Category: poetry

Help select Advent poems

A few years ago I posted a question: Why is it so difficult to find well-written Advent poems? There was little to no response to that post.

Undeterred, I collected a few poems that are good examples of poems of the Advent and posted either web links to the poems or the poems themselves.

Each year, around mid-October the traffic to those Advent poem posts increases dramatically. By the end of the calendar year they are in the most visited posts on this blog.

This year I am considering an audio podcast production featuring readings of selected poems. Here is where I could use your help:

  1. If you have a few minutes please take a look at a list of twelve Advent poems and let me know which is your favorite. Or if you have an Advent poem that is not listed please send me a web link or the poem for consideration.
  2. If you are or know of a musician who would like to contribute to the audio podcast, please contact me. Specifically, I am looking for instrumental compositions.

Thanks for your support. I look forward to your feedback.

 

The ancient Celts distinguished the poet…

“The ancient Celts… distinguished the poet, who was originally a priest and judge as well and whose person was sacrosanct, from the mere gleeman. He was in Irish called fili, a seer, which is Welsh derwydd, or oak-seer, which is the probable derivation of Druid. Even kings came under his moral tutelage.”

–Robert Graves

Photos from last weekend’s Racine and Kenosha Authors Book Fair

SoftGLow_dscn0881
Kelsey Harris reading her poem “Pinkest Thoughts.”

 

SoftGLow_dscn0886
Dan Nielsen reading is (in)famous five-liners.

SoftGLow_dscn0893
Nick Demske reading from his celebrated book Nick Demske.

SoftGLow_dscn0898
Marcia Eanes reading from Passion’s Zest.

 

SoftGLow_dscn0922
Kelsey Hoff reading from her recently published Sad Girls Poems.

 

Is poetry the language of protest?

This question is like a sliver under my skin. It started after I read an article that made the following statement: “At its root, poetry is the language of protest.”

  • Is this statement is true(objective)? Or opinion (subjective)?
  • Does poetry function as poetry if it no longer contains an element of protest?
  • If poetry is like a kitchen recipe with ingredients and proper baking instructions, what would the recipe look like?
  • Do you come to poetry with a desire to protest?

What say you, dear reader?

Racine and Kenosha Authors Book Fair

10565080_10152376419532804_4810709820636602796_n

Rumor has it that I am one of the many authors at this event.

Here are details of the event from the Racine and Kenosha Authors Book Fair Facebook page:

September 20 from 6 to 9 pm, authors from all over Racine and Kenosha will converge at the Racine Arts Council. Six featured poets and authors will give readings (Kenosha Poet Laureate Jean Preston, Kelsey Marie Harris, Dan Nielsen, Nick Demske, Marcie Eanes, and Kelsey Hoff), and many more will be present to sign their books and meet with readers. This event is also the official release of Sad Girl Poems, a chapbook self-published by Kelsey Hoff. Light refreshments will be served.

The Racine and Kenosha area is a thriving arts community, with a surprising number of authors and literary publications in residence. This event will represent the diversity of that community, with up-and-coming writers side by side with well-established ones in multiple genres including poetry, fiction, young adult, and nonfiction. Representatives from Left of the Lake and Straylight Literary Arts Magazine will be present with copies of their publications available.

Quote: “All the words that I utter…”

All the words that I utter,
And all the words that I write,
Must spread out their wings untiring,
And never rest in their flight,
Till they come where your sad, sad heart is,
And sing to you in the night,
Beyond where the waters are moving,
Storm-darken’d or starry bright.

—  William Butler Yeats, “Where My Books Go” (via bookoasis)

Want your words to reach millions of people?

Goodreads May 2014 e-newsletter announces winning poem
Goodreads May 2014 e-newsletter announces winning poem and poet

It is very attractive. Even tempting. Imagine that you are a poet and “more than 20 million people” read one of your poems. That is equivalent to everyone in the state of New York reading your single work of poetic vision and craftsmanship. That is the claim of the monthly poetry contest promoted by Goodreads and the ¡Poetry! group.

The contest rules are simple. All you need to do to enter the monthly contest is to post your poem in the monthly feed of the group. [1] Each month the contest receives hundreds of poems [2] — enough to fill a large print anthology book. I have contributed twice, [3] [4]  but have not won a contest. The May finalists — four of them selected by the judges — were posted on April 29, 2014 [5] for readers to vote on their favorite poem of the contest. [6] On May 14th, a Goodreads e-newsletter arrived in my inbox announcing the poetry contest winner for the May contest. Congrats to the winner!

Yet, there is a part of me that is a bit sad. Not because I did not win. But because I almost deleted the email. In order to read the winning poem, I had to scroll all the way to the very bottom of the e-newsletter. And then I wondered — how many of the 20 million recipients actually read the poem? Even if one percent of the people who receive the e-newsletter actually read that poem — it is still more readers than any published literary journal or magazine in America can reach in a single month. That is impressive.

NOTES:
[1] The June 2014 Goodreads Newsletter Contest, accessed May 14, 2014, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1818448-please-post-your-poem-for-the-june-2014-goodreads-newsletter-contest
[2] 384 poems to be exact. That is the total number of poems submitted for the May 2014 Goodreads Newsletter Contest, accessed May 14, 2014,  https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1769435-please-post-your-poem-for-the-may-2014-goodreads-newsletter-finalists
[3] I contributed the 148th entry for the May 2014 contest (accessed May 14, 2014): https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1769435-please-post-your-poem-for-the-may-2014-goodreads-newsletter-finalists?page=3#comment_96303966
[4] Also, the 104th contributor for the March 2014 contest (accessed May 14, 2014): https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1690565-please-post-your-poem-for-the-march-2014-goodreads-newsletter-contest?comment=92342509&page=3#comment_92342509
[5] If I remember correctly, there were supposed to be six finalists, but two were disqualified, accessed May 14, 2014, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1802873-please-vote-for-the-may-2014-goodreads-newsletter-finalists
[6] For the next two weeks, finalists wait and/or self-promote their way to the top spot and winner of the contest, accessed May 14, 2014, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1802873-please-vote-for-the-may-2014-goodreads-newsletter-finalists

Acoustic music and poetry

If you were to match a musician with a poet for an evening of culture and entertainment, who would they be?

A month ago I noticed this ad:

An evening of acoustic music and spoken word/poetry at Pepperdine University
An evening of acoustic music and spoken word/poetry at Pepperdine University[1]
Who wouldn’t want to attend this event? Two great artists on one stage for one evening. Makes sense to me.

Acoustic music and poetry fit together. Nearly a decade ago, I participated at a bookstore café event with musicians.[2] It is something I really enjoyed doing. The marriage of poetry and music resonates with an audience—especially an audience who does not know that they might enjoy poetry.

A few years ago, the Rooftop Poets (somewhat legendary) roof garden book launch and poetry performance featured jazz to accompany an evening of poetry.[3]  Three poets and two musicians joined for a lively evening of poetry, music and light refreshments.

What about you? As a poet, who would you love to work with for an evening of acoustic music and poetry? I have my wish list. What about you?

NOTES: [1] An evening of acoustic music and spoken word/poetry
[2] Malaprop’s Music/Poetry Gig Meditations
[3] A poetry reading and jazz show on the Roof Garden of the Battery Park Hotel

Poem: Original Instagram

Poem Original Instagram

What did I write?

Block print Christmas card

What did I write that got some much traffic?

A few weeks ago I noticed that the traffic on my blog spiked due to a post I wrote a year ago: “Advent Poems (or the 12 days of Christmas poetry)”.[1] At first, I thought it was a fluke, but for weeks now many of you have visited this blog. Many thanks! And I hope the Advent Poems are a blessing and encouragement to you this year.

Also, feel free to look around and enjoy other poetry related blog posts.

NOTE:
[1] Advent Poems (or the 12 days of Christmas poetry)

Thanksgiving by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Thanksgiving
By Ralph Waldo Emerson

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

Day 8 of the November PAD Challenge

Blank Visual Poem

The Biltmore Coffee Traders new addition is now open for customers. Willie Nelson singing from the house sound system. Earlier, Van Morrison and Dave Matthews warmed up a chilly, windy but sunny sort of November day as patrons enjoyed gluten-free breakfast cookies and granola bars.

It is day eight of the November PAD (Poem-A-Day) Chapbook Challenge (Details are available on Writer’s Digest website.). Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community offers this writing prompt for today: “inanimate object poem.” I have not used the prompts for this challenge. Though I am keeping track of the prompts for later use.

For a  gift, I received a limited printing of book on Korean poetry forms. So, the poems composed so far for this challenge have run in a vein of Japanese and Korean inspired forms. Though, to be fair, most of the compositions are corruptions of the poetry forms.

How about you? How has your November PAD Challenge gone so far?

As a bonus, if you want to play along, fill in the blanks with a poem to accompany the images posted above. Next week, I’ll post what I placed in the blanks.

The November PAD challenge begins

Biltmore Coffee Traders

It is the first of November, often celebrated as All Saints’ Day. For me, the day started out with cloudy skies and a light drizzle as I walked to Biltmore Coffee Traders.

It is also the first day of the November PAD (Poem-A-Day) Chapbook Challenge (Details are available on Writer’s Digest website.). Senior Content Editor of the Writer’s Digest Writing Community, Robert Lee Brewer, offers this writing prompt: “write an appearing poem.”

It is not necessary to use a writing prompt for the challenge, but it is a helpful tool. How about you? Have you started composing your first poem for the challenge?

November PAD is almost here

Over two months of writing a poem a day

Anyone interested in the November PAD (Poem-A-Day) Chapbook Challenge? Details are available on Writer’s Digest website.

It has been awhile since I mentioned the writing exercise I often practice of writing 30 poems in 30 days. A couple of years ago I stopped posting poems on this blog under the advice of a published poet. Poems posted on blogs qualify as “published” and therefore are ineligible to be published in a literary journal or magazine.

So, I started writing poems for friends and others on a manual typewriter and posting the photos—like this short poem for a fellow poet, writer and friend: “Some days all you need.” Or this poem written for the wonderful staff at Dunkin Donuts who always know my order and have it ready for me before I get to the counter: “Never look a doughnut dealer in the eyes.” It is not that I wouldn’t like to get published in a literary journal or magazine, but I really enjoy the process of writing to a specific person or persons.

Due to unemployment followed by new employment challenges, the practice of using the manual typewriter to compose poems ceased due to circumstances I can not share at this point. But I kept composing and writing offline—analog, if you will. In lieu of a manual typewriter, I discovered an app awhile ago. There’s always an app for something, right? During the last month or so, I composed several poem sketches. In the next weeks, I shall share some of these visual poems. Tomorrow, the first one will be posted.

For the month of November I plan to compose a poem a day. Who is with me?

What poets wear

What Poets Wear

When you think of poets gathering together, what you see? What impression do you have of poets? Do all poets wear black turtlenecks, coordinating berets and dark sunglasses?

There appears to be a cultural impression of poets that promotes stereotype or mythos. Years ago I read a biography of a well established senior poet who was visited by a younger, celebrated poet of the next generation. The long-time partner of the senior poet observed that the younger poet was more enamored by the mythology surrounding the senior poet than the actual, published work of the senior poet. Similarly, our culture seems to have that perception of poets—they are more interesting to observe as an unusual creature of bizarre habits and deviant ways rather than an artist of lyric and verse.

Do you see that as well?

Another aspect to this impression informs young and/or aspiring poets that they need to act or behave in a certain manner because that is what culture dictates—that is how poets are supposed to act. If young/aspiring poets do not participate in the activity of cultural stereotypes, they tend to think that their craft is illegitimate and they will not be taken seriously for their poetry. Further, what impact will this have on the actual art created by young/aspiring poets? Will it change the subject matter of their work? And so on.

Has anyone else observed this?

This weekend I joined some local poets downtown. There were no black turtlenecks or berets worn. Someone did wear a pair of dark sunglasses. And no, it wasn’t me.

What is the first poem you read?

Poem Quote - Trees

My grandfather often recited “The Raven” to me when I was I child. I memorized portions of the poem before I was able to read it. Once I was able to read “The Raven”, I was fascinated by how different the poem looked in print compared the how I experienced the recited work. Poe became an early favorite poet to my younger self.

The very first poem I read (and enjoyed) in primary school was “My Beard” by Shel Silverstein. Later, in junior high, I read “Chartless” by Emily Dickinson and “If” by Rudyard Kipling. That poem became a constant reminder to me during difficult years in a rural country high school.

The public library in that small village where I lived during those high school days primarily carried poetry books of Robert Frost and John Greenleaf Whittier. Their poems became early favorite poets. The university library was a sacred place once I discovered Edmund Spenser and many other books of poetry.

Compared to the small village library, the university library was one of the wonders of the world to my developing mind. “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer is one of my favorite poems of all times. The first book I bought at an antiquarian bookshop had that poem in it. That anthology remains one of my treasured books.

I asked friends on social media a few weeks ago: What is the first poem you read and enjoyed? Here’s a list of some of those poems:

  • Margaret Atwood’s “You Are Happy”
  • Whitman’s “Song of Myself”
  • Edgar Alan Poe’s “The Raven”
  • “Stopping by the Woods on a Snowy Evening” by Robert Frost
  • “Snowbound” by John Greenleaf Whittier
  • “Jabberwocky” by Lewis Carroll
  • Wordsworth’s “Daffodils”
  • “Trees” by Joyce Kilmer

This is a good selection and variety of poetry and poets. What about you? What’s your story? What is the first poem you read and enjoyed?

Found poem commemorating AVL 100TPC 2013

As promised last week, here is a found poem I constructed based on the poets who read at the Asheville 100 Thousand Poets for Change event.

Poem for 28 September, 2013

Do not wonder when I say it directly to your ear,[1]
“I am writing a letter to my dead sister. . . “[2]

We anticipate the leap into freedom. [3]
We make our vows in the beach dunes. [4]
We need visual signs of healing. [5]

All that remains is the small few. . . [6]
A home where the family never can return. [7]

They sold their own inheritance. . . [8]
And must return to the center. . . to learn more. . . [9]
It is possible to have everything. . . or at least twenty dollars. . . [10]

NOTES: Each line in this found poem is from the following poets who read at the Asheville 100 Thousand Poets for Change event on September 28, 2013.

[1] Britt Kaufmann
[2] Barbara Gravelle
[3] Steve Brooks
[4] Jeff Davis
[5] Jessica Newton
[6] Jeff Davis
[7] Caleb Beissert
[8] Britt Kaufmann
[9] Jessica Newton
[10] Brian Sneeden

100TPC Quote Brian Sneeden

100TPC QUOTE Sneeden

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville, a quote from a poem by Brian Sneeden: “It is possible to have everything… or at least twenty dollars…”

100TPC Quote Britt Kaufmann

100TPC QUOTE Kaufmann

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville, a quote from a poem by Britt Kaufmann: “They have sold their own inheritance…”

Barbie Angell – Writer, Poet, Artist, Thinker – Returns to Illinois for a Few Performances

dreamspider's avatarDreamspider's Blog

Barbie Angell – Writer, Poet, Artist, Thinker –
Returns to Illinois for a few Performances

Fri 10/4 – 7-11pm “Just Jim” and “Fun Poetry Show”
VFW Cantigny Post 367 Joliet, IL
Mon 10/7 – Salt Creek Wine Bar’s Open Mic – Brookfield, IL
Sat 10/12 – 2pm Downtown Normal Roundabout

“Barbie’s poems are reminiscent of Shel Silverstein, but totally unique to her sensibility. They are infused with a bright spirit, a heart that seeks & explores, and a gentle insight. Even though the poems are about the gamut of human emotions & the subtle twists of perspective that happen with repeated experience, her words are never proselytizing or lofty. Her ‘anthropomorphizing’ of feelings (‘irony tastes like fudge’) is quirky & engaging. I imagine children & adults both will revel in her work—both her poetry & her wonderful drawings”
~ Rosanne Cash

Barbie Angell is a poet, short story writer, satirist…

View original post 541 more words

100TPC Quote Caleb Beissert

100TPC QUOTE Beissert

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville, a quote from a poem by Caleb Beissert: “A home where the family never can return…”

100TPC Quote Jessica Newton

100TPC QUOTE Newton

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville, a quote from a poem by Jessica Newton: “We needed visual signs of healing…”

100TPC Quote Barbara Gravelle

100TPC QUOTE Gravelle

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville, a quote from a poem by Barbara Gravelle: “I am writing a letter to my dead sister… “

100TPC Quote Jeff Davis

100TPC QUOTE Davis

From 100 Thousand Poets for Change Asheville event last weekend, a quote from a poem Jeff Davis read: “We made our vows in the beach dunes…”