Desert Lease

Jacqueline and I spent a bunch of time over the last coupla days with Bay Area poet Joseph Lease. He was in town to read at UNLV and promote his stellar new collection Broken World. Read this book! It's a helluva follow-up to his previous collection Human Rights---I love the unapologetically ambitious and massive titles of his works. The book was just released, but I have been fortunate enough to have had a copy of the MS for the last coupla months. Thanks for the sneak preview! Rock on Joseph!

As part of the Nevada Humanities grant stipulations, each author must also give a talk on a subject (chosen by our intrepid leader Claudia Keelan). This year the subject was "Power." Joseph's talk was erudite and lyrical. Look for it in next year's Interim, along with those of Anne Waldman and Nathaniel Mackey (that is, if they say yes). Also, Joseph’s whole reading will be available at the UNLV English Dept. website as a podcast. Here is where it will be posted: http://liberalarts.unlv.edu/English/

Today, though, we spent the midday in Red Rocks---a beautiful oasis of Navaho sandstone only a few miles outta Vegas. Of course, development has crept up on the place, but it is still a lovely place to visit. Here are some pics:



Jacqueline and Joseph standing in the old sandstone quarry. It closed around 1912 if I remember correctly.



The abovementioned humanoids with Macchia. Notice her adventuress pose. She liked to sniff Joseph's face (he did wear a lovely cologne).



Poet wild in the desert.

Thanks for sharing your stuff, Joseph!