Kujaku Poetry

I forget how I stumbled onto this site but it really is fantastic! Not only does it cater to particular poetic forms (Tanka) but the author talk about the process of sifting through submissions. I love this because I am clueless as to what editors truly go through in the submissions process and I am still learning about guidelines preferred by various editors. To see the whole process at work you need to check into this blog regularly, it’ll do you some good.

http://kujakupoet.blogspot.com/

Poetry Tips: Tanka Poems

Tanka poems consist of 5 lines. Lines one and three contain 5 syllables. Lines two, four, and five include 7 syllables. I stumbled onto the description at this site below:

http://www.edu.pe.ca/stjean/playing%20with%20poetry/Hennessey/how_to_write_a_tanka_poem.htm

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured blog…

Right Hand Pointing Open Submissions

This site publishes short poems and short fiction, and you really need to read their submission guidelines yourself because they are thorough, which I appreciate. Essentially, you can send them an e-mail at righthandpointingATgmailDOTcom with a subject line such as “Submission: Your Name” and include 1-4 poems. Try to make sure they are less than 16 lines long, but if they go up to 20 lines then make sure there are no more than 75 words in the poem. They also have special issues with specific ideas and right now they are looking for especially short poems. Check out the details by using the link provided, and good luck on your submissions!

http://www.righthandpointing.com/

Poems Found on the Web

http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=13885
Rusty Morrison’s “please advise stop” is the best sort of poetic telegram…

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=176434
George Starbuck’s “Working Habits” of poets, love the rhyme and rhythm!

Thanks for dropping in, see you tomorrow for more Open Submissions…

Myra Cohn Livingston's Cricket Never Does

Born in 1926, Ms. Livingston is known for children’s books of poetry. I had some difficulty finding much information about her and the link below is how I found out when she had passed away, which was in 1996. A reward has been created in her honor for poets who write for children. I picked up her book, Cricket Never Does by Margaret K. McElderry Books at my local library and just adored her poems. On the cover it says “A Collection of Haiku and Tanka.” I will explain Tanka poems on Friday in Poetry tips if you are curious.
Ms. Livingston’s lines are well-suited for adults and children alike. The lines are lively and vibrant and of course, the poems are short. I love the lines “Long green fingernails/grow and split…” She is able to turn trees into living beings, is able to make the funniest observation in a matter of a few words, and is just simply marvelous! I can hardly include examples because she is so succinct I would have to include the whole thing. “What mermaid found this/yellow scallop shell…/dressed herself in bright white coral/and bewitched a green merman?” Her imagery is surreal and lovely, I urge you to seek out this book and read it for yourself. I was unable to find much about her on-line so you may have to find and buy her book via Amazon which I have included a link to below:

http://www.amazon.com/Cricket-Never-Does-Collection-Haiku/dp/0689811233
To buy her book

http://www.childrensliteraturecouncil.org/myra_cohn_livingston_award.htm
To learn about the award for children’s poetry writers

In the meantime I hope you are able to stumble upon her in the library or local book-store and I thank you for reading. Please stop in for more poems found on the world wide web…

Scottish Poetry Library

This is just a great site I stumbled on…

http://www.spl.org.uk/

Don’t you just love the poems found in this on-line library? Do check it out!

Thanks for dropping in! See you tomorrow…

Galway Kinnell's Strong Hold

Galway Kinnel was born Feb. 1st, 1927 in Providence, Rhode Island. I picked up his book Strong Is Your Hold published by Houghton Mifflin Company. He has won the Pulitzer Prize and has published several books of translations in addition to his own work. You can also find out more by clicking the link below. What I love best about this book is that it comes with a CD of his poems so you can hear the author reading aloud, isn’t that wonderful? And as usual, I have picked this book up at my local library. Have I mentioned how wonderful and convenient libraries are? If you don’t have a library that you frequent I strongly urge you to do so, after all, they’re your tax dollars.
Galway Kinnel’s poems are plain-spoken, just the way I like it, and he depicts wonderful moments in life such as a bear in the backyard, or the time his son at the age of four sat on his own birthday cake by accident. Every day poems are sometimes just what we need to get us going in the morning, or wind down in the evening. His are perfectly paired with a cup of coffee on a lazy day when you are content to look out the window or sit on the porch and take in the view. In his poem, “The Quick and the Dead” he speaks of a garden pest: “Bending close,/I find the plump body of the vole./I lobbed him here myself,/…./He’s dead, and yet he lives,/he jerks, he heaves, he shudders,/” The poem is gruesome yet you can’t stop reading it, and you think back to all the times you have stumbled across something similar. He also speaks of the World Trade Center and the various angles of life and death there. No matter the poem, Mr. Kinnell is able to hold your attention and remind you of life outside of yourself. For more information you can click the links included below, and I hope you pick up his book when you happen upon it.

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poet.html?id=3753

http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/212

Thanks for reading, please stop in for another poetry web-site for Monday.