general report

OK so I moved back to Illinois over a year ago, and still haven't made it to Carbondale or southern Illinois, which is now about four hours away. There are a lot of reasons for that - raising teenagers among them - but that's what it is. I miss my people in so. Illinois very much and want to visit.

This post is more about the general plan to redo Boxcars on Walnut, which is poetry that came off of this site back in the years (1994-2012) that I lived in Carbondale. In those days I wrote a lot of haiku and put it in a book which has been saved here. And in the meantime I have switched over from making massive haiku attempts, 1000 at a time, from my extensive travels, to rather using the small-book format to tell little stories.

So it is time for boxcars to get a revamp. It will probably be very simple and clean, but it will happen in the next few months, and I will keep you posted.

The pop art on this site is something I'm attached to as well. But I've done nothing with it except leave it here, and maybe that's another goal I can set out to accomplish now that I'm in Illinois. I've become a kind of Illinois fan, Illinois patriot. I love the place. And I'm just sitting in my chair, in small-town Illinois, watching the rain (almost unheard of in New Mexico) and enjoying the way a small Illinois town (in this case Galesburg) can make you feel like you've got what you need.

back from the southwest

Ten years in Texas and New Mexico, and I got a little out of touch with what is happening in southern Illinois. We moved our family back over the Memorial Day weekend, and are now in Monmouth, near the Quad Cities and Galesburg, and are waiting to move somewhere in Galesburg in July. We are definitely enjoying the rain.

I may spend some time developing this site, which has always been kind of a tribute to southern Illinois, as well as trains. I am definitely appreciating Illinois, as Monmouth is very familiar in its culture and general atmosphere. The water problem may be opposite - they seem to be getting way too much of it - but in character, it seems comfortable. "Illinois is a lot like Iowa, only more so...." and "Iowa and Illinois are a lot alike, the only difference is, Illinois has a city in it..."

There's a secret that this blog will tell before other people find out. I am returning to Illinois.

The plan is to go to one of five towns: Galesburg, Alton, Bloomington, Quincy, Champaign, and to move about June 1. Why not Carbondale? Lots of reasons. I love Carbondale, but let's just say, lots of reasons. I'm glad I'll be close enough to visit.

The decision may come down to the house. Any of the five appear to acceptable for what we care about, decent school for a couple of high school kids. Also, proximity to kids and grandkids, and health care of various kinds. We've got some specific needs.

I may be able to add to this blog as time goes by; I'm glad it's still here.

Boxcars on Walnut, by the way, is languishing on the shelves; nobody buys haiku. But I don't care; I made it; I love southern Illinois; I love the haiku, and it's the first of several books I've made, so it has a place right there in my heart as a threshold of a haiku era.

More later; I'll keep you posted.

My autobiography & more

http://tlevspress.blogspot.com/2021/09/just-passing-through.html

Winston's memory

So the other night on the Carbondale facebook site the topic of Winston the Bagel man came up, since Winston was an institution in Carbondale and he had a lot of people who loved him and who are severely bummed that he's gone. My main response to it, after I thought about it, was, "somebody ought to write a book about him," which struck a nerve; people agreed.

After more ruminating, I decided that that person was probably me. I can, after all, write books. I memorialized Stone Soup Restaurant in Iowa City and I could do the same for Winston.

The problem is, I didn't really know him all that well. I wasn't in the 2 am drinking crowd, although I think at one time I did buy a bagel and I liked it, but he wouldn't know me if I walked right up to him. I just wasn't around that neighborhood at 2 a m very often.

So, it would have to be a romanticized version, to some degree - fiction - and I'd have to change his name. I couldn't just make up stuff about him that I needed for my plot. Still, I find the whole scene - the bars, down by the woods where the homeless people slept, down on the southeast side, 2 a m, all the students coming out of the bars heading for Winston's little bagel stand.....it's the perfect venue for a novel.

Stay tuned. I need details about him even if I choose to avoid to use his name or I deny any similarity to real people. Of course he'll be a good guy anyway; I don't think any of his heirs will object. It's one of my goals, long term, for the moment.

Postcards from the Edge

Halfway to Graceland

Center of the Universe

Center of the Universe II

These postcards are from a specific era in my life when I was using xerox machines to create graphic arts. The full collection is here although it is not quite complete yet. You'll see a number of ones from Carbondale including the ones above.

It was a prolific time for my pop art - the xerox art had started in Kansas in about 1990 and continued right through the nineties until I got more into posterization and computer-generated pop.

The good news is that I am working on a pop art book entirely about Carbondale. These aren't in it; they are early, and not as good quality, as the posterization. But they had a kind of inspiration that I still like. I will try to complete this collection and then link to it from templates.

All from before is now obsolete

100 Haiku paperback $4.29 + shipping on Amazon
kindle $2.99

This book has given "Boxcars on Walnut" (see the ad on the side) a new life, for this reason: small haiku books are clearly the way to go. Putting a thousand in a single volume was clearly beyond my ability to sustain, not to mention do well, and this one in general has a much better chance.

American haiku, 5-7-5, is alive and well. Making a collection of them gives you a single form for every one in the book, and there's something to be said for that. When it's all over, Boxcars on Walnut will be the first of a series.

I was proud to learn that when the president tried to fly into southern Illinois, have a lightning rally at the airport, and leave town fast, a number of people were there to greet him. Someone who owned a farm near the airport allowed their land to be used for a huge "LIAR" sign, visible from the airport. The paid audience, many of whom came from elsewhere, were there to boo the protesters, but there were more protesters. Maybe they can't pay people enough to go to these rallies.

He hasn't been especially good for southern Illinois; he promised to bring back dirty coal, but, I don't think that will do it for southern Illinois, even if he were able to do that. I don't even think they want dirty coal anymore. Hospitals are one of our few remaining industries, and hospitals have been full of black lung for years. Dirty coal is not the answer.

I'll get a picture if I can. All I can say is, VOTE. That stooge you have in there who keeps voting for things like tax cuts for the wealthy, he has to go too.

e pluribus haiku 2018

$6.00 on Amazon
$2.99 on Kindle


1000 original haiku from fifty states and the District of Columbia - written in an original 5-7-5 style. Haiku are colorful and physical and include a season word or hint. Because the USA is geographically spread out, geography clues are necessary too.

april rocks kindle promotion

details on my facebook author's page

e pluribus haiku 2017

a thousand original haiku

Available at Amazon $6.29 + shipping
Available at the Createspace Store $6.29 + shipping
Available on Kindle $3.59

Boxcars on Walnut

Now available on Amazon $5.38 + shipping
Coming on Kindle $.99 (soon) as well

A Dozen Crime Stories

Now available on audiobook!

Short Stories

for the ages!

Quaker Plays for First Days

This is a southern Illinois thing:

$7.28 + shipping at Amazon
All profits go to Quaker organizations

more haiku

wakes up from th’strange dream,
magicians, dragons, ‘n’ castles –
‘no name road’ street sign

up devil’s backbone,
th’frog comes a bit too early,
and th’snake is ready

came back from l a –
he says it was th’prom, but could’ve
been seventeenth street

road t’ th’christmas tree farm –
at an old texaco sign,
he sees th’stud’baker

homecoming parade –
chi-o’s are telling the delts
plans for th’spillway

grand tower levee –
barge workers wave, when they’re not
fighting that current

interfaith windows,
broken in th’riots – used t’hit
th’army recruiting

fifty arrested
‘n th’halloween “disturbances” –
most from out of town

on boskydell road,
goes ninety – not listening to
th’shrill warnings ‘f th’locusts

chance t’go up t’duquoin –
he climbs on th’big main stage, where
charlie daniels played

reunion ‘t quatro’s –
only th’freshmen look diff’rent,
pizza’s good ‘s ever

they march t’ward mélange,
everyone’s a bit too cold –
then, th’kid spots santa

turn left ‘t th’smiley face,
vulture fest’s down that valley –
yellow, ‘n’ has th’bowtie

still more

end ‘f th’long grim winter
saint patrick’s day, they seem t’know
t’find their way t’elm street

tried th’cobden peaches,
rich ‘n’ juicy, sweet ‘n’ wet ‘n’ yellow,
moved here from new york

little grand canyon –
nice hike along th’autumn ridge,
little too long ‘n th’valley

from devil’s backbone,
they watch th’barges fight th’river
then cruise right back down

devil’s kitchen lake –
always best, he says, t’hide th’car
with no duck sticker

jury duty, murph –
th’judge has th’bailiff bring th’hot tea,
they still want t’go home

th’kid likes th’water tower,
smiley face with th’big bow tie –
b’neath it, th’leaves change

th’rainbows use chopsticks
t’pull coins from b’neath th’long branch porch –
bean soup f’r th’gathering

more haiku

warm ‘n’ steamy evening –
she gets th’reds from th’closet, t’plan for
t’mato fertil’ty

horn player’s fingers –
he wonders why th’lights parade
is on th’coldest night

fresh painted dawg paws –
too much time watching kids shows,
the boys call them ‘clues’

t’buy th’pomona store –
th’weeds’ve got it, but th’problem is,
th’gas tank beneath it

three a.m., amtrak
station, october evening –
th’guests wonder ‘bout th’crowds

long line ‘f cherry cars,
he tells how they held th’nats – ‘til
they too got rowdy

weeds in th’labyrinth –
tales ‘f synergy, and th’students
who so loved bucky

makanda boardwalk –
gets déjà vu, when th’old guy
talks ‘bout vulture fest

when th’concert’s ‘t shryock,
th’kids all want t’hang ‘round th’fountain,
‘n’ try t’splash each other

reggae comes t’turley –
matted hair lass says, this one’s
more fragrant than th’rest

carbondale haiku, 6-16

memories ‘f jim ‘n’ ruth’s –
th’leaves fall on th’tiny street,
th’stories tumble out
(6-16)

midland inn’s back porch –
crickets chirp, ‘n’ th’old man tells how
they had t’come here t’drink
(6-16)

chief illiniwek
blanket – th’kid sleeps through th’fireworks
down by th’arena
(6-16)

at th’friendship statue –
th’freshmen ‘n’ their parents find
th’mill street underpass
(6-16)

fall’n trees on campus –
those visitors won’t forget
that graduation
(6-16)

no power, two weeks-
th’neighbors ‘n th’sultry back yards
sharing th’gen’rators
(6-16)

pile ‘f anti-war signs –
choose one at th’pavilion, stand
on th’corner, by th’leaves
(6-16)

irish fests 't turley -
for years, th'kids took in th'music
'n' it always seemed t'rain
(6-16)

return of the boxcars

For a while, when I left Carbondale, it was hard to think about it, and I knew it would be, so I compiled my haiku about Carbondale into this one little edition, printed it on paper, and offered it free to anyone who lived in Carbondale. It remains that way today, three years later, but I've given very few of them away, and don't really like a system where it is not really available to the public except through contacting me. It has some of my earlier and better haiku, and is not burdened necessarily by geography as much of my haiku is, since it's clear, from the start, that it's southern Illinois.

I took it out the other day, and was reading it, and decided a few things. 1) I should republish it, and add to it, a variety of things that are not represented in it, for starters, sunset concerts, hallowe'en riots, other things. 2) there is no such thing as "no season haiku" (or, to put it better, though one can maintain that one doesn't need a season for haiku, I don't want to maintain that...3) the process of adding to it, and putting it on Amazon with other publications, would be fun and good for me, though it might take a while.

So there it is - it's coming. It might take a year or two, but it's coming.

This site is kind of indirectly named for Carbondale haiku. The name and the haiku arrived at about the same time. It's not quite accurate to say the site is here for the publication. I put all kinds of Carbondale things here, and will continue to do so. I maintain my offer. If you would like this first edition, paper copy, let me know. I have people coming and going from Carbondale often; it might not even cost me for shipping.