A Writer in the Moment

A Work in Progress-

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 29 Jan 2012 00:14:00 +0000

It is becoming clear to me as time passes that life is a series of transformations. Our internal and external worlds- our environment, governments, cultures, our creativity are never static. We live in a vibrant world and universe whose very nature is movement and change. Everything is moving as if it is going somewhere and to me that implies progress.

Nothing remains stationary. Here is an example on a microcosmic level.http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/03/070321104642.htms. Everything waivers, undulates, wiggles, ends and begins, repeats, settles and unsettles, meanders. It is interesting to see how many verbs and adjectives you can come up with that indicate movement or describe it. Sometimes movement is circular, repetitive, ingenious, quiet, unnoticed, brazen, bold.

I perceive the movement in the phrase a work in progress when it refers to writing as the activity that takes a writer forward in their awareness of words and how to use them to say something meaningful to someone.

Progress as defined by the online Merriam Webster Dictionary

a (1) : a royal journey marked by pomp and pageant (2) : a state procession b : a tour or circuit made by an official (as a judge) c : an expedition, journey, or march through a region

: a forward or onward movement (as to an objective or to a goal) : advance

: gradual betterment; especially : the progressive development of humankind

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/progress

Number 3 "gradual betterment" is the definition that resonates with me when I read the phrase a work in progress.

Who among us wants to believe we are going nowhere with our efforts? In terms of writing it doesn't feel good to be unable to get a poem to work or to complete a novel or short story.

If we find ourselves back where we started without a finished poem, novel or short story (after months of working on our work in progress), our work in progress is about learning more about words and how they can best serve our intention for others to hear what we want to communicate. Our work in progress has become our teacher. We can give her a name and talk to her or put her in the trash basket never to see her face again.

Poem by Richard Schiffman in the The Cortland Review

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 22:25:00 +0000

I like this poem. Listen to the audio.

http://www.cortlandreview.com/issue/53/schiffman.php

I also enjoyed Jessica Johnson's poem.

Winter Eclectica Magazine- Author Interviews -Allison Adelle Hedge Coke and Travis Hedge Coke, Saeed Jones and Paul Blezard

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 06 Jan 2012 14:48:00 +0000

New Interviews

Literature and Peace- An Interview with Paul Blezard,
"An author and broadcaster, Paul Blezard was the founder of the Chelsea Poets Society and his work has been published in the UK and abroad. Currently writing a new novel and chairing events at literary festivals around the world, he was the former Literary Editor of The Lady magazine and for ten years was the popular voice of Oneword Radio." Paul Blezard recently took part in the Poetry Towards Peaceful Co-Existence forums in London and Dubai created by The Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain Foundation.

http://www.eclectica.org/v16n1/glixman_blezard.html

Interview with poet Saaed Jones. He earned an MFA in Creative Writing from Rutgers University. He is a new powerful relevant voice in contemporary poetry. He talks about his recent book When the Only Light is Fire.

http://www.eclectica.org/v16n1/gadson.html

Interview with Allison Adelle Hedge Coke and Travis Hedge Coke. Both are amazing accomplished talents. Among Allsion's accomplishments is this "she is the editor of the recently published Sing (2011), a multilingual collection of Indigenous American poetry, from the University of Arizona Press."

"Travis Hedge Coke is Allison's son. He is of mixed ethnicity and mixed feelings about admitting that in his biographies. His visual art has been showcased from Los Angeles to Kyoto, and he has read from New York City to Amman, Jordan (most recently, at Naropa's Summer Writing Program)."

http://www.eclectica.org/v16n1/becker.html

Enjoy these interviews as well as the fiction, poetry, book reviews, essays and op-ed pieces in this issue.

12/21/11 This Blog's Comment Function is Not Working - This Is Not the Title of A Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 22:36:00 +0000

Perhaps I need to write one to relieve my frustration at not knowing how to fix this. People told me they can't post comments.

What to do?

Answer.

Go to the quiet place.
http://thequietplaceproject.com/

The Wonder of It All- New Chapbook

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 16:43:00 +0000

My new poetry chapbook The Wonder of It All will be out soon. I saw the proof this week. Alternating Currents in California is the publisher.
http://alt-current.com/index.html

This is one of two quotes on the cover page.
"After one look at this planet any visitor from outer space would say I want to see the manager."
This quote by William S. Burroughs might give you an idea of the contents.

If not here is more info.

Poems about Nancy Pelosi, The Home Shopping Channel, TSA, tuna fish, boxelder bugs, Alfred Hitchcock, fudge, pop icons on drugs, fish, long distance computer romance and many more contemporary topics are between the covers. Some people drink, get depressed, go camping, overeat, meditate, get involved in political movements or go on vacation (short list of give me a break from the madness things to do). I write poems when everything gets to be too much and even when it isn't.

The Million-Line Poem: Tupelo Press- Support Doctors without Borders

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 21:49:00 +0000

''The Million-Line Poem: Guidelines

From now until January 1, 2012, half of all Million-Line Poem entry fees will go to Doctors without Borders, an international medical humanitarian organization working in nearly 70 countries to assist people whose survival is threatened by violence, neglect, or catastrophe.''

Read the rest

http://tupelopress.wordpress.com/the-million-line-poem-guidelines/

A BROKEN THING - POETS ON THE LINE

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 18:07:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Broken-Thing-Poets-Line/dp/1609380541/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321986713&sr=1-1

Why does the poet stop the line (line break) when he or she does? It is not a simple decision since the 20th century arrived and poets began to experiment with more than traditional blank verse that consisted of repeated predictable patterns of stressed and unstressed syllables.

Where does a line end or begin in a poem? Its intent, content and form is not the same as a line in prose. Reading A BROKEN THING- POETS ON THE LINE is like falling into an alternate universe where words, sounds, pacing, silence, page margins, enjambment, compression, wide open spaces all take on a powerful vibrant life of their own. Political views can even be seen in the construction of the line! A poem is not a static thing. The variation of structure are endless.

Think about this-

When a line ends there is often silence. What does that silence do? Is the empty space in a line soundless?

In this book of essays poets tell readers how they see the line and how they use it in their work and how others use it.

I particularly enjoyed these essays:

Who is Flying this Plane? The prose poem and the life of the line by Hadara Bar-Nadua.

Croon: A Brief on the Line by Tim Seibles

Three Takes on the Line by Catherine Barnett

This is an anthology you can read again and again.

Read more about blank verse (the traditional poetic form) here

http://www.uni.edu/~gotera/CraftOfPoetry/blankverse.html

FRiGG | Fall 2011/issue 34/"The Man from TSA— Unrequited Love Did Not Stop Glenn Close" and Other Poems

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Mon, 31 Oct 2011 23:24:00 +0000

My comments about my five poems published in the Winter 2011 issue of Frigg.

These poems are about present-time experiences and the memory of past experiences (childhood, family gatherings, regular trash-collection pickup—kinder, gentler times (nostalgia perhaps?) and the effect the craziness of today’s world can have on our psyches.

http://www.friggmagazine.com/issuethirtyfour/splashpages/ElizabethPGlixman.htm

The world is transforming. Changes are everywhere. All is in flux. I've been reacting to many of the changes by writing poems, some are humorous. Comedy and tragedy are siblings.

Is it tragic that change is in the air? Probably not but like all transformation letting go of the past is not easy. What to keep and what to let go?

Frigg is a gem of an online magazine. If you haven't read Frigg you are in for a treat. Enjoy the the covers and layout designed by EnoaraF.

Two previous covers out of 34.

Check out Frigg's Archives

http://www.friggmagazine.com/volumeonearchive/archivedirectory.htm

Can Poetry Help to Create Peace in this World? Can the Arts in General Promote Understanding and Peace Between Cultures?

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 22:21:00 +0000

Midas Public Relations

News for release: 21 October 2011

POETRY TOWARDS PEACEFUL CO-EXISTENCE

Promoting dialogue between civilisations through poetry –

Dubai forum comes to London

"Seminars and themes presented at The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity’s literary and intellectual symposium in Dubai (17-18 October) were discussed yesterday evening at an event held at The Mosaic Rooms, London.

The Dubai forum, entitled "Poetry Towards Peaceful Co-Existence", was held under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President of the United Arab Emirates, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, who attended the opening session. The London forum was programmed to complement the subject areas debated in Dubai. The two events were linked by author and broadcaster Paul Blezard, who flew from Dubai to London, to participate in both Forums.

In his opening speech in Dubai, Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, Chairman of The Foundation, highlighted the role of poetry in promoting dialogue between civilisations and said that the decision to hold the event in Dubai reflected the Emirate’s leading role in bringing about peaceful coexistence and understanding between people from different cultural backgrounds.

Speakers who took part in the London event were:

· Rosie Goldsmith, journalist and broadcaster, chair

· Sarah Ardizzone, award winning translator

· Sharmila Beezmohun, deputy editor Wasafiri magazine

· Paul Blezard, Literary director, The Firebird Poetry Prizes

· Christina Patterson , writer and columnist, The Independent

· Rhona Wells, assistant editor, The Middle East magazine

The London panellists discussed issues of translation and interpretation, poetry and performance, as well as debating the role poetry can play in today’s world, and its impact on different cultures globally.

The Dubai Forum was attended by Arab and foreign academics and poets from five continents. Sessions discussed the impact of Arabic and world poetry on human communication throughout the ages, and readings from an international line up of poets included prolific writer and poet Yang Lian from Beijing; Egyptian poet and writer Yaser Anwar; poet and cultural critic Kirpal Singh from Singapore; American poet, essayist and professor Brian Turner and the International Kristal Vilenica Prize 2009 winner Luljeta Lleshanaku from Albania.

The head of The Foundation, Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, himself a prominent Kuwaiti poet and businessman, well known in Kuwait, the Gulf area and the Arab world, established and fully financed The Foundation of Abdulaziz Saud Al-Babtain's Prize for Poetic Creativity.

Abdul Aziz Saud Al-Babtain, Chairman of the Foundation, said: “I am delighted with the response to the Forum in Dubai. Academics and poets travelled from far and wide to take part in the symposium, and the result was three days of inspiring speeches and debate. Speakers were in general agreement with the theme of this year’s Forum – that poetry can play a role in developing cultural understanding in a time of political, social and economic change around the world.”

Video footage from the London event can be found at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XsWlsmF8ZQ

Spirit Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 09 Oct 2011 22:30:00 +0000

This poem was published in 3 A.M. Magazine in 2002. It is about the seed of creative possibilities that lives inside all of us.

Spirit

In the where we are world
intangible and tangled
a space of movies in holy time
without intermission
there is no waiting to rewrite the script.
It is happening as the popcorn crunches
in our mouths
as gunshots and diplomats talk
pulverizing the seeds of the living.

I am the seed they are trying to kill
created from an inner space of infinity
from musical strings a universe Einstein
could not imagine but longed for.
The Theory of Everything is in the oscillating ringing
the waves of unified motion
the tender inquisitiveness of time.

Vibration is all there is and time knows this.
Chords of sounds sunbathing on legs, arms,
lips, eyes, and inward in to ecstasy
grandiose and microscopic.
Wide open sounds that tenderize sunburns
and dance as the black holes pop open
when the journey is over
and we are sucked back into the beginning of time
where we see ourselves
in silence.
The seed they try to kill
waving undulating holding an infinite space
where fear is not found is the dream maker
of this dream time.
It will never be destroyed

Earth light beams into waters
that are in touch with feeling.
Waters that rush still
intoxicating inlets
with a happiness our human minds
would dance on the head of a pin to find.
Minted green foliage grows
light bound untangled
with all, lives in peace birthing choruses
with the bark of its neighbor.
Earth light is the director of sprouting seed souls
creator of the trunk and the roots.
It digs down
humming to earth.

In this where we are world change
sits in each quark of non linear time
rejoicing in the
freedom
of a creative mind.
Whirlpools of possibilities swim
as seed in little husks and kernels that
go dance or slide or ride
in the earth's decay, in it rise
in the soul's ability to multiple
and divide
with help from the chorus master who lives
sleeps and breaths
in each of us.
harmonizing all in creative reverie.

Elizabeth P. Glixman
copyright © 2002 all rights reserved

9/22/11 I Tweeted my First Poem

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Thu, 22 Sep 2011 23:34:00 +0000

By the Salem Sea

16 Sep

1.
Boats numbered by the sun
watery trawlers
whaling towards
widows waiting for the one

Read the rest

http://unfoldmag.wordpress.com/2011/09/16/by-the-salem-sea/

Writing a poem with 140 words (including spaces) is no easy feat. Word choice is always important when you write anything. In poetry it is critical. I found this 140 word tweet a wonderful challenge. I focused on creating the feel of the sea and beach with imagery and sound (alliteration). Although the 3 stanzas are posted as one poem, to me they are each separate snapshots of the beach, sea, and Salem.

Salem Mass is known for its Victorian homes that have widow walks where sailors' wives kept watch waiting for their loved ones to come home from the sea.
http://www.fishermensvoice.com/0310widowsWalk.html

http://flickrhivemind.net/Tags/widowswalk/Interesting

It Sure Has Been Hot This Summer- Poem Audio

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 13:05:00 +0000

Heat Mp3 by happiness2

Summer Eclectica

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 23:48:00 +0000

There is a lot of good reading in the summer Eclectica: poetry, fiction, travel pieces, commentary, non-fiction, book reviews and interviews. I interviewed poet John Vick whose You Tube "conceptual" poetry caught my eye.
http://www.eclectica.org/v15n3/glixman_vick.html

Poet Kimberly Becker interviewed poet Molly McGlennen author of Fried Fish and Flour Biscuits.

http://www.eclectica.org/v15n3/toc.html

Poetry editor Jennifer Finstrom offers an opportunity to meet a word challenge each issue.
Read more about this at

http://www.eclectica.org/v15n3/poetry_special.html

Poetry and Animation - Motion Poems- Best American Poetry anthology

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sat, 06 Aug 2011 22:29:00 +0000

"Hello from Angella and Todd!

We have news.

We've got a really exciting new partnership to tell you about.

This year, with your help, we'll produce 12-15 new motionpoems to accompany Scribner's celebrated annual Best American Poetry anthology... the 2011 volume. It's a new pilot-year collaboration that significantly raises the profile for us. It means we'll be working with a stellar lineup of poets this summer, from emerging writers to multiple Pulitzer Prize winners. The completed projects will be free online for general audiences and educators. The entire publishing industry will be watching. We can't wait to show you the results!"

Read the rest.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/375616979/poems-on-the-big-screen-motionpoems

Poems in Wordgathering

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 18:04:00 +0000

Volume 5 Issue 2 June 2011

http://www.wordgathering.com/issue18/poetry/glixman.html

What's it like to be disabled or have a chronic illness? How do you experience life and how do others experience you? The poems in Wordgathering are written by people who understand. They show the reader a world not everyone knows and worlds that are all too familiar to people dealing with daily challenges whether their own or loved ones. Many of the poems in this online magazine grasp the human condition in a profound way.

Other poets in this issue.

http://www.wordgathering.com/issue18/poetry/poetry18.html

Dinosaur Bees/ Issue 3. Check it Out. My "Strange" Art and Writing is in this Issue.

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Wed, 13 Jul 2011 14:41:00 +0000

http://www.dinosaurbees.com/3_glixman_cats.html

http://www.dinosaurbees.com/dinosaurbees_news.html

YouTube - ‪"The The Impotence of Proofreading," by TAYLOR MALI. Hilarious‬‏

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sat, 09 Jul 2011 12:20:00 +0000

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OonDPGwAyfQ

Rumi- 13th Century Persian Mystic

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 16:06:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Illuminated-Rumi-Jalal-Al-Din/dp/0767900022

Today, like every other day, we wake up empty
and frightened. Don't open the door to the study
and begin reading. Take down a musical instrument.
Let the beauty we love be what we do.
There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.

translated by John Moyne and Coleman Barks

Listen to audios of Rumi's poetry
http://being.publicradio.org/programs/rumi/poetry.shtml

Sculpture as Poetry and Science- Janet Echelman's Vision

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 19:28:00 +0000

http://www.echelman.com/

Watch Video at Ted.com

poetry 180: A Turning Back To Poetry

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 19 Jun 2011 16:31:00 +0000

http://www.amazon.com/Poetry-180-Turning-Back/dp/0812968875

Some readers and writers do not like Billy Collin's poetry. They say it is too easy among other things. They write

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/08/books/review/08orr.html

and here

http://poetsonline.blogspot.com/2005/10/trouble-with-poetry-and-billy-collins.html

and here on his recent book Nine Horses

Amazon.com Review

"In Nine Horses, Billy Collins, U.S. poet laureate and author of the bestselling collection Sailing Alone Around the Room, attempts to find beauty in simplicity, but ends up achieving the simply banal. Some poems, such as "Rooms" and "Obituaries," in which readers are given freedom to draw their own conclusions, are memorable, but the language in Nine Horses has little music and thoughts are plainly stated."

Read the rest of the review and readers' comments.

http://www.amazon.com/Nine-Horses-Poems-Billy-Collins/dp/0375755209

There are days when I find what the naysayers say about B.C.'s poetry true. Other days I revel in his writing for the very same reasons. Some days all I want is a warm piece of freshly baked bread smothered with butter or an apple in a poem that is an an apple nothing more.

I am a bit behind on my reading. poetry 180, the anthology and the poetry 180 website have been around for a while. Read about Collin's poetry 180 project that was created with high school students in mind to make poetry more accessible and enjoyable for these readers and with the intention that one poem could be read or listened to each of the 180 days school was in session that year. http://www.loc.gov/poetry/180/

I was curious what kind of poems would be in a Billy Collin's edited anthology. Many are witty and charming as are Collin's poems. Many do not require minutes or hours of reflection but there are poems that ellicit reflection and that feeling of angst that appears in much contemporary poetry, that feeling some naysayers of Collins suggest is not in his own work.

Among the poets whose work appears in the anthology are Stephen Dobyns, Sharon Olds, Phillip Levine, Charles Simic, David Ray, Rebecca Wee, Naomi Shihab Nye, Lucille Clifton and Daisey Fried.

These are three of my favorite poems in the anthology

One is by children's book author Jane Yolen.

Fat Is Not a Fairy Tale

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Cinder Elephant,
Sleeping Tubby,
Snow Weight,
where the princess is not
anorexic, wasp-waisted,
flinging herself down the stairs.

I am thinking of a fairy tale,
Hansel and Great,
Repoundsel,
Bounty and the Beast,
where the beauty
has a pillowed breast,
and fingers plump as sausage.
I am thinking of a fairy tale
that is not yet written,
for a teller not yet born,
for a listener not yet conceived,
for a world not yet won,
where everything round is good:
the sun, wheels, cookies, and the princess.
~ Jane Yolen

My Father's Hat
by Mark Irwin

Sunday mornings I would reach high into his dark closet while standing on a chair and tiptoeing reach higher, touching, sometimes fumbling the soft crowns and imagine I was in a forest, wind hymning through pines, where the musky scent of rain clinging to damp earth was his scent I loved, lingering on bands, leather, and on the inner silk crowns where I would smell his hair and almost think I was being held, or climbing a tree, touching the yellow fruit, leaves whose scent was that of a clove in the godsome air, as now, thinking of his fabulous sleep, I stand on this canyon floor and watch light slowly close on water I'm not sure is there. http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/16707 Dog's Death by John Updike She must have been kicked unseen or brushed by a car. Too young to know much, she was beginning to learn To use the newspapers spread on the kitchen floor And to win, wetting there, the words, "Good dog! Good dog!" We thought her shy malaise was a shot reaction. The autopsy disclosed a rupture in her liver. As we teased her with play, blood was filling her skin And her heart was learning to lie down forever. Monday morning, as the children were noisily fed And sent to school, she crawled beneath the youngest's bed. We found her twisted and limp but still alive. In the car to the vet's, on my lap, she tried To bite my hand and died. I stroked her warm fur And my wife called in a voice imperious with tears. Though surrounded by love that would have upheld her, Nevertheless she sank and, stiffening, disappeared. Back home, we found that in the night her frame, Drawing near to dissolution, had endured the shame Of diarrhoea and had dragged across the floor To a newspaper carelessly left there. Good dog. John Updike, POETSPEAK In Their Work, About Their Work (A Selection by Paul B. Janeczko)

Inspiration

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 15 May 2011 21:45:00 +0000

Definition of inspiration from The Free Dictionary

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inspiration

a. Stimulation of the mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity.

b. The condition of being so stimulated.

2. An agency, such as a person or work of art, that moves the intellect or emotions or prompts action or invention.

3. Something, such as a sudden creative act or idea, that is inspired.

4. The quality of inspiring or exalting: a painting full of inspiration.

5. Divine guidance or influence exerted directly on the mind and soul of humankind.

6. The act of drawing in, especially the inhalation of air into the lungs.

What inspires poetry? For everyone who writes a poem the inspiration is different. There are those universal inspirations or themes love, loss, beauty, happiness, life, death and birth. Some days these inspirations are too big for me. Some days I don't feel much happening in these areas. On those days I try to write a poem about a tree or the sky. I look outside me (writing from the outside in)and I can find words or a few sentences about a feeling or how something looks or a certain inner dissatisfaction or disappointment but the poem goes nowhere. I have nothing to say. Whatever I saw did not inspire me enough. The poem fizzled. When this happens I might look for a poetry prompt online or write my own. A few lines nothing. I finally realize like a teacher of mine said, sometimes the field needs to remain fallow. So I read poetry. In this particular dry spell I've been reading fiction. No threat there. I am not reading a poem hoping my absentee muses will reappear to inspire me.
In my recent month or so of feeling totally uninspired I've been reading fiction. I've finished reading Kalfka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. This book was published in 2005. I haven't written a poem related to the reading of this book (yet) but I can tell you this author inspired me.

"Murakami is an aficionado of the drowsy interstices of everyday life, reality's cul-de-sacs, places so filled with the nothing that happens in them that they become uncanny: hallways, highway rest stops, vacant lots. Although the dreamlike quality of his work makes the film director David Lynch his nearest American counterpart, Lynch's palette is primarily nocturnal while Murakami's welcomes the noontime sun. No one is better at evoking the spookiness of midday in a quiet neighborhood when everyone is at work.
A lot of things happen in Murakami's novels, but what lingers longest in the memory is this distinctive mood, a stillness pregnant with . . . what? Some meaning that's forever slipping away. The author achieves this effect by doing everything wrong, at least by Western literary standards. Over the years, his prose has become increasingly, and even militantly, simple. Although Murakami is both an admirer and a translator of Raymond Carver, this simplicity isn't the semaphoric purity of American minimalism. Partisans of the beautiful sentence will find little sustenance here."

From the New York Times review of Kalfka on the Shore by Laura Miller. Read the rest at

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/02/06/books/review/06COVERMI.html

To me the story of Kalfka on the Shore is poetry and philosophy, evolutionary history and Greek tragedy. I felt suspended in time where time was held hostage didn't move and also where time became urgent, time was running out, a time portal to change Kalfka's fate would close soon. Dreams, alternate realities, fish falling from the sky, talking cats, murder, lost soldiers from WW II who had not aged stuck in a forest time warp, free will vs fate, big questions woven into this strange dreamlike novel set in contemporary Japan. This novel opened or stimulated my "mind or emotions to a high level of feeling or activity." Defintion 1
What it did was take me into another reality, the journey of Kalfka Tamura a 15 year old who ran away from home and an old man Nakata who is challenged by an old head injury. He says he is not too smart but he is magical. These two characters are drawn together in the end of the story to change reality playing their pre-ordained roles. Lives end, others begin. Time moves on.

No poem yet but I can feel one forming. I think the lesson for me when experiencing a dry spell in writing a poem, is to let the field remain fallow yet plant the seeds of future growth. In my case this time the seeds are reading fiction.

Massachusetts Poetry Festival May 12 -14 - Salem Massachusetts

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 13 May 2011 20:46:00 +0000

The Massachusetts Poetry Festival – a unique 2 day gathering of poets and poetry lovers from across the Commonwealth for readings, workshops, panels, concerts, a small press fair and more
Taking poetry to people: we sponsor poets to work in schools, senior centers, prisons and communities.
Assisting more readers to read and reconnect with poetry
Working with teachers to assist them to work with poetry in the classroom
Creating a central information center for poets and poetry readers and lovers to find reading series, workshops, MFA programs, and other resources
Building a robust website to support all of these activities
Linking together all the dispirit strands of the Massachusetts poetry community to promote more collaboration, respect and communication
Read the rest at about at http://masspoetry.crowdvine.com/

A Review of A White Girl Lynching from 2009. What Took Me This Long to Link It? I Have No Clue.

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 21:21:00 +0000

Here is a review at Full of Crow from 2009. I did not post. Full of Crow features poetry, fiction, art, interviews, audio, ebooks, reviews, and more.

http://www.fullofcrow.com/crowreviews/2009/06/a-white-girl-lynching/

Celebrate! April is National Poetry Month -Write a Poem- Poetry Prompt in This Post, Buy a Book, Watch Poets on You Tube, Go to a Reading.

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 16:04:00 +0000

The History of National Poetry Month

"Inaugurated by the Academy of American Poets in 1996, National Poetry Month is now held every April, when publishers, booksellers, literary organizations, libraries, schools and poets around the country band together to celebrate poetry and its vital place in American culture. Thousands of businesses and non-profit organizations participate through readings, festivals, book displays, workshops, and other events."

Read the rest

http://www.poets.org/page.php/prmID/41

Write a Poem

Poetry Prompt

Write a poem about what a poem is to you
and or second prompt- write about nuclear energy,
its power, its uses, our responsibilities so that it does not
go Kaboom! A third prompt- Write about an April Fool.

Here is my poem (first draft).

Forks are

One-dimensional pieces of metal

Spoons are

flat.... although

curved in functional places.

Spoons have..... tiny muscles

that ripple in milk,

in particular Wheaties.
They are powerless

Hear their cries as they hit
The bowl

Plate
Cup.

Personification poems about utensils

are not in now (What is? I have no idea)

Who cares? I do.

Every large, small, medium sized metal object
was created by a man's brain waves

I have empathy for the utilitarian

Like nuclear power plants

That depend on human intelligence

(It is all about us. Always. We create.)

To help them help people

Take a fork

It was made to keep hands clean and

Not spill hot dogs or textured soybeans
On the floor next to the table
Take a nuclear power plant
It was made to not spill
Radioactive waste in the ground

Or water.

The metal things are powerless
They are our Frankenstein
Al or Shelley for good or evil
For better or worse
In sickness or in health
We are wedded to them
With no life asssurance policy

You Tube- Poet Videos

Billy Collins

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8xovLpim_1s

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wrEPJh14mcU

Stanley Kunitz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nihqt3Ct2KU

Gregory Corso

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGPDZD7AK5o

Women's Poetry Slam
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Jc6wB8gTRc

Emily Dickinson - I Heard A Fly Buzz When I Died

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bL08bcQU214

Buy a Book - My Chapbooks (A little self promotion)

http://elizabeth-inthemoment.blogspot.com/2010/11/cowboy-writes-letter-other-love-poems.html

http://elizabeth-inthemoment.blogspot.com/2008/03/white-girl-lynching-pudding-house-press.htm

Poetry Readings April 2011- Events Calendar

http://www.poets.org/calendar.php/varClear/1

You can google to find more events in your area.

A Mary Oliver Poem- Wild Geese & Geese by E.P. Glixman

noreply@blogger.com (Elizabeth) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 17:04:00 +0000

Geese

Wild Geese

You do not have to be good.

You do not have to walk on your knees

for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.

You only have to let the soft animal of your body

love what it loves.

Tell me about despair, yours, and I will tell you mine.

Meanwhile the world goes on.

Meanwhile the sun and the clear pebbles of the rain

are moving across the landscapes,

over the prairies and the deep trees,

the mountains and the rivers.

Meanwhile the wild geese, high in the clean blue air,

are heading home again.

Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,

the world offers itself to your imagination,

calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting

over and over announcing your place

in the family of things.

from Dream Work by Mary Oliver

published by Atlantic Monthly Press