I guess many people knew this already, but I just read that Gavrilo Princip, the assassin of Archduke Ferdinand in 1914, thought that he was following the orders of Walt Whitman to “bring down kings” when he killed the Archduke… and started WWI. And when one considers how many of the conflicts fought during the 20th century grew either directly or indirectly out of WWI, well, damn. I guess Auden was wrong about poetry changing nothing.
The most recent chunk of CD collection I listened to was particularly fine: 331) Aimee Mann: Bachelor No. 2; 332) Melvins: Singles 1-12; 333) Butthole Surfers: Psychic…Powerless…Another Man’s Sac; 334) Mavis Staples: Have a Little Faith; 335) Tortoise: Standards; 336) Sigur Ros: Agaetis Byrjun; 337) Neil Diamond: 12 Songs; 338) Ronnie Lane with Slim Chance: You Can Never Tell.
Please order my new book! It’s cheap if you pre-order, not as cheap if you wait! I’ve pre-sold 47 copies so far, and am trying to reach 100. Here are a few recent poems by me, if you like them, order a book! : @ Shady Side Review .