Alice-Catherine

Poetry at the Post: Mercury in Retrograde or Loss of Innocence #2—The Trans Pecos Pipeline

Updated June 11, 2015

The day ended badly with a broken ankle,
a jinxed printer, and a dead car. The dry yellow grass
against the sunset saved me…

Gravity anomalies on Mercury—mass concentrations (red) suggest subsurface structure and evolution, photo courtesy of NASA

Here’s my latest roundup of the news on the Trans-Pecos Pipeline. This is not an exhaustive list—but a start.

I have found little from the Mexico side of the border and what I have is mainly a summary of what’s going on in Brewster/Presidio County. If you find other news reports—especially national or international, please feel free to add them to this list. (Updated, June 11, 2015)

Whitewashing the Trans-Pecos Pipeline, Alpine Avalanche

Cano Backtracks on “Done Deal” Comment, Pipeline Opposition Begins Fundraising, Marfa Public Radio

Proposed Trans-Pecos Pipeline to Benefit Air Quality, KMIDTV

JEFF DAVIS COMMISSIONERS COURT DEFLATES GAS PIPELINE RESOLUTION, The Big Bend Gazette

An unlikely alliance: Ranchers and green activists fight Texas pipeline, Al Jazeera America

Texanos protestan contra gasoducto Waha-Presidio, Radiza Juarez

Texanos inician campaña contra gasoducto por daño ambiental

The Pipeline That Texans Are Freaking Out Over (Nope, Not Keystone), Mother Jones

Commissioners ask critical questions about pipeline, Big Bend Now

Presidio County Commissioners Receive Update on Trans-Pecos Pipeline

Border Pipelines Face Opposition On Both Sides Of Rio Grande, Fronteras

Marfa and West Texans Fight to Keep Out Pipelines, Glasstire

Pipeline protesters gather in Alpine, Alpine Avalanche

The Uphill Battle for Eminent Domain Opponents in Texas, Marfa Public Radio

TCEQ Shuts Down Pumpco Inc. Work Site for Trans-Pecos Pipeline in Alpine

TCEQ: Operations At Alpine Pipeline Site “Not Shutdown Nor Granted Approval’, Marfa ‘Public Radio

Board Member of Brewster County Groundwater District Arrested on Trespassing Charge, Marfa Public Radio

Work at Alpine Staging Ground for Trans-Pecos Pipeline Can Continue Amid TCEQ Investigation, Marfa Public Radio

BEARD CHARGED WITH FELONY ASSAULT OF DEPUTY AT PUMPCO, INC. SITE, the Big Bend Gazette

Pipeline Shipments Could Head South On Old West Texas Railroad, Marfa Public Radio

Charges mount for Beard in pipe yard incident, Big Bend Now

Beard charged with assault, trespass, Alpine Avalanche

CDRI photo by Alice-Catherine Jennings — CDRI
photo by Alice-Catherine Jennings

Opponent of Trans-Pecos Pipeline to Mexico Vows to Fight, NGI’s Daily Price Index

Officials Seek Federal Regulation on the Entire Trans-Pecos Pipeline, KWES News 9

Alpine Resolution Opposing The Trans-Pecos Pipeline Dies Before A Vote, Marfa Public Radio

Congressman sheds little light on pipeline, Big Bend Now

Showdown in Trans Pecos: Texas Ranchers Stand Up to Billionaires’ Export Pipeline, DESMOG

Presidio, mostly, embraces pipeline project, Big Bend Now

Pipeline firm denied water well permit, Big Bend Now

ALERT!: Nuclear waste facility proposed near Kent, Big Ben Now

Continue reading “Poetry at the Post: Mercury in Retrograde or Loss of Innocence #2—The Trans Pecos Pipeline” →

Poetry at the Post: Happy Mother’s Day May 10, 2015!!

Daughter
BY JAMES LENFESTEY
A daughter is not a passing cloud, but permanent,
holding earth and sky together with her shadow.

The Daughter
BY CARMEN GIMÉNEZ SMITH
We said she was a negative image of me because of her lightness.
She’s light and also passage, the glory in my cortex.
Daughter, where did you get all that goddess?

Mother’s Day—I like to flip it around— and celebrate being a mom because I have “the best daughter ever.” I’ve loved the total package, or the whole enchilada of experiences—well, maybe not the rabies scare in Gibraltar!

Do you know the history of Mother’s Day? Check it out here.

Poetry at the Tent: Five Things I Learned From Camping at Goose Island State Park, Texas

The Geese
BY JANE MEAD

…Their call, both strange
and familiar, calls
to the strange and familiar..

Goose Island offers camping, fishing and birding along the St. Charles and Aransas bays, north of Corpus Christi, Texas. A three-hour drive from Austin makes this an easy weekend destination–although to avoid the crowds, mid week is better.

I’ve just returned from a two-night camping trip to Goose Island State Park and here are five things I learned.

1. Goose Island is an oasis on the Gulf coast. You can camp by the bay or under the oak trees. The facilities are excellent—well-maintained campsites and bathrooms with showers. The tent camping, however, is mixed-in with the RV’s unless you go primitive. Questions? Arriving late? Not a problem. All will be taken care of by a friendly group of volunteers and staff at this state park.

2. The mosquitos are a killer. It’s true. Do not underestimate their power-and capacity to bite. Ouch! Bring plenty of DEET.

3. The birding is super!–even I know that and I am not a birder. Lots of cardinals. Bring cameras worth thousands of dollars to see them. 🙂

4. It is HUMID! Think Houston in the summer, then square it. If you are sleeping in a tent, bring a fan…or an oxygen tank for breathing.

5. If the heat and mosquitos get you down, you can head into Fulton Beach or Rockport (about 9 miles away) for an oyster po-boy and a Corona, iced-down cold. You can also find Mexican food but be forewarned that the Mexican food on the coast is Jalisco style, not San Antonio/Austin-style Tex-Mex. I had the shrimp tacos at Los Comales. They were tasty but diferente.

Rockport, Texas Photo courtesy of John M. Jennings — Rockport, Texas
Photo courtesy of John M. Jennings

ALICE’S CAMP-O-METER FOR CAMPING AT GOOSE ISLAND SP:

I’d like to give this place a higher rating for effort and beauty but the weather and bugs weigh it down.

Poetry at the Post: Ganesha Finds A Home in Marfa, TX

Ganesh by R. N. CURREY

Ganesha, Ganopathi, Gannanata
The Elephant Head, the Ivory Tusked, the Fat,
the Long-Nosed and the Rider on the Rat;

As the god of new beginnings, Ganesha is my favorite of the five Hindu deities. From time to time, we all need to begin again or at least refresh our inner selves so when a call when out to bring back a Hindu god from India for The Well in Marfa, TX, I knew which one it would be.

I found this Ganehsa in Jaipur where he was lovingly packaged in bubble wrap for his long trip via Dubai toTexas. Gracias a Dios! Ganesha arrived safely and is now serenely installed in his new place of honor.

If you happen to be out in Marfa and are looking for some wisdom and inspiration, come to The Well. It’s a great space. Check it out.

Ganesha getting ready to throw his lotus. Basohli miniature, circa 1730. National Museum, New Delhi.

How Ganesha got the head of an elephant is a mystery although the most familiar legend is the one where Shiva cuts off Ganesha’s head to gain access to Parvati. Then, to soothe poor distraught Parvati, who had created Ganesha out of her own body, Shiva had to find a replacement head for Ganesha. Volia! An elephant. You can read more here.

“Colchester town center”. Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons –

But who was R. N. Currey, our featured poet for today? Born in South Africa, Currey was a schoolmaster at the Royal Grammar School, Colchester, for 40 years, yet he was still regarded as more a South African poet than an English one.

Poetry at the Post: Void and Compensation by Michael Morse

I had the good fortune last night to be at the Marfa Book Co for a reading by poet Michael Morse, which was prescient as today’s NaPoWriMo prompt is to write a “review poem.”

Instead, of writing a review of the reading (which was terrific) or Morse’s new book Void and Compensation (Don’t you just want to read the book for its title?), I decided to assemble a modified cento poem—a poem composed entirely of the words of other authors arranged in a new form or way.

For me, Morse’s lovingly haunting lines stand as their own review.

Void and Compensation*
—After Michael Morse

So you are related to the iris, in and of its family.
April, the meadowlark back on his post,
I led wayward bees to open windows.

We had put our hearts down on paper.
Since when did keeping things to ourselves
help us to better remember them?

*All lines are from Void and Compensation by Michael Morse, Canarium Books, 2015.

Poetry at the Post: The Tay Bridge Disaster by William McGonagall

The Tay Bridge Disaster
BY KNIGHT OF THE WHITE ELEPHANT OF BURMAH WILLIAM MCGONAGALL
1825–1902

Beautiful Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay!
Alas! I am very sorry to say
That ninety lives have been taken away
On the last Sabbath day of 1879,
Which will be remember’d for a very long time.

Fallen girders, Tay Bridge Scotland — Fallen girders, Tay Bridge
Scotland

NaPoWriMo Day 28: Write a poem about bridges. I was just about to say “I don’t do bridges” but you know what? Yesterday I reviewed the proof of a poem of mine that is forthcoming in the Poet’s Republic in Aberdeen, Scotland—and it actually has a bridge in it. Here’s a preview. I’ll post the link once it is published

.
“Only to the bridge!” cried the adults.

“No further than the bridge.”

William McGonagall has the unfortunate reputation of being called the worst poet in the history of the English language. Well, I find that a bit of a stretch. You can read more here about the Knight of the White Elephant Burmah.

It must have been an awful sight,
To witness in the dusky moonlight,
While the Storm Fiend did laugh, and angry did bray,
Along the Railway Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,
Oh! ill-fated Bridge of the Silv’ry Tay,

Poetry at the Post: All Things French

French Grocer Marathon, Texas April 2015 — French Grocer
Marathon, Texas
April 2015

NaPoWriMo Day 27: Write a hay(na)ku—which as I learned to day is a variant of the haiku. The formula for a hay(na)ku is simple: 3 lines arranged in ascending word order—1 word, 2 words, 3 words—or you can reverse it as I’ve done below.

All Things French by Alice-Catherine Jennings

Chanel No 5*
chic, fine
French

black fruit bouquet
Bordeaux wine
French

a lover’s kiss
his tongue
French

tall upright frame
angular blade
French

charming stone cottage
Chez Alice
French

*Stopping by The French Grocer in Marathon, TX (pop 430) on my way to Big Bend National Park caused ” a dream crash” last night. Well, it wasn’t entirely The French Grocer’s fault. There was also a power outage at BBNP so the lodge restaurant was offering its “Power Outage” menu to a full-to-capacity park. What’s on a “Power Outage” menu? Not much. It’s limited to a few cold items and whatever they can throw on the charcoal grill out back.Yet, Gracias a Dios for the effort

I sank into bed after “not much food” and a glass of wine—not French…and soon I was in Vienna with Coco Chanel at a Chinese restaurant that ran out of food…well, not for everyone… just me. I was complaning to the manager and then Sisi, the last Empress of Austria, walked by…not true, the last part that is…and maybe I wasn’t even with Coco Chanel but with somebody else…perhaps my daughter…. I think I was wearing Chanel No. 5 but then again maybe I was only smelling the insect repellent I had put on my wrists to keep the gnats away…yet I WAS in Vienna and a woman walked by…or did she? Then today I ran across this short film, Reincarnation. Did Karl Lagerfeld raid my dream before it had even been dreamt?

Poetry at the Post: Anne of Cleves Has Her Say

Anne of Cleves In Exile by Alice-Catherine Jennings
06.25.1540

Anne of Cleves, by Hans Holbein the Younger 4th Wife of King Henry VIII — Anne of Cleves, by Hans Holbein the Younger
4th Wife of King Henry VIII

Day 26 of NaPoWriMo: Write a persona poem.

My poem is told from the point of view of Anne of Cleves, the 4th wife of Henry ViII—his wife, however, for only 6 months. The marriage had been arranged abroad by Thomas Cromwell as, at this point, Henry was no longer thought to be “a catch” and the young eligibles were fearful of being wed to a king who had three prior wives dead—one exiled, one beheaded and one dead from childbirth fever.

Anne was brought to England from Flanders and Henry upon seeing her was dismayed by her looks. Since a commitment had been made, the wedding went forward but, soon thereafter, Henry found a legal way out of the marriage.

Anne knew what had happened to the Queens before her so she did not object. As a consequence, she enjoyed the King’s future favor and friendship and stayed a member of the royal family as”the King’s Beloved Sister”.

I have not been well handled. I, of noble birth,
sent to this barbaric land to wed a king, one
with a small show of man, his member a wet twig
underneath white mounds of fat, gangrenous toes.

My eye that saw him did not enchant the mind.
A king who left a trail of dead wives across England
The broken bosoms that to him belong.

Yet he so calleth me the Flemish mare.
I, full and sensuous, of tawny complexion,
not full-pale like the English maids.

Trained to please, I tried to catch his passions,
his whims. In love, I was rejected, in friendship
not. Feat and affectedly in my chambers each
nigh, we sharen spit-roasted meats, black pudding

w/ ale over a match of chess. I’d harvest the most
wins or so say I until Friday twelfth night ago when
forth with I must quit with my ladies to Richmond
Castle. I did not list his double voice.

The gardens are sorrow’ winds and rains.

Note: Quotes and certain phrases are from various Shakespearian sonnets.

Poetry at the Post: A Clerihew? Say What?

A Clerihew by Alice-Catherine Jennings

Chaucer as a pilgrim from the Ellesmere manuscript

NaPoWriMo Day 25: Write a clerihew—a short poem consisting of rhymed, humorous quatrains involving a specific person’s name.

Ok! I’m game but today all roads lead to Chaucer as it is Day One of THE CHAUCER READING GROUP. Check it out! It’s not too late to join. It’s totally free—even the book can be downloaded for free online.

Geoffrey Chaucer
became an author
after war & prison
& his return to England

Poetry at the Post: “I Am Walt Whitman”

I AM WALT WHITMAN
I am Walt Whitman
You are an idiot.
O intellectual ingurtilations of creeds!
To such I am antiseptic.

Walt Whitman as photographed by Mathew Brady

Day 24’s NaPoWrioMo directive is to write a parody.

Parody? I don’t know… I’m feeling a bit under the weather so all I can offer today is an “in-the-spirit” post.

Perhaps things will change as the day progresses.

Meanwhile, I’ll be in my bed reading some passages from Song of Myself.

Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned
the earth much?
Have you practiced so long to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems

Portrait of Whitman by Thomas Eakins, 1887–88

PS Ingurtilations? What the heck does that mean?

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