The lure of the Red King

Art by Kim Vanderheiden.

Here is just one of twelve works
made by artist Kim Vanderheiden
in response to a single poem from The Book of the Red King. 
Am I astonished? Yes, I am astonished.
Where possible, readings
will be accompanied by images of art-in-response 
by Kim, Clive Hicks-Jenkins (my longtime book-illuminator),
and Mary Boxley Bullington.
What a deeply touching thing to have serious artists 
surprise me with wonderful pictures
before the book even appears
from Phoenicia Publishing of Montreal,
under the guidance of Elizabeth Adams,
publisher of beautiful books.
What a marvelous
and joyful 
and entirely unexpected
gift.

The Red King approaches.
The Fool is singing on his journey.
And Precious Wentletrap is wandering the moon path.

Pub date comes near! 
TBA

With Paul Digby and "The Birthday Roses" on youtube

I promised a surprise to my facebook friends, and I promised it by midnight. I hope they'll forgive me for the slowness of uploads. I meant it as a bit of a salute to April Fool's Day, but the Day is tricksy and shook me into the 2nd.

So here's the Fool from my ongoing project, The Book of the Red King. And it's all thanks to the composing and photography and video-making of that lovely man, Paul Digby.

You may find the Fool at youtube:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEfrItrLfPA/ or you may look down the right-hand panel of this page and see a smaller version there in the youtube section.

If you would like to see the text of the poem, it may be found at qarrtsiluni as part of Two Poems from the Plant Kingdom: http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/01/24/two-poems-from-the-plant-kingdom.

The illustration is of a painting by my penpal Graham Ward, "The King in Finisterre." I chose it in honor of the Fool's devotion to the Red King. Looking at Graham's fools and kings set me off in that direction once more back in October. I'd fooled with fools before, but never so much and so foolishly as in these past few months.

Thanks, Graham! Thanks, editors of qarrtsiluni! And most of all, thank you to Paul.

Red King Red King Red King

The Red King and the Fool are popular fellows. They seem to be liked everywhere they go, thus far. I haven’t sent many out as yet, but here’s where online poems stand.

Up today in The Flea are “The Red King’s Sword,”

http://www.the-flea.com/Issue13/TheRedKingsSword.html
“What the Fool Whispered to the Wentletrap,”

http://www.the-flea.com/Issue13/WhattheFoolWhisperedtothe.html
and “Jeux de Pages.

http://www.the-flea.com/Issue13/JeuxdePages.html

Here are the also out-and-about and the forthcoming:

“About the Red Book” in Mezzo Cammin

“The King and the Fool” in Mezzo Cammin

“The Birthday Cap” in Mezzo Cammin

“The Starry Fool” in Mezzo Cammin

“The Two Tables” in Mezzo Cammin

“The Moon of Precious Wentletrap” in Mezzo Cammin

“The Turret Stairs” in Mezzo Cammin

“Directions for a Birthday Hat” in Mezzo Cammin

http://www.mezzocammin.com/iambic.php?vol=2010&iss=2&cat=poetry&page=youmans

“The Birthday Roses” at qarrtsiluni, with a podcast and more than fifty comments (very pleasing!):

http://qarrtsiluni.com/2011/01/24/two-poems-from-the-plant-kingdom/#comments

You may also find “Wielding the Tree Finder” there!

“The Fool’s Confession” forthcoming in June, Mezzo Cammin.

“The Red King’s Blossom-Tide” forthcoming in June, Mezzo Cammin

“The Rose of Laughter, Laughter of the Rose” in June, Mezzo Cammin

“The Grail,” in June, Mezzo Cammin

“Scholastic Interlude,” forthcoming in June, Mezzo Cammin

“’My Poor Fool is Hang’d,’” forthcoming in December, Mezzo Cammin

“The Fool and the Sublime,” forthcoming in December, Mezzo Cammin

“The Desire for the Red King,” forthcoming in December, Mezzo Cammin

“All Hallowed Angels Say,” forthcoming in December, Mezzo Cammin

“The Peacock’s Tail,” forthcoming in December, Mezzo Cammin

Can you tell that I like Mezzo Cammin and its bright editor, poet Kim Bridgford? Lots of my other poems from forthcoming books are there. And I look forward to meeting her in June.

And a reminder: pre-order discounts are still on for The Throne of Psyche. http://thepalaceat2.blogspot.com/2011/02/throne-of-psyche-pre-order-discounts.html
Photograph courtesy of Vangelis Thomaidis of Athens and sxc.hu.