Poetry Tips: Time Capsule

This week I want you to go back in time with your own writings and select the best poems you have to offer from the whole of your lifespan, maybe one per year or every five years. These may inspire you to write new ones, and in the end, place them all into an envelope or a box and “hide” them from yourself with a date for ten or twenty years into the future to be opened again. This will be like a time capsule of your best work and refresh you in later years when you find them again.

Good luck to all who try it, please stop in next Monday for another featured site…

The Sentinel Literary Quarterly

I received an e-mail from the contest judge, Claire Askew, from “across the pond” and I have copied-and-pasted the guidelines below for The Sentinel Literary Quarterly Contest:

"Very exciting news: I have been asked to judge a poetry competition! The Sentinel Literary Quarterly is a fabulous London-based magazine dedicated to publishing world literature: everything from poetry to plays, essays to reviews. Every quarter, they hold a poetry competition with a top prize of £100, to seek out and reward great writing. And I’m very pleased to announce that for the latest contest, they’ve asked me to be their poetry judge.
The contest is open to all — you can enter regardless of age, experience or your location in the world. The only rules are these:
* Poems must be 40 lines or less
* They only accept submissions in the English language
* Poems must be typed
* Identifying marks must not appear on the poems themselves
* You have to include an entry fee of £3 per poem — OR take advantage of a discount: 5 poems for £12.
What could you win?
* The first prize poem wins £100 and publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly
* Second prize is £60, and third prize £40 — plus publication in Sentinel Literary Quarterly
* A further twelve highly-commended poems will also be published in the magazine
There are more details of how to enter, how to present your poems and what you can win here, at the competition’s homepage. The closing date is THURSDAY 25TH MARCH 2010 so get scribbling!
What will I be looking for?
As the contest’s judge, I’ll be looking for a variety of things in the winning poems. Firstly, a strong and original voice — any subject, however old and tired, can be reinvigorated by a fresh perspective, an engaging voice. I’ll also be looking for excellent wordsmithery — not necessarily anything flashy, but signs that the writer knows what language is all about, and how to weild it. I want ideas that make me think “damn, I wish I’d thought of that!”, and turns of phrase that excite and inspire me.
I know that so many of you ONS readers have the power to write work like this — I definitely think you’re all up to the challenge, and hey, I know none of you would say no to a free hundred quid, right? So I hope you’ll all get yourselves to the contest page and enter your work. This is a great contest: there’s no theme, and apart from length, no formal contraints. I’m excited to sift through what I’m sure will be a melting pot of themes, ideas and voices. Make sure yours is part of it!
To learn more about Sentinel Literary Quarterly and for details on entering on-line for their contest, see below:
http://www.sentinelpoetry.org.uk/slq/3.2/competitions/poetry2010april.htm"

Claire Askew’s site is below, where I got the details on the contest:

http://www.readthismagazine.co.uk/onenightstanzas/?p=1265

Good luck to all of you who enter, please stop in tomorrow for more Poetry Tips…

Poems Found By Poet Hound

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=173990
“Lament” by Edna St. Vincent Millay

http://arseniclobster.magere.com/211201.html
“Black Squirrel Poem” by Bill Yarrow

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Sorry Everyone...

Sorry everyone, I ran out of time this weekend to finish reading a chapbook on my desk to feature it this week. I got busy working on some other projects and quite a few birthdays are in order this month as well. I’ll hopefully be back on track next week and I do have posts for the rest of the week so please click in tomorrow for more Poems Found by Poet Hound…

Luminous Clarity Blog

This blog features poems and poetry tidbits by Lisa Espenmiller complete with poetic dedications and is a wonderful read, check it out at:

http://luminousclarity.blogspot.com/

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

Poetry Tips: Poetry Texting

With all of the shorthand now running back and forth in e-mails and through texting, why not try a poem using only shorthand? Think of shorthand phrases like “LOL” and “BTW” and see what you can come up with. This allows you to experiment in a whole new way with poetry and perhaps fuel creativity for the next full-length worded poem.

Good luck to all who try it, please drop in next Monday for a new featured site…

Triggerfish Open Submissions

You may send 2-5 previously unpublished poems (simultaneous submissions accepted) via e-mail to:
triggerfishcriticalreview@gmail.com
Subject line should read: Poetry Submission, Your Name, Number of Poems

For more details, check out:
http://www.triggerfishcriticalreview.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=17&Itemid=11

Good luck to all who submit, please drop by tomorrow for more Poetry Tips...

Poems Found By Poet Hound

http://www.poetryfoundation.org/archive/poem.html?id=238618
“Pupil” by D.A. Powell

http://www.sundress.net/wickedalice/woodson.html
“Chrysalis” by Rose Maria Woodson

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

Davide Trame's Poetry

Davide Trame is a regular reader at Poet Hound and teaches English in Italy and he can also be found at the blog Tomasso Gervasutti:

http://tommasogervasutti.blogspot.com/

Davide has several poems around the world wide web and I would like to share some of those poems with you all below:

On The Scree
The path is zigzagging, narrow and steep,
logs hammered in keep it tight to this
bright cheek of gravel.
It’s hard to climb but it’s
the effort I want and I need despite
the pain in my foot, a pain
that like most of anything else
is what one can’t escape.
Maybe it will leave — I want to think — the pain,
because at one point everything changes and leaves,
but slowly, so slowly, because nothing is a flash,
but just a breathing and enduring on a path
like these steps that negotiate each stone
under the sole, each uneven and honed speck
of the ridge’s skin, each drop of sweat
trickling down the back
while the blue sky
spaces, pressing
its silence on the bones.
A still chamois stares at us down there
from a rock, one chamois only, alone.
But no, you take in at once
others running and jumping and no sound comes,
their feet looking like sailing on air.
We climb on, the one on the rock, king or guardian,
has not moved, keeps staring, and the dog sits
for a moment, spellbound, and stares too. Statue-like
under the sun.
And the top of the mountain, the path pointing
towards it, like at the top of a triangle,
stares down, openly covers us
with its stare.
So, call it faith all we come down to:
feeling an unframed eye, calling for it,
bearing it with the force of gravity and pain
and, suspending the search for a name,
enduring the brightness that spaces and cuts in.

This poem is lovely, it gives me the images of a long hike that tests your endurance and faith. I love the lines “while the blue sky/spaces, pressing/its silence on the bones.” Isn’t that an interesting feeling to have? The idea that the silence under a wide blue sky could press down upon you, all the way to your bones? From the top of the mountain Davide sees that the mountain itself “stares down, openly covers us/with its stare” which gives the mountain the personification of a large force peering down on all below. I enjoy the imagery in this poem and I urge you to listen to it as well.
To listen to the podcast of this poem, please use the link below:

http://qarrtsiluni.com/2010/01/18/on-the-scree/



There is also a sample of Davide Trame’s chapbook on-line titled Re-Emerging, published by Gatto Publishing, scroll below for the link, and I’d love to share some lines with a couple of the poems there:

In the poem “Tiepelo Sky” Davide describes the wide open waters of boating and the carefree experience of “not having any solid ground to tread on.” There are some lovely and insightful lines, such as “No storms with the yellow, woolly broken clouds/…Nor loneliness with the swishes up there/of silken cloaks, scarves streaming…” It is a very peaceful and beautiful poem that leaves me feeling refreshed for having read it.


One of my favorite poems in this collection is titled “The Last Day of School.” I know for most students that the last day of school is very far away but it is nonetheless exhilarating to read. From the opening lines of “Open windows, the dance of sunlight and leaves’ shadows,/sunflowers of laughter in the walls” to likening the children to a flock of birds scattering it is a poignant reminder of school days for adults who have long since experienced the last day of school and a reminder to current students the charm and the nervous parting from their teachers. You’ll have to read the poem for yourself it really is just wonderful.


You can read David Trame’s poems in their entirety in the sample on-line chapbook titled Re-Emerging by using the link below:

http://www.gattopublishing.com/books.html

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

Lannan Foundation

This is a one-stop shop for audio, literary programs, interviews and more, check them out at:

http://www.lannan.org/

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

Poetry Tips: The Name Game

There are some catchy songs out there that have names, such as “Hit the Road Jack” and “Oh, Donna.” Why not create a catchy-sounding poem using names? It doesn’t have to rhyme, it could become a “refrain” in the stanzas, the possibilities are endless.

Good luck to all who try, please click in on Monday for another featured site…

Folly Magazine Open Submissions

You may send 3-7 previously unpublished poems and please use a word document to create a manuscript to attach in your e-mail when sending your submission to: folly@follymag.com

*Make sure your name and the word “Submission” are in the subject line
For more details check out:

http://www.follymag.com/FollyContact.html

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

Poems Found By Poet Hound

http://tinhouse.com/mag/issue_current/current_poem.htm
“Dirge” by Allyson Paty

http://arseniclobster.magere.com/211401.html
“Thrift” by John Thomas

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

Ed Markowski's 15 Poems Issue #172

Lilliput Review also produces small chapbooks (the same size as their journal) and issue #172 features Ed Markowski’s collection of short poems. I found this collection to be spiritual and simplistic, two words that ought to go hand in hand more often. I will share an equally small sample with you…

the scarecrow’s sutra

to
become

a
buddha
a

crow
become

a
scarecrow

become
corn

silk
woven

into
wind.

I think this sounds lovely when reading and the flow into transformation is pleasant and supernatural just like the Buddha.



midnight mass
i add a few casino chips
to the collection plate

This poem makes me smile. I imagine an eccentric gambler tossing some of his winnings and I can only imagine the look on the face of the person designated to count the offerings.


born again
now
what?

This one also makes me smile. So many ways you can take this phrase besides “what next?” So versatile in so few lines.


If you enjoyed this little sample of poems, this issue of Ed Markowski’s 15 Poems in issue #172 is a mere $1.00 from Lilliput Review at:

Lilliput Review
Don Wentworth, Editor
282 Main Street
Pittsburgh, PA 15201

Please also use the sidebar to explore Lilliput Review’s blog titled: Issa’s Untidy Hut

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

Bijou Poetry Review

An on-line journal with posts individually representing poets’ submissions, all are wonderful. Check it out at:

http://bijoupoetryreview.blogspot.com/

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