UNTIL WE MEET AGAIN

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ALL ENTRIES ON THIS BLOG WILL BE SUSPENDED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE!!!

 I AM OFFICIALLY WRITING A BOOK FOR NATIONAL NOVEL WRITER'S MONTH IN NOVEMBER  2014  (#NANOWRIMO) 

 I WILL ALSO PARTICIPATE IN  THE 2014 NOVEMBER PAD CHAPBOOK CHALLENGE.

For information on these two events please log on to nanowrimo.org and writersdigest.com/editor-blogs/poetic-asides
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*** In order to get a comprehensive view of the prompt-to-poetry process of learning, please review the archives of the LET'S  TALK POETRY blog in chronological order. 

                                                SEE YOU REAL SOON!


***Most images on blog are courtesy of stockvault.net

PROMPT 30 - THE EFFORT

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''

SPEAKING OF ASPECTS

first of all

i don't even know

why they would

bring up the

subject of astrology

and even speak on it

as if they had

some sort of experience

in the strength and

weaknesses of planets

of houses and aspects of

the lunar and solar cycles

in a birth chart

because believe it

or not gentlemen

i have studied

the  fine art of

deciphering

what these things

represent in your life

so this topic of

discussion could 

very well entice

me and i could

go on and on

THIS JUST IN

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NEW YORK CITY
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Coming up at POETS HOUSE : 

Saturday 11/1 @ 10 am
NY Writers Coalition Write-A-Thon - A day of free writing workshops, lectures,and more for underserved populations throughout the five boroughs.
======================
Workshop: 6 Saturdays starting 11/1 @11:30 am, "Departures: A Way to Start the Poem," with Patricia Spears Jones
============================
Sunday 11/2 @ 8:30 pm - 10:30 pm
The Bowery Poetry Club presents the third night of it's new evening reading series for poets and writers. It is held on the first Sundays of each month.
===============================
Workshop: Thursday 11/6 @  7 pm, "To Be Fair," Stephen Burt on Poetry and Criticism. He will discuss the paradox of how to read your own work as if you didn't write it.
========================
Monday, 11/10 @6 pm - 8 pm - Reading and Panel Discussion with the IOWA INTERNATIONAL WRITING PROGRAM'S RESIDENT POETS.



For a complete listing of events, times, and locations log on to poetshouse.org

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 499

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

To celebrate my 75th year, I’ve published a new book of poems, and many of them are about the way in which we come together to help each other through the world. Here’s just one: Two  On a parking lot staircase I met two fine-looking men descending, both in slacks and dress shirts, neckties much alike, one of the men in his sixties, the other a good twenty years older, unsteady on his polished shoes, a son and his father, I knew from their looks, the son with his right hand on the handrail, the father, left hand on the left, and in the middle they were holding hands, and when I neared, they opened the simple gate of their interwoven fingers to let me pass, then reached out for each other and continued on.

POETIC BIRTHDAY

======================
1932
=======

SYLVIA PLATH, poet/writer was born on this day, in Boston, Massachusetts. While still in her teens she was a gifted student publishing stories and poetry in national magazines, and winning numerous awards.

She attended Smith College, and Newnham College at Cambridge University on scholarships, eventually graduating with high honors in English from Smith College.

During her early years in college, Plath suffered from symptoms of severe depression which eventually lead to her death by suicide in 1963.

In spite of these personal difficulties, Plath became an acclaimed poet and is credited with advancing the genre of confessional poetry to a higher level of respectability. She is best known for her volume of poetry The Colossus and other Poems published in 1960.

Plath  won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1981 for her volume, The Collected Poems.  She was the first poet to win the award posthumously.

To read her complete biography Google her name. To read her poetry log on to poetryfoundation.org , poets.org, and poemhunters.com 

WRITE-A-POEM

///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

PROMPT 30 - WRITE A POEM WITH A LINE THAT (ENDS OR BEGINS)
WITH THE EXPRESSION, "I COULD GO ON AND ON."

PROMPT 29 - THE EFFORT

===================================

WHAT IT IS

the value of

poetry to me is 

far more than 

the eyes can see 

far more

than diamonds and gold

it's true worth                                                                

can not be bankrolled

the value of poetry 

in case you haven't 

heard

is defined by the power

in the created word

OHIO POETRY DAY

==================================
OHIO POETRY DAY TAKES PLACE THIS WEEKEND 10/24-25
IN TROY, OHIO


THERE WILL BE WORKSHOPS, READINGS, CONTESTS, ASSORTED OTHER GOODIES, AND A BOX PICNIC LUNCH ON SATURDAY (10/25)

AS AN ADDED ATTRACTION, THERE WILL BE A SPECIAL READING BY THE 2014 OHIO CO-POETS OF THE YEAR

For a complete schedule of events log on to ohiopoetryassn.blogspot.com

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
PROMPT 29 - Write a poem to answer the question: What is the value of poetry to me?

PROMPT 28 - THE EFFORT

============================================

FED UP

as if it were not enough

that i was forced

to spend all week long

away from home with

my cousin rob hanging

with his bad-ass friends

on ellery street dennis 
and raymond where

we played ringolivio 1-2-3 in          

the alleyways behind

rob's rundown building

where dennis tripped me 

down while running

on purpose and i cut                                                                       

my finger on a broken

wine bottle then we                                       

broke window panes

in the school yard on                                                           

bushwick ave for awhile

and dennis menacing me

threw a rock

on purpose that hit my

forehead leaving a

quarter-sized knot there

and when we all

went to the store for

my aunt round noon and

stole chocolate candy

from the bodega on

troutman street and dennis

mushed my hershey bar

with almonds before he

knocked it to the ground

on purpose so i took a

deep breath after all 
it was summer vacation
and finally 

my favorite time of day 

came afternoon and rob

said you gotta get him

back but not now it

was quiet time at the 
public library

reading karate books

and boys life magazines 

i was elated until six when

we had to leave where on

the way back my thoughts

were of joining the boy

scouts taking the oath

to do my best

to do my duty

to G-d and

somewhere between

respect and at all times

dennis smashes me in

the middle of my back

near the base of

my spine which dropped

me to my knees and

i couldn't take any more

and they had to pull me

off him but only after

his eyeballs were red

and swollen and i was

so mad with pent up anger

i was going to

kill him

on purpose

UPCOMING EVENT

================================
YOU are cordially invited to join in three days of poetry with over thirty
poets. It is the eighth annual POETS FORUM presented by the ACADEMY OF AMERICAN POETS.

It takes place from October 16-18 in NEW YORK CITY

For a list of participating poets, locations and times log on to poets.org or click on poetsforum2014.eventbrite.com

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

American Life in Poetry: Column 498

BY TED KOOSER, U.S. POET LAUREATE

 

Here’s a lovely poem for this lovely month, by Robert Haight, who lives in Michigan. Early October Snow  It will not stay. But this morning we wake to pale muslin stretched across the grass. The pumpkins, still in the fields, are planets shrouded by clouds. The Weber wears a dunce cap and sits in the corner by the garage where asters wrap scarves around their necks to warm their blooms. The leaves, still soldered to their branches by a frozen drop of dew, splash apple and pear paint along the roadsides. It seems we have glanced out a window into the near future, mid-December, say, the black and white photo of winter carefully laid over the present autumn, like a morning we pause at the mirror inspecting the single strand of hair that overnight has turned to snow.

THIS JUST IN...

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WASHINGTON. D.C.
.........................................

Lecture: Poetry As Enchantment

On Tuesday 10/14 @Noon, Dana Gioia, poet and essayist will discuss the relationship between poetry and music and explore the ways in which poetry achieves it's special expressive power.

This event is FREE

For details click on loc.gov/poetry/events
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
CHICAGO
++++++++++++++++

On Thursday 10/16 @6 p.m., come celebrate with The Poetry Foundation and the Chicago Public Library and join poets from two generations for the 60th Annual Poetry Day.

Poetry Day was inaugurated by Robert Frost in 1955. It is the oldest and most distinguished poetry reading series in the country.

ADMISSION IS FREE

For details click on poetryfoundation.org

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
PROMPT 28 - Write a poem describing your reactions when "push comes to shove."

PROMPT 27 - THE EFFORT

'''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''
COME TO THINK OF IT


at first thought:

i mean really
what difference does
it make today what
went on yesterday
with my ancestors living
out their lives
i mean really
what can i learn from
following a paper trail
from the 1940 census in                              
marlboro county south carolina
that could affect me now
i thought                                                            

but
when i saw that
faded old piece of
wrinkled paper with names
in black and white that
showed my great granddaddy's
handwriting showing he
was quite literate
a minister a businessman
a property owner in
his day and time
with the types of
obstacles he had to face
and overcome
it made me confident that
given the not so terrible
conditions under which
i live unlike my forefathers
i can do whatever i
put my mind to do

so on second thought:

genealogy took on a
different meaning and
purpose in my life now
a source of
inspiration

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
TONE-  The tone of a poem is roughly equivalent to the mood it creates in the reader. Much, however, depends on interpretation.

Tone is the emotional spin a poet puts on his words; the edge or attitude in the "voice of a poem."

When we talk to someone, we can hear their tone of voice. It is the same with a poem.

A poem gives its readers clues about how you should feel about it.


SYMBOLISM - A symbol is an image that radiates meaning perhaps hard to express in other words, but can be felt. It plunges to the "soul" of the reader.

Poems will often convey ideas and thoughts using symbols.  Symbols can stand for many things at one time and leads the reader out of a systematic and structured method of looking at things.

THIS JUST IN

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NEW YORK CITY
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POETRY SOCIETY OF AMERICA ANNUAL AWARDS


Each year from October thru December the Poetry Society of America holds contests for poets at all stages of their careers.

A prize for high school students, our Chapbook Fellowships for, and our award for a poet over 40 who has published no more than 1 book.

These are just a few.  Accepting submissions 10/1 --12/22

For more info and guidelines click on poetrysociety.org   

A POEM FOR YOUR THOUGHTS

American Life in Poetry: Column 497
By Ted Kooser, U.S. Poet Laureate



I’d guess everybody reading this has felt the guilt of getting rid of belongings that meant more to somebody else than they did to you. Here’s a poem by Jennifer Maier, who lives in Seattle. Don’t call her up. All her stuff is gone.




Rummage Sale

Forgive me, Aunt Phyllis, for rejecting the cut
glass dishes—the odd set you gathered piece
by piece from thirteen boxes of Lux laundry soap.

Pardon me, eggbeater, for preferring the whisk;
and you, small ship in a bottle, for the diminutive
size of your ocean. Please don’t tell my mother,

hideous lamp, that the light you provided
was never enough. Domestic deities, do not be angry
that my counters are not white with flour;

no one is sorrier than I, iron skillet, for the heavy
longing for lightness directing my mortal hand.
And my apologies, to you, above all,

forsaken dresses, that sway from a rod between
ladders behind me, clicking your plastic tongues
at the girl you once made beautiful,

and the woman, with a hard heart and
softening body, who stands in the driveway
making change.

WRITE-A-POEMTIME

*************************************************
PROMPT  27- Write a poem describing the renewal of your interest or feeling for something or someone.

PROMPT 26 - THE EFFORT

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
PLUGGED-IN


i feel a connection
to other people
when i look around
and see
they all have exactly
the same concerns as me

too much month
at the                                    
end of my money
sugar in my herb tea
instead of clover honey

food prices sky high
and here's the real keeper
cat food instead of tuna
is not really cheaper

and when it's all over
no matter what you worth
we all end up going
right back to mother earth

THIS JUST IN...

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CELEBRATE THE 5TH ANNUAL DPRD LOCALLY FROM  FRIDAY 10/4-SUNDAY 10/12


Dead Poets Remembrance Day (DPRD) is a national literary holiday dedicated to remembering our past poets. This is meant to be a celebration from the "ground up." Meaning, the holiday has taken hold among people in local communities who honor poets that lived in their areas.

While some past events have been planned in conjunction with State Arts Agencies, most events take place in conjunction with poetry associations and individuals.

So plan your own events:- Meet at a poet's grave;

                                           - Meet in a bookstore or library;

                                           - Meet in a public park or space and invite people
                                             to read poetry aloud;

                                           - Make the holiday part of a regularly scheduled
                                             poetry or literary day;

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OHIO
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In celebration of Dead Poets Remembrance Day:

The LET'S TALK POETRY group will have a reading of select poems from  Ohio's own Paul Laurence Dunbar on  Saturday 10/4 at 7 pm at the amphitheater in John Bishop Memorial Park on Langley Avenue in Whitehall, Ohio.

 Other readings*** scheduled to take place during the week: Monday 10/6-Walt Whitman (NY) and Emily Dickinson (Mass); Tuesday 10/7- Amiri Baraka (NJ) and Gwendolyn Brooks (Kan); Saturday 10/11- Lucille Clifton (NY) and Maya Angelou (MZ)

***Readings are subject to change. Log on to site for updates.
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NEW YORK CITY
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On Thursday, 10/9 @7 pm join The Poetry Society of America  as they celebrate the 80th birthday of legendary poet Mark Strand with readings and tributes by the 20th U.S. Poet Laureate, Charles Wright, Edward Hirsch,  and others.

This program is co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, the New School Writing Program, and the Poetry Foundation.

The event will be held at the New School Auditorium at 66 West 12th Street.

ADMISSION IS FREE 

For a full list of attendees long on to poetrysociety.org

ELEMENTS OF POETRY

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SITUATION - The situation is the context in which the speaker or character of the poem finds him - or herself involved.

This is roughly equivalent to setting and plot in fiction writing. 



SYNTAX - Syntax refers to the structure of language in a poem. A poem's lines may be long or short, simple or complex.

*** In general we look to the line length, or the shape of the lines and stanzas as being related somehow to the poem's theme.