Good Job

Is it just me or does my face hurt?
The sky was up there all night
making my skin crawl.
I mean, what is that sky doing up there anyway?
And what about all those people grabbing winks?
(That's cool talk for sleep). Sleep is overrated.
Light is the most reasonable source
of joy when it comes from something
like the sun or a lighthouse.
Those are the cream of the crop
in the world of light hierarchies.
A flare of a match, on the other hand,
is just too brief and sad with its patented sulfur flash.
And what about that red plastic flashlight
you bought for a dollar at a garage sale?
You used it to illuminate the room
in the middle of the night with shadowy monsters.
No good, that. Too freaky.
I can make some mysterious nasty sounds
that would scare you in the middle of the night
but I won't do that ever again, I swear.
I would like to bring Vermont
to Brooklyn by way of France.
That would show you something sweet
I could do. I would also like
to show you that I can pack
a suitcase, make good toast
and drink coffee with the best of them.
Okay, that's it for light and travel. Now I would
like to show you another good job I can do.

The Poetry Project & The First Annual New York City Poetry Festival on Governors Island

The Poetry Project office is officially closed from July 1 to August 14 but you can catch us as we make a rare summer appearance on Governors Island at The First Annual New York City Poetry Festival sponsored by The Poetry Brothel.

The Project will be featured on the main stage on Sunday, July 31 at 2PM. The poets representing the Project are: Edwin Torres, Kim Lyons, Stacy Szymaszek, Evelyn Reilly, John S. Hall, Todd Colby, Elinor Nauen, Christopher Stackhouse and more tba!

The First Annual New York City Poetry Festival
Saturday & Sunday, July 30th-31st
12pm-5pm
Governors Island, Colonel’s Row
10 South Street, NYC

FREE

Hop on the (free) ferry and make a day of it! Info on how to get to the Island here.

You Should Listen to This if You Have One Minute

You should listen to -- this -- if you have one minute.

Dr. Todd Colby

Brush in narco-solvents
to soothe your tresses with tranquility.
That money cream is making the servants
livid and soft. Repulsed, they gang up on cash goals
and subtract retail luster by wasting time all day. Play
catch up with Charlie Horse. Apply said medicine
to briefs and dance. No, really: dance. You see stars when
you squint in my room while you dance. Now, make hay, slice
butter, lift heavy objects with bent knees.
I have a lot of good advice. You should take
my advice and realize how good it is,
and professional. Now for a message
from our sponsor.

Brooklyn Poem

The chubby light of morning
is really great. I hear some birds and they
are totally making up new songs.
The coffee is just right and the fan
is pleasantly circulating air
around my sleepy body.
The top of that tree looks like
a little green carnival. Holy cow, a cardinal!
A kid on the street just
shouted breakfast! Okay, Brooklyn,
here I come.

Saturday Poem

They were on their way to the store,
the two of them with buttery highlights in their hair.
As a cure for an itch,
dab the affected area with tea of poke roots,
this will make your ideas about time
inviting and friendly. It should feel good
to acknowledge the passing of time.
You will begin to understand just
how elastic a day can be
when you do things with me.
The first thing carried into the room
should be sleeping on your back.
Remove nine pieces of buckshot
from the mattress you use as a target
in the backyard. Put the pieces in a vial
and store them on a shelf.
If a person has a tusk,
pull on it and it will affect their eyesight.
There are all sorts of activities here.
Come join me!

Peace & Good Order

Okay dear, whatever you can manage
will be propped up in a boat next to you
full of apologies and texts from some cabin
pumped with nitrous next to the ocean.
You can't regret stuff when your mouth
is lick-jacking the petunias. In this instance
the poltergeist is actually the heat in this room.
That shit's got a real ghostly presence here
on Baltic Street. I'd like nothing more
than to see the future spread out on your bed
in chambray and muscles but I'm stuck.
This is like some other things,
but I like this one better.
You know what I am saying.

Thursday Top 10

1) In Zanesville by Jo Ann Beard
2) Santal de Mysore by Serge Lutens
3) Rag and Bone Sample Sale
4) All Up in My Grill
5) Three Scrambled Eggs With Ketchup (Trader Joe's)
6) Violet Hogs (New Poem)
7) Tam Dao by Diptyche
8) Aedes De Venustas
9) Today is My Friday
10) Quiet Morning

You Could Become Me

Two New Songs: "The King's Horses" and "Moment of Doubt"

Moment of Doubt by Todd Colby
The King's Horses by Todd Colby

Brooklyn Three

Rimbaud Heart

I Would Like You to Have This, You're Welcome

Ryan Trecartin: Roamie View : History Enhancement (Re'Search Wait'S), 2009-2010

Now showing at PS1!

Roamie View : History Enhancement (Re'Search Wait'S), 2009-2010 from Ryan Trecartin on Vimeo.

In the Spirit of Maybe

You certainly may take delight in gripping mud
with your toes, that's just my trip. Also, please remember:
You can get your day's protein allotment by consuming:
1) Bluejay wing
2) A certain muscle in my neck
3) Grouper fish spine.
I would also recommend that you pump
your heart full of metallic liquids, you know, like
melted rings and glitter and such.
You can shoot rubber bands at the stars when your
mood looms in that place we talked about
once while facing the sky from the ground.
You may also want to shake freely, like almost
a dance, but as though you just emerged
from a cold lake. Zoom in on the sink
and see the tiny hairs in there. Gross!
Basically, I want you to just compact the air
around you until it weighs a ton
and is all maximal and supreme
and then you don't breathe it in so much as
you move it around with a truck and crane of some sort.
Tonight: a super wet supper and a close look
at what you've been experiencing in my shirts.
Fun Saturday!

Poem on Wood

Suave Blanco

Leaping into your blue
holding on to nothing
so my thumbs don't have to work
I can sit here in the middle of the room
on a brown rug next to the highway
I'll never be mayor of anything
the city will erupt with letters
strewn from hideous billboards
language will be set free from the seclusion
of filthy lucre
I pay my rent but there is no
"you" in the poem
I will assemble a layer of news
that will filter through all my thoughts
of "you" if there was a "you" in this poem
this would make more sense
I'll sit on a stack of books
that I read once on the other side of town
I'll wear boat shoes from another decade
like the cool kids are doing in France
or so they say
this is starting to end rapidly
the feeling I get pretending to fill "you" in
is better than this feeling I'm leaving behind.

Leaping (Good Dog)

Cousin Corinne's Reminder, Issue Number Three is out Now!

This is Zack Zook (Executive Editor of Cousin Corinne's Reminder) outside of BookCourt leaning on a skid of issue number three of Cousin Corinne's Reminder. CCR is a gorgeous literary journal that I am in (3 poems, some art, and a chapter from my forthcoming novel) along with some other fabulous people. I also serve as a contributing editor. There will be a big release party at BookCourt on Thursday, July 14th from 7PM-10PM. Uh huh, that's Bastille Day. XO!

Notes for Sun-Warmed Tomato-Belly Performance

Zap

Ferocious Precision

I live in the city
you are always arriving
people exchange things all day
we gain some perspective
we lose our way
iPhones come with a compass that works
we get a tumbler full of blue slushy
there are animals in the street
some birds fly around and look fancy
we remember things about the birds and look them up later
an application for identifying birds
we put on our helmets in the movie theater
we read a book and look smart
millions of people get the same idea
on the surface things are chaotic
on the surface things are calm
there is bread in the fridge
there is almost no money in the bank
the soothing sound of a lover in the shower
a coin falls from my pocket when I take off my pants
desire has a thickness to it
now it is tomorrow
what do you think of this little shit head?
what do you think of the view from my face?
someone is walking up the stairs
someone is knocking on the window
a matter of mouths
a small surcharge
get on the train and tell everyone you are getting on the train
get off the train and tell everyone you are getting off the train
narrarate your life for me
send me the transcripts
I want to know everything

From a Walk in Vermont

Sol Lewitt at MASS MoCA (Thank you, Tara!)

Hello

Imagine a city
underwater where you
swim around in fancy pants
lock arms with total strangers
surface gasping as your lungs blaze
surrounded by bright orange air
you are nearly magical and sincere
children drive silver jets
that they pedal with their tiny legs
and then more summer
and simple movements
almost like dancing
around the sun on a goofy planet
here we are whispering our day
over the phone texting new developments
holding on for one more day.

Orange Tan

What a ridiculously hot day can do
is make you sweat all over me.
All of this realism is what makes things
sort of interesting for the people
who can't be here now.
By referring to real things
throughout the day
you can start behaving
like you have a real body
that can do fun things.
I would like to sit down
on the roof and watch
you fly away to some realistic
land just down the block. Brooklyn in the heat
is so meager in the Department of Hope.
I am leaping into position, ready for the
delight that people with orange tans provide.
I will think of the circumstances that led me here
and when I'm done, I will craft an excuse
not to be here at all.

Two New Songs! "Hello Trouble" & "Head"

Hello Trouble by Todd Colby
Head by Todd Colby

Saturday Top 10

1) Tree of Life by Terrence Malick

2) Rescue Dawn by Werner Herzog

3) Today & Tomorrow by Ofelia Hunt

4) Script Opposition in Late-Model Carrot Jokes by Michael Portnoy

5) Impressions of Africa by Raymond Roussel

6) Listening to Stars of the Lid on a Saturday Morning

7) Persons of Interest Barbershop on Smith Street

8) Dancing by myself

9) A fresh bar of soap

10) A brand new pen

How to Initiate Human Contact

You could arm wrestle with a perfect stranger
on a beautiful day like today. Okay, try this:
Walk into a deli and put a gallon of milk on the counter and ask
the cashier to arm wrestle. Simply put your elbow up
on the counter next to the milk and challenge the cashier
with your inside voice. Maybe there's a truck idling outside
and some kids are walking to school,
maybe a man is standing behind you
with a package of cookies. It's all coming together now.
You need to initiate contact with some fellow humans,
but you're going about it all wrong.
You're too aggressive and there's not enough sweetness or fun
in your leisure activities. Here, let me show you how.
I hope this is a magical year for you.
I miss you a lot.

Recent Activity

The Island of Manhattan

In a matter of moments
I will travel via tunnel
onto the Island of Manhattan where
they have the best sweet meats
and candies on the planet.
I will sticky all my favorite things
and bathe in the golden light
as it crests over the vibrant plumage
of the people there.
I will not participate in this activity
too much, as I will be more intent
upon a tender show of hygiene
than an actual act of harsh grooming.
I do not wish to startle the native people
on that charming sliver of land,
they have been startled enough.
A gentle shower of sparks
will add to the show.
Around noon in Union Square
a coat of arms shall be unveiled
that will be affixed to a big dusty speaker
from which my voice will be projected
into the canyon-like
expanses between the heat
and the headaches it solves.
Please stop by and say hello.

Love,
Todd