Poetry Tips: Commercialized Poems

Many people think the holidays bring out the worst in business through crass commercialism and overdone decorations in the stores, not to mention the never ending holiday music streaming through every speaker. Why not use the words you find in commercials, ads, and in holiday songs to create the ultimate commercialized poem? See if you can even shape it to look like a holiday symbol such as an ornament, candle, tree, wreath, Chanukah star, anything that comes to mind. Good luck to those of you who try it, and let me know how it turns out!

Thanks always for reading, please drop by on Monday for another featured site…

Crazy Horse Open Submissions

Happy Thanksgiving! If you’ve got some time over your holiday weekend, try submitting poems to Crazy Horse.

This is one of the few places that accepts simultaneous submissions so I suggest you take advantage of this if you’ve got several gems out there already. You may submit 3 to 5 poems with a cover letter before January 2009 and mail to:
CrazyhorseDepartment of EnglishCollege of Charleston66 George St.Charleston, SC 29424

Or you can use the link below to submit your poems on-line instead and save yourself the postage while finding out more about Crazy Horse.

http://crazyhorse.cofc.edu/

Good luck to all of you and have a wonderful weekend, please drop in again on Monday…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2008/11/badtoothbrushes.asp
“Bad Toothbrushes” by Sarah Sloat

http://www.poems.com/poem.php?date=14207
“Our Lady of Peace High School” by Carol Muske-Dukes

Thanks for clicking in, please stop by tomorrow for another Open Submissions..

Lemon Hound Featured Site

When I first started blogging, this was one of the sites I stumbled on. Here you can find guest bloggers, full length featured poems, information on poetry, really all kinds of wonderful things. Please check it out at the link below:

http://lemonhound.blogspot.com/

Please drop in on Wednesday, I promise I will get the Tuesday’s Featured Poet back up and running once all the craziness in my life calms down a little more, just need one more week or two…

Indiana Review Open Submissions

You may send 3 to 6 poems (translations welcome) with a short bio (with pertinent info. including name, address, etc.) to:
Indiana ReviewBallantine Hall 465Indiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405-7103
Don’t forget a Self-Address Stamped Envelope and check out the link below for further information. Please note that Indiana Review publishes twice a year in November and May so your submission will be considered for the May issue.

http://indianareview.org/general/guidelines.html

Good luck to all of you who submit and thanks for dropping in, please stop by Monday…

Poems Found By Poet Hound

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=171452
“Dr. Drink” by J.V. Cunningham

http://jacketmagazine.com/36/ellis-dickinson.shtml
“Emily Dickinson’s Birds” by Phillip A. Ellis

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

Monday Blues

Sorry folks, yet another week where I ran out of time. I took my final exam for my on-line course and passed! Hopefully this upcoming weekend I can devote time for all five regular posts. Otherwise, it is back to just Wednesday and Thursday’s posts.

See you soon, thanks for dropping in…

Konundrum's Open Submissions

Check out the link below to find what type of poems they publish and then you may send two to three poems via e-mail (including your biographical information) to:
poetry[at]konundrum[dot]com

http://lit.konundrum.com/pages/litsubmissions.php

Thanks for checking in, please stop by next Monday when I have more time for getting posts together (on-line college course has been more time consuming than I planned for)…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://arseniclobster.magere.com/170901.html
“Star-Nosed Mole” by Melinda Wilson

http://caffeinedestiny.com/poetry/FALL2008/vap.html
“Noah’s Leap: by Sarah Vap

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

Announcement

I’ve bitten off more than I can chew for this week so I only have blog posts for Wednesday and Thursday until next week. I am taking an on-line class for work, I have paperwork to fill out for some volunteer work I do, and plenty of other things going on. You’ll see the rest of the regular posts soon.

Thanks to those who answered the poll, six people voted their top features as:
Poems Found by Poet Hound
Open Submissions

I’m always looking for constructive feedback, so please don’t hesitate to share your thoughts.
Thanks always for dropping in and for your participation…

Belated Friday's Poetry Tips: What If?

This week I want you to try writing a poem that encompasses some version of “What if?” You could create a poem that starts out by asking the question or write a different version of a poem you already have to see how it turns out. What if you tried a different ending to an existing fairy tale for a poem? What if your life ended sooner rather than later? What if you live much longer than you anticipate, what might you see in the future? The possibilities are endless, good luck to those of you who try it out!

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by Monday for another featured site…

Poetry Magazine Open Submissions

Now you can submit poems on-line to Poetry magazine and they have it set up so you can keep track of your submissions. Poetry has always had the credo of accepting any kind of poetry in hopes of the discovery of something revolutionary and/or spectacular. Just be sure that any poems you submit are previously unpublished, you may send 4 poems or less, and if any of your poems are accepted they pay $10.00 per line with a minimum payment of $300.00 per poem or $150.00 per page of prose. Good luck and please click the link below to see the full guidelines and to submit on-line.

http://poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/submissions.html

Thanks for stopping by, please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2008/10/pharmacy.asp
“Pharmacy” by Jay Snodgrass

http://gutcult.com/Site/litjourn10/jon_woodward.htm
“Heavenly” by Jon Woodward

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

Poetry's November Issue

This month I was lucky enough that the majority of the poems I marked are also available on-line at the Poetry Magazine web-site. Here are a couple of my favorites:

http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=182387
On Wanting to Tell [ ] about a Girl Eating Fish Eyes by Mary Szybist caught my attention because the title alone is unusual. So is the poem, which I thought would send shivers of disgust down my spine but left me with a small smile instead. It describes the loss of a loved one and the wistfulness of a sentimental moment. “You died just hours ago./Not suddenly, no. You’d been dying so long/nothing looked like itself:” While I don’t know which parent specifically passed, the parent is honored by the voice in the poem who is watching her own daughter. “I refill the glasses/and we raise a toast to you/as so and so’s daughter…” Then there is the sentimental yet strange (to me) moment of “slides into another lap/to eat another pair of slippery eyes/with her soft fingers, fingers rosier each time,” While the youngest daughter/granddaughter is eating fish eyes her parent wishes for the return of her own mother or father: “If only I could go to you, revive you./You must be a little alive still.” I love that line of “a little alive still” because most of us still feel our loved one’s presence long after they pass. You think of something they would have laughed at and realize you can’t call them up and tell them, you can’t show them a video or pictures of the event because they have passed. For those who believe in heaven, there is comfort in their being alive in spirit, perhaps looking down upon you. In the poem, the youngest daughter delights in eating fish eyes “She is placing one on her tongue,/bright as a polished coin—“ and when asked what they taste like the child simply replies “They taste like eyes.” This is how the poem ends, with a very simple remark from the child while her mother watches in wonder while thinking of how her own parent who has passed on would marvel at this child, also. It’s a strange and beautiful poem that I have trouble explaining but wanted to share with you nonetheless.

The next poem is Murray Dreaming by Stephan Edgar which can also be read by clicking:
http://poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=182395
A trip to the aquarium brings about wonder and stillness in a boy named Murray as he watches the stillness of the cod amidst all the activity going on at the aquarium whether it be people passing through or sharks swimming in their tank. Stephen Edgar describes Murray taking in all that he sees: “Out in the day/Again, he saw the famous streets expound/Their theories about speed, the cars obey,/Racing to catch the sun….and thought it odd/That in the multitudes not everyone/Should understand as he did the profound/Profession of the cod,/That held time, motionless, unknown to sound.” The words “Profession of the cod” is a wonderful line because it is so unexpected a revelation that cod might have work to do, even if it is to remain still amidst everything else. Murray dreams at night of the fish remaining still while above in the daylight everything zips along. I really enjoy the perspective of the child which brings about the wonder that many of us as adults forget.

Also very interesting in this issue is the section on Visual Poetry which you can read more about by clicking here and seeing/reading for yourself:
http://poetryfoundation.org/journal/feature.html?id=182397

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by for more Open Submissions…

Mitzvah Chaps

Check out this publishing blog full of interesting chapbooks that you can also find on the Press Press Press blog. Based out of Lawrence, Kansas, you can find out about poetic events to attend and you can buy the chapbooks on-line thanks to their handy-dandy Pay Pal buttons. Click below to find out more:

http://mitzvahchaps.blogspot.com/

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