G Is For Gravity

I think the kid in this illustration by Jenny Mathews from our new book Atrocious Poems A To Z looks like a recurring Norman Fell character that is in A Is For Artichokes and C Is For Crayons, butJenny says it is me. I insist it's Ella because she almost literally makes a similar argument every day of her life and looks exactly like this when she is doing it.

G Is For Gravity is an example of the literary device apostrophe, where one addresses a thing or force that is unseen by the audience. 

It could also be said that it is an example of sprung rhythm. 

I tried to incorporate multiple layers of meaning and message into the poems, as I always do, but sometimes the seeming simplicity belies that finesse. I hope some of this will be brought out in the exhibition the book is in at the Rockford Art Museum where I was invited to write all 26 poems from the book on the wall next to Jenny's illustrations. 

The exhibition, titled Bittersweet Observations, runs through October 1st. What a thrill it was to write my poems on the walls of a major American museum. I doubt any other poet has a show anything like this right now.

I sit here now with not much to do except talk about my last project.  

F Is For Failure  
H Is For Haircut

Dog Poop Poetry Book Gets Museum Show

Atrocious Poems A To Z, a new book of children's poems quickly becoming notorious for its poems about dog poop and urine, has gotten it's own museum show at the Rockford Art Museum

Running through October 1st, Bittersweet Observations is an exhibit dedicated to the darker side of children's stories and fairy tales.

Exhibiting artists include Shark Girl Casey Riordan MIllard, Sarah Reed McNamara, Jenny Mathews, craftsman Jeremy Klonicki, and author of Atrocious Poems A To Z Thomas L. Vaultonburg, who was invited to scrawl each of the 26 poems from the book on the wall of the museum in his own handwriting.

Outsider Poet Thomas L. Vaultonburg writing poems from Atrocious Poems A To Z on the wall of the Rockford Art Museum when no one else is looking

For those who don't care to count, the poem he is writing in this case is about urination.

 The curator was so impressed she went over the poem in her own handwriting to make it extra bold and yellow. 

The opening of the show was a huge hit with kids, many writing their own poems on antique typewriters provided by Zombie Logic Press.