Misti Rainwater-Lites' Amethyst Miraculous

Misti Rainwater-Lites’ collection, Amethyst Miraculous, is bawdy, brash, and brassy. Published by Alternating Current's Propaganda Press, it’s like sneaking into a dirty movie when you’re 13 and knowing your parents will kill you if they find out. It’s a collection that may make some people blush and I’ve plucked out the tamer poems so as to avoid a necessary “parental discretion is advised” warning:


Tarot Spread Reveals
the tainted tuna will kill you

while you sleep
dreaming of horny mermaids

the empty pocket blues
will lead you to Thailand
and food you cannot pronounce

your uncle is thinking
of hitting you up for a loan

your grandma is thinking
of stealing your motorcycle

your mama is thinking of
running off to Vancouver

your boyfriend is thinking
of another chick’s ass

your dolphin won’t stay
in your pool forever

a hot bubble bath
can only help
your situation


Really, I just love the little bits about the family members and boyfriend because I find them hilarious. I would love a tarot reading like this, I might actually attempt one if I can get readings such as the ones above. Also, what woman wouldn’t want to soak in a hot bubble bath after all those readings?



Fortune Fish Flopping

I read his ex-girlfriend’s blog for company,
some kind of pathetic commiseration.
I only met the chick once.
I’m better looking but she’s better
at functioning in Big Girl World.
And her hair is obedient.
That’s always a killer.

I look for signs in the Western Sky.
All I see are birds flying into candy melt sun.
The clouds give no clues. They mock me
for being stuck in cow pasture
with Pink on the radio.
I don’t care for Pink.

The red fortune fish flops
in my palm.
This means he is thinking about me
but isn’t going to do anything about it.
Meanwhile the pizza rolls are burning
and the cockroaches
need killing.

I like this poem because it’s like viewing a stream-of-consciousness web of thought. As the poet describes “his ex-girlfriend” we find out at the bottom that she has forgotten the pizza rolls and that there is an infestation of cockroaches jolting her back to reality. It’s like any daily moment we are staring off into space thinking and then the external world comes rushing in.


To purchase a copy of Amethyst Miraculous by Misti Rainwater-Lites for yourself, visit the Propaganda Press link below, where for $5.00 (not including shipping and handling) you can have a copy for yourself:
http://alt-current.com/pp/pp_item.html#amethyst_miraculous


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

Seven Kitchens Press Blog

This small press is churning out beautiful chapbooks and generating news below:

http://sevenkitchenspress.wordpress.com/

Also, check out March 31st’s entry at Fiddler Crab Review where they interview Ron Mohring, the editor at Seven Kitchens Press about the work he does by going here:

http://fiddlercrabreview.blogspot.com/

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

Poetry Tips: Good Luck or Bad Luck

For me, Friday the 13th is always filled with good luck but many people are superstitious and believe Friday the 13th to be bad luck. Which group do you fall in? This week is all about “luck.”

For inspiration and insight, check out:
http://urbanlegends.about.com/cs/historical/a/friday_the_13th.htm

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080761/


Have fun and please drop in again next week…

Sugar House Review Open Submissions

Open year round, thank goodness, but please only send once or twice during an entire year’s time. You may send up to 5 poems up to 15 pages in total length, via e-mail. You must include a short bio, 1-4 sentences, and include your contact information.

Check out the editors’ bios on the website to get an idea of the style of writer’s bios they are looking for. Please also try to read some samples of what they publish:

http://sugarhousereview.com/submit.html

Once you’ve read through the submissions page and looked over the editor’s bios and some sample poems and you are convinced your poems fit their aesthetic, send an e-mail to:

editorsATsugarhousereviewDOTcom
**Be sure to put your last name and the word “submission” in the subject line, and while your bio can be copy-and-pasted to the e-mail, do attach your poems as a word document or an rtf.

Good luck to all of you who submit, pleast stop in tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://blossombones.com/winter_spring2011/tracey_ws2011.html
“This Paper Landscape” by Sara Tracey

http://www.lapetitezine.org/issue_26/megan_pugh_youll_look_sweller.htm
“You’ll Look Sweller” by Megan Pugh


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

Poet Hound Vacation

My husband and I are taking our first real vacation so there will be no posts for the next week or two as a result.

However I will be back refreshed and excited so please return in a week or so and feel free to look through the archives.

So long, farewell, until we meet again...

Autumn House Poetry Contest

If you have a collection of poems and/or a manuscript started, this may be the contest for you! You will need 50-80 pages worth of poems and a $25.00 entry fee to enter, the prize is publication of your collection and $2,500. Include a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope so you can find out your results, include the entry fee by attaching it to your manuscript, and when mailing your manuscript indicate “Poetry Prize” on the envelope so that it will be directed to the correct editor. The deadline is June 30th so polish up your poems and your manuscript before sending to:

Autumn House Press
PO Box 60100
Pittsburgh, PA 15211

There is also an on-line submission link with a way to “donate” the $25.00 entry fee if that is more convenient for you.

Check out details and learn more about Autumn House by using the link below:
http://www.autumnhouse.org/contest-submissions/

Good luck to all who enter…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://blossombones.com/winter_spring2011/kirk_ws2011.html
“The Archer in May” by Kathleen Kirk


http://juked.com/2011/03/onwavingatthechevron.asp
“On Waving at the Chevron” by Anya Groner


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

Doug Draime's Rock 'n Roll Jizz

Doug Draime began writing in the “underground” literary movement is Los Angeles in the late 1960’s and now writes from Ashland, Oregon. Published by Alternating Current's Propaganda Press, Doug Draime’s poems are not for the faint of heart, they are made for rockers and rebels, for lovers and dreamers. Straightforward, earthy, and gritty, this collection will make you reach for your own rock ‘n roll collection to play in the background. Below are some poems I’d like to share with you:


for Bo Diddley

a pint of
blackberry
brandy
a pack of
luckies
& a stolen
Zippo.

i sat sipping
from
the
bottle &
smoking
one after
the other
LISTENING

Soaking
it all
in
& everything
moving
inside &
outside of me
as i
propped
myself
up
against
the back of
an
outhouse.

your
pounding
rhythm
of life &
rebellion

blasting
from
the
open door
of
the
“colored”
roadhouse
across the gravel
highway.

Bo Diddley is a Rock ‘N Roll legend, he also lived here in Florida so this poem speaks to me on a couple of levels. I enjoy David’s short, short lines to keep the poem moving and the picture he paints of his younger self listening from across the highway as another form of rebellion since he should not go into the “colored” roadhouse but wants to hear Bo Diddley play.



When I Had Elvis Sideburns

& pegged levi’s
black engineer bots
a pack of smokes
rolled up in the sleeve of my white t-shirt

i was the coolest cat
on the street &
i knew i was
the only 16 year old
in town
who’d read Henry Miller
& On The Road
& listened to Miles Davis
not just rock ‘n roll

i knew i was the coolest cat
in town
i knew by the giggles &
looks of the girls
when i passed by
who would whisper to
each other
about what a hood &
juvenile delinquent
i was
their eyes following me
as i walked by

I love that Doug pokes fun at his teenage self in this poem. A young male strutting around is nothing new but for a grown man to acknowledge his youthful days of trying to be the coolest cat in town is rare. It’s also amusing, so I grinned as I pictured teenage girls giggling over the poet’s choice of clothing and his strutting. Thanks for the smiles and giggling on this end, Doug!




If you enjoyed this short sample, you may purchase a copy of Rock ‘n Roll Jizz by Doug Draime from Propaganda Press for $6.00 (+ $2 US, or $3 out-of-US shipping) on-line at http://alt-current.com

You can also order by mail with check or money order addressed to Angstman Arts and send to:

Alternating Current
PO Box 183
Palo Alto, CA 94302


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

Poet A Day Site

Each and every day a poet is featured here. If you want to add a poet to the roster send an e-mail to:
debATpoetadayDOTcom

Be sure to check it out at:

http://poetaday.com/

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

Poetry Tips: Spread The Word

This is National Poetry Month, if you haven’t noticed, and quite a few people who love poetry are trying to share their love of it in any way possible.

Obviously, for me, I have this blog. I also have a Facebook page and I also share my love of poetry with family and friends.

So how about you? How do you spread the word?

One way is by sharing a poem you love with someone you love. Often you can just read a poem aloud to the one you love, or if it is long-distance, send the poem via e-mail or regular old-fashioned mail.

Another way is by promoting poetry using your local resources whether it’s starting a web-site or blog, forming a group or creating a project to share with schools or other groups in your community.

What I want to know is how you share poetry and I hope you’ll share the details with me either in the comments section or by e-mail. Either way, clue me in: How do YOU share POETRY?

Thanks always for dropping in, please drop in again next week…

Right Hand Pointing Open Submissions

I received an e-mail (I subscribe and you should too) announcing an upcoming themed issue: The United States
The poems you submit must have one of the states in the title of the poem and the poem itself can be no longer than 20 lines, shorter is preferred. You must also keep the poem to under 100 words.

The deadline is September 2011

Definitely check out the website and the guidelines page at:

https://sites.google.com/site/rhpissue99/


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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/178296
“Boat” by Richard Brautigan


http://chicanopoet.blogspot.com/2011/04/joe-joe-turns-nine-my-grandson-loved.html
“Joe Joe Turns Nine” by Reyes Cardenas


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

An Interview With Ed Galing About Puschcarts and Peddlers

After 93 years of living and writing, Mr. Galing now has a full-length book of poetry titled Pushcarts and Peddlers published by Poetica Publishing Company. With seventy chapbooks and numerous poems published throughout the small press world, it is my pleasure to interview Mr. Galing again about his most recent collection.


1.) Mr. Galing, how did this full length collection come into being?

The poems in the book were published in various magazines—a lot of them—I just wanted to make one book of them. A lot more poems didn’t get in but it’s ok. Most did.





2.) How did you come up with the title, “Pushcarts and Peddlers?” The cover art by Eugene Ivanov is fantastic, a man with a food cart is perched on the hat of a man looking out at us on the cover. Can you tell us more about the artist and the cover’s inspiration in addition to the title? Is it from your experiences in New York as a young boy?

I do not know the artist. It was chosen by the publisher. He is well known and did the cover for free. It’s fantastic! It was all done by him but [is a] true picture.





3.) I’ve marked too many poems to include them all in this interview so I will only ask about a few of them. The first one the introductory poem you wrote and included before the table of contents titled “the world” which I’ll post along with the question. I feel it is a poem that is very appropriate at any day or time, in any century. What was the inspiration behind this poem?

the world

we live in one world
we share each other’s pain

we must learn
to love and respect

one another’s heritage…

when it comes down
to the meaning of Judaism

it is that all of us
live in a world of

brotherhood

sharing and caring
living the good life…

The poem calls attention to all faiths, for respect. Each religion is important. I feel that way always. Sadly there are so many battles over religion and deaths, WW2 showed how it can be. The poem just wrote itself from the heart.





4.) “prayers on the rooftop” describes your father’s weekly ritual praying on the rooftop. Your collection is based on family and Judaism, can you explain what it meant to you to see your father pray each week this way? How did it affect your own beliefs in religion and devotion?

prayers on the rooftop

my father was a deeply
religious man,
short with a black beard,
and a moustache,
came from the old country
of Russia, with my mother
settled down on broome
street, on the lower east
side…
became a janitor of the
building,
went to synagogue religiously
without fail,
but when it came to friday
evening, he made a special
trip up the tenement stairs,
to the top landing, where
he opened the door, and
walked out on the tar roof,
opened up his prayer book, put
on his shawl, and began to
bob back and forth, intoning
hebrew prayers from the old
testament, until the sun
went down and the moon came up as it
always does, and the stars smiled
on him, and his words of prayer
rang out, all over the roof,
all over the street, and the wind
picked it up, and wafted it away,
out there in the air, and who
knows how many who were walking
the streets heard the sound of
reverence coming from the roof,
and looked up to see where,
and it was almost like the
second coming of the messiah…
if ever anyone needed that,
it was us.

I can still see him up on the roof. I have a photo of him up there. I thought he was very religious and respected him for it. A special man! The poem here has been published in other magazines in various forms. It is a very powerful poem and true. The truth is there. Where better to pray to GOD??





5.) Many people, including myself, are not very familiar with Judaism or its traditions. We are also not familiar with words and phrases in Yiddish and I thought this particular poem was an interesting and light-hearted one. I would call a “shadchen” a “match-maker.” You mention that this woman didn’t need a computer or a directory, a local woman who knew her neighborhood so well she knew who she might pair together. Can you talk more about the “shadchen” and how this poem, “what ever happened to the old fashioned shadchen…?” came into being?

what ever happened to the old fashioned shadchen…?

there was always
this woman who introduced
men and women
widows and widowers
old and older

and she needed no computer
or large directory

only a nose for news in the
neighborhood

who died… who got divorced…
who just came from the old
old country…

who was lonely and in despair…
who was looking for love and a companion…

she worked alone
the shadchen…

she invited couples to tea…
laughed with them, made them
feel good,

soon she had them laughing,
holding hands, making dates,

oh, shadchen, dear shadchen,
oh, dear mrs. Shadchen,

are you still somewhere around
these days?

oh shadchen my dear, oh shadchen.
Somewhere out there,
please appear.


Yes, the “Schadchen” was once an important part of getting together. No computers back then. Just a woman on a mission! She is gone forever, alas. Gone with the TIMES! A lot of women were “shadchens”—word of mouth! Part of the Jewish way of life back then.



6.) Your book begins with a dedication to your beloved wife, Esther, who passed away July 2006, and you have written poems in tribute to her. It is rare in this day and age to learn of couples who truly grow old together, who stay until “death do us part” which is also the titled of your poem: “’til death do us part.” In a marriage spanning sixty years, what are some things you can share with us about her personality and her character that you loved and adored in your years together?

‘til death do us part

when my wife died, i
stood there alone after
the mourners had left.
in the stillness of the graveyard,
i began to weep, for
i knew i would never see
my wife again.
we had been married
over sixty years.
i don’t believe in death,
never have,
so i put my hand in supplication,
and suddenly she came to me
as if from the dead,
took my hand, and
we both walked to our car.
and when i got in,
she slid in besides me,
looking as radiant as ever,
so young and pretty,
and she smiled and said,
“let’s get away from here.
i am not dead, i am with you.”
as i drove away,
my hand held hers,
and she hummed a tune,
and i looked out the window
at the trees and the lake,
and then suddenly,
just as quickly,
she was gone…
no where near me.
she had vanished,
and i was alone,
wondering what had happened,
still smelling her perfume,
thinking of how we both
were twenty years old again.
and i felt the tears coming so fast,
i could hardly see
the roadway.

She was beautiful, like a movie star! Also, gentle and smiled a lot! She was a wonderful wife, mother, friend, and everything I always needed! I miss her. She didn’t like “old age,” neither did I! I wrote a book about her when she died. Full of pictures young and old! Going out all over, everywhere—she loved to dance (we always did)—the book is a treasure—everyone has one in the family. Thanks for the interview.




Mr. Galing, thank you so much for agreeing to be interviewed and congratulations on the publication of your first full-length book of poetry, you more than deserve it. I look forward to seeing more poems and I wish you continued good health.

If you enjoyed this interview and the poems sampled here, you may purchase a copy of Pushcarts and Peddlers by Ed Galing for $18.00 at:
http://www.poeticapublishing.com/apps/webstore/products/show/2246275

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

Razored Zen

Charles Gramlich muses about poetry readings, writing, and much more at his blog Razored Zen, check it out at:

http://charlesgramlich.blogspot.com/

Thanks for clicking in, please drop by tomorrow for an interview with poet Ed Galing…