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"There's no money in poetry, but then there's no poetry in money either." ~
Robert Graves



Friday, April 26, 2013

A Column You'll Want to Read

One of my favorite poets, Libby Bernadin, has a guest column in Charleston's Post and Courier today.   It's every bit as intriguing as the title:  "Take time to find unhurried truth."  Excellent advice beautifully presented.   Her most recent book of poems, Layers of Song, is one you'll want to savor unhurriedly.  Here's the link to her column: 
http://www.postandcourier.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=%2F20130426%2FPC12%2F130429510%2F1002%2Fguest-column-take-time-to-find-unhurried-truth&fb_action_ids=10201010372569321&fb_action_types=og.recommends&fb_source=other_multiline&action_object_map={%2210201010372569321%22%3A135327046657594}&action_type_map={%2210201010372569321%22%3A%22og.recommends%22}&action_ref_map=[]

Sunday, April 14, 2013

i carry your heart with me

I've been reading e. e. cummings and want to share this one:


i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)

 

i fear no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

 

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than the soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

 

i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)

 

- e. e. cummings ~

(Complete Poems, 1904-1962)

 

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

THANKSGIVIING CELEBRATION

  He’s trussed, stuffed, baking slowly
  to please the assembled well-connected
  who in early youth defected
  to orthodontists and summer camps.

  The bird, center stage,
  subject of praise
  from ones who know:
  Presbyterian prayers before,
  wine with, champagne after.
  Malignant silences grow
  beneath smiles
  thin as bone china.
  

(First published in The Petigru Review, Vol. 6)

BLUE SURPRISE

Just when you think it’s over,
think you’ll meet eternity
at the next turn
and burn for all the joy you
passed up in your sorry life,
someone shows up
out of the blue
and asks for a kiss
a kiss

right out of the blue.

For once you don’t pause
to think yourself out of it.
You give the kiss
know it’s the thing
to do, know the moment
will change your life

just out of the blue.


In the eyes of love
you are created anew,
know who you are
for the first time
In all this time

right out of the blue.


—First published in Inner Landscapes -  Writers Respond to the Art of Virginia Dehn  (Grayson Books)

AT THE ZOO

Lovers in pairs visit the zoo
        touching
          tangling
            arms and hands,
animals in search
 of a new ark.

 Lovers feed lovers
          secret smiles & whispers,
              toss peanuts
                 to the elephants.


(First published in The Petigru Review, Vol. 6)

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

Three Books

Happy to share three books where some of my poems can be found.  The poems were chosen for inclusion ( through juried competitions) within the past year.   It's been a pleasure to take part in these projects.  In addition to the good feelings that come when one's work is appreciated by the judges, the contributor receives a copy or copies of the book when it's released. 

 

 The Petigru Review is the literary anthology of the South Carolina Writers Workshop, a competition open to members of the Workshop.  The anthology includes categories for fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and novel first chapter.  This year three of my poems were chosen:  Thanksgiving Celebration, Mama and At the Zoo.   (www.myscww.org)

 

Intimate Landscape - Open to Interpretation ( www.open2interpretation.com).  "A good photograph tells a story, but it tells a different story to every viewer.  These stories are fleeting, and can disappear from the viewer's mind the moment he or she turns a page or walks into the next gallery.  Open to Interpretation captures these stories by pairing the work of fine art photographers with the work of writers thorough a series of international juried book competitions."  The poem of mine you'll find between these covers is Stumbling Around Eden.

  If you're a writer or photographer, this competition might be fun for you, too.  Exposure to the photographs always stimulates creativity for me and takes me to places I might not have noticed in my own interior landscape.  Have a look at their site.

 

Inner Landscapes showcases an interesting combination of writers of all ages responding to the art of Virginia Dehn.  Writers in the book were selected for their interpretation of a painting or paintings for this volume, edited by Ginny Lowe Connors for Grayson Books.  (www.GraysonBooks.com)  I liked Ms. Dehn's work, and it was hard to decide on which piece for a poem.  Ultimately I chose a beautiful one entitled "Out of the Blue."  My poem is entitled Blue Surprise.   I will post it here soon.