Poetry Tips: Fan Letters

These days I doubt many people write letters but e-mails accomplish the same thing. If you are a poet chances are there are poets who have inspired you, living and dead.

If any of the poets you admire are living, I challenge you to write them a fan letter or e-mail depending on how accessible the poet is. Let them know which poems are your favorite, let them know what collections you have or journals you’ve seen their work in. All poets and writers crave positive feedback on their hard work and if you truly enjoy someone’s work why not let them know?

For poets who are no longer with us, you can still write a fan letter that you keep for yourself or write a letter as a tribute to them. Of course, you can always write a tribute poem as well.

Good luck to all of you who write fan letters this week, please drop in again next week…

Nerve Cowboy Open Submissions

You may snail mail up to five poems, no simultaneous submissions please, with your contact information on each poem. Be sure to include a Self-Addressed, Stamped Envelope and send your submission to:

Joseph Shields and Jerry Hagins, Editors
Nerve Cowboy
PO Box 4973
Austin, TX 78765

*Definitely look up their website and read a sample of the poems available if you cannot get a copy of the journal to see what kind of poems they lean towards.

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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://wordswithoutborders.org/article/path-of-light/
“Path of Light” by Amina Said


http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/poem/2043
“Chicago” by Carl Sandburg


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Mather Schneider's Drought Resistant Strain

Published by Interior Noise Press in Austin, Texas in 2010, Mather Schneider’s full-length collection of poems in Drought Resistant Strain are straightforward and honest. The poems discuss everything from the hot, Tuscan sun to the mortality of the poet’s loved ones, below I am happy to share a few poems:


Old Timers

My grandparents
are getting old.
They stopped sleeping
in the same bed
a long time ago.
I don’t know
if they are still in love
or if they
ever were.
You get the feeling they’re
beyond all that.
Each morning
whoever wakes up first
gets out of bed
and shuffles across the house
to see if the other
is still alive
before starting the
coffee.

I like this poem because I can see this elderly pair taking turns shuffling down the hallway. The mystery of whether they are still in love still enshrouds a sentimental turn that they care enough to check up on the other one before starting the coffee. Also, you can’t help but wonder if they would brew enough coffee for just one cup before calling family if they did discover their other half had passed away.




Our Tin Roof

The squirrels ran around up there
like crazy step-brothers scraping their nails
on the inside of an attic door.
Birds straddled the peak,
their delicate steps
an itch you couldn’t scratch.
Even snakes got up there—
someone rubbing calloused hands together
far above us.
In autumn leaves fell on our tin roof,
little bat-wing whispers
brushing your skin,
and the acorns were thrown
from the macabre
parade float oaks.
Rain became music
that would drown you,
and snow was like being buried alive:
it piled up and made a sound
like the earth itself moving.
The wind was the worst,
the way it howled and tore
at the ragged tongues,
the way it found and infected each
new crack,
the way it taught us
to raise our voices
louder and louder.

This poem reminds me of the houses down here in Florida, most cracker style homes have the tin roof and its occupants always describe how much they love listening to the rain. Mr. Schneider’s poems bring these sounds to life for me since I have not had the opportunity to experience them often and I enjoyed imagining the sounds of snow, rain, and squirrels.



Dwayne

Dwayne invents a perpetual motion machine
while servicing the physics room.
He’s a janitor at the college.
He studies the numbers abandoned
on the blackboard
before erasing them
like a human windshield wiper.
His idea: an immortal generator
with unlimited,
unpolluting energy.
No more killing each other,
no more working two jobs,
no more worrying all the time…
It’s simple, all he needs is an ocean
and gravity.
There’s only one problem:
with no reason to struggle
the human race would deteriorate.
So Dwayne has vowed never to reveal
the details of his creation.
It will die with him, unspoken.
He has saved mankind.

This is an intriguing story to me which I enjoyed very much. You can’t help but wonder what this man discovered that we’ll never know and how often things like this might be happening where one understated genius keeps silent to save us from ourselves.


If you enjoyed this sample, you may purchase a copy of Drought Resistant Strain by Mather Schneider from Interior Noise Press for $15.00 by visiting the link below:

http://interiornoisepress.com/INP_HP_Schneider.html

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

InkPop Site

Jett from Harper Collins sent me a link to this re-launched site geared for Young Adults/Teens for gathering writers together in one wonderful site. It’s user friendly, has a poetry section, along with fiction and short story writing. There are contests to enter while posting your own writing along with features that allow readers to write their responses to pieces submitted to the site. Definitely check it out at:

http://www.inkpop.com/


Thanks always for clicking in, please drop in again tomorrow…

Poetry Tips: The Arts

This week scope out the artistic talents of other media and use them as inspiration for your poetry. You can check out your local art museums, art books in your local library and book-stores, or of course there are countless web-sites on-line to peruse.

Some sites I like to visit for inspiration:

Tiny Showcase:
http://www.tinyshowcase.com

Catia Chien’s site:
http://www.catiachien.com/

Dreama Tolle Perry’s site:
http://dreamatolleperry.com/


Good luck to all of you who explore the artistic talents of others for inspiration, please drop in again next week…

Coconut Poetry Open Submissions

The reading period is March through September so you have plenty of time to check out the on-line journal and read some poems to get a feel of their aesthetic before e-mailing your submissions. You may send 3-8 poems by copy-and-pasting into the body of the e-mail to:
submit AT coconutpoetry DOT org

I recommend heading your subject line as follows: Poetry Submission/Last Name

No simultaneous submissions, please, and they do also ask that you allow four months for review of your submission.


For more details, go to:

http://www.coconutpoetry.org/submit14.html


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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.alicebluereview.org/main.html
“Figure With Scrap And Address” by Evan Harrison



http://www.ditchpoetry.com/alicemcclintock.htm
“A Dream” by Alice McClintock


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

Don Wentworth's Past All Traps

Don Wentworth is well known as the editor of Lilliput Review for more than twenty years and I am thrilled to present a collection of his own poems titled Past All Traps, published by Six Gallery Press. This collection is full of soul, light, meditation, and humor. The majority are written in the Eastern traditions of poetry influenced by poets such as Basho and Issa. The collection is moving and beautiful, it was nearly impossible to narrow it down to just a few to share with you and I hope you find these poems as wonderful as I do:


Stop counting syllables,
start counting the dead.

I like this poem because it reminds us to stop burying ourselves in the details of life that really aren’t important and to look up and notice what real tragedies are taking place.



The Other

I read these words
& I don’t know them.

I wrote these words
& I don’t feel them.

I am read & I have
written & I don’t know.

These words are the words
of another I have borrowed.

We are given words for a
short time. Revel in them.

Make them yours. Soon,
very soon, you will be asked

to give them back.


In this poem, I am reminded of the struggles of being a writer or a public speaker. You may write, speak, prepare, but ultimately there are times where words fail to provoke or because of provocation you are forced to repeat them or “give them back” in some way. It’s a poem that has many layers and meanings and that’s what I love most about poetry. There is always more than meets the eye.




Today, Mr. Grackle,
I smiled & sang like you,
& everyone complained.

This is a funny, light-hearted poem that I can relate to, can’t you? You sing a tune that’s in your mind or in your heart and it doesn’t turn out as beautifully as a professional singer and so your loved ones find it in their heart of hearts to tell you so. Thanks for the grins, Mr. Wentworth!



Every day given
the opportunity to fuck up
--every day.

To this poem I say “YES!” Thanks again, for the grins.



The life of the mind
will be the death
of us all.

Good poem to contemplate, it is not?



If you enjoyed this sample, I urge you to purchase a copy of Past All Traps for yourself for $8.00 which includes shipping and handling through Don Wentworth’s blog at:

http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/


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

Scattered Light Blog

Cheryl and Janet Snell are sisters who combine their artistic talents of art and poetry into one amazing blog, please check it out at:

http://snellsisters.blogspot.com/


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

Poetry Tips: Independence

In honor of the 4th of July I think a good theme for writing poems this week is independence. It could be based on your country of origin, it could be based on the individual, it could be based on being able to do something on your own for the first time such as riding a bicycle or grilling that perfect steak without a second pair of eyes peering over your shoulder. This week, what does Independence mean to you? On a small-scale or large-scale, independence matters.

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

American Poetry Review Open Submissions

Accepts poems year round, but no simultaneous submissions, please. While they do not specify the number of poems, I would send no more than 5. Be sure to include your contact information on each page and if you are submitting prose, double-space your manuscript. Send your work with a Self-Addressed Stamped Envelope so that you can receive a response, they take up to three months to consider your work. Please send your poems to:

The Editors
APR
1700 Sansom Street, Suite 800
Philadelphia, PA 19103


For more details, go to:
https://www.aprweb.org/about


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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.sundresspublications.com/stirring/klepetars.htm
“The Woman Who Broke Her Eyes” by Steve Klepetar



http://www.memorious.org/?id=368
“Silviculture” by Cecily Parks


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

Joni B. Cole's Toxic Feedback

Joni B. Cole’s book, Toxic Feedback: Helping Writers Survive and Thrive, is an excellent book for all writers. If you have ever wondered if you could or should show your work to other writers, editors, friends or colleagues before submitting officially to publication, this book is for you. This book was published in 2006 by University Press of New England and has been a joy to read. Joni Cole is honest, funny, and she provides wonderful anecdotes from poets such as Ted Kooser and novelists such as Khaled Hosseini, author of the best-seller, The Kite Runner.

There are plenty of eye-opening stories and tips for writers at every stage in their career, including how to give and receive feedback graciously as well as how to form your own writer’s workshop.

When it comes to receiving feedback it is best to keep an open mind and to examine your own defense mechanisms. Mrs. Cole uses the phrase “Is It You…Or Is It Them?” to illustrate that sometimes writers take feedback more personally than it is meant. Also, when processing feedback you do not have to take every suggestion literally nor should you ignore suggestions repeated by several people. You do not need to change your entire poem or story to reflect others’ personal preferences but if several people find that they stumble over certain parts of your writing you may need to revisit and revise. You can also take a break from your piece and revisit it after you’ve allowed the feedback to sink in so that you are prepared to look at your work in a refreshed perspective and therefore you are more open-minded to revision.

As for giving feedback, try to be as unbiased as possible. Joni Cole has sections titled “A Right Way and a Wrong Way,” and “Can You Please Be More Specific!” For example: Joni notes that when reading other writers’ work, that this isn’t about your personal preferences; this is about the writer’s work and vision at hand. Does it make sense? Is it grammatically and punctually correct? Does the poem or story flow easily or are there awkward pauses or turns that could be smoothed over? Also, use specific comments so that the writer knows what really needs to be fixed. For poetry, you could point to a stanza or line that you feel needs to be revised either for clarity or eliminated altogether. For stories, there may be an awkward turn or ending that doesn’t fit with the rest of the story. Always try to find something positive to say even if you don’t personally enjoy the type of writing or subject. The writer took the time and effort to write something that they then opened themselves to sharing with you. Praise their effort, the lines or paragraphs that work, the flow and rhythm, the imagery, anything that strikes a positive note with you.

Finally, Joni Cole’s ultimate conclusion is that writers need other writers. If you do not know of any writers yet then you can easily seek them out by making connections with local writers by attending conferences, workshops, or going to readings and introducing yourself. I have met many writers through my blog and can send an e-mail when I feel stuck or just need an extra pair of eyes. Joni Cole has an entire section devoted to creating a workshop titled “Hey, Let’s Put On A Workshop!” She describes how you can also create your own workshop based out of your own home. I joined a writing group in exactly this way: An on-line “Meet-Up” site had a writer calling for other writers to meet once a week. At the time I had not started this blog and I had never taken poetry seriously but the open invitation called to me and so I joined and I have never regretted it. It disbanded several months later because every member except myself had moved out of state but if I hadn’t joined I would never have started my blog and I may never have had the courage to send poems out for publication. Workshops and groups are wonderful ways to meet writers who can encourage one another’s work and I urge you to try it if you haven’t already.

There are many parts of this book I wish I could reproduce in their entirety and there is even more I could include in this review. Joni Cole makes a case for taking creative writing courses, for appreciating “bad writing” and provides tips on producing healthy and productive discussions in groups and is unafraid to reveal her own shortcomings on her own journey as a writer and feedback provider. I have been savoring this book for weeks now and I believe you will, too. It has given me renewed vigor for my own writing and I’m sure it will for you, too.

Joni B. Cole has written for magazines, has published books such as the “This Day…” series, Watercooler Diaries, and will be publishing a collection of stories on September 6th titled: Another Bad-Dog Book: Tales of Life, Love, and Neurotic Human Behavior.


To learn more about Joni Cole and her current and upcoming books, please visit her web-site at:
http://www.jonibcole.com/


To order a copy of her book, Toxic Feedback, which I highly recommend, for $11.00 paperback or $9.95 for Kindle, go to:
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_27?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=toxic+feedback+by+joni+cole&sprefix=toxic+feedback+by+joni+cole


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

The Write Room Web-site

Check out this on-line magazine of prose, poetry and so much more at:

http://www.thewritemag.com/


Thanks for clicking in, please stop in tomorrow for a featured review…