Popular Posts
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by Turtle Shell "Look at this, this brilliant kid Made a masterwork, our genius did." A perfect grade, brings pride galore. Y...
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Hello Poets, This is just a quick hello and reminder about the upcoming poetry exhibition in April. By now, we each have a jpg of our ch...
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My forebears, they were tall. So very tall were they all. Picking fruit in the Fall. Yet rarely playing basketball. by Turtle Shell --...
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There have been a couple more Commuter articles about us lately. Last week they published a piece called You Could Be Next Year's Poet L...
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In case you are unaware, there is now a poetry club at the Benton center! They meet every Thursday from 5:30-6:30 in the conference room, w...
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Oh my lord, I am sorry I haven't posted in a while! I'm terrible, I know. But, I have wonderful, exciting news. February is Bkac...
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Submission time is here! Every March from the 1st through the 20th, Write Bloody Publishing (founded by the miraculous beat poet Derrick C. ...
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Another review is written of the Poetry Club meeting: This one is from Kristen -- Quiet chatter amongst two men fill the gap that is nor...
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Here is a blanket statement for you all. If anything inspires you, whether it be nature, movies, books, or whatever, I implore you to se...
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Hello all! At tonight's meeting at the Benton Center we were met with an interesting question: if you wrote a series of poems addresse...
Monday, November 25, 2013
I thought it would be cool to try to post a word of the day every now and then. I follow a group called Word Porn on Facebook that constantly posts interesting words and their meanings. Here's the one for today:
Hello there, wordsmiths!
Our good friend Jeff has graciously given me the information for several more word-related opportunities! This time, I have some scholarships for you to look into. Take a peek:
Fishtrap is a nationally known writing workshop right here in Oregon. They're offering two scholarships for youth for the summer 2014 workshop. Scholarships are available to any person under 35 years of age, and high school and college students are especially encouraged to apply. Summer Fishtrap Scholarship applications are accepted from January 1 through February 3 at 5 PM (PST).
For more info on the Bryn Lunde Memorial Scholarship, see http://fishtrap.org/?page_id=149
For more info on the Frank Conley Memorial Scholarship, see http://fishtrap.org/?page_id=153
Our good friend Jeff has graciously given me the information for several more word-related opportunities! This time, I have some scholarships for you to look into. Take a peek:
Fishtrap is a nationally known writing workshop right here in Oregon. They're offering two scholarships for youth for the summer 2014 workshop. Scholarships are available to any person under 35 years of age, and high school and college students are especially encouraged to apply. Summer Fishtrap Scholarship applications are accepted from January 1 through February 3 at 5 PM (PST).
For more info on the Bryn Lunde Memorial Scholarship, see http://fishtrap.org/?page_id=149
For more info on the Frank Conley Memorial Scholarship, see http://fishtrap.org/?page_id=153
Friday, November 15, 2013
My apologies for being a bit absent on this blog lately! There's been plenty going on, of course. Last Friday we had our second successful Word Mob! Thanks to all who participated, as well as those who helped make it all possible. You know who you are ;)
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Just some announcements and information:
1. Everyone should check out Poetics Corvallis, a local poetry group that meets the first Fridays of the month at Interzone cafe. Follow that link to their Facebook page and learn all about them!
2. I am looking for submissions! From anyone, about anything! Thanks to one of our fellow poets Kent, we now have a connection at the Commuter. What I would like is to receive emailed poem submissions every week to put in the Commuter. Sometimes we have a theme, other times we do not. When I start receiving emails I can let people know the specifics, but it's a pretty laid-back process! My only requirement is that I receive poems by Thursday of the week.
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3. The next Word MOB will be Friday, January 31st!
And now, a video for your utter enjoyment:
Akua Naru - How Does It Feel Now?
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
Dear all,
This
is a hearty invitation to join us on Thursday, October 17 @ 1:00 - 2:20
NSH206 for a poetry reading by Danny Earl Simmons. Dan is a local
poet, a friend of the LBCC Poetry Club, and an active member of the
Albany Civic Theater. His poems have been published in a variety of
presses including Big River Poetry Review, Grey Sparrow, Northwind, and Strong Verse. This reading in part celebrates his new collection: Dancing the Allergic Swim.
Join us! And please invite your students (if you'd like more info please contact me).
Here's one of Dan's poems from Dancing:
Poet
He was always the kid who stayed up late
after marshmallows and scary stories.
He'd sit there for hours, entranced
by the deepest red of the campfire,
soaking-in the heat. He'd watch sparks
escape and turn into stars against the black
mountain sky like red-hot secrets taking flight.
Before long, he'd find himself huddled
against the edge, eyes burning,
overcome by the heat of the moment,
focused on nothing but the wiggle of the flames
and the wavy hot glow of the smolder.
Monday, October 7, 2013
Thanks to our very own Jeff F., I have some news on a currently running submission!
The Lyric College Poetry Contest
http://www.thelyricmagazine.com/colleage_all.html
Directed toward undergraduate enrolled full time in an American or
Canadian college or university
$500 First Prize
$100 Second Prize
Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in
English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and
rhyme. Please send up to 6 poems per student.
Winners will be announced and published in the Winter issue of The Lyric.
Entries may be sent by email to tanyacim@aol.com or by postal service to:
The Lyric College Contest
c/o Tanya Cimonetti
1393 Spear Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
Submissions must be postmarked or emailed by December 1, 2013. The
following information must appear on each poem:
Student' s name and complete address
College' s name and complete address
Contestants should retain copies of all poems.
The Lyric College Poetry Contest
http://www.thelyricmagazine.com/colleage_all.html
Directed toward undergraduate enrolled full time in an American or
Canadian college or university
$500 First Prize
$100 Second Prize
Poems must be original and unpublished, 39 lines or less, written in
English in traditional forms, preferably with regular scansion and
rhyme. Please send up to 6 poems per student.
Winners will be announced and published in the Winter issue of The Lyric.
Entries may be sent by email to tanyacim@aol.com or by postal service to:
The Lyric College Contest
c/o Tanya Cimonetti
1393 Spear Street
South Burlington, VT 05403
Submissions must be postmarked or emailed by December 1, 2013. The
following information must appear on each poem:
Student' s name and complete address
College' s name and complete address
Contestants should retain copies of all poems.
From the Corvallis-Gazette Times:
"Writer Nick Flynn will read from his work on Friday, Oct.
11, at Oregon State University’s Valley Library rotunda. The free public
event begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be followed by a question and answer
session and a book signing.
Flynn is the author of three memoirs, including “The Reenactments” (2013), “The Ticking is the Bomb: A Memoir of Bewilderment” (2010) and “Another B———— Night in Suck City” (2004). Flynn is also the author of three books of poetry.
Of Flynn’s most recent memoir, “The Reenactments,” Kirkus Reviews wrote: “Flynn’s determination to better understand his life through the act of writing and remembering has yielded a truly insightful, original work.” Clea Simon of The Boston Globe said Flynn’s writing is “always specific and honest” and “dryly funny.”
His award-winning memoir “Another B———— Night in Suck City” was turned into the movie “Being Flynn,” starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano. That book recounted his unusual relationship with his alcoholic father and the suicide of his mother.
Flynn, 52, lives most of the year near Brooklyn. He is married to actress Lili Taylor. Each spring, he teaches poetry through the creative writing department at the University of Houston.
Flynn has been awarded fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The Library of Congress, The Amy Lowell Trust, and The Fine Arts Work Center.
The Visiting Writers Series brings nationally known writers to Oregon State University. The program is made possible by support from The Valley Library, OSU Press, the OSU School of Writing, Literature, and Film, the College of Liberal Arts, Kathy Brisker and Tim Steele, and Grass Roots Books and Music."
Flynn is the author of three memoirs, including “The Reenactments” (2013), “The Ticking is the Bomb: A Memoir of Bewilderment” (2010) and “Another B———— Night in Suck City” (2004). Flynn is also the author of three books of poetry.
Of Flynn’s most recent memoir, “The Reenactments,” Kirkus Reviews wrote: “Flynn’s determination to better understand his life through the act of writing and remembering has yielded a truly insightful, original work.” Clea Simon of The Boston Globe said Flynn’s writing is “always specific and honest” and “dryly funny.”
His award-winning memoir “Another B———— Night in Suck City” was turned into the movie “Being Flynn,” starring Robert De Niro and Paul Dano. That book recounted his unusual relationship with his alcoholic father and the suicide of his mother.
Flynn, 52, lives most of the year near Brooklyn. He is married to actress Lili Taylor. Each spring, he teaches poetry through the creative writing department at the University of Houston.
Flynn has been awarded fellowships from The Guggenheim Foundation, The Library of Congress, The Amy Lowell Trust, and The Fine Arts Work Center.
The Visiting Writers Series brings nationally known writers to Oregon State University. The program is made possible by support from The Valley Library, OSU Press, the OSU School of Writing, Literature, and Film, the College of Liberal Arts, Kathy Brisker and Tim Steele, and Grass Roots Books and Music."
Hello all!
Once again we have started a new school year, and Poetry Club is back up and running! On Tuesdays we meet at 3:00 pm in the Hot Shot Cafe on the Albany campus. Wednesdays the Benton Center club meets at 5:30 pm in the conference room.
Lots of exciting and creatively driven projects are happening this year, so stay tuned! On this blog I often post weekly poems and prompts, original work from club members, upcoming literary events, and submission opportunities. I'll also be keeping you up-to-date on everything LBCC and Poetry Club related!
Let the writing begin!
Kiera Lynn
LBCC Student Poet Laureate
“I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness”
-E.E. Cummings
Once again we have started a new school year, and Poetry Club is back up and running! On Tuesdays we meet at 3:00 pm in the Hot Shot Cafe on the Albany campus. Wednesdays the Benton Center club meets at 5:30 pm in the conference room.
Lots of exciting and creatively driven projects are happening this year, so stay tuned! On this blog I often post weekly poems and prompts, original work from club members, upcoming literary events, and submission opportunities. I'll also be keeping you up-to-date on everything LBCC and Poetry Club related!
Let the writing begin!
Kiera Lynn
LBCC Student Poet Laureate
“I will take the sun in my mouth
and leap into the ripe air
Alive
with closed eyes
to dash against darkness”
-E.E. Cummings
Wednesday, April 17, 2013
This is just a quick reminder of the PoetryWall
at the LBCC Library. Our library is sponsoring the space (next to the
Library Reading Room) and the materials (whiteboards and pens) and our
Poetry Club is providing themes and recording and archiving your
submissions. What we need is YOU and your "gaiety of language."
Consider it poetry improv and bring your classes. Or drop by yourself.
It's fun!!! This week's theme: Curiosity....
Here's a little gem from e.e. cummings:
since feeling is first
who pays any attention
to the syntax of things
will never wholly kiss you;
while Spring is in the world
my blood approve,
and kisses are a better fate
than wisdom
lady i swear by all flowers. Don't cry
-- the best gesture of my brain is less than
your eyelids' flutter which says
we are for each other: then
laugh, leaning back in my arms
for life's not a paragraph
And death i think is no parenthesis
Events are coming your way!
This Friday, April 19th at 7:30 p.m. join the LBCC English Department in their annual fundraiser for the English Endowment. There's going to be readings, music, food, no-host bar... ;)
NEXT Friday, April 26th at 7:00 p.m. come riot your words with LBCC Student Leadership Council, LBCC Benton Center, and LBCC Poetry Club at WordMOB! There's going to be silly amounts of fabulous local poets and artists, and an open mic for you, too!
Wednesday, May 1st at 7:00 p.m. Oregon State University's Kathleen Dean Moore and Rachelle McCabe will dazzle you with words and music and music and words and music and
it's
bound
to be
spectacular!
CLICK HERE for more details!
Hope to see you there!
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Join LB students and staff for an evening of live entertainment and class. Yes folks, this event is going to be ritzy and chalk-full of talent from our very own LBCC English Department. Don't pass up the opportunity to hear some fabulous music and spoken word from those who know the language best!
A link for more details: http://www.facebook.com/events/394927627281193/
Hope to see you there!
A link for more details: http://www.facebook.com/events/394927627281193/
Hope to see you there!
Monday, April 1, 2013
CALL FOR POETRY SUBMISSIONS
All local poets are invited to submit a poem for the Grass Roots Poem-A-Day April Poetry Month celebration. As you may already be aware, we celebrate National Poetry Month by sending out one of our favorite poems for every day of the month of April. This year, as we have done in the past, we will be featuring a selection of local poets as well. To submit a poem for consideration, please send it to grootsreads@gmail.com along with a brief bio. We love showcasing our own local talent. Thanks for your submissions!
All local poets are invited to submit a poem for the Grass Roots Poem-A-Day April Poetry Month celebration. As you may already be aware, we celebrate National Poetry Month by sending out one of our favorite poems for every day of the month of April. This year, as we have done in the past, we will be featuring a selection of local poets as well. To submit a poem for consideration, please send it to grootsreads@gmail.com along with a brief bio. We love showcasing our own local talent. Thanks for your submissions!
This was supposed to be the prompt for spring break (but the blog fell off my radar for a moment) ;) If you'd like to still try it out I'd love to see what everyone comes up with!
Write a haiku for every person that has impacted, swayed, or influenced your life in a grand way. Create a series of haiku with these poems. The haiku can be for anyone: a teacher, grandfather, gas station pump attendant - anyone you feel has made a valuable impact on your life.
"There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon." - Matsuo Basho
Write a haiku for every person that has impacted, swayed, or influenced your life in a grand way. Create a series of haiku with these poems. The haiku can be for anyone: a teacher, grandfather, gas station pump attendant - anyone you feel has made a valuable impact on your life.
"There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon." - Matsuo Basho
Gold Man Review, a literary journal produced in Salem, is currently open for submissions of fiction, nonfiction and poetry until May 1, 2013, for their third issue. They are looking for Oregon authors, both new and old, to grace them with the written word!
Requirements:
Prose submissions up to 5,000 words
Poetry submissions up to 3 poems (up to 3 pages total)
If you're interested, go to www.GoldManPublishing.com to submit your work!
Happy scribbling!
Hello Poets, one and all!
My apologies for the short hiatus over spring break, but I am back with plenty of news for you! First off: our hard work on the Ekphrasis project is finally being mounted to life! Please join us this Wednesday, April 3rd, in the South Santiam Hall Gallery from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. to meet the poets, photographers, and facilitators of this event! Our books will be on sale for $20, but if you're thinking of buying several books, you can get a deal for buying them in bulk here: http://www.blurb.com/books/4129291-ekphrasis
Secondly, we have another new project beginning to take place! In light of April Poetry Month, Bryan Myagishima from the library has mounted whiteboard poster board up on a wall in the library. The idea is that anyone can come to this wall and jot down some poetry! When the wall starts to fill up, I will be taking pictures of all the poems to later document here and also potentially for a paperback copy. The wall should be up any day now, so feel free to stop by the library and check it out!
Happy scribbling everyone!
Kiera
My apologies for the short hiatus over spring break, but I am back with plenty of news for you! First off: our hard work on the Ekphrasis project is finally being mounted to life! Please join us this Wednesday, April 3rd, in the South Santiam Hall Gallery from 12 p.m. to 1 p.m. to meet the poets, photographers, and facilitators of this event! Our books will be on sale for $20, but if you're thinking of buying several books, you can get a deal for buying them in bulk here: http://www.blurb.com/books/4129291-ekphrasis
Secondly, we have another new project beginning to take place! In light of April Poetry Month, Bryan Myagishima from the library has mounted whiteboard poster board up on a wall in the library. The idea is that anyone can come to this wall and jot down some poetry! When the wall starts to fill up, I will be taking pictures of all the poems to later document here and also potentially for a paperback copy. The wall should be up any day now, so feel free to stop by the library and check it out!
Happy scribbling everyone!
Kiera
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Sit down and ponder for a moment about every person who impacted you or helped you get where you are today. These could be significant others, professors, your parents, that guy you once met at the Loaf & Jug on the way home from work...think about these people and how they have impacted your life, and then write a haiku for every person that is significant enough to deserve one.
Submission time is here! Every March from the 1st through the 20th, Write Bloody Publishing (founded by the miraculous beat poet Derrick C. Brown) accepts poetry and manuscript submissions to be judged. After some deliberations, the publishing company whittles down the contestants until three lucky writers stand at the top, with a book deal and guaranteed tour. It can't hurt to try! This is a company that publishes some of the best contemporary poetry I've ever read, so give it a try. All they can do is say no :)
Here's a link!
BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!
Here's a link!
BECOME A PUBLISHED AUTHOR!
I just got back from the Unity Celebration in the DAC and I have to tell you all that it was simply incredible.
We
had brilliant poets and poetry reading that would leave you breathless.
We honored both staff and students who are doing wonderful work in
bringing this college together as a cohesive, meaningful community. We
had original music of incredible depth, emotion and maturity. We were
treated to a lovely group performance by the Poetry Club. Overall, we
had lots of people joining together in an event that was just, well, The
Bomb.
Bravo to everyone involved. What a fabulous experience. I wish I could bottle the feelings I'm taking away from this.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In other words,
a big thank you to everyone who was involved in our Black History Month Unity Celebration! Overall I think we did a fantastic job and the audience was quite moved by our words. It really just goes to show that language really can foster the emotion and passionate drive it takes to change the world.
Monday, February 4, 2013
Gwendolyn Brooks
she doesn’t wear
costume jewelry
& she knew that walt disney
was/is making a fortune off
false-eyelashes and that time magazine is the
authority on the knee/grow.
her makeup is total-real.
a negro english instructor called her:
“a fine negro poet.”
a whi-te critic said:
“she’s a credit to the negro race.”
somebody else called her;
“a pure negro writer.”
johnnie mae, who’s a senior in high school said:
“she and Langston are the only negro poets we’ve
read in school and i understand her.”
pee wee used to carry one of her poems around in his
back pocket;
the one about being cool. that was befo pee wee
was cooled by a cop’s warning shot.
into the sixties
a word was born . . . . . . . . BLACK
& with black came poets
& from the poet’s ball points came:
black doubleblack purpleblack blueblack beenblack was
black daybeforeyesterday blackerthan ultrablack super
black blackblack yellowblack niggerblack blackwhi-te-
man
blackthanyoueverbes ¼ black unblack coldblack clear
black my momma’s blackerthanyourmomma pimpleblack
fall
black so black we can’t even see you black on black in
black by black technically black mantanblack winter
black coolblack 360degreesblack coalblack midnight
black black when it’s convenient rustyblack moonblack
black starblack summerblack electronblack spaceman
black shoeshineblack jimshoeblack underwearblack ugly
black auntjimammablack, uncleben’srice black
williebest
black blackisbeautifulblack i justdiscoveredblack negro
black unsubstanceblack.
and everywhere the
lady “negro poet”
appeared the poets were there.
they listened & questioned
& went home feeling uncomfortable/unsound & so-
untogether
they read/re-read/wrote & rewrote
& came back the next time to tell the
lady “negro poet”
how beautiful she was/is & how she helped them
& she came back with:
how necessary they were and how they’ve helped her.
the poets walked & as space filled the vacuum between
them & the
lady “negro poet”
u could hear one of the blackpoets say:
“bro, they been calling that sister by the wrong name.”
In Your Eyes
I shine on your stomach
where I removed your entrails
I swell your tongue in my grip
spread frozen across your skin
I sold your heart for feathers
liquefied your joints with pain
I set your whiskers a-quiver
and grew bulbs in your viscera
If you hide me in shame
I grow forever more
Yet if you name me
you prove I am not yours
Sunday, February 3, 2013
Hello one and all! Thanks to one of our lovely poets, Jeff, we now have a compiled list of poetry readings that will take place this year, all the way through May. I'm sure they're bound to be thrilling, so take a look!
Readings, Spring 2013
February
Friday, Feb. 1, 7:30 p.m.
Literary Northwest Series reading:
Karen Holmberg
(poetry)
The Valley Library
Rotunda
Saturday, Feb. 2, 2:00 p.m.
Author reading
and signing: Tom Titus, from his new collection Blackberries in July: A
Forager’s Field Guide to Inner Peace (essays)
Grass Roots Books
and Music, 227 SW 2nd, Corvallis
Saturday, Feb. 9, 2:00
p.m.
Poetry Reading: What the River Brings: Oregon River Poems
Charles Goodrich,
Donna Henderson, Claudia Lapp, Kathryn Ridall, and Tim Whitsel
Grass Roots Books
and Music, 227 SW 2nd, Corvallis
Friday, Feb. 15, 7:30
p.m.
Oregon State
University Visiting Writers Series: Paisley Rekdal (poetry and essays)
The Valley Library Rotunda
Saturday, Feb. 16, 2:00 p.m.
Poetry Reading:
Constance Eggers, from her chapbook Reliquary
Grass Roots Books
and Music, 227 SW 2nd, Corvallis
March
Saturday, March 2, 7:00
p.m.
Author Event: A Natural History of Now (essays) and These Mountains that Separate Us (poetry)
Readers include
Rick Borsten, David Oates, Adrienne Ross, Bette Husted, Pamela Steel, M.E.
Hope, Charles Goodrich, and Erik Muller
Corvallis-Benton County Public Library, 645 NW Monroe Ave.
April
Thursday, April 4,
7:30 p.m.
Oregon State
University Visiting Writers Series: Mike Rich (screenwriting)
LaSells Stewart Center Construction & Engineering Hall
Friday, April 19,
7:30 p.m.
Oregon State
University Visiting Writers Series: Dawn Raffel (fiction and memoir)
The Valley Library Rotunda
May
Friday, May 10, 7:30
p.m.
Oregon State
University Visiting Writers Series: Antonya Nelson & Robert Boswell
(fiction)
The Valley Library Rotunda
Saturday, January 26, 2013
Hello Poets,
This is just a quick hello and reminder about the upcoming poetry exhibition in April.
By now, we each have a jpg of our chosen photo. Please keep the deadline of February 15th firmly planted. In the next few weeks, I'll be sending the format for submissions (e.g. info about you we need for press release etc).
Please also keep the length considerations in mind. We've tossed around the guideline of a maximum of 12 lines by 12 words per line. That might be a little short for what you're in the process of composing and I think a little bit beyond that is fine. But once you hit the 20 line territory, you run the risk of creating havoc for Rich as well as diminishing the readers' joy -- hard to read a long poem on the wall.
At our poetry club meetings on Tuesday (Albany campus Tuesdays @ 3 in the Hot Shot) we've been sharing our poems-in-progress. Last week, Jeff F. brought a few of the many he has written for his image. It inspired us all to attempt many tries and share our drafts at our meetings. If you can, please join us on Tuesdays or Wednesdays when our Benton Center poetry club meets in the conference room (BC conference room Wednesdays @ 5:00).
Rich has asked us to suggest a name for this exhibition. Our last (Spring 2011) book and exhibition was titled "Words and Pictures." It's a popular (generic) name. Please be thinking about suggestions for our exhibition name and send them out for all.
If you have any questions or comments, please write or call.
Happy weekend,
Robin
This is just a quick hello and reminder about the upcoming poetry exhibition in April.
By now, we each have a jpg of our chosen photo. Please keep the deadline of February 15th firmly planted. In the next few weeks, I'll be sending the format for submissions (e.g. info about you we need for press release etc).
Please also keep the length considerations in mind. We've tossed around the guideline of a maximum of 12 lines by 12 words per line. That might be a little short for what you're in the process of composing and I think a little bit beyond that is fine. But once you hit the 20 line territory, you run the risk of creating havoc for Rich as well as diminishing the readers' joy -- hard to read a long poem on the wall.
At our poetry club meetings on Tuesday (Albany campus Tuesdays @ 3 in the Hot Shot) we've been sharing our poems-in-progress. Last week, Jeff F. brought a few of the many he has written for his image. It inspired us all to attempt many tries and share our drafts at our meetings. If you can, please join us on Tuesdays or Wednesdays when our Benton Center poetry club meets in the conference room (BC conference room Wednesdays @ 5:00).
Rich has asked us to suggest a name for this exhibition. Our last (Spring 2011) book and exhibition was titled "Words and Pictures." It's a popular (generic) name. Please be thinking about suggestions for our exhibition name and send them out for all.
If you have any questions or comments, please write or call.
Happy weekend,
Robin
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Hello all!
At tonight's meeting at the Benton Center we were met with an interesting question: if you wrote a series of poems addressed to your faults, your ailments, or the "seven deadly sins" that you find yourself giving into (avarice, gluttony, pride...), what would they look like? What would they sound like? I challenge you to write your own series of personal letters, addressing these entities. Happy scribbles!
At tonight's meeting at the Benton Center we were met with an interesting question: if you wrote a series of poems addressed to your faults, your ailments, or the "seven deadly sins" that you find yourself giving into (avarice, gluttony, pride...), what would they look like? What would they sound like? I challenge you to write your own series of personal letters, addressing these entities. Happy scribbles!
Gustave Doré
The Avaricious
The Avaricious
This is our prompt from last week! Sorry for my not-so-prompt update. Try to pick a line from this poem and work it into one of your own!
Praise Song for the Day |
||
| by Elizabeth Alexander | ||
A Poem for Barack Obama's Presidential Inauguration Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each other's eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of our ancestors on our tongues. Someone is stitching up a hem, darning a hole in a uniform, patching a tire, repairing the things in need of repair. Someone is trying to make music somewhere, with a pair of wooden spoons on an oil drum, with cello, boom box, harmonica, voice. A woman and her son wait for the bus. A farmer considers the changing sky. A teacher says, Take out your pencils. Begin. We encounter each other in words, words spiny or smooth, whispered or declaimed, words to consider, reconsider. We cross dirt roads and highways that mark the will of some one and then others, who said I need to see what's on the other side. I know there's something better down the road. We need to find a place where we are safe. We walk into that which we cannot yet see. Say it plain: that many have died for this day. Sing the names of the dead who brought us here, who laid the train tracks, raised the bridges, picked the cotton and the lettuce, built brick by brick the glittering edifices they would then keep clean and work inside of. Praise song for struggle, praise song for the day. Praise song for every hand-lettered sign, the figuring-it-out at kitchen tables. Some live by love thy neighbor as thyself, others by first do no harm or take no more than you need. What if the mightiest word is love? Love beyond marital, filial, national, love that casts a widening pool of light, love with no need to pre-empt grievance. In today's sharp sparkle, this winter air, any thing can be made, any sentence begun. On the brink, on the brim, on the cusp, praise song for walking forward in that light. | ||
Friday, January 4, 2013
If distance is
measurement of space-
And I am your
between, what then,
If I should come to
you.
If your snakes head
blossomed against my leg,
And I could catch the
blue-violet of your attention,
As you climbed the
clouds with handfuls of ocean pressed to your arms.
If you in your
loveliness and maddening ineptitude would slow to listen,
And I would stop just
long enough to see that water fill the great above.
How it would rain,
How I would love you,
without pause.
Happy New Year, poets! Once again we have reached a year's cycle, and I'm sure we will start this fresh one with plenty of creativity and enthusiasm for countless new experiences and learning opportunities to guide our scribbling hands :) Another reminder: our first poetry club of the year will meet this Tuesday, January 8th, at which point we will be choosing photos to use for our 'ekphrasis' poetry! Please come and bring anyone who would be interested. I'll leave you with a poem to carry for the whole year:
The Garden Year
by Sara Coleridge
by Sara Coleridge
January brings the snow,
Makes our feet and fingers glow.
February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.
March brings breezes, loud and shrill,
To stir the dancing daffodil.
April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daisies at our feet.
May brings flocks of pretty lambs
Skipping by their fleecy dams.
June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hands with posies.
Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots, and gillyflowers.
August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.
Warm September brings the fruit;
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.
Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.
Dull November brings the blast;
Then the leaves are whirling fast.
Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.
Makes our feet and fingers glow.
February brings the rain,
Thaws the frozen lake again.
March brings breezes, loud and shrill,
To stir the dancing daffodil.
April brings the primrose sweet,
Scatters daisies at our feet.
May brings flocks of pretty lambs
Skipping by their fleecy dams.
June brings tulips, lilies, roses,
Fills the children's hands with posies.
Hot July brings cooling showers,
Apricots, and gillyflowers.
August brings the sheaves of corn,
Then the harvest home is borne.
Warm September brings the fruit;
Sportsmen then begin to shoot.
Fresh October brings the pheasant;
Then to gather nuts is pleasant.
Dull November brings the blast;
Then the leaves are whirling fast.
Chill December brings the sleet,
Blazing fire, and Christmas treat.
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