Poetry Tips: Poetic Post-Cards

I’ve seen some presses who are selling post-cards of poems and thought why not make some of my own? So long as you have card stock or something sturdier than a sheet of regular paper, you should be able to cute a sheet of paper down to postcard size. For example, you could find a short poem you’ve written, place it in a word document and copy it four times (use the columns feature to make it easier) and print then cut into fourths, and Ta-Da! You have just made four poetic post-cards to send to family and friends or fans of your poems.

I just made some up myself and ordered .27 cent stamps from http://www.usps.com/ because a small post-card only costs .27 cents to send. Isn’t that marvelous? Have fun, and remember that anyone can read your post cards as they go through the mail so you may drum up some new fans unexpectedly. Again, isn’t that marvelous?

I’ve decided to send some sample bundles to a few family members to get their insight into the idea since it could be used as a holiday gift-giving project. Good luck to those of you who try it out!


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Juked Open Submissions Contest: Hurry!

Deadline is August 1st! Send up to five previously unpublished poems to with SASE (self-addressed stamped envelope) and a $10.00 entry fee by cash or check made payable to Juked. Include a cover sheet with your contact information and send to:

Juked
110 Westridge Dr.
Tallahassee, FL 32304

For more details and to sample the kinds of work they publish, follow the link below:
http://juked.com/prize/

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Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.leftfacingbird.com/LEFT%20FACING%20BIRD/LEFT%20FACING%20BIRD_files/LESLEY%20JENIKE,%20one%20poem.pdf
“Loneliness Theory” by Lesley Jenike

http://www.righthandpointing.com/Issue21/williamhall.html
“Distant Silence” by William Hall

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Poetry Magazine's July/August Issue

Now this issue is FUN! From the crossword puzzle to Bruce McCall’s glorious illustrations, I am seriously considering buying a second copy just so I can tack the illustrations on the wall. Of course the poems are enjoyable too, but this issue really grabs my attention because of the unexpected extras. My favorite illustration is Bruce McCall’s Poet in Residence in which you see a poet with unkempt hair and in pajamas sitting on the couch with his notebook holding up a mug for a woman who looks like either his mother or perhaps a maid due to the apron. The couch is roped off and a fatherly figure sits in a cushy chair off to the side. On the coffee table is what looks like a pizza and bottle of wine amongst books and empty cans. It is just a hilarious depiction of poets in general and it is well worth the price of the issue just to have it on hand!

So I guess I should let you know which poems I enjoyed even though I could go on for pages about the other fabulous illustrations and how much I wish I knew about poetry in order to fill in the crossword puzzle without cheating and looking at the back pages to find the answers.

Well, one of the poems I quite enjoyed was Dean Young’s “Selected Recent and New Errors.” Also, you’re in luck, there is a podcast on the Poetry Foundation web-site featuring Dean Young! So please click the link below to listen to more about the July/August issue and Dean Young. If I hadn’t listened to the poem, I wouldn’t know that “Tony” is actually Tony Hoagland. Otherwise, I would have assumed that Tony was a teacher in this poem. Dean Young speaks of his errors and the fact that Tony points them out, and then he balloons out to discuss the enormity of errors, the errors that Tony cannot touch or name. “My books are full of mistakes/but not the ones Tony’s always pointing out/as if correct spelling is what could stop the conveyor belt…” These lines have a sense of humor, but he does interchange with seriousness and morbidity. “My errors are even bigger than that./You start taking down the walls of your house,/sooner or later it’ll collapse…/” Then he says what I think most people would think of their occasional critic: “On mornings when I hope you forget my name,/I walk through the high wet weeds/that don’t have names either.” So although Dean Young admits his mistakes in poems, then expands to include other errors but refers back to the critic by wishing his name was forgotten brings the idea that while errors may affect the person who made them, they are made larger and more burdensome by the critic who mentions them. Not a new concept, of course, but the words and lines he uses are fantastic. “I do not remember what I told you/with your ear in my teeth.” I do love those words: “ear in my teeth.” It gives a great visual and think about the critic listening to the poem and the poet sinking in his teeth as a way of literally striking back, retaliation. His ending is wonderful in that it takes such an unusual and unexpected turn: “We have absolutely no proof/god isn’t an insect.” Doesn’t that make you pause and say “huh?” because it had that effect on me! God, the ultimate critic, is then described “Or boring into us like a yellow jacket…” or “an assassin bug squatting over us,/shoving a proboscis right through/our breast plate then sipping.” Sounds rather violent, doesn’t it? The last line I’ll save for you to listen to on the link below, or read in this issue. This entire poem relates to the creator of the piece and the critic’s critique but the language in which it is approached and explained is divine. I hope you’ll listen to the podcast via the link below, you’ll hear other wonderful poems in the issue along with Dean Young’s who is towards the middle of the podcast.

http://poetryfoundation.org/journal/audioitem.html?id=466

This is the only poem I will feature for this issue, the podcast gives you such wonderful insight into the poems that I felt the link will do you much more justice than I would. I hope you pick up the issue because it is not only fun but also inspiring and full of surprises.

Thanks always for reading, please stop by tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Delicious Poetry Site

This site has links to all things poetic and is up-dated frequently. If you want the freshest of the fresh, this is the place to go with links to poems and poetic news. It is amazing! Check it out at:

http://del.icio.us/tag/poetry

As always, thanks for stopping by, please come back tomorrow for a review of Poetry Magazine’s July/August Issue…

Poetry Tips: Submissions Organization

Some of you who aspire to be published may have already organized a way to keep track of your submissions, and others of you may not have or are just getting started. If you hope to be published I would say it is vitally important to have some semblance of organization in regards to submissions.

The easiest way to keep track of submission is to make a simple tracking chart whether you draw one, create one in Excel, etc. My own was made on Microsoft Word with the following title columns: Poems Submitted, Journal/Press (where the poems were sent to), Date Sent, Rejected with Form Letter, Rejected with Personal Comments, Accepted, Date
Returned. On top of all that, you could also put in a column for Letter/E-mail to determine which publications/presses receive submissions via e-mail or through snail mail.

This is a very simple approach that I’ve taken but it also lets me make sure I don’t have simultaneous submissions going out to particular places, and whether any particular poem has shown promise through editor comments. This also helps me keep track of how often I am sending poems to the same places.

With some organization you can learn how long it takes certain presses or journals to contact you and whether you may even be a good fit for the place depending on how fast the poems came back and the type of rejection received. Acceptances also let you keep track of who likes your kind of poetry and where to submit again in the future.

Then there is your snail mail pile. If you send poems through snail mail often, (and I do so in waves), then you need to have your submission materials close together and easy to find. I have a box of envelopes and stamps tucked in just for submitting. When I receive free return-address labels I also stick those in there so I can quickly put together an envelope to mail things out. I also make sure I have .10 cent stamps sheets for places that accept more than 4-5 poems so that there is plenty of postage to get the poems there and back on the Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope.

Don’t forget that many journals and sites post their submission criteria in very clear terms. Always check their guidelines on-line when available. Usually you can see the kind of work they produce if they provide samples on-line which can be valuable savings in time and money for all involved when submitting.

Finally, I also keep a file on my computer of poems that I feel are ready to be sent out. Once I think a poem has been worked out to satisfaction, I copy and paste it to another file to get it ready for submission when I have the time and interest to send more out.

If any of you out there have other ways of keeping organized, please feel free to share by posting in the comments section. If you are an editor, feel free to explain what you look for in receiving submissions. I know some people send in items hand-written on stained/torn paper in illegible hand-writing or forget to place enough postage on their envelope and this can make it difficult if not confounding for the editor on the receiving end. Be sure all submissions are clean, typed/legible, and have enough postage or at least have the word “Submission” in the e-mail title.

Thank you for dropping in, good luck on your submissions, and please stop by Monday for another featured site…

Bolts of Silk Open Submissions

Juliet Wilson responded to my Open Submissions call:

“Hi there
I noticed you were wanting to know who is accepting submissions. Bolts of Silk, my poetry journal in blog format is always open to submissions, which can be sent to me at Juliet.M.Wilson(AT)googlemail(DOT)com. I take poems of less than 40 lines in all forms and on all topics - despite being Crafty Green Poet, I am more than open to poems that aren't environmental in theme! I try to respond within a week.”
Thanks
Juliet
http://boltsofsilk.blogspot.com/

Good luck to all who submit, and please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2008/07/dinosauriconography.asp
“Dinosaur Iconography” by Evelyn Hampton

http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20267
“Let us Live and Love” by Gaius Valerius Catellus

Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions…

Wang Ping's Of Flesh and Spirit

Another page turner, Wang Ping’s of flesh & spirit from Coffee House Press is amazing. Published in 1998 and picked up in the library, this volume has poems that vibrate your soul to the core and often have prose paragraphs explaining Ms. Ping’s origin. You learn about the societal nuances of China and their feelings towards women and you can feel Wang Ping’s anger in her works. You also learn of her struggles to find her way in America and the frustrations of tracing the female side of her family tree. For such an amazing poet there is surprisingly little about her featured on the internet. I was disappointed that poets.org and Poetry Foundation had nothing on her. I’ll also admit that I am afraid to review this book because it is so powerful that any words I may use will fail to explain the enormity of each poem. However, I will try to give you a taste by reviewing a poem and allowing you to watch her read her work via the you-tube link provided below.

One poem that really struck me is titled “What Are You Still Angry About.” This poem discusses the idea that women are seen as inferior in China, and while Ms. Ping is in America and able to speak her mind and is free to live her life as she pleases she is still angry about her life and ancestry in China in regards to being a female. Some examples of life in China compared to America are in these lines: “I no longer need to break my toes to make lotus feet/or squish my liver and kidneys to slim my waist…Yes, I must feel lucky/that I have vocations other than love or maternity:/I’m a poet, a teach, and working toward a Ph.D.” She goes on to say “How can I explain the anger that prevents me from breathing?/I want to scream/every time I bow to my family tree which hangs in the clan hall.” In this poem, after these lines, there are paragraphs of prose in which she describes the lineage of females since there is no such record kept because of Chinese culture. I could not even begin to take samples of lines from these paragraphs because there is so much said in such little space. From how women are named, how men are preferred, how females are drowned for being female born, there is too much. She finally returns to the typical-looking poem towards the end and her lines are powerful conclusions to the history she has related to her readers. “I must scream, even though I have no voice./Since my birth, silence has been my single weapon./Now it no longer suffices.” This poem ends with resolve and fury, I cannot possibly do it justice.

If you stumble upon this volume of poetry I insist that you pick it up and read it. It will inspire you, anger you, and will keep you locked within its pages. Until you are able to read it for yourself, please click the link to the YouTube video I was able to find, it is well worth watching.

http://www.worldofpoetry.org/rs_ping.htm
A brief bio of the poet

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvqcTSe3W60
Wang Ping reads her work on YouTube—definitely watch her read her poems!

Thanks for reading, please stop by tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Sonnets at 4am Blog

Greg Rappleye of Michigan discusses poetry and has some intriguing quotes to ponder on his blog. He also provides discussion and insight into poets’ works and careers, so I hope you’ll check out his blog by clicking the link below:

http://sonnetsat4am.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured poet!

Poetry Tips: Slip of the Tongue

That momentary goof where you let slip something you shouldn’t, no matter how small, can set loose a blush in your cheeks and a stammer or grimace. Why not set to writing a poem about it? It can be a “woe-is-me” tone, it can be funny, dark, light, however you want to write it. You could make a mountain out of a mole hill or vice versa. Then of course, you can always structure the poem in such a way as to demonstrate the slide downhill after the slip. I had an embarrassing slip of the tongue that had the potential to reach the ears of the intended target, so that inspired me to write this poetry tip of the week. Surely you’ve had your own goofs that you couldn’t take back or rewind in time, now’s the time to make it a poem. Good luck!

Thanks for dropping in, see you Monday!

Open Submissions Call

Sorry folks, I don’t have anything new today. If you know of any open submissions, please post a link for others, or if you are an editor and you are accepting submissions, please e-mail me at poethoundblogspot (AT) yahoo (DOT) com.

Remember, Lilliput Review and Nerve Cowboy are open to submissions all year round, please use the links below:

http://lilliputreview.googlepages.com/home

http://www.jwhagins.com/nervecowboy.html

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=14062
“Rain” by Alice Fogel

http://www.fishousepoems.org/archives/tony_barnstone/he_pays_the_bill_at_the_sidewalk_cafe.shtml
“He pays the bill at the sidewalk café’” by Tony Barnstone

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for more Open Submissions!

Mark Strand's Man and Camel

I picked up Mark Strand’s Pulitzer Prize winning poetry book Man and Camel at my local library and found this to be an engaging read. This was another page turner for me as the poems seemed deceptively easy to read and therefore lent themselves to being read rather quickly. A little too quickly, I might add, so I hope you will take your time and savor them more the first time around since I made a round two of it for myself.

Mark Strand was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada, in 1934 and has quite a collection of works under his belt. Not only does he have more than a few poetry books, he also has prose, translations, art books, children’s books, and has contributed to various anthologies. Needless to say, his name is most likely familiar to you for one reason or another.

Of the many poems I enjoyed, I thought “Two Horses” was one of those poems that deserved a closer look. This poem speaks about Strand encountering two horses while drinking from a lake and how they react to him. For example, his lines read “Two horses/came up beside me to drink as well./This is amazing, I thought, but who will believe it?” and got on to say “I felt the need to respond, so I snorted, too,/but haltingly,/as though not really wanting to be heard./The horses must have sensed that I was holding back./They moved slightly away.” It ends with the idea of his perhaps being a poet in another life, and the horses may have been readers of his poems. “in another life—the one in which I was a poet./They might have even read my poems,…” What I like about this poem is how he and the horses communicate. At first through silence, then when the horses snort, Strand snorts, too. The horses sense how unnatural this is and back away, so Strand internalizes the extraordinary moment and compares it to poetry. Instead of describing the moment itself as a poem entirely focusing on the horses and the lake, Strand discusses the possibility that he may have been a poet in a previous life. It’s as though this particular poem doesn’t actually belong to him and make him a poet in this life. That struck me and made me read the poem again. How can someone write a poem and then end it in such a way as to make it sound like they aren’t actually a poet in this life but maybe a previous one? On top of that, the connection between the two horses presented as though they may have existed previously as readers of his poems in the past is something I have never seen a poet attempt. I think it is a fascinating twist for a poem to end this way, don’t you?

I also enjoyed the poem “2032” in which Death seems to have grown lazy, or at least, unfazed by his role. “where Death, who used to love me, sits/in a limo with a blanket spread across his thighs,/waiting for his driver to appear.” Death is mentioned in a previous poem, by the way, and in that poem Death is looking forward to hosting Strand and bringing him to the world of the undead. In this poem it seems that Death has tired of waiting for Strand, since he inserts the line “Death, who used to love me” to tie in from the previous poem and now Death is just waiting. “He is waiting/to be driven to the Blue Hotel,” and “Where is his driver?” being the main concern. The end is what fascinates me again because the driver is not at all whom you’d expect: “Ah, there she is,/…down the garden steps, in heels, velvet evening gown,/…blowing kisses to the trees.” For Death who is earlier described as white haired with smaller eyes to have such a vivacious and, apparently, youthful driver presents a lively contrast that captures imagination. Now why would Death require a driver, and why such a lively one in comparison? I have no answer to that, to be honest, but I do love the mental picture it presents. Perhaps Death lures the next to go by sending his driver while he waits in the limo? Or maybe she helps keep what little “youth” he has through her own energy as they go from one place to the next to collect the next soul?

This is a book I would highly recommend, especially to those who are more timid to poetry since each poem is easily read yet very entertaining.

To learn more about Mark Strand and to read some of his poems, click the link below:
http://poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/102

Thanks for dropping in and please stop by tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound!

Dumbfoundry Blog

I like this blog, it is similar to mine in that it has relatively short posts regarding information of all kinds for poets and poetry readers alike. You’ll find posts regarding submissions, other journals, all kinds of tidbits you can readily devour, just click below:

http://dumbfoundry.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured poet