Monday, September 26, 2005

Ask me

any question. I'll answer. Or try to.

*Edit: I originally meant questions about me, but the oracular angle is fun, too... ;) *

53 comments:

Anonymous said...

Are you the magic 8-ball?

Paul said...

Ask again later.

Alison Stine said...

Will I ever settle down?

Paul said...

When you least expect it. But not all of you will, no, not all.

Anonymous said...

Will the 21st century pick up where the 19th left off and learn from the 20th century's mistakes?

Paul said...

Good money says, No.

Peter said...

Is it better to be Just, or Merciful?

Paul said...

Merciful.

Artichoke Heart said...

Is there a cure for chronic, low-grade wistfulness?

Paul said...

There is, but would you really want to be cured?

C. Dale said...

Are you the Oracle at Delphi?

LKD said...

Where is love?

Why am I here?

Will I ever be happy?

Ready? Set? GO!!

Paul said...

C.Dale, No. Not even the Oracle at Delaware.

Laurel, Umm..... ;)

Anonymous said...

How about the Oracle at Arkadelphia?

Paul said...

Possibly!

Anonymous said...

When are you going to come visit me in California?

-Victoria

Paul said...

Hey, when am I invited? ;)

Michalle said...

What will happen to us when we die?

Paul said...

George Burns greets us. No, wait--

LKD said...

Um? All I get is um?

Um....

I'm disappointed.

You said any question.

You said you'd at least try.

Here. I'll answer my own questions. It'll be very ruby slipperish---click-click-click:

Where is love? Here. Right here. Right now.

Why am I here? BecausebecausebecausebecauseBECAUSE

Will I ever be happy? Yes. Absolutely.

Now, Paul, here's a new question for you, one I spent my childhood asking while trapped in the back fo a skyblue station wagon:

Are we there yet?

Paul said...

We're never there yet. Arriving is ever.

Anonymous said...

(n)ever

Oliver de la Paz said...

Are you my angel?

Paul said...

Just like you're the wind beneath my wings.

Anonymous said...

Let's say you were a bee, and I was a bee, and let's say you were a gay bee -- though I'm not necessarily saying I would be a gay bee, or that you ARE a gay bee, but just pretending you were -- would you find me attractive?

Paul said...

Well, as long as we're both bees, sure, why not?

Tim Earley said...

Which is better for getting rid of the scabies-- ontology or epistemology? Or some kind of butter-based cream?

Paul said...

A butter-based ontology.

Emily Lloyd said...

The letter M, the letter C, or the letter T?

Paul said...

M.

cornshake said...

When is the best time for viewing the Loch Ness Monster?

Paul said...

The night time is the right time.

C. Dale said...

Shelley or Keats?

Paul said...

Keats.

A. J. Patrick Liszkiewicz said...

Shall we?

Paul said...

Sure.

Nick said...

If you could ask anyone (deceased or living) a question; to whom would the question be addressed to
and what would the question be?

Steven D. Schroeder said...

Does she love me?

How many roads must a man walk down?

Which journal will break the poem publication slump I'm currently in?

Anonymous said...

Who are your favorite 3 dead poets? Favorite 3 living poets? Least favorite poem you've ever read? Do you read much fiction? How old were you when you wrote your first poem? At what age did you realize you were a poet? If you weren't a poet, what would you be?
-LBehrendt

Paul said...

Nick, I think it'd be Alfred Hitchcock. And mostly I'd just listen.

Steven, She does. 99 roads. Mid-American Review.

LBehrendt, fave 3 dead poets: Donne, Berryman, James Wright. Fave living poets: Bob Hicok, Ashbery, Rodney Jones. I read very little fiction. I was 17 when I wrote my first poem. Not sure about the age of realization but after 17. If I wasn't a poet, I'd probably make movies.

gina said...

Save me from myself?

LKD said...

Old Sincerity? Or, New?

Red? Or, blue?

Spring? Or, fall?

One? Or, two?

And: Can poetry matter?

Paul said...

Gina, why not you?

Laurel:

Old.

Blue.

Spring.

Two.

Poetry already does matter. Here we are, yes?

Paul said...

It's probable, Rev, that there is an articulate voice out there. Somewhere.

Anonymous said...

You didn't ask me, but:
my impression of Tzvetan Todorov's book Hope and Memory and a cursory look, so far, at Raymond Williams' Resources of Hope indicate there are alternatives and that articulate people have begun to imagine and give voice to them. You may not agree with what they suggest, but at least it's a start in a different direction.

And who knows, maybe you are the voice of such a change of vector as you desire?

It's up to each of us, caught as we are between prophecies of doom and Peter Pan Peanut Butter jingles, to resist fear and
apathy--those breeding grounds for the hard Right and its ruthless politics.(Loose paraphrase of Williams.)

No easy task.

Radish King said...

I hope it's not too late.
Will I ever be able to forget?

R.

Unknown said...

I think he forgot to answer your question.

Paul said...

Rebecca, Maybe not.

Alexis said...

Paul - Why do I have an attraction to unavailable men? Why are you the only poet that I think is worth reading?

Paul said...

Alexis, don't you always want what you can't have? And as for your other question, what can I say? ;)

Neil Aitken said...

Where will this Canadian poet be in a year's time?

What is at the other end of longing?

Paul said...

You will be in Thunder Bay.

More longing.

Unknown said...

Thunder is to bank as peanuts are to ____?