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

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

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/

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

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…

Albatross Open Submissions

You can send between 3-5 poems, not exceeding 200 lines, with all of your contact information on each page via snail mail with a self-addressed stamped envelope included to the following address:

Albatross
Editor Richard Smyth
2 South New Street
Bradford, MA 01835

You can also E-mail by pasting poems into the body of the e-mail with your name in the subject line and head your e-mail with your contact information to: rsmythATanabiosispressDOTorg

There are many more details included if you click on the link below:
http://www.anabiosispress.org/guides.html
Good luck to all of you who submit, please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://english.chass.ncsu.edu/freeverse/Archives/Winter_2008/poems/M_Manning.html
Maurice Manning’s “The Rainy Night in Kentucky”

http://www.fringelit.com/poetry/dreamtalk.html
William James’ “Dream Talk”

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

The Bones of Saints Under Glass by Jeff Fleming

Jeff is the editor of nibble, a poetry magazine, and his current collection of poems titled The Bones of Saints Under Glass is published by Alternating Current and is filled with sentimental memories, abstract moments, and life lessons learned through his family members. The cover is also done by Hosho McCreesh, whose poetry has been featured on this blog before as well and I thought it worth mentioning. Jeff Fleming’s poems keep me in my seat and I am happy to share several of them with you:


The Bones of Saints Under Glass

I am hiking,
booted feet

covering much ground
over small hills.

There is no trail before me
but a rough, jagged path

flows out behind,
slowly disappearing

as the plants I’ve crushed
stand upright again.

I stop, near a cluster
of yellow flowers,

because of something
bleached white,

a long-dead bird,
now only bones.

I’ve come upon
this tiny,

hollow skeleton
cradled in the space

between two
small shrubs

and what comes
to mind

is the bones of Saints
under glass.


I thought it appropriate to include the poem which inspired the title of the collection. I think the ending lines are beautiful and demonstrate the delicate, fragile nature of Mr. Fleming’s discovery in the woods. I also love that the trail disappears behind him as he blazes his own path just as any traveler must make his own way in life.



The Youngest One Stopped

This morning, I yelled
at my kids
so loud my throat hurt.

I could tell you why,
write it all
down, but so what?
It wouldn’t matter,
not to you
and certainly not to them.

What matters is
the oldest
started crying
and the youngest one
stopped.


Many households have seen this happen and I like poets who include real-life anecdotes in their collections. We can all relate to this in some way and smile at the result.



Every Saturday Night

I called the police
after three days
because I thought
you’d gone off
on another bender,
but they never
found you.

I have nothing
but a few clothes
and your old car.

No body to bury,
no grave to visit,
no ashes to spread,

just an ’87 T-bird
with a cracked
windshield, a busted
taillight and a rearview
mirror that falls
on the floor
with every good
bump in the road.

I take the car
out every Saturday
night and drive
until it runs
out of gas,

then I sit at the side
of the road –
headlights burning
small holes in the night –
until the battery dies.

This poem is full of mystery since we don’t know who he is referring to. Friend? Girlfriend? Parent? Relative? Newspaper article? We are left just as lost as the poet who only has the car and its pitiful state left as evidence of what may have happened but remains empty of answers. It’s a fascinating poem that leaves me wanting more.



My Only Companion

It’s all darkness here
and clouds.
The road runs south,
away from you,
and my only companion
is the never-ending rope
of power lines rising
and falling lazily
from one massive steel
tower to the next –
like robots –
and I expect any moment
they will seize
my truck and fling
me into a nearby
cornfield, I will
roll over and over,
steel bending,
glass shattering,
until we become
a tight ball
rolling through
the heart-
land of America.


This poem is another one we can relate to but takes on a morbid tone that makes it interesting. The hypnotic way power lines rise and fall and then lead the poet into imagining the towering poles to be robots yearning to snatch up his truck and fling it and the people inside into wreckage across a cornfield is a striking image. It’s a poem that can crawl inside your head and wait for your next road trip to reappear inside your mind and I like that.


If you enjoyed these poems you can seize a copy of The Bones of Saints Under Glass for $5.00 through Alternating Current which will also throw in a bonus copy from archives. Remember, poets receive royalties and it is rare to find a small press who is able to pay the poets they publish so please visit Alternating Current to learn more about them. Alternating Current also encourages everyone who receives their chapbooks to review them on blogs, web-sites, etc. to spread the word about their poets and poetry in general.
That is pretty generous and amazing, isn’t it?

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

Poetic Asides at Writer's Digest

Poetic Asides by Robert Lee Brewer provides writing prompts, interviews, on-line seminars and all kinds of wonderful information. Check it out at:

http://blog.writersdigest.com/poeticasides/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop in tomorrow for another featured poet…

Poetry Tips: Forced Poetry

What I mean by “forced poetry” is when someone asks you to unexpectedly come up with a poem for a momentous occasion such as a wedding, anniversary, birthday, eulogy, or any special occasion in general. My parents often ask me at the last minute to come up with a poem for, say, a 50th wedding anniversary, and I end up trying too hard and coming up with a poem I’m not at all satisfied with. While the receivers have never complained I’ve always wished I had more warning and could have come up with better lines. I’ve learned that there is a silver lining to this recurring event, however: Sometimes the original poem will grow and bear fruit if you keep it with you and return to it for future related occasions. For example, I was completely dissatisfied with an anniversary poem for my own parents but one full year later I had been able to change the old poem into a new and much more improved poem that it was worth the “last-minute stress” from the previous year.

So the next time someone asks you at the spur of the moment to come up with a poem, consider saying “Yes, I’ll do it!” Then hang onto it to so that you can grow it into a better poem for the next year. You may end up thanking the person who pressured you into the poem just as much as the recipient who gets the “new and improved” version.


Thanks for reading, please stop in next week…

Blue Collar Review Open Submissions

Check out the site for the types of poetry published since their submission guidelines are spare: You may send up to 5 poems with your name and contact information on each page sent in an envelope that also includes a self-addressed stamped return envelope to:

Blue Collar Review
PO Box 11417
Norfolk, VA 23517

Check out the guidelines at:
http://www.angelfire.com/va/bcr/Guidelines.html

Check out Blue Collar Home page at:
http://www.angelfire.com/va/bcr/

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=236642
from Light: “I always thought reality” by Inger Christensen, translated by Susanna Nied

http://www.versedaily.org/2009/numbers.shtml
“Numbers” by Katharine Coles

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

Lilliput Review Issue #168

The Lilliput Review features poems ten lines or less and Issue #168 is small enough to fit just under the length of your hand. Don Wentworth has put together another fine journal whose subtle themes include barbarians and poets for Issue #168 and I would like to share several with you:

from Waiting for the Barbarians

Because night has fallen and the barbarians have not come.
And some who have just returned from the border say
there are no barbarians any longer.

C.P. Cavafy
Translated by E. Keeley and P. Sherrad




in 5 minutes
the old man
has told me everything

Robert Epstein
El Cerrito CA

I have to wonder if the old man has told a nugget of truth, his life story, or of an event. The curiosity is unbearable!


i stumble
the pebble shows
its darker side

Natalia L. Rudychev
Des Plaines, IL

I think this is a clever and funny little poem, don’t you?


a morning
empty of words –
a shadow
begins to form
on my desk

Mike Montreuil
Gloucester, Ontario

Quite a poetic way of describing writer’s block, don’t you think? That’s how I interpret it at least.


The art of November—
an old man raises orchids;
his humid room—
white and purple petals.

Peggy Garrison
New York, NY

This makes me wish I could breathe in the smell of those orchids and also makes me thankful that we are back to warmer weather.


If you enjoyed this little sample you’ll be thrilled to know that each issue only costs $1.00 and if you have really tight purse strings you can see older issues in their entirety on-line through links at Lilliput Review’s blog: Issa's Untidy Hut.

Don Wentworth is one of the hardest working and most generous editors I know. He has a web-site, Facebook Page, blog, twitter, posts samples of past issues, twitters past poems, and is willing to occasionally post an entire issue for free. He also accepts submissions year round and hand-writes messages to all who submit accompanied by a free issue whether their poem gets accepted or not. He’s also only charged $1.00 an issue for the past twenty years. If that doesn’t motivate you to stop by and pay him a visit on-line I don’t know what will. So please pay him a visit with any of the links posted, you will be happy you did so.

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