I decided I’d post two poems for you guys today.
The first is one that you probably won’t find anywhere else since it was in a print journal back in 1999. It was the last poem I had published before I stopped writing for 6 years (aka the Black Hole). The lit mag was named Alembic. There is a journal called Alembic that is still out there but I’m really not sure if it is the same one I appeared in. If it is accepted for publication this will be one of the poems in my next collection:
Kaleidoscope
No more crib in the pink room
leaning yellow on spackled wall
only a dismantled rattle
on a dirty beige floor
Cans of soup eaten cold
labels stripped onto tile
and moist fingers
peeling the green door
leaving tracks of beef juice
dotted I’s of beans
and brown underwear encase a man
peeing on the couch.
10 year old hands
wash them out
along with her red sheets
No one to mention them to
to explain what to use
to provide more
than children’s
chewable Tylenol
And for my 2nd poem I wanted to post another work in progress. Comments are always appreciated 
. This is basically the 2nd draft of the poem. The first was the handwritten one in my journal and I typed this up yesterday. I always handwrite and then do the initial type up of my poems as a block of text because I find if I start writing in lines in the early drafts then I focus too much on form instead of content so this poem may or may not end up being a prose poem.
[and the poem is gone! thanks for all the comments, now for revision]
–Hope everyone is continuing to have a great week. I restored my Twitter account and I am keeping it separate from my FB account now trying to decide if I use the Speakeasy again and/or sign up for Read Write Poem but goodness networking takes a lot of time!
Have only read “Kaleidoscope” thus far – painful and poignant. A child’s toy turned into a window, and what we see is so ugly. This poem is a lesson in good poetry. A situation made vivid with color and wrapped around an object transformed.
Very strong, Carty – I can see why it was published.
Thanks Bryan
It is funny, to me, when I look back at when I stopped writing. Here is this poem that I didn’t write as an undergrad but that I probably wrote when I was about 24 or so and got published but then I just stopped writing and focused on “real” life. Lesson to everyone! Just keep writing even through the rough spots!
I originally thought my manuscript would be titled Kaleidoscope but it didn’t quite encompass everything I wanted to say but I’m still glad I was able to include the poem.
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nice poem, really nice, interesting fact that you like to handwrite the text, it is pretty strange for me, cause since I can write much faster with the computer, If I write with a pen, I would loose half of the things I think while I am writing it.
Take care my friend
Thanks Mariana
I only handwrite poetry interestingly enough. If I am working on non-fiction (or the occasional fiction piece) I always work on it through typing.
I think, for me, working on a poem by hand makes me really focus on it instead of thinking of whether or not I am spelling words correctly, which happens a lot when I am typing. Although I have been giving thoughts to starting to compose more on the computer.
The other reason is that I can always have a journal with me and I like to keep as much of my writing in one place as possible so I know if I handwrite I can always put it into my journal. Now if I had a netbook….
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