Review of "Altitude Poems and Stories" by Craig Brandis

Surprise! "Altitude Poems and Stories" by Craig Brandis was just published; a slick covered chap book with some marvelous images. Though slightly melancholy, the poems are filled with surprising images. I didn't know Brandis could write this well. Some poems seemed to be lifted from masters, themselves.

In Mount St. Helens, he writes of the mountain while camping out under a "diamond hard sky" or climbing "its scabrous slopes into the brilliant, orange-white morning."

In "The Wandering Mind" Brandis writes:

"Tender is
the fleet of electric birds
bluing the trees
in their sockets,
wiring the
world with
song-"

In "The Daily News" a beach house keeps watch with "brindled eyes" and the sea is "just wave on wave, like a furrowed brow." "Some days birds skim the rollers/ like penitents walking the breadth/ of a watery country"

Finally, "Red Tail" gives us this great image:

a red tailed hawk hunts
oceans of air-feathering
oars before the kill

Well done Craig Brandis! Keep writing poems

ESBN 978-1-304-71809-9

The Sounds Of Summer

Old Men Pitching Horseshoes By X.J. Kennedy

Back in a yard where ringers groove a ditch,

These four in shirtsleeves congregate to pitch

Dirt-burnished iron. With appraising eye,

One sizes up a peg, hoists and lets fly—

A clang resounds as though a smith had struck

Fire from a forge. His first blow, out of luck,

Rattles in circles. Hitching up his face,

He swings, and weight once more inhabits space,

Tumbles as gently as a new-laid egg.

Extended iron arms surround their peg

Like one come home to greet a long-lost brother.

Shouts from one outpost. Mutters from the other.

Now changing sides, each withered pitcher moves

As his considered dignity behooves

Down the worn path of earth where August flies

And sheaves of air in warm distortions rise,

To stand ground, fling, kick dust with all the force

Of shoes still hammered to a living horse.

American Life in Poetry is made possible by The Poetry Foundation (www.poetryfoundation.org), publisher of Poetry magazine.

I Was Hacked!

It cost me $75 to find out I was hacked at Movermike.com and 15 hours of work at $125 per hour to put it back the way it was. There was no way I could spend almost $2,000, so I decided the bastards, who got me for my views on this regime (yes, I'm being paranoid),  weren't going to win, so I'm still here. I will continue writing about subjects that affect our Liberty or government actions that take away our Liberty. I will continue to write about Gold and Silver which are the "canary in the coal mine" that signal our currency is being devalued by the FED (Federal Reserve).

I will continue to write the truth about the economy as I see it; weather and it's effects; the hoax that is (gasp) global warming. I will continue writing book and movie reviews, writing about our culture and current TV. I will continue to bring you news about earthquakes in Oregon, because they are so rare and because I'm expecting a big one in Oregon. I will continue adding poetry and humor when appropriate.

I am just a semi-retired guy who spent almost 30 years as a stockbroker, another six years in marketing to high tech companies. I currently drive a school bus for Lincoln High students living in Forest Heights and in my spare time have a growing freelance writing business. I intend to spend six months a year in Mexico with my wife and write about our travels. I will continue blogging at Mover Mike Two, Landfair on Furniture, Mexico Calling, Mike Landfair Freelancer, and Market Bugle.

I WILL NOT SHUT UP!