Monday Morning Required Reading. I should begin with apologies for my hiatus. I just moved, and so my life was in boxes and chaotic and internet-less for a substantial period of time. And when you combine moving and job hunting and thesis writing and grant applications and choosing a PhD program and that pesky need for a social life, I somehow managed to be completely absent from blogging for quite a while. I think I have returned to some semblance of normalcy though. Or, at least, I am attempting to establish some kind of routine for myself so that my life doesn't spiral into complete madness. Thus my return to this delightful forum.

CBC announced the finalists for its Poetry Prize today, and to my delight a work by Stephanie Bolster is on the list. Last semester I took a class on ekphrastic poetry, and this particular piece by Bolster is an example of just that. (In case you don't know what ekphrastic poetry is - hey, I didn't until I took the class - it is basically poetry that is based on or responding to visual art in some form.) Working with photos taken by Robert Polidori after Hurricane Katrina, Bolster has crafted a poem that is deeply moving. I also find the way that she addresses issues surrounding photography as art fascinating. So, here's Stephanie Bolster's "Long Exposure":

The snapshot is of a moment that will never occur again, and the long exposure is of a moment that never occurred to begin with.
                               -- Robert Polidori, paraphrasing Dieter Appelt




He didn't move the dress.
Moved himself to make the dress
the centre of regret.

He saw it, so we see.




The world in the form of a storm
sent them out of the room.
They ran for their lives. They ran
with their lives. They lost
their lives or left their lives
to fill with water and wind
or peel from the walls.

What they think of the room, if
they think of it, if they have lived
to think of it, doesn't look like
this. Just ordinary
voices, TV, coffee.

[KEEP READING]

Monday Morning Required Reading. There are periods of time when it feel like my life gets in the way of my creativity. I get wrapped up in day-to-day things. My to-do list grows, constantly expanding with mundane things: laundry, vacuuming, dishes, grocery shopping, insurance calls, bank trips. And with all of this on my plate I wind up feeling sapped and empty, unable to even imagine writing anything. It's a strange mental space of exhaustion and blankness. When I hit these slumps, the best thing I can do is return to the comfort-food equivalent of reading for me: The Vinyl Cafe. Although, I must admit that these stories are perhaps best enjoyed by listening to Stuart read them himself. And so that is exactly what I am going to recommend you do. GO HERE and download the podcast in whatever form works best for you. Hopefully it works some of its magic on you as well.