Tag Archives: Poetry

Thursday Poem Share

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As of Monday I really didn’t think I would have anything to share with you this week, and then after a long walk on Tuesday there were a few ideas flitting around. The poem is probably the roughest I have ever posted here because I only typed it up on Wednesday, and no revisions have really occurred. Below the poem I will also do something I’ve never done here before (or I don’t think I have): I’m going to share the notes below my poem that I use as I continue to revise.

–time to revise

(Notes: typed from notebook on 5-15-13 at 10:48am. Additional notes say I might need to go back and look at the heroes journey some more. Also the idea of the evil scientist. See if other poems I have written reference the science fair. I have done it before, but posting on blog on 5-16-13 at 9:55am)

So, this is where I am at this week. As always feel free to comment on my poem below and/or to share your own work in progress. One week from today my work (and any posted) will be taken down. I do have a poetry review out this week. I also have a poetry review of “An Amateur Marriage” up on another blog. Do you read/write reviews? Feel free to discuss that as well. I did finish one book this week on my kindle Traci Brimhall’s Rookery which isn’t anything like what I write, but (as in tune with this video I watched recently) I think there is a call to read/write/watch things that aren’t always JUST like your initial inclinations. One of my favorite poems in Traci’s book is “Come Back to Me”  where she has the fantastic ending: Come back to me even as you are showing him / your breasts in the cemetery, and because, in truth, / you like the way the moonlight looks on skin.

Read and write on.

Thursday Poem Share

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Last week I went to a lunch time artist talk at CPCC that my friend Amy Bagwell gave on her combination poetry and art exhibit. I already had some notes for a possible poem, but her talk seemed to be speaking right to the idea I was already working on so I worked her talk in as well. One idea/quote that I wrote down while she was speaking, that didn’t make its way into the poem, is the idea that artists (and here I also mean writers) are looking for a sense of authority when they work; that what they have created is meant to be that way. Give that some thought!

The poem I drafted based on my notes, and the talk is below. It has morphed a lot over the last week. It has been in first person, second person, sections; there are whole sections that have been taken out, and then put back in, and then taken out again. This has been a tough one for me. Perhaps partially because I always worry when I have a speaker of a poem who comes across as whining or who is “playing the victim.”

As always feel free to comment on my work in progress and/or post yours in comments for discussion. Any works in progress will be taken down one week from today.

—And another poem is out to be edited :)

I finally feel I have a revision of the poem I posted two weeks ago that is ready to submit so I moved it over to my submission folder. I have six poems ready to submit so I’m going to work on getting a submission packet out today. I also had a recent rejection on a set of poems I was really hopeful about. Gonna read those for revisions, and try to get them back out the door as well. Anyone else getting the yes/no’s on their work lately?

Thursday Poem Share

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This week’s poem is another whopper in length. Maybe giving myself the freedom to write as much as I want has really opened up some new channels? It isn’t quite as long as last weeks for word count so I’m pasting directly here. You can comment on my work and/or post your own for discussion below. Any poems posted (including mine) will be taken down one week from today).

–And the poem is in revision :)

I’d love to hear what everyone did for National Poetry Month! I’m working on sending out the books for the poetry book giveaway, and I enjoyed talking to some creative writing classes as well as sharing NC writers with educators for Poem in Your Pocket Day.

For some extra poetry this week how about a poetry video?

I hope once I revise this poem and/or last week’s I might have something to submit soon.

On the non poetry side I watched two movies that felt kind of poetic recently Adrift in Tokyo and Happy Accidents.

Many of you know I also had a job interview this week. The recent interviews have made me think about why I use poetry when I teach composition. There are lots of reasons, but at the forefront I’m starting to realize how much I want non-poets to appreciate poetry not because it has a “theme,” but because it can speak to you if you find the poet that is just right for you :)

Poetry on E-readers

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I wanted to do an updated post in regards to reviews I posted yesterday. I heard back from the publisher of Ellaraine Lockie’s chapbook regarding her e-book, and I had an opportunity to look at the original PDF. It made me want to explore my use of e-readers again in regards to poetry.

I went back to my kindle app and looked at it again on the PC, versus phone, versus 7 inch tablet, and the poems did look different on each one based on the defaults that the files showed up in. As I played with the settings more I was able to eventually get the files to look more like that would in a print book (often making the font size small). What was weird about this is that I usually read in a pretty regular sized font, but it appears that the defaults had changed with the last kindle update so that is part of it.

So, viewing poetry on an electronic device raises an interesting question: intent. Playing with the look of the line, and white space is (for I’d say many, if not all poets) an important part of the poetry making process. How do you feel about the fact that your poem could be changed on the screen (via font sized, color tone of the screen etc) to look not at all like the poem you created? Do you think that changes how the reader might interpret/appreciate what you have written?

This isn’t an issue that particularly bothers me although I did buy each of my books that are available in e-formats for my kindle app so I could see what they look like. I’ve been pleased with them, and I think the convenience factor far out-weighs any minor concerns I have about making sure the poem looks the way I wanted it to look.

Looking forward to starting a discussion from both sides of the poetry reading desk. Do you read poems electronically? How? Do you think about how they look? As a writer are you concerned about this for your own work? Etc.

Let’s chat!

Review Wrap-Up

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I finished quite a few items over the weekend so I thought it was time that I did a mini-review wrap-up again:

  • I’ve had this first book on my list for quite a wile. I heard about it in a video I used in class regarding bias. I downloaded the e-book of The Believing Brain, and it took me quite a while to read it. Not that the book isn’t good, but because it is quite dense. There are sections that are quite technical, yet the book is fascinating. It is also separated into a lot of small sections which helps. 
  • I finished two print poetry books. The first of which is This Country of Mothers by Julianna Baggott which I picked up at AWP. I haven’t read Baggott’s fiction yet, but I’m also looking forward to it. I had one of her other poetry books, and I found her voice unique. I marked a lot of poems in this collection as ones I wanted to re-read. One of my favorites is “After Giving Birth, I recall the Madonna and Child” where Baggott writes about the birth of Jesus being so clean: He’s never purple, blood-stained, / yellowed – like my babies – / from swimming in his own shit. Baggott has quite a few poems that walk this line between being of this world, and the reality of what might come next. A really strong collection.
  • Another e-book I completed was a poetry book. I don’t download a lot of poetry books electronically because they sometimes have coding issues where the linebreaks don’t show the way the poet intended (update on this! Start a discussion about e-readers. I explain what happened with my own kindle file). I have to say that this is the case with Ellaraine Lockie’s Coffee House Confessions. Because I’ve read a lot of Ellaraine’s work this did not bother me, but I would suggest going for the print version if you are in the market for this one. I virtually marked quite a few poems from this collection with one of my favorites being “Single at the Second Cup Coffee Shop” where Ellaraine writes: He asks if I’m Carol / A serious man squeezing a paper coffee cup / and smelling like an ad for Calvin Klein cologne / / My denial so devastatingly disappointing / that he dashes straight to his Porsche convertible … etc. I made the linebreaks where I think they would be, but this isn’t how they show up in the book. This was a really great read.
  • Back on the print side I finished an issue of the literary magazine Colorado Review.  The fiction and non-fiction in this issue were fantastic even when the pieces were long. I was less drawn in by the poetry section which means I’m not sure if I’ll submit to the magazine. I’m not sure I’d be a good fit.
  • The last ebook I finished was the second book in Maureen Johnson’s young adult series set in London. The Madness Underneath is a good continuation of the story although it felt a little rushed. I wonder if that happens when you know you are writing a trilogy? Makes me wonder if she wrote books two and three at the same time? I’m still looking forward to the book three release.
  • I’m going a little long here, but I only have one more book in my recently read stack so let me squeeze it in. I picked up  A Van Jordan’s collection The Homesteader (I think this one is considered a chapbook?) at AWP as well. I love Jordan’s work, and this is a beautifully crafted book inside and out. I’m going to research the speakers that Jordan uses in this collection. How about that for a review: It made me want to study! There are a lot of terrific moments in this collection with one of my favorites appears on page 30 where Jordan writes: To compose the movement of a woman / Taking stairs, presents a problem: Women / In motion, show graceful intent.

I’d love to hear what you guys have been reading as we finish up National Poetry Month here in the us :)