Blog Archives

Ode to a Crowbar

Posted on June 12, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 21 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

Comma, apostrophe, back-
slash, cursive flourish —
an all-purpose divider
that only accidentally resembles
a question mark in search
of its dot-like perch.
No self-respecting crow, beak
clever at leverage, ever
departed from
the declarative mode.
Male & female
hand & handle,
heavy as Wednesday.
What iron tree might ramify
if you insinuated yourself
into some sidewalk crack?
I know that curl
from watching seeds sprout:
cotyledon at the point
of pulling apart.

Download the MP3

Posted in Audio, Poems & poem-like things | 7 Comments

Ode to a Coping Saw

Posted on June 19, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 22 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

Perhaps because it is flexible
& maneuverable

or because it has as many teeth
as a school of piranhas

or because it relies on a pull
rather than a push

or because it prefers circles
to straight lines

or because it excels
at impromptu reconstitution

or because it encompasses
so much empty space

somehow
it copes.

Posted in Poems & poem-like things | 3 Comments

Ode to a Hive Tool

Posted on June 23, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 23 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

You need a key for entering where there is no door.
You are much too full of your mammal self
to fit through the always-open entryway
& in any case would have no idea
how to execute a waggle dance,
which looks like sun-drugged madness to you,
looming over the brood box with your angry halo.

You need the hive tool — a burglar’s jimmy —
to prize the honey-heavy frames
from the super, where they hang
for all the world like file folders,
an archive of everything that blooms.

You bring your smoker, of course,
stuffed with straw you pilfered
from some poor scarecrow.
With tear gas & face shield you come,
gloved & booted,
walking gingerly as a boy with his first erection,
praying for the insurgency to die down.

Posted in Greatest Hits, Poems & poem-like things | 6 Comments

Ode to a Compass

Posted on June 25, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 24 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

I can still recall
my first encounter
with a compass in
the second grade.
It was shiny & dangerous,
a headless ballerina
with one wooden leg.
How odd, I thought,
that we should entrust
the drawing of circles
to something so asymmetrical.
And what to do
about that pinhole
at the center of the paper?
It seemed flawed
& unnecessary, like a seed
for a stone. I wanted
a way to make
a circle from without,
like shaping a pot
on a wheel. I had seen
hawks spiral
around an updraft
with nothing more
than a slight adjustment
to the wingtips.
Shouldn’t we
who are descended
from the trees
be able to free-hand
perfect circles,
simply by letting
the mind go blank
as a target?
The compass is a crutch.
Restore its missing leg
so it can return to
its first life as
a gnomon:
stationary,
circled by the sun.

Posted in Poems & poem-like things | 13 Comments

Ode to a Shoehorn

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 25 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

A shoehorn’s a sort of
spoon-shaped chute
for the foot,
not for the shoe.
Or at best, a social lubricant
between the two,
with or without
the Freudian interpretation.

Boots are for those
who toot their own horns,
sporting as we know
the handy bootstraps,
which give the so-called
self-made men
a better metaphor for rising
to their own occasion.

Posted in Poems & poem-like things | 10 Comments

Ode to a Wire Brush

Posted on July 15, 2008 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 26 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

Never was walking
a greater penance
than for one without any feet
& legs more numerous
than the corrosive rain.
And the to-&-fro of it:
pacing is a refuge
when you can’t stand still.
Do it long enough
& distraction turns into discipline,
the ground warms
& acquires the hard gleam
of an interrogator.
You confess, confess, confess.
Your tracks are covered
with a thin brown dust.

Posted in Greatest Hits, Poems & poem-like things | 9 Comments

Woodrat Podcast 2: Elizabeth Adams and “Odes to Tools”

Posted on January 18, 2010 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 27 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

A conversation with Beth Adams about books, publishing, and music

In which I am flabbergasted by Beth’s secret plot to rescue some of my poems from a purely digital existence and give them a better life in print north of the border. We talk about the pitfalls of self-plagiarism, what writers can learn from musicians, the ins and outs of small publishing, and what the hell is up with chalk-line reels that aren’t blue. I read a few of the odes, and manage a plausible-sounding explanation for what I was thinking when I came up with the series.

Links:

Podcast feed | Subscribe in iTunes

Posted in Books and Music, Woodrat Podcast | Tagged , , , , | 15 Comments

Odes to Tools available for barter

Posted on February 20, 2010 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 28 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

My weekly podcast is proving more expensive than I’d originally thought. Not only have I bought a new microphone (and am contemplating the purchase of a mobile digital recorder) but I’m having to buy more books, too, so I can interview their authors on the show. I believe in buying books and supporting authors, of course; it’s just that my income is extremely limited. I’ve actually thought about trying to get some underwriting support — that’s how desperate I am.

But this morning I got an email from John Miedema offering to barter his book Slow Reading — something I’ve been meaning to read for a while — for my Odes to Tools, and a lightbulb went off in my head. Why didn’t I think of this before? I lost no time in adding a note to the Via Negativa Contact page about the option of bartering with other authors (or musicians who have CDs out). It doesn’t have to be poetry, but obviously it does have to be something I want to read (or listen to). Self-published material is as eligible as anything else, but what will really help me decide is if you can point me to some of the content online. (For Odes to Tools, you can look at the first few pages on the publisher’s website, or even browse all the poems here.)

Now, if you’re shy, or otherwise uninclined to be a guest on the Woodrat Podcast, that’s fine — we can still barter. If you’ve already ordered Odes to Tools and would like to send me a review copy of your book for podcast consideration, that of course would be fine, too. My postal address — also on the Contact page — is PO Box 68, Tyrone, PA 16686 U.S.A.

Posted in Books and Music | 17 Comments

Odes to Tools public reading — April 10

Posted on March 18, 2010 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 29 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

Odes to Tools poetry reading flyer

Download the flyer [PDF]

As the flyer says, I’m doing a reading and multimedia presentation in support of Odes to Tools on Saturday, April 10 at 3:30 p.m. at Webster’s Bookstore Café, 128 South Allen Street, State College, PA. Webster’s was an obvious choice for a reading since they’ve always been very supportive of local authors and performers, and they have a great poetry selection with a regular turn-over. Not only do a majority of the books in my poetry collection come from Webster’s, but I also buy almost all the coffee I drink there. So my own poems owe their inception to Webster’s in more ways than one.

If you’re from anywhere in central Pennsylvania, I hope you’ll consider attending. I’ll be projecting texts of the poems I read onto a screen for those who like to follow along, and also showing a few of my videopoems — that’s the multimedia part. I’m planning to bring along examples of some of the tools that may be less familiar to people, which should help keep things fairly entertaining. In between poems I’ll talk about how the book grew out of blogging and online publishing, which will I hope provide enough of an excuse for me to expand beyond just the tool odes.

If you do live in the area and would like to help spread the word, I’d be grateful. Know of any community bulletin boards or other likely spots where you can post things without getting us into trouble? Please feel free to print out copies of the above flyer on a color printer and post them, or hand them out. You can assure anyone who asks that the reading will not last longer than an hour (not counting questions and book signings, if any), and that they will not be bored. I am a fairly dynamic public speaker, and I do not mumble, intone, or indulge in literary in-jokes. I try to introduce my poems with the general reader in mind.

If you can’t attend the reading, you can still help by suggesting content you think I should include. “Poems and poem-like things” is the most populous category here at Via Negativa, with 664 posts so far, most of which I’ve long since forgotten about. By sheer chance, I just discovered a poem called “Hollow” that would be perfect for the reading, because it helps tie the tool odes into where I live. So if you’ve been reading for a while and happen to remember other obvious (or not so obvious) candidates for inclusion, do let me know, and if you’ve read the book or the series, let me know which are your favorites; I won’t have time to read them all. Any other suggestions for how I should conduct the reading would be welcome, as well.

Finally, if you know how to play the musical saw, or know someone in the area who does, please get in touch.

Posted in Books and Music | 14 Comments

New Odes to Tools review by Noel Sloboda

Posted on September 28, 2010 by Dave Bonta
This entry is part 30 of 34 in the series Odes to Tools

My chapbook just received a great review at Verse Wisconsin Online — check it out. By “great,” I don’t mean unremittingly positive, but critical in a good way. In fact, the author, whom I don’t know, has singled out some things about my poetry that bother me as well, while also happening to praise some of my own favorite lines and poems in the book, so overall it was very reassuring. I’m not saying I agree with every one of his remarks, but I really appreciate the level of critical engagement they reflect.

The same issue includes an Editors’ Note on Book Reviews in which they explain their philosophy about reviewing; evidently some poets have been belly-aching about “reviews that are less than wholly positive.” It is illustrated by a wonderful painting, unfortunately too small to make out in very great detail: “Marco Polo Forced to Eat Moths.”

Incidentally, Phoenicia Publishing is holding a fall sale: 15% off on all titles through October 1. See the site for details.

Posted in Poets and poetry | 11 Comments
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