Song of a Reformed Headhunter

Last night, at the Barnes & Noble at 82nd and Broadway, Lou Pizzitola hosted a reading of Divining Divas , an anthology of 100 poems by 100 gay poets on their muse. Editor Michael Montlack spoke about putting together the book, and then he read from it, followed by Guillermo Filice Castro, Lonely Christopher, Hansa Bergwall and Rigoberto Gonzalez. I read my anthology piece, "Study #5: After Frida Kahlo," and then two other parts from the same sequence, "Study #6: After Andy Warhol" and "Study #7: After Yasumasa Morimura." For my second poem from the anthology, I read Steve Fellner's funny and heartbreaking "Ode to Miss Piggy," a poem I remembered enjoying from his book The Weary World Rejoices . Despite the grey day and drizzle before the reading, the event room was packed, with about 75 people, a nice mix of both men and women. After the reading, the audience asked questions, mostly to do with editing the anthology. Then we sig...

So nice when someone writes you out of blue, asking for permission to reprint a poem of yours, first published in an e-zine and forever archived in dusty electrons, because someone else has turned him onto you and he read your poem and admires it. Thanks, Tammy Ho of Cha for suggesting my name, and thanks, Reprint Journa l, staffed by editors who refuse to divulge their names, for reprinting "If the Fire Is In Your Apartment."  Republished today, Feb 14, the poem reads more than ever like a health warning about love. Thanks too, Shit Creek Review , for liking the poem first. Another reprint appears in the anthology Divining Divas , edited by Michael Montlack. I am one of 100 gay men who contributed poems on their muses, according to the collection's subtitle. I love the velvety feel of the cover, with its Klimt look-alike. My poem "Study #5: After Frida Kahlo" is a part of the title sequence of my latest book Seven Studies for a Self Portrait . Thank you, Mic...