Tom Clark Blog

Tom Clark is a biographer of poets such as Jack Kerouac and Robert Creeley and writes poems himself on this amazing and beautiful blog at Tom Clark’s “Beyond The Pale.” Check it out at:


http://tomclarkblog.blogspot.com/

*Be careful if you decide to TYPE the above address into your search engine because there is another similar blog, tomclark.blogspot.com and it’s a different man.

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

Poetry Tips: Incentives

There are days, even weeks or months, in which a complete lack of desire to write occurs. You may have been going strong, you may have been diligent, but then the interest begins to wane. Taking a break is always a good idea but when you feel like writing has become a chore rather than a joy, it may be time to bring in some sort of incentive to keep going.
For example, mine has been treating myself to an Oreo cookie when sitting down to work on my poems when I least feel like it. Other times has been treating myself to window shopping if I spend a designated amount of time working on my writing—even if it is just tweaking already existing poems. Your may be allowing yourself a nap on the weekend after you’ve spent thirty minutes working at your own written words. Perhaps you’ll allow yourself a treat like an Oreo for the days you least feel like writing.

Let me know what incentives you use in the comments section, I’d love to hear about them…

Thanks for dropping in, please stop by again next week…

Alternating Current Open Submissions

Alternating Current is seeking up to five poems, deadline is November 30th, 2010, for Poiesis Issue #5.

Send these via e-mail, include your contact information and add “Poetry Submission” in the subject line to:
alt.current@gmail.com

Alternating Current publishes a wide variety of poems so if you have a poem that often has trouble finding a place to go, this is where I’d recommend sending it.

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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

http://www.juked.com/2010/09/nopicnic.asp
“No Picnic” by Julie Marie Wade

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=239948
“The Owl” by Ange Mlinko

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

Lilliput Review Issue #176

This issue is packed with flora and fauna, quiet contemplations, and sentimental poems. Below I am happy to share a few of the issue’s treasures:

#18

Toward Kiyomizu
Crossing Gion
Under moonlit cherry blossoms
This evening, everyone
Passing is beautiful.

By: Yosano Akiko, translated by Dennis Maloney

Isn’t this a beautiful poem? Forget candlelight, we can envision passerby under cherry trees in the fading light of sunset and envy Yosano Akiko’s view.



Summer Fruit – sharing 2 of 4 poems by Lyn Stefenhagens of Osprey, FL:

Cherry

Garnet,
tart and sweet;
your tongue finds the pit,
your fingers the stem
and both are stained
by a fruit that seemed
prim as a nun, intact.



Raspberry

Each little nub,
dark as your blood,
is chambered like a heart.
If you eat, take great care;
the vine which protects it
is jealous. Beware.

Both poems make me want to run out and buy these fruit. The Cherry is portrayed as sweet and innocent until its inner nature is revealed and the Raspberry is given the importance of being a vessel of life as a heart, so precious that its vine seeks to protect it for its own. Both are wonderful poems. The other two fruit poems are wonderful as well but I want to entice you to get your own copy of this issue to read the other two.




every horizon appears close now
no tree can
taste its own fruit

by: Chris Ellery by San Angela, TX

I envision a Texas sunset (I challenge you to argue that any other sunset is more beautiful than the sunsets in Texas) settling over fruit trees and casting a light so becoming that the poet wishes the fruit tree knew not only how beautiful its fruit looks but how lovely the fruit tastes.


If you enjoyed this sample I urge you to subscribe to Lilliput Review. You can subscribe to SIX issues for a mere $5.00 via Pay Pal at:

http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/

The blog itself features poems that Don Wentworth posts from previous issues along with countless other wonderful things, including Issa’s Sunday Service. So please visit the blog and consider a subscription to this tiny and fabulous collection of poems.

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

Moving Poems

When I was visiting the Lilliput Review blog, Issa’s Untidy Hut, there was a feature on Moving Poems and I’m so glad I visited. You will be, too, check out the short films here:
http://movingpoems.com/

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

Poetry Tips: Tolerance

Thanks to living in Florida and all the madness surrounding the pastor of a small church, I’ve been inspired to write poems about tolerance. Tolerance takes countless forms, when you get down to it. Can you tolerate an annoying co-worker? An unruly child? A relative who is always late to gatherings? Can you tolerate Republicans? Democrats? Can you tolerate different religions? Skin color? Homosexuality? This week I’d like you to question yourself and write about your own tolerance or intolerance.

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

Adirondack Review Open Submissions

Straight from the site:
Poetry

Please submit 2-5 single-spaced poems with a brief bio. We do not publish previously published work and do not accept simultaneous submissions. The Adirondack Review acquires first rights for publication. Upon publication, rights revert to the author/artist. The Adirondack Review reserves the right to reprint work at a later date if it is selected for inclusion in a print anthology. Please send poems in the body of your email, not as attachments.

Send poetry submissions to editors@theadirondackreview.com.
Please include your last name, date of submission, and the word "POETRY" in the subject line of your e-mail.

For more details, visit their site at:
http://theadirondackreview.com/

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

Poems Found by Poet Hound

https://sites.google.com/site/rhpissue35/steven-fowler-2
(Cioran’s Nightly Visit” by SJ Fowler

http://poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/21846
[without a listener] by Maxine Chernoff

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

Poiesis # 4

Leah Angstman at Alternating Current has put together a fabulous issue (and not just because one of my own poems appears in it) for Issue #4 of Poiesis. The poems range in intensity from loving and carefree to dark and foreboding. One poem blew my mind and I am going to let you know now that the only reason I did not include it was because it was just too long for me to try and type up. So you’ll just have to nab a copy for yourself and I’m sure you’ll know what I’m talking about because it’s based on a young man’s controversial lifestyle. I had a hard time paring down the number of poems to share with you and I am thrilled to share a sample of them with you:


Hitchhiking
By: Alan Caitlan

His red taillights are like smashed
windshields, half moons of broken glass
beneath the skin; kicking open the passenger
side door, he invites you inside, says,
“Pull hard, it sticks sometimes.” Pushes down
the gas pedal all the way, dual busted exhaust
pipes, jacked up high, rear springs too: inside,
rolling aluminum beer cans, overflowing ash tray,
smoldering, dropping live butts on grease
stained beyond-all-recognition floor mats,
says, “Like my dolly?” tickling the ass end
of a stuffed cloth blue gnome, its hard rubber
head lying on the hood, says, “Had an accident
with my fist.” Pauses, says, “You know, I killed
a guy once. Looked just like you, he did.”
“No shit,” I want to say but nothing comes out.
The spider web patterns of fractured light,
splinters that penetrate the young driver’s eyes
laying a tight fitting blacktop on the night.

Quite frankly, this poem made me shudder, and that’s a good thing. The sort of person you would dread picking up is instead the driver and so the poet takes a chance and climbs in for the ride and we don’t know how it ends. All we know is the beginning and I’m curious and thirsty for more, Mr. Caitlan.



Fat Free
By: Joseph Dorazio

Salivary
slavery
shackle locks
& lips
ham hocks
& hips
in the land of
milk & honey
no runaway
calorie
it’s obesity’s
emancipation
the label’s
proclamation:
fat free!

I like the alliteration, the pop of rhyme, the whole rhythm of this poem. The subject is great too and is portrayed in short, slim lines. The whole of it is clever and catchy, and I agree with its mockery of the message: The answer to obesity is fat free! Obviously, fat free does not solve much of anything except to make the consumer feel better about themselves. Thank you, Mr. Dorazio, clever poem.



war chant
by: Robert Schuler

I speak for the liberation of the soul
from the slavery of the marketplace

This short poem addresses a broader spectrum of the one above. Free consumers from the marketplace and then their souls will be free. He could go on and on but “enough said.”



Fornication
(or, How My House Got This Way)
By: Anthony G Herles

They fooled me for a while but I caught wise
Those noises in the cellar were not mice
And in the attic, too, those all were lies

The fluffy dolls from Raggedy Ann were some surprise
What she was doing up there was not nice
She fooled me for a while but I caught wise.

Chairs and tables I’ll have to sterilize
They wouldn’t listen to my Puritan advice
So in the living room, all they told were lies.

And GI Joe and Legos seemed to multiply
Regardless of their word to cut the vice
They laughed at me a while, but I caught wise.

Silverware and dishes offered me no alibis
Bathing together seemed to them exotic paradise
So in my kitchen they lived erotic lives.

My house is filled with stuff I can’t abide
Their stand of my confusion will not suffice
They have not fooled me yet, for I am catching wise
Tomorrow I will confront them with their procreation lies.

Finally, a rhyming poem! This one made me laugh out loud, the multiplication of stuff is something I can relate to very well, how about you? Every time my back is turned it seems my own stuff forms taller piles and stacks. The idea that Mr. Herles’ things are fornicating and multiplying is portrayed in a riotous rhyme scheme here.

Okay, so I had about three more poems marked to share with you but I’m going to stop here. After all, you should be reaching for your own copy by now!

If you would like to purchase a copy of Poiesis issue #4 for yourself from Propaganda Press, it is $4.00 (+ $2 US, or $3 out-of-US shipping and handling) at:
http://alt-current.com

or via Paypal to alt.current@gmail.com

OR via check or money order made out to Angstman Arts and mail it to:
Alternating Current
PO Box 183
Palo Alto, CA 94302

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

The Fork of Ambiguity

The poems found here are great, after visiting over the weekend, I found myself laughing over some of them. Clever, great reads, check it out at:

http://the-fork-of-ambiguity.com/

Thanks for clicking in, please stop in for a featured journal…

Poems Found by Poet Hound and Poetry Tips

Having a short week threw me off so here are the Poems Found by Poet Hound in addition to Friday's Poettry Tips:

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=172262
“Koheleth” by Louis Untermeyer

http://www.sundresspublications.com/wickedalice/webster30.html
“Often She’d Drop Into Fathomles” by Rachel Jamison Webster


Poetry Tips: Falling for Fall

I don’t know about you, but I am ready for the Fall weather. The heat, humidity, the long daylight hours have taken their toll on my skin, my hair, and so on. In Florida we are finally waking up to 70-degree weather which warms to the 80’s. This week I want you to write about your anticipation of the Fall. Do you long for apple cider? The change of colors in the leaves? The promise of the big holidays to come such as Halloween, Thanksgiving? There is plenty of material so have fun!

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

Alaska Quarterly Open Submissions

Straight from the site:
POETRY: Poems in traditional and experimental styles but no light verse (up to 20 pages).
Please include the following contact information in your cover letter and/or on your manuscript: mailing address, phone number, and email address if available. All manuscripts must be typed and accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE). Unless a SASE is enclosed with your submission, you will not hear from us unless we are interested in publishing your manuscript. We try to reply within 6 to 16 weeks.
All general correspondence should be addressed to The Editors. Please address submissions to the section editor (e.g. Fiction Editor, Poetry Editor, Non-Fiction Editor, or Drama Editor) at the following address:

Alaska Quarterly Review
University of Alaska Anchorage
3211 Providence Drive (ESH 208)
Anchorage, AK 99508
Important notes:
(1) Unsolicited manuscripts are read between August 15 and May 15.
(2) Although we respond to e-mail queries, we cannot review electronic submissions.
(3) We review simultaneous submissions and request that they be identified as such in the cover letter.
To learn more, go to:
http://www.uaa.alaska.edu/aqr/guidelines.cfm

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

Lilliput Review Issue #175

Don Wentworth’s issue brings the hint of Fall and its colors, vegetables, cool air. It was nearly impossible to pinpoint just a few poems to share with you. Every page brings a breath of fresh cool air into the lungs and so I hope you will enjoy the following:


that snap in the air,
some other poet
has broken the language

By: Charlie Mehrhoff, Oakland ME

If this poem doesn’t inspire you to write, I don’t know what will! Also, it makes me want to run outside and feel that snap in the air.



the rain owl’s recurrent question,
Who cooks for you?
Who cooks for you all?

By: Andy Fogle, Niskayuna NY

In the woods I have heard owls and I love the spin of phrase Andy Fogle creates, now I’ll think of these lines when the owls hoot and it fits perfectly. For the record, owls, my husband cooks for us all.


Simple Pleasures Moon

This is the season to honor the pumpkin, butternut squash,
pomegranate.
This is a time for
barely cooked with dates and fennel,
for the last green apple and the first
cranberry. Sit over coffee,
warm your hands around a round cup.
Say to yourself you are happy as the night’s antlers
drift past you.

By: Mary McGinnis, Santa Fe NM

This poem makes me hungry and excited for Thanksgiving. I also love the ending lines of “the night’s antlers/drift past you” which is a beautiful metaphor of the night air changing with the seasons.



If I wander with sorrow :: won’t I hear all the news

By: Grant Hackett, Great Barrington MA

I always enjoy Mr. Hackett’s one-line poems, I’m quite jealous of his talent in fact. Isn’t his poem a poignant truism?


If you like this short sample you can learn how to score some free issues and/or subscribe using Pay Pal at the Lilliput Review blog while finding more inspiration and delightful songs and poems at Issa’s Untidy Hut:

http://lilliputreview.blogspot.com/


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

White Knuckle Press

Right Hand Pointing and Left Hand Waving have come up with a new press for prose poetry so check out this new and fabulous site at:

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

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