Eric Dickey spent a year "tweeting" short poems every day. (photo: Theresa Hogue)

My voice sings the song of the Scrub Jay. My Nightingale heart. The Oak tree my home, my belly full, sun in my feathers, my chicks sleeping.

Poetry may not be something Eric Dickey will ever make a living at, but it’s something that makes him feel alive. No matter how distracted he is by work duties or family obligations, he manages to find a creative outlet, even if it’s only 140 characters.

Dickey, who works for Oregon Sea Grant as an administrative program specialist, has been writing a poem on Twitter every day, Monday through Friday, for the last year. For those who aren’t familiar with the social media service, Twitter messages (“tweets”) are limited to 140 characters each, meaning Dickey had to make his poems extremely succinct.

Dickey graduated from Oregon State in 1998 with an honors degree in English, with a minor in philosophy, but didn’t end up getting into a graduate program. Instead, he began working as a grant writer, and eventually got a job at his alma mater, first in the department of economics, and later with Sea Grant. A lifelong poet, Dickey decided it wasn’t likely that he was ever going to live on poems alone, especially after getting married and having children, but he continued to get some of his works published, and was determined to always make room for poetry.

I run out of my office, down the stairs, out the sliding doors, up the sidewalk, across the street, and fall on the grass in a warm embrace.

When OSU began offering a masters degree in fine arts with an emphasis in poetry, Dickey took the opportunity to finally pursue his degree, but did it for his own gratification, rather than with the intent to switch his career path.

“Poetry is not a very lucrative business to get into,” he said.

But even writing for fun can be a chore, especially with a full time job, two children and outside projects like book reviews and poetry translations, and occasionally Dickey found himself in need of a literary jumpstart.

“It’s exhausting being creative 100 percent of the time,” he said.

That’s where his idea for a year-long Twitter project started. By pledging to write in a public space, he forced himself to be creative for at least five minutes every morning, and by keeping the poems to Tweet length, it didn’t become too burdensome of a process.

Standing at the edge of a line, waiting for the words to run, I start to shove lowercase letters. A verb looks at me askance, throws a fist.

Many of his poems are infused with observations about nature and Dickey’s surroundings. Others focus on his life as a young father, a topic he said is relatively unexplored by modern male poets. While writing about motherhood has been a staple of many female poets throughout the ages, he said explorations of the masculine in poetry rarely include children in the mix.

And while he admires the avant-garde, cutting edge work coming from today’s most popular poets, his approach is much more accessible and down-to-earth.

“Lately the topics have been about interpersonal relationships,” he said. “I try not to be too didactic.”

While Dickey focused on Twitter because he figured short poems wouldn’t take up too much of his time, he’s found the format to be challenging.

“Tweeting has allowed me to focus, but it’s very difficult to be evocative in so few words,” he said. “What I do in Twitter has also influenced my larger poems. You have to use very succinct language.”

A slate gray sky threatens rain and glares down at us blankly, not flinching, out-staring us like the snake we don’t see hiding in the rush.

He’s had some of his Twitter poems published in the poetry journal “Four and Twenty,” which prints only short poems, and one day he would like to gather a year’s worth of the tweets in a chapbook. Meanwhile, he took a month hiatus this summer from Twitter, but has started writing poems again this week.

This time, Dickey hasn’t set a time limit for his Twitter poems, but he will continue to use them as a creative outlet. More of his time in the next few months will be spent working on a collection of poems called “The Book of James,” about his brother, who died suddenly in 2008. He’s also trying to get a book published that he wrote exploring ideas about masculinity tied with cars and driving, called “Freeway.” It’s an updated version of his master’s thesis. His Twitter poems, however, more often feature another favored vehicle, his bicycle.

Night time bike ride, my headlight tells a story through darkness. Small raindrops pit and pat my jacket and land on my tissue paper cheeks.

To read Dickey’s poems on Twitter, see http://twitter.com/MePoet

~ Theresa Hogue

R. Logen Logendran, professor and graduate program chair of the School of Mechanical, Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at OSU, has been named a fellow with the Institute of Industrial Engineers (IIE) professional association. Logendran will be honored at the IIE Annual Conference and Expo May 31 in Miami. The award recognizes outstanding leaders of the industrial engineering profession who have made significant contributions to the industrial engineering field. Logendran is known for his significant research contributions in two specific areas within manufacturing systems — design of cellular manufacturing and group scheduling.
In 1996, he received the Most Favorite Teacher of the Year award by the IIE student chapter at Oregon State University.

Pharmacy alum from Cameroon gives lecture at OSU

During the College of Pharmacy Graduation Recognition Ceremony on June 12, the College is bestowing the Noel Flynn Alumni Excellence Award to Nkwenti Davidson Achu, Class of 1982. Nkwenti lives and practices in his native county of Cameroon, West Africa where he owns his own pharmacy, is president of the Cameroon Pharmaceutical Society, is assisting in the development of the first college of pharmacy in Cameroon, and is active in international Diabetes Education and Prevention initiatives.
Nkwenti will present a lecture to the campus community at 3 p.m., June 11 about pharmacy practice and medical care in Cameroon, followed by a reception with College of Pharmacy faculty and students. The public is welcome to attend his lecture.

Local printmaker holds artist reception in MU Concourse

Half a century making a living as a fine and graphic artist, Earl Newman has created many masterful series of hand silk screened posters. A number of these, along with drawings and tools of the trade will be displayed in a one-person exhibit at Oregon State University’s Memorial Union Concourse Gallery. The solo exhibit entitled “Earl Newman: 50 Years of Printmaking” opened May 20 and runs through the end of August. Newman will come to campus May 28 for a gallery talk and artist reception in the Memorial Union Concourse at 5 p.m.

Sunderland named emeritus for work in agricultural education

Paul Sunderland has been granted the title Associate Professor Emeritus of Agricultural Education and General Agriculture by OSU President Ed Ray. The title assures Sunderland of life membership on the university faculty with associated rights and privileges. The title went into effect March 31.

OSU Women’s Choir tour ends with Corvallis performance

Bella Voce, the Oregon State University women’s choir, directed by Dr. Tina Bull, embarked on a tour earlier this month, performing three concerts at schools in the greater Portland area, heading north to Seattle. They are returning to perform a May 29 concert in Corvallis. The Corvallis concert takes place at 7:30 p.m. at the First Congregational United Church of Christ, 4515 SW West Hills Road. Admission is $5 at the door. OSU students will be admitted for free.

Oregon Sea Grant wins numerous design and communication awards

Oregon Sea Grant has won four awards–two Platinums, a Gold, and an Honorable Mention–in the international Hermes Creative Awards 2009 competition.
On the Lookout for Aquatic Invaders won a Platinum in the Design/Publication Overall category; Boats of the Oregon Coast was awarded Platinum for Publications/Handbook; Oregon Sea Grant Program Report 2007 earned a Gold for Video/Internal Communication; and Oregon Sea Grant Publications & Videos 2008 received an Honorable Mention in Publications/Catalog.

Forest management candidates give presentations May 28

The two College of Forestry finalists for the N.B. and Jacqueline Giustina Professor of Forest Management will present their visions for disciplinary leadership in teaching, research and outreach for sustainable management of planted forests on May 28. Doug Maguire will hold his presentation at 9 p.m., and Claire Montgomery will hold hers at 11 a.m., both in Richardson Hall, room 107. Receptions will follow.
Candidates’ resumes available at http://www.cof.orst.edu/Giustina.php.