Push Ups for Poetry & A Vision of An All-Literary Workout

Janaka Stucky, the genius of Black Ocean Press, announced over the summer that he would engage in a Push-Ups For Poetry endeavor, whereby he would gather pledges from interested readers/observers, a certain amount for each push-up he could complete in a single go and donate the proceeds to Poets House, one the most remarkable institutions in the country.

Janaka's apparently in good shape, but he's still gathering pledges.

This is one of those moments of activism—in which the need for our championship of literature becomes visible—and a very interesting approach to fundraising, which is more and more important. In a week that saw the announcement that TriQuarterly would effectively cease to exist as it has for the last 45 years, this is especially interesting—both Janaka's enthusiasm for Poets House and its particular form. (If I were writing an episode of Sex In the City I'd have Carrie Bradshaw ask now: "Are we always pushing poetry up?")

It's got me imagining an all-poetry workout that would consist of the following, at the very least:

• Eight sets of 25-pushups, interspersed with
• Eight sets of 20 25-pound (1 box of the newly-delivered Copper Nickel 12 (20 copies)) squats, followed by
• 500-yard schlep of a 25-pound weight.
• 500-yard "dactyllic hexameter" freestyle swim, using a breathing stroke followed by two non-breathing strokes.

I don't know where this is going, but you'll have some ideas, I'm sure.