Lisa Albers

Stuck in My Craw #poetry

Switchpole lies in three-four time. Fluorescent backing

the agents of destruction. The angels we have heard

while high; the demons we never knew. Inside the stagehand’s

mind. What callouses are these, what wrinkles?

I dreamed the death of a president, an assassin’s

passion. Eavesdrop on this, dear ol’ Dad:

We stand above an empty grave, signing

Wish You Were Here. No one writes

protest signs on this mission, and the peace pole

is a stake through your vampire heart—the garlic braid

unravels. How far I’ve traveled just to find you

tucked into my luggage. I shed

such baggage, your skin

sloughing off in my

claw.

The Clothes Make the Man #poetry

This is the first in a series of poems I'm going to publish here on the blog (and on Facebook). While I've published poetry with plenty of lit mags in the past, I've decided to publish them myself this time. See how it goes. I'm not so concerned with the publishing designation or prestige as I was in the past, so why not? Interested to know whether these find an audience. Here's the first one, written I think in summer of 2008, during the time I was working at Crosscut.com half-time while also writing a corporate history for Documentary Media. It's one of only a handful of poems I penned that truly busy year. Please feel free to comment or critique. Mainly, I just like to play with words and story.

The Clothes Make the Man

Don’t be sorry that you
snagged the sari,
tripped the swatch,
switched the workstyle
while wearing a habit.

Dagnabit, the prospector said,
while filling his gold tooth
decay of our moral fiber.
They found trace metals
on his coat, linking him to the time.

A screech, a roar, a gurgle:
what children have to say.

He swayed in the wind,
getting stronger. I wish
the world would cut me
some slacks.

Nintendo's Style Savvy

I just got word that the game I worked on for Nintendo will be in stores Nov. 2. Here's the official game Web site, with a fun sneak-preview video:  www.stylesavvyds.com

Cool bridge/earthquake sim video

For the past two years or so, I've been working on a book for General Construction Company, chronicling its 100-year history. One of its latest projects is major upgrades to the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which recently reopened. Here's a cool video simulating how cutting-edge seismic mechanisms in the bridge will work:

The last space shuttle flight

via space.gs

This is Nicole Stott, astronaut on STS-133, the last space shuttle mission, slated for September 2010. As a child of the 80s, I was transfixed by the space shuttle program and especially felt pride about Sally Ride, first woman in space. I remember where I was when the Challenger exploded; up until September 11, it was the most memorable moment of public life for me.

The space shuttle program was to my generation what the Apollo missions were to my parents'. By the very fact that its flights became mundane and commonplace, the shuttle program signaled that we'd become regular inhabitants of space, that we'd successfully and permanently entered the next frontier. Children like me, no matter our gender, could consider space flight for our future.

I'm sad to see it, and quite possible the era of human space flight, go.