a model of the universe

I self-published my 6th poetry chapbook, a model of the universe. It has my (mostly) non-political poems from the last decade. Some of these are among the best things I've written, though thematically the chapbook doesn't hang together as coherently as the last one. Some of these poems were originally up on my personal Web page, which has since been mostly deleted so that they aren't up any more. The ones that were put on this blog aren't the best, but I've linked to them below.

The table of contents:

a model of the universe

• The Rock
  
• Untitled Nov 30
  
• some notes towards: four most overwritten subjects / inside and outside
  
• The Universe
  

Hitherby

• Maps (Four Explorers)
  
• Out of Order
  
• Muse of Fire
  

Everything I learned as a child

• Oscar in Samsara
  
• Gnosticism
  
• Thomas the Terror Engine
  

The Valley

• Alive
  
• Point of View
  
• In the Valley
  

Everything Else

• “Open to all forms of creative activity”
  
• Landscape
  
• Upside Down
  
• Ground
  
• Low Average Rainfall
  
• Pink Triangle
  

Here's the introduction:

Poems in the first section tend to have uncertain boundaries, as befits the universe: the second (Untitled Nov 30) is an infinite loop that can be started anywhere; the fourth has its title and introduction embedded in the poem.

Poems in the second section were inspired by (and sometimes put in the comments of) Jenna Moran's Hitherby Dragons site (hitherby.com).

The third section, "Everything I learned as a child," should probably have been titled "what I learned as a parent while watching my children watching TV," but that doesn't sound as good. Major companies who wish to sue me should note that these are parodies (as well as being major revelations of mystic truth suitable for the ages).

The last poem, Pink Triangle, is a direct parody of the song of the same name by Weezer.

for my parents