PAGE COUNT? "IN LEAGUES AND FATHOMS"

While I can blather long and long on poetry, I find that I hold back a lot of things about MY RUSSIAN NOVEL as I write it.  Of course I've heard about this aspect from many writers--how they don't like, or are superstitious about, talking about their writing projects before they're finished.  I get it -- and what I say about MY RUSSIAN NOVEL is actually little relative to what's going on in my writing process.  But I have said I wanted this novel long.  So it seems timely to post a poem written about me; I assume it's written about me since its entitled with my name (hah).  I hope I do achieve what is stated in the first stanza, 5th line.  Better yet, second stanza, 6th line.  Thanks to Sandy McIntosh for writing it, and publishing it in his 2005 book (2005? was Sandy foretelling?) The After-Death History of My Mother:



EILEEN R. TABIOS

“I really think you should title this poem ‘Eileen R. Tabios’”
—Eileen R. Tabios


Eileen R. Tabios 
Announced today 
That her next book 
Will be 
5000 pages long. 
In an unrelated development 
Eileen R. Tabios 
Announced 
That she has acquired 
A major interest 
In International Harvester, 
The only U.S. manufacturer 
Of oversize-poetry book forklifts. 

It was learned 
Early today 
That Eileen R. Tabios’ 
Book for the next year 
Will be 
13,000 pages long. 
In an unrelated development 
Eileen R. Tabios 
Announced 
That she has acquired 
San Francisco’s famous 
Coit Tower 
Which she will turn 
Into a library 
Housing one large print 
Version of her book. 

It was learned 
Early today 
That Eileen R. Tabios 
Has acquired large tracts 
Of the Pacific Ocean 
For an unknown purpose. 
In an unrelated development 
Eileen R. Tabios 
Announced 
That the number of pages 
Of her future books 
Will be counted 
In leagues and fathoms. 

It was learned 
Early today 

(continued next page)

***



Yes, that last line is actually "(continued next page)" -- hilarious.  Maybe I'll achieve a page count instead "in leagues and fathoms"!  Here's Sandy -- who also should write fathoms of the unfathomable -- doing a reading!