, in his first job,
was about his father’s business. Soldiering.
I come from a line of US Army soldiers.
My father and my grandfather were both
Philippine Scouts. When I was growing up
the drill around our house was The Army Way.
There were many ways to do everything
but the one right way was the Army Way.
How to make a bed. How to sweep
and mop a floor. How to spit shine shoes.
How to peel potatoes. When I joined up
I found out the hard way that peeling spuds
in KP was not a joke, not a myth,
but a long day with a paring knife and
a bushel of potatoes. Maybe two.
The Army Way was learning how to march
hours in the hot sun on the parade ground,
rifle at shoulder arms. How to run miles,
rifle at port arms, held diagonal in front.
But the truth of that first job was not
in the physical conditioning, nor
in the regimented life of rules and
regulations. It was in the Army Way
my father had all along been teaching me:
the real Army Way. Honor. Tradition.
Respect. Defense of Democracy.
Securing Freedom with our very lives.
First job, my father’s business, the Army Way.
—Vince Gotera, from Silver Birch Press (2017)
This photo shows the publication of this poem in Silver Birch Press on 16 May 2017, as part of that press's online series "My First Job." Read the poem to see why I posted there a picture of me in my US Army uniform holding my oldest son . . . it's all tied together. I hope you enjoy this poem!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
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It occurred to me today that I haven't been documenting here in the blog what I've been doing as Poet Laureate of Iowa. Here goes, going back to last year. The one Poet Laureate event I previously posted in the blog was when I was featured for a brief reading at the Poetry Palooza festival in Des Moines in April 2024. That was my first official action as Poet Laureate.
On 7 July 2024, I had the pleasure to visit First Presbyterian Church in Cedar Rapids, where I met with a nice bunch of folks in their Insight Adult Education Class on that Sunday morning. I gave a presentation on "Poetry and Religion."
I talked about an Emily Dickinson poem, "Some keep the Sabbath going to Church"; a Gerard Manley Hopkins poem, "Pied Beauty" (one of my favorites of his curtal sonnets, my favorite poetic form, his invention); and Wilfred Owen's poem "Soldier's Dream." Then I presented some of my own poems: "King David on Bathsheba," "baptism," "Palm Sunday," and "A Child's Funeral at St. Agnes Church." The discussion with the good folks was lively and interesting. Unfortunately, I neglected to get some photos. I'm grateful to John Burdakin for organizing and hosting.
Here's one of those poems of mine I read that day:
A Child’s Funeral at St. Agnes Church
It was in fifth grade, I think. A second
grader at St. Agnes, a girl, had died.
I don’t remember how or why. It hit
all of us hard. The whole school, eight grades, went
to her funeral one morning. “Abide
with Me,” we sang. When the priest raised the host
and the altar boy rang his bell, Byron
whispered to me, Answer the phone! We died
laughing, couldn’t stop giggling. Our classmates
glared daggers. For weeks after that, Byron
and I were outcasts!
—Draft by Vince Gotera [Do not copy or quote . . . thanks.]
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Sanctuary of St. Agnes Church, San Francisco
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I'm posting this specific poem here today because above I mentioned Hopkins's curtal sonnet form as my go-to, and this poem happens to be one. The curtal sonnet is 3/4 of a regular sonnet, so if you do the math, you'll see why Hopkins set the length at 10 1/2 lines, rhymed abcabc dbcdc. I do decasyllabics when I write these — 10 syllables per line — and the ending line is 5 syllables, as a half line. The curtal sonnet is a tight space, and I enjoy getting a poem done within these requirements. I hope you enjoy this poem!
Friends, won’t you comment, please? Love to know what you’re thinking. Thanks!
Ingat, everyone. ヅ
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Here's the "About the Author" page plus two back pages, the Colophon and a listing of Pecan Grove Press titles.
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Vince Gotera was born and raised in San Francisco but also lived for several years in the Philippines as a young child. He lives in Cedar Falls, Iowa, where he is an English professor of creative writing and multicultural literature at the University of Northern Iowa. He serves as Editor of the North American Review.
Vince holds an MFA in poetry writing and a double PhD in English and in American Studies from Indiana University. In 1993 he won a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. His books include two collections of poems, Dragonfly (Pecan Grove Press) and Ghost Wars (Final Thursday Press), as well as a critical study, Radical Visions: Poetry by Vietnam Veterans (University of Georgia Press).
Vince and his wife Mary Ann Blue have four children: Amanda, Amelia, Melina, and Gabriel. Vince's son Marty and his wife Grace live in Bielefeld, Germany. Vince thunks the bass guitar and loves all shades of blue — cobalt, midnight, royal, cerulean, electric, robin's-egg.
The cover photograph shows Vince flying a dragon kite with his son Gabe on the meadow behind their house.
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Page 37
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Fighting Kite by Vince Gotera was typeset using
Hanshand and Bauer Bodoni, Roman and Italic, with
Adobe Wood Type Ornaments, by Sally Ann Kueker,
Hudson, Iowa. Cover photograph by Mary Ann Blue
Gotera, cover design by Sally Ann Kueker. The edition of
three hundred copies was printed on white finch opaque
vellum by Pecan Grove Press at St. Mary's Univerrsity,
San Antonio, Texas.
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Page 39
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Recent books from |  |
Barker, Wendy — Between Frames
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For a complete listing of Pecan Grove Press titles,
please visit our website at http://library.stmarytx.edu/pgpress
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Page 41
It's been very interesting to serialize Fighting Kite and to revisit each of the poems. I hope you have enjoyed the tour as well.
Also quite interesting to see the titles in print from Pecan Grove Press at the time the book came out. A treat to see some poet friends' names again. The list is a tribute to Palmer Hall's wonderful work as a publisher and editor. He is sorely missed.
As always, I'd love to get some feedback or discuss anything with all y'all. Comment, okay? Thanks. Ingat.
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