Listened to Jimmy read some poems I recognized from his blog. This was nice; I rarely have read the poems a poet reads before hearing them out loud; it gave everything an added resonance, and good also to hear Jimmy read them because he gives emphasis to things, and even sings a line or two and is not burdened by "scared-little-poet voice" in any way. A little like my experience at Kasey Mohammad's reading last week -- something that's disorienting on the page often makes more sense, initially, when heard out loud -- but I've not found Jimmy's poems-on-the-page terribly frustrating, he's just the cool king of juxtapositions, and it was good to hear them aloud.
Then, Justin Lacour, who like everyone on earth, met Shafer at a party like 1000 years ago or something, and then again last week, and now he's doing a reading. He's also editor of the new online magazine "Kulture Vulture. Here's one of his poems. Am I wrong to call it Ashberyish? This is not a bad thing . . . and was the feeling I got while I was listening to it, too: a little numinous, dreamy, with sudden sharp details, gentle humor, poetry that kind of floats you along on its sounds and images, and by its lack of care for perfect narrative order, lets you stop caring, too.
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