PHOTO ALBUM
A perfect day trip in July —
the sea was calm, the sky was blue,
the kids were little, you and I
were ten years younger, seagulls flew
and cried above us, hours were few,
but stretched, and stretched…until at last
‘twas time — we rounded up our crew,
and our day trip sailed to the past.
Prompted by WD Poetic Asides Huitain Poetic Form Challenge
When rain clouds move across the blue,
When life’s nothing but wading through
The endless stream of chores to do,
When meaning’s nowhere to be found,
When you’ve no clue where you are bound
Or what will give you the high ground
When times are tough and friends are few —
Keep plowing through the push and pull,
Keep smiling like a happy fool,
Keep giving till your heart is full:
“This too shall pass” is ever true.
Prompted by Writer’s Digest Zejel Poetic form challenge.
Image: Jan van Goyen. The Square Watch-Tower, 1651. Oil on panel, Overall: 22 3/4 x 35 1/4 in. (57.8 x 89.5 cm). BF843. Public Domain.
I stepped outside to see the evening birdsong,
and hear the lilacs fill the air with purple
and white aroma, and to drown before long
in maybe-May. Falling beyond the circle
of probability, defying lifelong
perceptions of what’s real, the twilight sparkled
with myriads of realms. Mind–proven all wrong–
accepted its defeat, joyfully humbled.
Prompted by Poetic Asides Strambotto Poetic Form Challenge.
Image: Henri Rousseau. Woman Walking in an Exotic Forest (Femme se promenant dans une forêt exotique), 1905. Oil on canvas, Overall: 39 3/8 x 31 3/4 in. (100 x 80.6 cm). BF388. Public Domain.
Bryn Donovan, editor, novelist, non-fiction writer, and blogger, shares 25 ideas for blog posts — try them all, or take your pick. Have fun blogging!
National Poetry Month is here. One of the many ways to celebrate April is to take part in the annual April Poem-A-Day Challenge. Catch up!
By the way, posting your poems on your blog throughout April–daily, or almost daily–is bound to give your blog a boost. Ready…Set…Go write poetry!
Happy April!
Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Cup of Chocolate (Femme prenant du chocolat), c. 1912. Oil on canvas, Overall: 21 5/16 x 25 5/8 in. (54.1 x 65.1 cm). BF14. Public Domain.
“The yellow half-moon enlarged, sagging down, drooping, the face of the sea almost touching,
The boy ecstatic” — Walt Whitman, “Leaves of Grass”
“2018 National Poetry Month poster, designed by AIGA Medal and National Design Award-winning designer Paula Scher, celebrates typography and is suggestive of concrete poetry and Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.”
How’s your poetry month going?
Need more inspiration?
How about even more inspiration?
How are you celebrating National Poetry Month? Share in the comments.
Enjoyed the post? Press “like” and share the post on social media — thank you.
Image: Margaret C. Cook via http://www.brainpickings.org
National Poetry Month is underway. How are you celebrating?
Are you participating in the Poetic Asides Poem-A-Day challenge? If not — catch up!
Remember: if you choose to post your work on PA blog, or your own website/blog — your work will be published. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? It all depends.
Here’s an agent’s perspective on whether you should post your work online.
Consider the pros and cons of posting, but whatever you decide to do — keep on writing!
Do you post your work online? Has the practice ever affected you negatively? Share in the comments. Enjoyed the post? Press “like” and “share” buttons — thank you.
Got any plans for April?
2018 April Poem-A-Day (PAD) Challenge will be here before you know it.
Check out the guidelines, and note the interaction that took place in the comments. Here’s an excerpt from it:
Kateland
March 6, 2018 at 12:47 pm
“Well, there are very wide interpretations of “hateful” nowadays. …
Perhaps a set of rules on what themes are considered “hateful” or “intolerable”…
Robert Lee Brewer Post author
March 7, 2018 at 12:50 pm
“I believe in diversity as far as the form and content of poems–expressing a wide range of opinions. As long as it is done respectfully.
I know for a fact that we have poets from around the world, of various faiths, of various political parties and slants, genders, ages, etc.”
Now, if you’re new to the challenge, Poetic Asides is not a political forum — it’s a poetry blog. However, it’s very refreshing to see its commitment to remain a place of free expression. We should not be afraid to voice our opinions.
Write poetry, be respectful while exercising free speech, don’t be a troll — that’s what PA is about. So, flex your poetry muscles!
Have you participated in PAD challenges? Are you in for the poem-a-day this April? Share in the comments.
If you’ve enjoyed the post, press “like” and “share” buttons — thank you.
In the Mind’s Eye
Sometimes we see
Things that will be —
A memory
Of tomorrow
Sometimes we find
It warm and kind
Sometimes our mind
Fills with sorrow
So some sweet day
In June or May
Bathed in sunrays
We remember
How you and I
Share burnt good-byes
Beneath the skies
Of November
Sasha A. Palmer
It often pays off to read comments to posts. Thinking of submitting your poetry to journals? Not crazy about submission fees? Check out this list of “younger, hungrier” journals provided by Joe Cottonwood in a comment thread on The Passive Voice site:
Got a name or two to add to this list? Share in the comments.
Happy writing, submitting, and getting published.
If you enjoyed this post, do press “like” and “share” buttons — thank you.
Image: Pierre-Auguste Renoir. Autumn Landscape (Paysage d’automne), c. 1884. Oil on canvas (later mounted to fiberboard), Painting: 25 9/16 x 21 1/4 in. (65 x 54 cm) Overall (with secondary support): 26 1/4 x 22 3/8 in. (66.7 x 56.8 cm). BF933. Public Domain.
“Everyone, including aspiring poets, including even those stuck in the MFA system, would be better off if the contest system were abolished, and publishers once again took responsibility for promoting individual strong aesthetics, rather than outsourcing the decision at every stage, and supporting safe conformist meeting-room-style outcomes.”
“Numerous contest finals and wins validated my work. Indeed, I ultimately found my agent and publisher through contests.” — Kristin Bartley Lenz
So, how do you feel about contests? Share in the comments.
If you like this post, press the “like” and “share” buttons — thank you.
Image credit: Paul Cézanne. Young Man and Skull (Jeune homme à la tête de mort), 1896–1898. Oil on canvas, Overall: 51 3/16 x 38 3/8 in. (130 x 97.5 cm). BF929. Public Domain.
In the Mind’s Eye
Sometimes we see
Things that will be —
A memory
Of tomorrow
Sometimes we find
It warm and kind
Sometimes our mind
Fills with sorrow
So some sweet day
In June or May
Bathed in sunrays
We remember
How you and I
Share burnt good-byes
Beneath the skies
Of November
The first WD Poetic Form Challenge of 2018 is underway. Try your hand at rhupunt!
sasha a. palmer 