Random

Well everyone, Saturdays are usually full, and today is. I'm taking a brief moment to get personal. I've been writing poems since I was an itty bitty kid and my New Year's Resolution for 2007 was to take it seriously and try to get published in a literary journal. So far I've learned a lot more about poetry than I ever imagined. For one, I used to read only the "classics" like Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Latin poets such as Pablo Neruda. Once I joined a poetry group my world was opened to Tony Hoagland, Li Young Lee, Mary Oliver, and so on. As a result of these discoveries I try to support poets who are still living.
There's one chapbook I keep picking up and putting down in an independent book-store titled something like "Explaining the Theory of Relativity to the Cat." I would like to buy it but it is $8.00 for a chapbook that is STAPLED together. I can get all kinds of books with beautiful, normal, bindings for that price or cheaper. I know it isn't the poet pricing it, it is produced by a small press of some kind. However, $8.00??? Are you nuts?? Who do they really think will buy it? I might pony up 5 bucks, but I'd say 4$ or less should be the norm for a stapled chapbook. Anyway. That is my random comment for Saturday.
Look forward to seeing you tomorrow when we discuss another living poet!

Poetry how-to's, Repetition

In poetry there are times where you may want to repeat certain words or lines to emphasize the importance of a subject or idea. For example, most songs have a chorus that is repeated throughout and most listeners latch on and learn these lines first and repeat them with gusto.

Here are some ideas to use for repetition:
1. Write the same beginning line for each stanza.
2. Write the same beginning line changing only one word at a time in each stanza.
3. Repeat the same word once in each stanza.

*Things to think about:
"Repetend" is the irregular repetition of a word or phrase at various places throughout the poem.
"Anaphora" is the repetition of a word or group of words at the beginnings of lines.

Happy writing and if you're brave, post what you came up with in the comments section. Thanks for stopping by.

Open Submissions from Jubilat

Hello and good morning. I have a few precious minutes and wanted to share with you at least one place that is open to receiving poems.
Literary Journal, Jubilat, is well-respected and is one of the very few journals that will accept poems over the internet. In fact, the editors prefer it.
Just go to: http://www.jubilat.org/n12/
and then click on "submit" in which you can then post your poems for the editors to read. You will create a name and password and you can check on the status of your poems regularly. Isn't that wonderful? This is the only place I know of where you can finally see your poems go through the stages of being read and accepted/rejected without waiting for weeks or months with no indications of what's happened.
Happy submitting! Thanks for checking in.

A Poem by Poet Hound

Sorry I had nothing for Tuesday, my internet went dead, and I have no idea why. However, it's working today and onward with the program! Wednesdays are poems by Poet Hound so here is another one for you:

Assembly

I think on it for a week-
it becomes my patchwork quilt
with squiggles and lines besides.
In the marinade of brain juice
it sloshes into view shimmering
just out of reach until
I grasp it with both hands.
Paper to table,
pen to paper,
I declare it
a masterpiece at last.

Poets and Writers Web-site

Poets and Writers is a magazine which helps writers and avid readers find publishing venues, learn the trends, and features interviews with writers of all kinds of genres.

Their web-site is great to get a taste of their magazine as well as find publishing venues. You can also find some how-to articles about how to deal with rejection, which writers are becoming well-known, and what is going on in other parts of the world.

My favorite part of the web-site has to do with the information regarding open submissions for writers. If you're not sure who will welcome your short story, poem, interview, essay, this is the place to look. The editors tell you where, when, and sometimes how to send in your material. There are also contests you can enter for prize money or to win a book deal, etc.
If you are a writer or love reading interviews of favorite authors, this is the web-site to go to.
See you there!
Thanks for checking in.
http://www.pw.org/mag/

Lola Haskins, a Woman after my own Heart

Lola Haskins has produced several books of poetry and I have recently picked one up after rummaging the poetry shelves of my local book-store. The book I have in hand is titled Extranjera and it was published in 1998. Trust me, she has written more books since then. She also happens to teach poetry, has published a how-to book, and teaches in an MFA Program for poetry.
The reason I like her is rather selfish. I love all things having to do with latin culture (though I'm not latin myself) and Extranjera recalls images of Mexico and the Spanish language for me. Her poems are lively, they describe many fantastic places and scenes, and of course, has bits of Spanish throughout which draws me in immediately. Here is a sample of one of her poems:

Los Viejitos

They leer from market stalls,
lean crudely carved in their
hundreds, on sticks of canes.
....
. First, though,
their cunjunto squeaks a set,
its violin so out of tune a dog
would run. And then at last
the old men, bent double,
enter in a twist.
....When
they lift their masks we glimpse
that even these are children.
They will overwhelm us all.

*I grew up watching this actual dance. It is clever and funny, pure entertainment, and rich with tradition. How could I not love a writer who captures all of this in such a short span of words?

Poet Hound's Daily Regimen

To those of you who read this blog, I'd like to let you in on how I figure out what to place in the blog each day. Think of Poet Hound as being a professor of Poetry 101, it's very basic in describing terminology, types of poems, and clueing you in to useful places, awesome poets, and so on. Here is essentially the basic format (which will vary from time to time):

Sundays: Devoted to Poets who are living writers. This way you will be supporting poetry in the now, and can still write letters to those poets who inspire you the most.

Mondays: Cool web-sites involving poetry.

Tuesdays: Anything goes. Could be news, could be a magazine, could be personal blogging. You'll just have to wait and see.

Wednesdays: A poem by Poet Hound. These are most likely rough drafts, poems that have already gotten published, or poems that may not ever be sent out to get published.

Thursdays: This is essentially another "anything goes" day, though I try to devote it to definitions of basic terminology in poetry and what all you can do within your community in your pursuit of the written word.

Fridays: Poetry How-To and Tips, such as how to write a certain kind of poem, how to get on a publisher's radar, how to expand your imagination when writing.

Saturdays: I was hoping to make this day a "contest" day for others to post poems, so please feel free to do so. I will happily post other people's poems that I like on the "comments" section, otherwise it is pretty much an "anything goes" day. There are several of those "anything goes" days which I hope to turn into something more steady and productive as I become more familiar with blogging. You see, I've never done it before. Perhaps you've noticed? :-)

That's the basic format. And now my next post will be about a living poet!