Disco Poem

A while ago I took part in a call for work with a disco theme. I was paired with an artist who would paint a portrait to fit with my written work. I was paired with the wonderful Sharon Pomales. You can see some of her work here:

http://www.sharonpomales.com/

I wrote about an elderly man with Alzheimers who often refers back to his disco days and the love of his life. Last week my post was published in issue 16 of iARTistas. Sharon's painting is featured in this issue as well but my work was paired wtih another very talented painter, Amber Foote. I must say, her portrait of a man with disco lights reflections crossing over his face works well with my poem.

This is the first time I've been featured in any of the magazines by this publisher and am very honored. My work is featured on page 19. To check it out (and to preview the entire issue, which features some great work by some amazing artists) click on the following link which will take you to an interactive pdf (complete with music):

https://indd.adobe.com/view/949620e0-ba57-47d3-92bb-a37c4eabfe6e

If you like what you see, you can purchase a download.

Resurrecting Those Old Works

Has this happened to you? You read a story or poem online that you enjoy. Wanting to read more from this writer, you follow the link to his or her blog or website. You start making your way down the list of links to other published works, but some of the links lead nowhere. The journal or site where the work was originally featured has closed shop and you feel like that kid waiting outside the window of a candy store that closed minutes before you arrived. Drat! I hate that.

What's even worse is when you yourself have work published online and the links you've previously shared no longer work. The trail is cold and your new readers (or even old ones who might want to read it once again) cannot access it. What to do, what to do? There are a few journals that actually do reprints. And I just came across a new site that offers writers a place to resurrect those old works. It is called The Dead Market Writings and was started by editor Timothy Gager.

I will be searching through my old material to see what I might be able to submit. I also have a few poems and flash fiction stories from print journals that are no longer in business, but I am not sure if he'll take those or if he just wants work from online sources.

In any case, if you have work from online journals that are no longer running or have not archived the work, then head on over to his site. Here's the link:

https://deadmarketfile.wordpress.com/

Get to it!
and have a nice day :-)

Weekend Window #8 - Mother's Day!!!!

I find so much cool stuff on the internet. Pictures of people posting their latest artwork, amazing photographs, beautifully-crafted poems, and well-written short stories. Every weekend I like to acknowledge these works and post links to them so other people (like you) can enjoy them.

Since today is Mother's Day, all the links are related to "mom". I hope you find something you enjoy. If so, feel free to tell me which ones you liked and leave a comment for the artist on their post (if possible).

Here are the links:

A poem by the wonderful Laurie Kolp is featured in the current issue of The Linnet's Wings. Much of motherhood is made up of simple moments like a day at the park and this poem captures the essence of that and much more.

http://www.thelinnetswings.org/?pageno=8&id=18254#

The next poem is called "Unsigned Mother's Day Card" and it is written by Bayleigh Fraser. It is currently featured in Rattle. I think it is beautifully written.

http://www.rattle.com/poetry/unsigned-mothers-day-card-by-bayleigh-fraser/

Every Mother's Day I find myself going to YouTube to watch Billy Collins read his poem "The Lanyard". Such a funny poem yet so true. If you ever, as a child, hand-crafted a Mother's Day gift, you will probably enjoy this.

And last but not least, for my friends and family who have lost their mothers, for mothers who have lost a child, or for any other reason why this day might be difficult for you, John Pavlovitz has written an excellent post entitled For Those Who Hurt on Mother's Day. My sister lost her son in October and this is the first Mother's Day without him. It's not an easy day, but she found comfort in his words. If this is a sad day for you, hop on over to his blog and read the post.

 http://johnpavlovitz.com/2015/05/09/for-those-who-hurt-on-mothers-day/

No matter what your situation, no matter what you do today, whether you are female or male, I hope this day brings wonderful things your way.

Weekend Window #7 -

 The weekend is almost over and I am late posting my Weekend Window, where I share cool art (written or visual) that I discovered on the web this week.

I usually have about three links to share but the weather has been so nice and I've started spring cleaning and am spending time outdoors with family, so today I have only one for you-- a poem by De Jackson. Scoot on over to her blog and check out To Love the Poem.

https://whimsygizmo.wordpress.com/2015/04/18/to-love-the-poem/

I hope the weather is also lovely where you are and that you've enjoyed the weekend.

Weekend Window #6 - February/Water Fall/Celebration/Black & White

For today's weekend window (where I share links to cool artwork or writing I've discovered online in the past week) I have two poems and , a photo, and a blog post.

First, poetry.I was reading the latest work at Autumn Sky Poetry Daily. If you aren't familiar with this journal, go check it out. I like how they combine photos and poetry by different artists (though they don't do that with every post. But when they do, they complement each other perfectly.) I found a lovely poem by Donna Vorreyer posted on March 31. It caught my attention because it is one a theme I've been writing about recently, learning to let go of a loved-one after they have passed. This is beautifully written, so go on over and read "You Leave in February". And while you are there, maybe check out more of the work on their website.


http://autumnskypoetrydaily.com/2015/03/31/you-leave-in-february-by-donna-vorreyer/

The second poem I'd like to link to is "Water Fall" by Kailani Bird Clarke. When I read this poem in my Rattle newsfeed it blew me away to think that a 14-year-old wrote it. I like the concept, the imagery, the play on words. If you are curious about writers of the younger generation today (or even if you just want to read cool stuff), this is definitely worth a read.

http://www.rattle.com/poetry/water-fall-by-kailani-bird-clarke/

Speaking of kids and writing, what about people who write for children? When I think of some of my favorite childhood books I think of Beverly Cleary, Roald Dahl, and Judy Blume (and Rockwell's book How to Eat Fried Worms). I stumbled upon a post today about Bevely Cleary. Today is her birthday. She's 99! To read that blog post by Juliana Lee, follow the link to her post "Drop Everything and Read".

http://julianaleewriter.com/celebrate-every-day-with-a-picture-book/april-2014-2/april-12-drop-everything-and-read/

Last but not least is our artwork post of the week. I love black and white photography. Another element I like in photos is the use of shadows. A photo by Vivian Maier utilizes both of these and Maud Casey reflects on it at a post from July of last year in The New England Review.

http://www.nereview.com/2014/07/24/vivian-maiers-self-portraits-in-black-and-white-maud-casey/

I hope one of these links brings you to something you enjoy. And if you go to all four links, feel free to write in the comments box and tell me which one you liked best.

Enjoy what is left of your Sunday and best wishes for the week to come.

 

Weekend Window #5 on Tuesday

I did it! I finished the latest revisions of a picture book I am writing. It started as a silly poem. Then my friends said, "Hey, that would make a fun picture book!" So I wrote it into a story. Then I revised. And revised some more. And once again. Then I had an idea of how to make it even better/more marketable. So I totally rewrote it. New POV. New angle. Changes in the plot. Different ending. I like the way it turned out. I went back and looked at each sentence. I made my final revisions this weekend-- just in time to submit to the SCBWI work-in-progress contest. But because I was so busy working on my manuscript, I forgot to post my Weekend Window links. Sorry! So, here they are... on Tuesday.

The fabulous Jessie Carty has started a new online literary journal (called Then and If) which is similar to her old one (Referential). A piece of writing (flash fiction, poem, or non-fiction) or photo is posted and writers response to it with their own related piece. I am curious to see how this site develops. If this sound interesting to you and you won't to take part (or just want to read) here is the link:

http://thenandif.tumblr.com/

Also, since I am posting a link to Jessie's new site, I thought it might be nice to link to one of Jessie's poems. I found her short poem Hospice has been made into a video at "Moving Poems".

 http://movingpoems.com/2014/09/hospice-by-jessie-carty/

and here is one of Jessie herself reciting one of her poems

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Bqt_nlEJCw

OK. That's all for now. I'm off to prepare for RhyPiBoMo and April poetry month challenges.

World Poetry Day 2015 is today!

Today is World Poetry Day!
 

To celebrate I am posting a few links to poems that I've come across the past week. (This post doubles
as my Weekend Window  #4)

The first one is "Light in the Fig Root" by Lori DeSanti (featured at Words Dance).I've been discovering more and more of Lori's work in literary journals and I like her style.

The second is by Matt Rasmussen, winner of the 2012 Walt Whitman Award for his poetry collection titled Black Aperature. I happened upon his work accidentally while doing a search for something else. This poem speaks to me because a few months ago I lost someone dear to me due to suicide. This is the poem "Aperature".

The third is a poem I was introduced to in elementary school and one of the reasons I became interested in poetry. Here is Carl Sandburg's "Fog". It showed me how poetry often looks at things from a different perspective.

And lastly, I want to say that if you are like me and like both poetry and writing for children, you might get a kick out of the work that has been posted recently in the March Madness Poetry competition this year. Participants are given assigned words and must write a poem for children. Poets compete in several rounds until a final winner is chosen based on votes. I've been reading and voting (and enjoying a few laughs as well because many of these are humorous poems) and you can take part in the voting process, too. If there is a child in you who likes to smile and giggle, head on over to the Think, Kid, Think! site.

Oooooh, and I almost forgot. Have you heard some cafes around the world are offering a free coffee to people who hand in one of their poems? Yes, it's true. Get more information here:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/booksblog/2015/mar/20/poetry-coffee-pay-with-a-poem-cafes-world-poetry-day

Coffee or no coffee, I wish you a perfectly poetic day.