NAPTIME

This is a scene that is played out almost every day. Sometimes a different blanket. Sometimes a different pose. But each nearly identical to the others in its steadfastness and similarity.

CHERRY BLOSSOM

Cherry blossoms, Wednesday 28 March 2012, Edgewood, Washington.

MARCH MADNESS

The March weather in the Pacific Northwest has been a bit confused.


One day in late winter brings sunshine and crocuses.


One day in early spring sees snow covering bushes.

Sun, snow, hail, rain, high temperatures near sixty degrees Fahrenheit, lows below freezing. The next moment? Who knows?

WILD RUMORS OF REALITY

"Earlier ways of finding information—going to the National Diet Library, sitting at a desk with piles of bound, small-sized editions of old newspapers, or almanacs—might soon become a thing of the past...What a weird world. Ushikawa preferred a world where smells and pain still existed, even if the smells and pain were unendurable. Still, people like Ushikawa might become out-of-date relics."
—page 662, 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami.

SPIRIT OF ADVENTURE

Fortune found on the floor of the Puyallup Public Library.

WILD RUMORS OF REALITY

Reflective surface of a broken compact disc + kitchen chandelier + incandescent light + close up setting on digital camera = kaleidoscopic photography.

POET(S) NEEDED

Troy's Work Table needs your help!

The last TWT year-long reading project was "Cutting In." It revolved around the work of Herman Melville, and specifically Moby-Dick.

This year's reading project is "Wild Rumors of Reality." I built it with The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, edited by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem, as its foundational text.

Then, I began to read or re-read Philip K. Dick novels mentioned or referenced in The Exegesis. A few other non-PKD novels started to revolve around The Exegesis, although they seem to fit with what I have noted as themes of interest to me.

Below is a list of books in various stages of being read, some completed, as well as a couple of related films. I also have a few books to seek out.

But I need your help, dear reader. I am looking for works a poet (or poets) whose work fits into the "Wild Rumors of Reality" reading project. I need your suggestions and recommendations.

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Possible themes of poetry (and of "Wild Rumors"):

-Reality

-Alternate reality/realities

-Alternate timeline/history

-Science fiction or surrealism

-Religious overtones

-Metaphysics

And to a lesser extent, although it seems rather foundational to PKD's work:

-Christianity

-Gnosticism (specifically that of a Christian flavor)

-Tension between/amidst "orthodox" or "heterodox" Christianity and Gnostic Christianity

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Novels currently included in the "Wild Rumors of Reality" reading project:

-The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick

-VALIS by Philip K. Dick

-Ubik by Philip K. Dick

-The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick

-1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

-These Dreams of You by Steve Erickson

Non-fiction or short fiction currently included in the "Wild Rumors of Reality" reading project:

-What If Our World Is Their Heaven?: The Final Conversations of Philip K. Dick edited by Gwen Lee and Doris Elaine Sauter

-Counterfeit Worlds: Philip K. Dick on Film by Brian J. Robb

-Selected Stories of Philip K. Dick by Philip K. Dick

Films currently included in the "Wild Rumors of Reality" reading project:

-A Scanner Darkly by Richard Linklater

-Minority Report by Steven Spielberg

-Blade Runner by Ridley Scott

-The Adjustment Bureau by George Nolfi

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If you would, then please review the above themes and works, and leave recommendations of the work of a contemporary poet (or poets) who dabbles in or tackles these same issues (in comments about this post).