2018 Rugby World Cup Sevens in SF

US wing Perry Baker (right) scoring a brace
against Wales, July 20, 2018.

Rugby--though I never played this British invention, despite my high school actually having a team (and a good one), I am a huge fan of the sport, and in the past have posted about the Rugby World Cup, whose next edition arrives in 2019, in Japan. That World Cup will feature the globe's best 15-man rugby teams. (There is an 15-woman squad Rugby World Cup as well, whose next championship will be in 2021). The 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, though, offered a faster, smaller version of the international game, Rugby Sevens, with 7 players and different, streamlined rules from standard 15-person rugby union play. As a result, Rugby Sevens matches are briefer affairs, and often feature far more thrilling runs up and down the field, eliminating some of the slog and stasis of standard rugby, which is not without its charms too.

South African star Siviye Soyizwapi (left)
racing into the end zone for a try, and finishing as
co-top Rugby World Cup Sevens try scorer

I had not realized until C alerted me to it that this year's Rugby World Cup Sevens were underway this past weekend in San Francisco, but he managed to record the final day's key matches, capturing the championship and other key matchups. In this year's Cup, 24 men's teams and 16 women's teams competed at San Francisco's AT&T Park in games that were structured to take place over a three day span. I was a bit amazed when I first saw how tightly scheduled the competition was, especially compared, for example, to recent tournaments like the recent FIFA World Cup in Russia, or the Wimbledon All England Tennis Tournament. In this tournament, the games were pegged and structured that they flew past without any hitches; the women's championship took place on the 21st, followed by the men's on the 22nd, with various lower-placement and bowl matches artfully dovetailed in.

All Blacks Sevens star Joe Ravouvou, diving
for a try, and finishing as co-top Rugby
World Cup Sevens try scorer

The host US's Sevens squad played with panache throughout, though they finished 2-2. Entering the tournament as the 5th seed, having won a 2016-17 tournament in Dubai, they advanced in the Championship round of 16 by defeating past champion Wales 35-0, then lost to England in extra time 24-19. That sent the US to the fifth place bracket semi-finals against Scotland, which it defeated 28-0, before the team lost to Argentina 33-7, finishing in 6th place. In the opening game, center Martin Iosefo, forward Danny Barrett, and young speedster wing Carlin Isles all scored tries, as did star wing Perry Baker, who scored twice. Longtime team captain Madison Hughes made all five conversions. Against England, the US was behind 7-12 yet couldn't close the gap; by game's end, Hughes, scrum-half Folau Niua and Baker scored, but Hughes managed only two of the conversions, the game concluding with a 24-19 loss for the Americans.

The US's Martin Iosefo, in white, during his breakaway
run in the US-Argentina game, July 22, 2018

In the penultimate shut-out match against Scotland, Maka (KK) Unufe, Hughes, Stephin Hughes, and Isles all scored tries, with Hughes converting each. The US dominated and looked like a team that could have gone nearly all the way, but for the loss to England. Against Argentina, however, the US again struggled to score tries, while being dominated by the stronger and faster Argentinian squad. By half time the US was down 0-19. In the second half Iosefo, who entered as a substitute scored for the US, with Stephin Thomasin converting for the extra point, but it was hardly enough to make up for Argentina's two subsequent tries and conversions, and the final score was 7-33, giving the US a 6th place finish.

Fiji's Sevuloni Mocenacagi, after scoring his try
against South Africa in the Bronze final, won by
South Africa, 24-19, July 22, 2018

In the men's final, for the Melrose Cup, powerhouse New Zealand defeated England 33-12, with South Africa finishing third and Olympic champion Fiji finishing 4th. This was the All Blacks Sevens' third win and second straight in World Rugby Cup Sevens, once again making them the only team to have won the tournament more than once, and the only team to have won it three times. Other than South Africa, other teams from that continent did not fare so well; Kenya finished 16th, Uganda finished 19, and Zimbabwe 23, defeating the last place team this time, Jamaica. Several of these countries, Kenya in particular, demonstrated in the Olympics, however, that they have the talent to give any team a challenge, so it will be exciting to see what the 2022 edition brings.

All Blacks Akuila Rokolisoa sprinting towards
the end zone in the Championship game
against England, July 22, 2018 

All Blacks Akuila Rokolisoa after his
try during the Championship game
against England, July 22, 2018 

All Blacks Akuila Rokolisoa celebrating
after his try in the Championship game
against England, July 22, 2018 

The women's final pitted New Zealand against France, with the All Blacks Sevens winning 29-0. Australia's team finished 3rd and the host US squad finished 4th, after 3rd place finishes in the two prior Rugby World Cups of 2009 and 2013. The US, as host, had an automatic draw, and was ranked 5 in the draw, below Australia and Canada, but as they had shown in prior World Cups, played with brio, defeating China 38-7 in the round of 16, then Russia 33-17 in the quarterfinals, before losing to the All Blacks Sevens 26-21 in a close match in the semifinals and Australia 24-14 in the bronze medal match. The US women in fact were the only team that posed any real challenge for New Zealand. In rugby sevens as in 11-person rugby, whether among the women or men, New Zealand's All Blacks remain the team to beat.

New Zealand's Portia Woodman (center),
breaking a tackle by France in the women's
Championship game, July 21, 2018

Photos: American Book Awards

Here a few photos from the 2016 American Book Awards ceremony, which was held at the San Francisco Jazz Center. The highlight of the event for me was meeting all of the other honorees--congratulations to ALL of them, those present and those unable to be there--and hearing the extraordinary, often deeply moving speeches. Thanks once again to the Before Columbus Foundation and its board, Justin Desmangles, Ishmael Reed, and everyone who makes the foundation, the awards, the event, and all the important work BCF does in the world possible! (All photos are by C (thank you!).)

With THE Beefeater,
in front of the Sir Francis Drake
Hotel, Union Square

C & I before the event 

Chatting with my Rutgers-Newark
colleague Lyra Monteiro 

Meeting ABA winner Jesús Salvador Treviño,
author of Return to Arroyo Grande 

The façade of jazz greats across the
street from SFJazz Center 

Justin Desmangles, radio host, writer,
and MC for American Book Awards 

ABA winner Lauret Savoy, author of Trace:
Memory, History, Race, and the American Landscape

Poet Laura Da', author
of Tributaries and ABA winner

Jesús Salvador Treviño 

ABA winner Susan Muaddi Darraj, author
of Curious Land: Stories from Home 

ABA winner Deepa Iyer, author
of We Too Sing America:
South Asian, Arab, Muslim, and Sikh Immigrants
Shape Our Multiracial Future

Before Columbus Foundation and American
Book Awards founder Ishmael Reed,
introducing the Lowenfels Award for
Criticism, which went to Lyra Monteiro
and Nancy Isenberg

Lyra Monteiro, accepting her award

Washington University professor Bill Maxwell,
speaking after receiving his American Book
Award for his study F. B. Eyes: How J. Edgar Hoover's
Ghostreaders Framed African American Literature

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, accepting ABAs for
Ned Sublette and Constance Sublette,
authors of The American Slave Coast: A History
of the Slave-Breeding Industry

The mother and sister of college student
Chiitaanibah Johnson, who received the
Andrew Hope Award for her activism

Lyra speaking and breaking it down

Yours truly, giving my speech

A group photo

Lyra and I

Recent Travels/Book Tour

In Pratt Library's window

It is hard to believe we are nearing the end of the semester, but in a few weeks Thanksgiving will arrive, followed by the last few classes and final papers, and the term will be a wrap. Like prior falls this one has raced by, but the speed has assumed a barreling quality because of the trips to promote Counternarratives, with body underneath the fast-moving cask. Now whenever I get on a plane I wonder in all seriousness how I ever commuted for ten years to and from Chicago, though I must add that when I first started at Northwestern, which was in the immediate post-9/11 moment (2002), dealing with airport security and TSA was nowhere as enervating and exhausting as it is today. It has nevertheless been a joy and honor to be able to read from and promote the book in different cities.

The beach in Santa Cruz

Those giant redwoods on
UCSC's campus

Karen Tei Yamashita tagging
in the restaurant

At the utterly chaotic LAX

In late September, I headed to Baltimore and Washington. In Charm City, Judy Cooper hosted me at the Enoch Pratt Free Library for a reading and Q&A, so many thanks to her and everyone at Pratt (including past Prattizen Reggie H. who made the reading possible). I drew a small but enthusiastic audience, met a number of people, including broadcaster Melvin Lewis, and sold and signed books. Judy and everyone at Pratt were a joy to work with from start to finish. The next day at the invitation of Dr. Meta DuEwa Jones, a professor of English at Howard University, I read to and spoke with one of her classes. It was so encouraging to receive the warm reception and I got to meet several budding writers studying with Meta, a scholar and writer I deeply respect and admire, as well as some of her great colleagues. She was the consummate host from the time I arrived at Union Station until she dropped me. This was an Amtrak trip, and I give it the highest ratings in every category. (Years ago, from 2001-2, I commuted via Amtrak and Greyhound, so I've seen both at their best and worst too.) If only, I thought as I often do when I experience a smooth train ride, we had a real high-speed trans-national rail system. If only!

Steve Dickison

Reading at the Poetry Center at SFSU

With Tan Khanh Cao at City Lights

Three weeks later, after the trip to Detroit for Fire & Ink IV: Witness, I headed to the University of California-Santa Cruz to read at the invitation of the utterly brilliant and dear poet and critic Dr. Ronaldo V. Wilson, as part of their "Living Writers Series." Again I was fortunate in my host, as Ronaldo made sure things ran very smoothly, including deputizing one of his talented undergraduate writing students, Oscar Del Toro, to meet me at San Jose Airport. As part of the visit I met with Ronaldo's poetry class, who shared their poetry with me, before we discussed Seismosis and writing in general. As part of the visit I read from Counternarratives, and sold and signed books, always a pleasure. Ronaldo, who was a delight to hang out with, gave me a little driving tour of Santa Cruz, whose giant redwood trees I cannot get out of my head, and one of the highlights of the visit was meeting the great Karen Tei Yamashita and her Brazilian husband, Ronaldo, as well as other colleagues of Ronaldo's like Chris Chen, his smart and friendly graduate students, and some of the writers who had traveled down from the Bay Area to attend the reading, like Jaze. I also thought about Angela Davis and her presence on this campus while I was there. We also had the experience of a black staff person stopping Ronaldo and me as we walked down a hallway to comment on how rare it was for her to see two black men walking together on campus, so that she had to note this. I appreciated that moment of recognition and connection. A wonderful trip, especially because I of how much fun I had with Ronaldo, and I have promised myself I will not blather on about how beautiful Santa Cruz is. But it is--go see it!

You know where

C and Tonya

At Green Apple Books

Tan, I and Stephen introducing us

Offering an answer

The following week C and I headed to San Francisco for several events,   under the auspices of the Poetry Center at San Francisco State University. Though I had never read in their series I actually had interviewed aeons ago--shortly after I received my MFA--at San Francisco State, so it was wonderful to be able to return almost two decades later with a new book to share there. Our host was poet and professor Steve Dickison, who from the time he met us at the airport was a shepherd of the best kind. Our first night we stayed in a gentrified neighborhood right on the edge of Golden Gate Park, then we moved to a hotel in downtown San Francisco, right on Union Square, which allowed us to do a little sightseeing and shopping. I had a desire for tunic-style shirts and sweatshirts, and San Francisco was able to oblige me. The reading on Thursday at the Poetry Center drew a full crowd, including Maxine Chernoff, whom I hadn't seen since that interview in the 1990s; Paul Hoover, with whom I once broke bread in Rhode Island and whom I would see from time to time in Chicago; the warm and talented Robert Ricardo Reese; and one of my favorite people, Tonya Foster, who now teaches at the Californi College of the Arts in SF. I also got to meet some local writers and poets, including Brandon Brown and George Albon, who shared with me a copy of his book Fire Break (Nightboat Books). I am leaving out several other people, so I apologize, but it was an afternoon I won't forget for a while.

A full house

Tan

Signing books and chatting
with one of the booksellers

That night Steve, Tonya, C, and I went out to House of Nanking, a restaurant I'd hoped one day to return to, because the food was so good. It is still standing around the corner and down the street from City Lights Books--where we stopped in after our meal and dessert--and just as yummy. Ask for the special menu too! At City Lights, I finally got to meet Tan Khanh Cao, a consummate bookseller, artist and brilliant person inside and out, with whom I would be in conversation the following night at Green Apple Books. I loved meeting Tan, and got such a good vibe that I knew things would go well at Green Apple. Of course I had to be disabused of the notion that the store was in Oakland (???), but we got there without a problem via Uber, spending a little time with Tan, Steve, Susan Gevirtz and others (including Paul from City Lights) before the reading. At Green Apple the room was packed, and the audience was truly enthusiastic. Among those present were Green Apple's Stephen Sparks, who introduced us and who has been a champion of Counternarratives from day one; Brad Johnson, from Oakland's Diesel Books, who wrote one of the best reviews of the book; one of my most amazing former students, Tai Little; translator Katrina Dodson; and the dazzling critic Aaron Bady, whom I knew from Twitter. I didn't get to say hello to my former college poetry classmate, Joseph Lease, and his wife Donna de la Perrière, becuase they jetted as I was signing books, but I was so glad to know they were there (I spotted Joseph's nimbus of hair from a distance). The dialogue with Tan flowed easily and was such a pleasure; I believe it's on tape and will be live soon, so I'll post a link when that happens. There were even two St. Louisans present, a lovely young couple whom I got to ask the St. Louis question, "Where did you go to high school." (SLUH and Nerinx Hall, and she was from Webster Groves too--go figure!) Afterwards a large group headed to a local bar and had a great time. While we were in San Francisco C and I got to see my former colleague, the extraordinary Jennifer DeVere Brody, who is flourishing and made our day. I returned to JC and classes a little tired but also still soaring from the wonderful trip.

At the bar, with Aaron Bady, Brad (at left),
Stephen (in the plaid shirt) and others

Paul and others

C smiling (Katrina Dodson directly
in center at back)

To ALL my hosts, to all who made these readings possible in any way, to all who came out for the readings, to all who have bought and read copies of Counternarratives or given them as gifts, I offer my DEEPEST THANKS ALWAYS! Thank you, thank you, thank you! 

Poem: Aaron Shurin

I cannot find my copy now (it is hidden among the shelves of writing study books that this summer will enjoy reorganization), but Aaron Shurin's (1947-) A's Dream (O Books, 1989), was one of those revelations that serendipity in a bookstore brought me. I had never heard of him or his work, pulled the book off the shelf, realized quickly that I could not put it down, and then read it a number of times, letting its lush, lyrical language seep in and steep. A queer text in theme and form, it enfolds you in its prose, particularly the sequence "City of Men," which I read as specifically about San Francisco, where Shurin has lived for many years and where he directs MFA program at the University of San Francisco, but which I analogized to many an urban setting.

What I particularly love about this sequence is the specificity in the elusiveness; there is something always both before you and just out of reach, like desire itself, though what also overshadows this series of poems is the AIDS pandemic, which was well underway when Shurin wrote the poems. The poems incorporate that horror, but also each day's quotidian beauties. About his work Shurin has said (according to Wikipedia): "Poetry remains for me an act of investigation, by which the imagination makes itself visible in a real world - and through which the inhabitants of that realer world become dimensional." As the little snippet below demonstrates (the "disappear" is not a typo, just to be clear), we can see an imagination crystallizing in words; desire, a life, a world rendered, in its complexity, as poetry.

from CITY OF MEN

I heard my name, the day rose and disappear over the beach. the day on each breath tasted my food,that night roll slowly cover in the cool, his face around my breast. the day inhaling grow pale and disappear, water on his way, up the shores hissing. under the night stillness inclined my morning beach, undressing the friend of my liquid, my most same. at evening while whispering from the bed by me, his way was accomplished. his full perfect arm a health of ripe waters. the day received moon laughing, love lay me that night.

Copyright © Aaron Shurin, from The Paradise of Forms: Selected Poems, Jersey City: Talisman House, 1999. All rights reserved.

Poem: Jack Spicer

Photo from the collection of Lewis Ellingham and Kevin Killian

I am, as I noted, trying to feature poets I have not blogged before, and poems on poetry in its many aspects. Here today is a poet I started to read years ago, but only recently have delved more deeply into, Jack Spicer (1925-1965). He was a magus, a poet whose influence as a craftsman, lyricist, demiurge, and teacher touched many poets, from peers like Robert Duncan (who got him to come out) and Robin Blaser to students like John Wieners and Jack Gilbert. He also was often involved in significant poetry movements, like the Berkeley Renaissance, and then the subsequent revival of poetry across the bay in San Francisco.

He also was a co-founder of the 6 Gallery, where Allen Ginsberg gave his legendary reading of Howl. (Note to readers: there's a free copy of that book if you can answer the question I posted in the blogpost "Neuroaesthetics, Part II").  Spicer also had a hard time dealing with university bureaucracies and, to put it mildly, fellow poets, which meant that he could not keep jobs, brilliant though he was, and he drank too much for his own good, leading to his early death. We still have his poetry, which casts a subtle but increasingly strong spell the longer you--I--read it. Here is a poem about a topic that can easily become quite trite. He shows how to make it not so. Enjoy!

PSYCHOANALYSIS: AN ELEGY   
by Jack Spicer

What are you thinking about?

I am thinking of an early summer.
I am thinking of wet hills in the rain
Pouring water.  Shedding it
Down empty acres of oak and manzanita
Down to the old green brush tangled in the sun,
Greasewood, sage, and spring mustard.
Or the hot wind coming down from Santa Ana
Driving the hills crazy,
A fast wind with a bit of dust in it
Bruising everything and making the seed sweet.
Or down in the city where the peach trees
Are awkward as young horses,
And there are kites caught on the wires
Up above the street lamps,
And the storm drains are all choked with dead branches.

What are you thinking?

I think that I would like to write a poem that is slow as a summer
As slow getting started
As 4th of July somewhere around the middle of the second stanza
After a lot of unusual rain
California seems long in the summer.
I would like to write a poem as long as California
And as slow as a summer.
Do you get me, Doctor?  It would have to be as slow
As the very tip of summer.
As slow as the summer seems
On a hot day drinking beer outside Riverside
Or standing in the middle of a white-hot road
Between Bakersfield and Hell
Waiting for Santa Claus.

What are you thinking now?

I’m thinking that she is very much like California.
When she is still her dress is like a roadmap.  Highways
Traveling up and down her skin
Long empty highways
With the moon chasing jackrabbits across them
On hot summer nights.
I am thinking that her body could be California
And I a rich Eastern tourist
Lost somewhere between Hell and Texas
Looking at a map of a long, wet, dancing California
That I have never seen.
Send me some penny picture-postcards, lady,
Send them.
One of each breast photographed looking
Like curious national monuments,
One of your body sweeping like a three-lane highway
Twenty-seven miles from a night’s lodging
In the world’s oldest hotel.

What are you thinking?

I am thinking of how many times this poem
Will be repeated.  How many summers
Will torture California
Until the damned maps burn
Until the mad cartographer
Falls to the ground and possesses
The sweet thick earth from which he has been hiding.

What are you thinking now?

I am thinking that a poem could go on forever.

Copyright © Jack Spicer, "Psychoanalysis: An Elegy," from My Vocabulary Did This To Me: The Collected Poetry of Jack Spicer, Peter Gizzi and Kevin Killian, editors. Middletown: Wesleyan University Press, 2008. Used by permission.