Poetry Tips: En Vogue, Too Much, or Not Enough

It occurred to me the other day when an acquaintance bravely asked to read me a poem that was lovely and then related his difficulties in feeling he had too much rhyme and how many times he revised it that brought to mind my own qualms in editing my own poems. Your tip today is to abandon all the imagined critics in your head—the academic critic, the editor-of-a-particular-journal critic, the self-critic, and any other imaginary critic that begins to speak as you begin to revise or revisit your poems.
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Whatever poems you come up with for the rest of the week allow them to flow out of you and leave them as they are. If you feel you are going to revise it to please a particular editor or person realize that you must first please yourself. If it pleases you, leave it alone. There is nothing wrong with rhyme, cliché subject matter, cliché phrases, so long as you enjoy the poem it is yours for the keeping.
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Have a happy and safe 4th of July to all my fellow Americans!
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Thanks for dropping in, please stop by on Monday for another featured site…

Fragile Arts Quarterly Open Submissions

Fragile Arts Quarterly has not put a moratorium on submissions yet so I believe they are still open to receiving up to 10 poems which you can submit via e-mail to: moongazepubATmywayDOTcom

Check out their style and guidelines at:

http://fragile-arts-quarterly.blogspot.com/

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

Testing....

http://www.versedaily.org/2009/fracture.shtml

“Fracture” by Leslie Adams

http://www.shampoopoetry.com/ShampooThirtyfive/rohnert.html

“IV By a hair’s breadth” by Jan Volker Rohnhert, translated from German (scroll down)

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Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.versedaily.org/fracture.shtml
"Fracture" by Leslie Adams


http://www.shampoopoetry.com/ShampooThirtyfive/rohnert.html
"IV by a Hair's Breadth" by Jan Volker Rohnhert, translated from German

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I'm having difficulty with posting now that I've up-dated my web browser so there may be a delay in posts from now on...

B. Z. Nidith's Boston, Fall and Other Poems

B. Z. Niditch has been a feature on Poet Hound before, check out my interview with him about his collection called Portraits Here: B. Z. Niditch's Portraits
Mr. Niditch’s book, Boston, Fall and Other Poems was published by Encircle Publications, LLC in 2008 and is based out of his experiences in Harvard and places around Massachusetts. The poems are divided into two parts, Part I is titled Harvard Square, Part II is titled Diary. The poems in both sections are beautiful and expressive while encompassing small moments around campus or on the water. Below I will share some small samples:

In a poem titled “Public Gardens” I am enchanted by the sight described by Niditch: “planting your steps/by sacks of rose petals/in public gardens,/noon day seems endless/and a friend waits up.” I can’t help but wonder what the sacks of rose petals are for while he watches his friend and ends this short poem with “for a deafened half-hour/your arms are sealed/by wheel barrels/or rose tattoos.” I like the image of “rose tattoos” of petals clinging to bare arms as they are carried. It is a moment in time that leaves me wanting more.

In “Diary” the lines begin as “By the troubled river/you write Tuesday/on footsteps of a page/the charred diary/moves to the opposite shore/of flagging remorse…” I wonder if the diary is the owner’s or has been recently discovered. Again, Mr. Niditch reveals just enough and uses interesting images such as “on footsteps of a page” to entice us to read further. The one holding the diary is looking out on the water “in regret,/watching sparrows/…on an abandoned landscape/” and Niditch continues to observe in silence “you touch the water/with your tender fingertips/in clumsiness of enigmas/and feel hatless/and anonymous/to your own signature.” This is how he concludes the poem, he ends it in a way I think we can all relate to when we are feeling sad or lost. “anonymous/to your own signature” are powerful words as they sink in. This is another poem that says just enough and leaves me wanting more of the story.

“The Insomniac” is a clever description of a sleepless night which made me smile. The entire first stanza is superb but I will give just the tail end of it: “flashlights play with you/trembling, “time out”/and the alarm clock/refuses to speak.” Any sleepless night means frequent glances at the alarm clock and the endless consternation of time passing slower and slower. Those lines are a perfect portrayal. The second stanza is just as superb but of course I can only give you a small piece: “tossing from sea beds/rolled in blankets/of deafened nights/bent over sleepy wilderness.” You can easily liken the rolling, restless slumberer to rolling in underwater “sea beds” or being lost in the imaginary “sleepy wilderness.” His words allow your imagination to run while also evoking empathy for the insomniac in the poem.

If you enjoyed this review you will be happy to know this book is still available at Encircle Publications for just under $12.00. I hope that you will enjoy these beautiful poems as much as I do and it may be in your local library, so it would be worth taking a look.

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

Gloom Cupboard's New Editor

Richard Wink at Gloom Cupboard is welcoming a new poetry editor on board, her name is Dorla Moorehouse and you can now submit your poetry to her at dorlamoorhouseATgmailDOTcom when you check out guidelines using the link below:


http://www.gloomcupboard.com/


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Hayden's Ferry Review Open Submissions

This journal based out of Arizona State University is open to submissions year round! Please address Poetry submissions to editor Rose Swartz and Prose submissions to editors to Brian Lee or Arijit Sen. You may send up to six poems via snail mail (be sure your contact information is included on each page) with a self-enclosed stamped envelope to:

Hayden’s Ferry Reviewc/o Virginia G. Piper Center for Creative WritingArizona State UniversityPO Box 875002Tempe, AZ 85287-5002

For further details, click the link below:
http://www.asu.edu/clas/pipercwcenter/publications/haydensferryreview/submit.html

Good luck to all who submit, please stop in next week...

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/20294
“The Violet” by Jane Taylor


http://www.versedaily.org/2009/agreatwhirring.shtml
“A Great Whirring” by Bruce Snider


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Angelic Dynamo Site

Thank you, Juliet Wilson, of http://craftygreenpoet.blogspot.com who sent this link to me and I pass it on to you… Juliet says they longlist poems and allow everyone to vote on them before including them in their paper journal. When you get to the first page it says “Poetry and Democracy” which is a fabulous concept! Oh, and be sure to scroll down when you click on each link on the first page, the poems are linked under “vote.”

Check it out at:
http://www.angelicdynamo.com/


Sorry everyone, I only had time to get posts for Wednesday and Thursday so check back Wednesday, and thanks for dropping in….

Poetry Tips: Be a Kid

Remember when you were a kid and you’d get the bright and seriously fun idea of creating your own newspaper? Or magazine? How about exclusive clubhouses and forts? Well for this week I urge you to be a kid about poetry. Start up your own journal, chapbook, poetry magazine, scrapbook, or “community bulletin board” (refrigerators are good examples) or Official Poetry Club and see what you can do with your poems and even with poems from people you know. Get out the construction paper, scissors, glue, use your computer, digital camera, go wild! Peddle it to family members, drop it in unsuspecting neighbors’ mailboxes, e-mail it on a massive FWD: list. Create your own special something and share it, just like you did when you were a kid inviting your parents into your tiny fort or asking siblings and friends to help provide material for your newspaper. The only rule is to have fun!

Thanks for stopping by, posts for next week may or may not be available because I’m going on vacation over the weekend but I will try to have a few days covered next week…

Open Submissions: The New Yorker

That’s right, I mentioned The New Yorker, think you’ve got what it takes? If so, you may send up to six poems as an attachment and be sure your subject line on the e-mail includes your name and the title of your attachment. Don’t forget to include all of your contact information in the e-mail and be forewarned that due to volume there may not be a personal response to your submission. You can send your e-mail to:
poetryATnewyorkerDOTcom

Or you can mail your poems with a self-addressed, stamped return envelope to:
Poetry Dept.
The New Yorker
4 Times Square
New York, NY 10036

The New Yorker editors also note that poets should only submit twice per year so be sure to send only your best.

Good luck to all who submit and thanks for dropping in! Please stop in tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://juked.com/2009/06/emily.asp
“Emily as Innumerable Cigarettes” by Darren C. Demaree

http://www.brooklynrail.org/2009/06/poetry/botanical
“Botanical” by Kristen Gallagher

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Short Shots by Alan Catlin

Alternating Current features Alan Catlin’s collection titled Short Shots in their Pocket Protector Series as their 8th installment. Alan Catlin is raw and fresh in his portrayal of bar life and its characters which he divides into two sections titled “Part One: Short” and “Part Two: Shots.” Here are a few chosen poems:


Tequila Sunset

The inside of his head
a perfect tequila azul,
his wet brain soaking in
a lemon-lime emulsion;
the salt lick of his lips
white as death.


The descriptive language of this poem is superb, don’t you think?



One ski pole broken off at
the point, the other implanted
in ice, just a slight handicap
to make life more interesting
on those nights you could hear
him calling out from a mile away
as he made his way toward the bar.

An eerie poem, you can imagine any sort of man coming out of the darkness and causing goose bumps to rise on your skin with this poem.



Pink Lady

She sat on the veranda
dressed in pink lace,
sipping her cocktails as
proper as could be,
letting the cool, summer
air surround her, creating
an aura, a still life, complete
with a quarter moon overhead.
It was well known that her
table was reserved every
Saturday night all summer long.
Was some kind of local legend:
hot like fire but fragile like
porcelain or glass, creating a mood,
a space, that no one would dare violate.
In the Winter she vanishes.
No one knows where she goes.

This is another great character description and makes me want to visit outdoor cafes and imagine other people’s lives. Or, perhaps be the Pink Lady.



If you enjoyed these poems, you’ll be happy to hear the chapbook is only $3.00 at the Propaganda Press Catalog. Alan Catlin’s Short Shots is #8 in the Pocket Protector Series which means it literally fits in the palm of your hand and delivers snapshots of its characters and of bar life in palatable form. Remember that with every chapbook you order, Altnerating Current throws in a free chapbook from archives and pays royalties to their poets, a win-win for all.

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

Marc Fitten's Indie 100

Before you lose faith that independent book-stores are headed for the end, check out this delightful blog by Marc Fitten in which his travels reveal the local independent bookshops in all of their glory. I know I fell in love with several featured stores and while this site isn’t devoted to poetry it is devoted to the home we wish to find it in. Check it out at:


http://indie100mfitten.wordpress.com/

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Poetry Tips: School's Out For Summer

For many of us, summer means vacations, breaks in attending classes, or being able to swim in the pool again. Summer also seems to be a season where there are many more events to attend and places to go, people to see, all which can be ample inspiration for poems. I keep a tiny notebook in my car now (don’t worry, I don’t write and drive) so that as I pull up to a state park or sit in traffic watching kids eating ice cream cones outside I can write down what I see to use it later. I suggest you do the same. Don’t forget your cameras either! Now is the time to get out of the house and go out into the world. Plus, you most likely have some more freedom in your schedule these days with vacation days or “call-in-sick-to-work-but-not-really-sick” days, etc. Keep some note-cards and notebooks in easy to reach places along with spare pens and pencils and you’ll be able to produce some new poems for freshening up existing manuscripts or creating new ones. You’ll also have more poems to send out to journals and on-line presses once Fall rolls around and more editors are looking for submissions. Have fun in the sun and may the muse bless you!

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