a beautiful fusion – panache, perhaps

“Summer Simmer” (summertime flowertime poem) (mine).

Published on 08/29/201408/29/2014 by taylor mardis katz2 Comments

Summer Simmer

Soil air sky breeze

available now

no lease no

contract all

yours & always

open free &

more where

that came from

Jeez you’d think

we’d be cherishing

all this so hard

by now (picture

it: generations

of women

& men in love

with earth)

but no

we are shitting

on it more

than ever &

convinced of

the truth

of machines

You know

what I think

technology is

mostly harmful

also ugly &

expensive unlike

these patches of

black-eyed Susans

dancing from the base

of their stalks up

to the petals

in the fields

all around me

Little joke poem (mine).

Published on 12/27/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

My Menstrual Self-Help Book

“Tampons & Crampons:

A Guide to Hiking With Your Period.”

***

This is the best thing on the internet (POETRY + HIP HOP).

Published on 10/05/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

The internet is too big to talk about as a whole, but on the whole I’ll generalize and say that my favorite thing about the internet is….this.

So now that you clicked on that link, click the little play button, and now you’ll be listening to Frank O’Hara (THE MAN MY LEGEND) reading his poem “Ode to Joy” over an instrumental version of Drake’s “The Best I Ever Had.”

I already love Drake because he is a pretty good rapper and once made a video that took place at a bar mitzvah (combining Judaism and hip hop, which rarely happens). I’ve loved Frank O’Hara for always & always will, even though he is very easy to love and everyone seems to. I think I still love him differently. His little lispy-crispy pronunciation. His gap tooth. His neck in a crew neck sweater in the postcard that lives in my truck. I do love him. And now thanks to the internet, (well, thanks to Cassanda Gillig, whom I would like to meet because he seems hilarious and cool and smart and essential), I can have poetry & hip hop fused in just the way I never knew I’d love because I hadn’t fathomed it yet.

And there’s more. There’s Brautigan & Mariah Carey! Even better THERE IS JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE AND ALICE NOTLEY. I am going bonkers right now. You know when you find something that you like so much you can’t handle it? And you think about how good life was before and how now it’s one significant notch better? And you feel like your posture has gotten better and that there’s more space between your toes so you can stand and jump and dance better? Do you guys know what I’m talking about?

A little poem of life (mine).

Published on 08/01/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

Life As a Woman

I braid my hair,

I braid my garlic.

I go to work;

I go to market.

Jokepoem on a Monday (mine).

Published on 04/29/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

This Book Is Not Available In Hawaii

“The OY! of Cooking” sold so well

in my imagination (the book

that taught readers how to cope

with ugly kitchen mishaps)

that I’ve faux-written a second

cookbook, a self-help cookbook

available in the self-help section

for your browsing convenience.

It’s titled “Regrets and Vinaigrettes”

and it’s on sale for a limited time only

in various independently-owned bookshops

in the contiguous United States.

Why not: a birthday collage.

Published on 03/15/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

Dear Scott,

I made you this internet collage comprised of (beautiful) images that remind me of you. I really hope you like it.

Love,

Taylor

Happiest of days to you, friend. I hope your weekend is full of even better things than Ellie giving the sneaky middle finger to you in a photo, though it’s hard to imagine what’s better than that.

A literary recap and also some beautiful things.

Published on 03/12/2013 by taylor mardis katz2 Comments

I went to AWP last week, for what felt like a week. For you nonwriters, AWP is the biggest literary conference of the year. Workshops, lectures, readings, a bookfair big enough to kill any sane person’s love of books, famous writers all around, lots of glasses, lots of beards, lots of notebook scribbling, lots of beers. I schlepped apricots, trail mix, water, my phone, notebooks, and about ten pounds of books around the city of Boston for three days straight. Other things that occurred: lattes, reunions, inspiration, Anne Carson, free chocolate, free pens, free buttons, literary journals, poet swoons (see: Anne Carson), and I met my pen pal for the first time, with whom I have been corresponding for a year. Magic! Below are some tidbits from the weekend too good (read: weird &/or awesome) not to share.

“I believe that the future of poetry belongs to dead poets.” -Valzhyna Mort (poet)

“I prefer myself to Charles Simic.” -James Meetze (poet)

“You’re some kind of something and I like it.” -Dara Wier (poet)

“They will try to make you choose between the things you love but you do not have to choose.” Muriel Rukeyser, as quoted by another passionate woman

THEY WILL TRY TO MAKE YOU CHOOSE BETWEEN THE THINGS YOU LOVE BUT YOU DO NOT HAVE TO CHOOSE.

“For nonconformity, the world whips you with displeasure.” -Emerson, as quoted by a college professor dude

“I am just another person in all normal regards except for my love of lemurs.” -James Tate (poet), as quoted by another poet

“Lanyards are a great way to humble people.” -Jacob Otting (poet & comedian)

“This wig is terrific.” -Terrance Hayes, reading one of his poems (SWOON)

And here are some patterns I am loving this week, by Phoebe Wahl.

And that is all for now. Besides for the joy of another friend engaged, the speed of a new (old) car, the sound of the rain (rain! not snow! woah!), the crunch of breadcrust littered with seeds, and the feel of a hot mug in my hands.

February collage (illustration; photography; Frank Ocean).

Published on 02/13/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

Some people feel negatively about February, including, possibly, Maira Kalman. Or maybe she just picks up on everybody’s February blues. It’s hard to love February in the city, this I understand.

This February, I’m all about Patti Smith (again). Maybe I’ll make February my Patti Smith month. Why not?

But guys….remember those other times, those other seasons? Remember flowers?

Remember how it’s going to be Valentine’s day soon? Let’s not bring up our consumer culture rants again, we do that every year & even the truth gets stale. This year, lets just do some good lovin’. Let’s share what we got, or give ourselves a little bit more. I mean, Phoebe Wahl is doing it! And why not.

If you’re still not feeling good about February yet, then, here! Have this gift! It’s a free Frank Ocean mixtape! Also did you know he has a tumblr?! Fuck yeah, America! You know?

Alright February!! Allllllllright!

Jokepoem (mine).

Published on 02/06/2013 by taylor mardis katzLeave a comment

Being Jewish

I’m writing a cookbook

it’s a sequel

to the much-renowned

& world-beloved

Joy of Cooking.

Mine’s about disasters

that occur

in the kitchen.

It’s called

The OY! of Cooking.

(illustration via The Studio of Summer Pierre)

Farm & fairy art (Phoebe Wahl).

Published on 01/22/2013 by taylor mardis katz1 Comment

There’s been a *lot* of farmplanning going on in this household, lemme tell you. So many facets are being organized that yesterday I had to call Misha into the bathroom while I was showering so he could write down some ideas I’d thought of while shampooing my hair. The artworks below, by an art student at RISDE whose blog I stumbled upon while tumblr-ing, are the sorts of pieces that relay what I love about a farmy life: patterns, brightgreen and brightpink vegetables, fresh flowers in jars, herbs hanging from string, sitting in the dirt in a dress, handkerchiefs for sweat and color, fairies. Once this farm gets going ,it’s going to be a beauty. It’s going to be a beautiful, colorful, scentful, and shareful thing.