Where Have All the Poems Gone?, A Rousing Game of "Where's Zooey?", and More on Dyslexia

Where Have All the Poems Gone?, A Rousing Game of "Where's Zooey?", and More on Dyslexia

I'm doing some site clean-up in preparation for editing and sending out some work for publication, so I've taken down a number poems that have been posted within the last month our so. If you're really dying to read some of my work, you can check out the awesome Bare Root Review (Spring 2011 Issue), which recently published my poem, "Letter to My Second Sister". And check out the other poems on Bare Root as well. They're fantastic!

In Other News:

• Zooey is home. Not in a Rainbow-bridge, cat-heaven, spiritual home sort of way, but home, in our now decidedly cat-ridden apartment way. She's emaciated and a bit listless and cranky and traumatized, but she is home. I picked her up from the city shelter last Wednesday, where she was cowering under a towel in a cage in the isolation area. I can't talk about it yet. I'm too busy staring at her bony, concave ass and shaking my head in a completely gobsmacked manner. I will go on and on about it here shortly, but for now, I will just say that this is one tough little motherfucker of a cat. She's been living outside for almost three months, in all kinds of freezing cold, crap weather, with no food or water except what she could forage or hunt. And yet, here she is. Definitely aged at least five years, but still with enough strength in her hoarse little voice and enough piss and vinegar in her queenly spirit to hiss at Yoshi for his mere existence, and to insist on her rightful spot flopped out on my stomach at night.
• I am going to be working on a creative project with my partner in crime Dana on dyslexia, but I can't really say anything about it yet since it's all sort of unformed at the moment. But as soon as things are firmed up--we will be looking for submissions, so get your quill pen and ink well in order, and get ready to write!
• I started playing Rift. Don't judge me. It's fun, okay?
• In preparation for figuring out the cover art for my next chapbook, I read all about the Tarot's Three of Swords today. Then I went and dug out my two Tarot decks, the Haindle and the Osho. I really love both of those decks. I have done so many readings on them they are actually bowed. Lately, I've been using the Celtic Animal Oracle, which is very intense and deep. Then I thought if I were really ambitious I would write a book of poems based on the Tarot. Then I realized probably lots of people have done that already, and went back to eating popcorn and watching the hockey game.
• I didn't watch the Royal Wedding but I did obsess over the dress photos the next day. It was a really lovely dress if you ask me. And Kate's hair looked amazing.
• They finally evicted our downstairs neighbors, so I am looking forward to many peaceful nights without the sounds fire trucks, police cars, screaming matches, stiffed drug dealers, loud projectile vomiting, and breaking glass.
• I need a really snazzy new haircut (longcut?) but don't have any ideas and have been told in no uncertain terms that I am not cute enough to pull off a pixie anymore. (Eh, whatever, they're right. No hard feelings.) I'm taking suggestions. I have a long, horsey face and need a style that minimizes my facial flaws. Right now my hair is well past my shoulders, so I have a lot to work with. Ideas?
• This is really pre-news news, but I will have an exciting Official Announcement soon about my next chapbook!

--Kristen McHenry