Poetry Tips: Wreckage

This writing prompt comes from personal experience with a fender bender. This week write poems inspired by “wrecks” whether they be physical, emotional, mental, or both. For me, it was physical, for you it may be something else. Good luck to all who try it!

Thank you for dropping by, please stop by again next week…

Right Hand Pointing Open Submissions

Straight from the e-mail I received:

2010 has been a busy year here in the editorial offices of Right Hand
Pointing/Left Hand Waving. We recently fought off a hostile takeover by Google
and are regrouping to crush that little outfit soon. Our newly formed RHP/LHW
umbrella company, Ambidextrous Bloodhound, just moved into an abandoned Home
Depot here in Birmingham, Alabama. I personally supervised someone supervising
the loading and unloading of boxes and furniture by our fresh team of young
interns. (I can’t think of a better way for these kids to spend their first
12-hour day of work. On their second day, I gave them a full 30 minutes for
lunch and, trust me, these young Megans and Bradleys earned it!)

If our current RHP publication schedule pans out, we’ll put out about a dozen
issues and chapbooks this year, more than any previous year. So, what better
way to celebrate than with a special extra bonus mini-issue?

Ten poems, under 30 words.

We’ll handle submissions for this one a little differently. Rather than our
usual rolling reading and acceptance practice, we’ll have a specified reading
period, a deadline, and after the deadline I’ll accept the poems for the issue.

It’ll be a quick read as it will consist of only 10 poems, each of which may be
no more than 30 words. We’ve done two under-30-words issues before and these
have been popular and quite fun to put together. It’s an A.D.D. sufferer’s
dream. The whole issue will be under 300 words.

So, here’s the deal.

Send your poems, 30 words or under, to righthandpointing@gmail.com by September
15th. Please format the subject line like this:

RHP<30 Your Name

where “Your Name” is your name.

Include a bio, also less than or equal to 30 words.

Sometime after the deadline, I’ll open the emails (actually, the interns will
open them for me when handing me coffee once I start my workday at about 1:30
p.m.), and select the 10 poems which will go in the mini-issue. The issue will
then appear in late September.

Ready, set, go!

On another very different note, please visit the main page at
www.righthandpointing.com. There you’ll find a beautiful poem by our friend
Allan Peterson. I remembered that Allan had published some beautiful poems
about life on the Gulf of Mexico and I wanted to create a little tribute to the
Gulf by featuring one of his poems. Allan sent this previously unpublished
work. See it, along with a fine photograph by Mark Meyer, at
www.righthandpointing.com/index.html

Dale”

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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

https://sites.google.com/site/rhpissue34/sally-molini
Sally Mollini’s “Aside”

http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21652
Wyn Cooper’s “Chaos is the New Calm”

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

David S. Pointer's Warhammer Piano Bar

David S. Pointer hails from Murfreesoboro, Tennessee, has a B.S. in Criminal Justice and an M.A. in Sociology and his latest collection of poems, Warhammer Piano Bar, is published by Thunder Clap Press by Editor Amanda Deo. The art on the cover and within the pages is by artist Justin Jackley and adds to the dark toned and fast-paced lines of the poems found inside. The poems range from the personal to the ethereal and I am happy to share a few with you below:


Driftermobile

Ice in a
cowboy bathtub
behind me in
the Nomad

road thoughts
detonate this day

a few bottles
of Most Wanted
whisper to
the gas pedal

oncoming cactus
start to costar

ping…ping…
szzz………..
the car conks
out of bounds

No I 10 5-0 out
but no ale house

whores who are
semi-certified

to wrench up
old cars either

This poem reminds me of road trips and crossing the Southwestern deserts. The language is unusual and catchy, I have no idea what “a few bottles/of Most Wanted/” means but I love the lines and leads me to think of outlaws. “Oncoming cactus/start to costar,” I take to mean that the car is passing cactus like most cars pass power lines on the freeway and that they are becoming the major part of the landscape. The entire poem is entertaining, and the ending is just as strange yet intriguing mentioning a lack of whores who are able to fix cars which could mean any number of things depending on your own perspective. I think of scantily clad women at gas stations who are tough broads who can also turn a wrench. Either way, this poem entertained me from beginning to end.



Small Press Loss

like a crash cart nurse
losing a brain injured boy

like an old prison coach
bear cage rolling to river

like a surfer bitchslapped
by his own good board

like the eerie Edison era
sounds of a phonograph

sold eighty years ago
on an antique wall phone

this is what it’s like to lose
someone in the small press


Yes! That’s the word that came to mind after I read the poem. A medley of strange and unrelated images yet all easy to picture in the mind’s eye, almost capturing the sound and fell of loneliness without coming out and saying so. For every small press poet that passes there is a medley of mixed feelings and memories and the sense of loneliness and loss that we are one less in number in our love and in our craft. Yes.



Inkville

all these poets
caught in
a minimally
successful
state at
the compliment
swap meet
continuously
reaching into
wallet world
for a green
launch pad
into paid
literary
appreciation

This poem has lines that are just plain fun to read, I love “the compliment/swap meet” which you could apply to almost any setting, and “wallet world” which seems almost like it could be its own actual store instead of a place for poets struggling to get by, hoping for a paid literary collection of their work instead of the typical free copies. If only more people in the world understood and appreciated poetry to make this a better paid profession, yes? That is part of why this blog is what it is, thank you Mr. Pointer, for hitting the nail on the sentimental head.


David S. Pointer has poems throughout the small press and has been featured previously on Poet Hound, you can find him at Alternating Current’s Propaganda Press as well.
If you enjoyed this short sample of poems, you’ll be pleased to know that the book, Warhammer Piano Bar, costs a mere $7.00 (not including shipping and handling) from Thunderclap Press at:
www.thunderclap.wordpress.com

and you can also e-mail Thunderclap Press at: thunderclap.mag@gmail.com


If you’d like to learn more about the artist, Justin Jackley, check out his website at:
www.justinjackley.com

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

10 Most Amazing Slam Poets on YouTube

Kaitlyn Cole e-mailed me about an article featuring the “10 Most Amazing Slam Poets on Youtube” and provided a link which features Youtube clips of slam poets at their best, I urge you to check it out at:

http://www.onlineuniversities.com/blog/2010/07/10-most-amazing-slam-poets-on-youtube/

The “What Teacher Make” poem had me clapping all by myself at home, and “Dear White People” made me laugh so hard I had to listen to it again to listen to the whole thing!


Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured poet…

Poetry Tips: Teamwork Blues

This idea comes from an article I read about couples who are now trying to start their own business together and the potential conflicts that arise. This week is about “teamwork blues,” and it doesn’t have to be your significant other. It could be memories of group work in summer camp, school, current teamwork efforts for fundraising or work, anything that springs to mind.

Good luck to all who try it!

I am afraid that I will be unable to post anything next week as this week is our Annual Performance, my apologies. Please stop in after next week, things should be back to normal August 1st…

The Valley Apple Review Open Submissions

While submissions are accepted year-round and they do publish twice a year be sure to look at their guidelines as they are very detailed. Prose may range from 100 to 300 words, there was nothing said about the number of poems so I suggest 3-5. You may e-mail your submissions to the editor, Leah Browning, at editor@leahbrowning.net with “poetry” listed in the subject line.

Please take a look at the website:
http://www.leahbrowning.net/Apple/Submit.html

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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21605
“The Wind Blows Through The Doors of My Heart” by Deborah Digges

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=175881
“Eagle Poem” by Joy Harjo

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by tomorrow for more Open Submission…

Lilliput Review Issue #174

Full Moon is a chapbook collection under issue #174 written by Ed Baker. Three line poems about the full moon are spare and beautiful. Below I will share a few:


full moon
can you move
a little closer

This poem reminds me of nights when the moon looms so large in the sky you feel you could almost reach out and touch it.


full moon
helping
wash the dishes

I picture Mr. Baker washing his dishes and looking up at the moon, don’t you?


full moon
here again
with nothing to say

I see the face of the moon and think of this poem now, the “man on the moon” has nothing to say, only stares down at our world so far away…


If you enjoyed this short sample, you may purchase a copy of Ed Baker’s Full Moon for $1.00 and requesting the copy by mail to:

Lilliput Review
Don Wentworth, Editor
282 Main Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201


You can also visit the Lilliput Review site for more details at:

http://sites.google.com/site/lilliputreview/home


If you would like to subscribe on-line via paypal and read the most excellent Lilliput Review Blog, visit Issa’s Untidy Hut at:

http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/



Thanks always for reading, please click in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound...

Library of Congress Poetry Resources

Check out this wonderful wealth of knowledge at the Library of Congress: Webcasts, audio links, articles, poetry news and events, all at the link below!

http://www.loc.gov/poetry/

Thanks for clicking in, please drop in tomorrow…

Poetry Tips: Old Fashioned Love Song

Yes, I was listening to the radio when exactly this song came on. This week see if you can write an old-fashioned love poem, it may just turn into a song you can sing to your loved one!

Good luck to all who try it, please drop in again next week…

Black Warrior Review Open Submissions

Straight from the site:

"We have moved to an online submission system, which can be found at http://bwrsubmissions.ua.edu.

SPECIAL NOTE: Poetry and Nonfiction are STILL OPEN for both regular and contest submissions. Please visit the submission manager to submit.
Snail mail submissions were officially closed as of 4/25/2010. Any snail mail submissions we receive will now be recycled. Please take note.

We read submissions year-round, though our response time is slower in the summer. Please submit only once every six months. The average response time for submissions is between 2 and 4 months. If you have not received a response after 4 months (excepting the summer), send a query and SASE through the mail, or email us at blackwarriorreview@gmail.com, and we'll check on the status of your submission.
In addition to poetry and fiction, Black Warrior Review is also seeking creative nonfiction that experiments, plays, and throws the occasional snowball in our faces. We call for essays that offer up a new perspective, an unvoiced thought, an overlooked association—and we hope that you will send us pieces that not only challenge us with their content, but also with their form. We prize the lyric and the language driven, both the sparsely stated and the indulgently ruminative.

Please do not mix genres in the same submission.

We do NOT accept unsolicited e-mail submissions, nor do we consider previously published work.
We encourage you to read Black Warrior Review before submitting. Sample issues are available for $10; one-year subscriptions for $16.

Simultaneous submissions are fine, if noted (please notify us immediately if the work is accepted somewhere else)."

Check out the site listed above and good luck to all who submit…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=29826
“Tomorrow” by Dennis O’Driscoll

http://www.righthandpointing.com/Issue15/kevin-above.htm
“From Above” by Kevin McLellan

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by tomorrow for more open submissions…

Ed Galing's Diner

Diner is a collection of poems by Ed Galing, published by Alternating Current’s Propaganda Press in 1999 about…Diners! Of course! It is a wonderful homage to all the diners Mr. Galing (and you and I, for that matter) have eaten in across American. Below are a few of my favorites:


those who work in
diners

in the front,
and in the back,
somehow never get
enough credit
for the great job
they do…

that big fat cook
who works the kitchen grill,
hot steam rolling down
his face,
slapping orders together
like a machine,
no letup…

the dishwasher,
the dirtiest job
in the place,
(and i know)
my hat is off to you…

the cashier,
the waitresses…

and last week,
joe the cook,
and mary the blonde waitress,
got married, in the diner,
closed for the day, they hired
a preacher, invited everyone to their
diner wedding,
decorated with flowers,
wine flowed, people cheered,

they kissed each other…now married…
went back to work the next day.


Not only is this a poem where Mr. Galing acknowledges the roles of the diners but he captures briefly the wonderful event in anyone’s life by adding in the wedding of two of the workers. I think what I love best is that he ends it with the couple returning to work the very next day—my parents went through the same thing (only Dad worked in a factory and Mom worked at the local burger joint). Here Mr. Galing portrays diner life exactly as it is, no more, no less, no romanticizing, no embellishment, just like a no-frills diner.




counter work

i like sitting
at the counter
in my diner

grab a quick
lonely cupa
coffee and Danish

read the paper
and rub elbows
with the big fat guy
next to me,
on one side,
and the little thin
bald headed guy on the other,
who asks me to pass him the sugar…
it’s easy to make friends
at the counter,
when you’re by yourself,
or in a hurry…
the counter is for the
brave ones,
like myself,
trying to catch a waitress’
eye,
as they flit by…
that’s the hard part.
but hell, what’s the hurry
anyway?

Mr. Galing says exactly what I’ve always thought about the counter: It’s for the “brave ones,” the people who are typically their alone, braving a seat next to the unknown folks at the counter. I like the picture he paints of who sits there and the difficulty of capturing the eye of the ever-busy waitress, the hustle and bustle you’d expect while you sit “alone” at the counter making new friends.



cashier

i hear the rumor
this morning
when i walk into
this diner

where i eat
all the time

mary the cashier
has died…

worked the front
for twenty five
years

always pleasant
gave you a cheery
hello and goodbye

if you got to know
mary the way i
did,
you got to like her
a lot…
knew all about her family,
her two sons and her
daughter,

how she worked the 11 to 7 shift
so she could be
home during the day

mary is gone
mary has left the diner
to serve at
the table in heaven

hope God knows
how lucky he is.

I love this poem because it’s one most can relate to—most of us frequent a restaurant or diner and have a favorite waiter or waitress we’ve come to rely on each visit, one we’ve gotten to know and make part of our lives even if it’s in a small way. I also love the ending, that mary is now working in Heaven’s Diner, serving God, which is an idea that brings a smile to my face. Mr. Galing allows himself to be sentimental, as well he should be, in dedicating a poem to a favorite diner worker who has passed away.



If you enjoyed this short sample of poems as much as I have you can purchase a copy of Diner for yourself for $5.00 (not including Shipping & Handling) through the Propaganda Press Catalog at:

http://alt-current.com/pp/pp_item.html#diner



You can find more of Ed Galing’s work at
http://Alt-current.com



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

Barefeet and Long Nightgowns

Beautiful short poems by Jessica Thompson can be found below at:

http://barefeetandnightgowns.wordpress.com/

Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for another featured poet…