MiPOesias Magazine July 2008

A little self promotion...

Yesterday, the July 2008 edition of MiPO was published included is one of my poems along with 101 pages total of poetry, a few short stories, and also some recipes.

My poem "Fluff" is on page 39 and my photo and bio appears on page 38.

Thanks so much to the editor Didi Menendez for including me! I have read some of the work in it and it's a great read so far.

Check it out here
There's a free downloadable PDF copy of MiPOesias or very soon it says one can purchase a hard copy from Amazon.com. I will be supporting this publishing company by buying a copy or two. It's well worth the money!

For other information concerning MiPO and Didi, you can find the MiPOesias blog here.

Rock Hard

Allege


wanting soft
feels damn hard
for a certain stone
grazed glacier smooth
balanced on the edge
of the river rage
the ascent forever ended
moist anticipation
theneverendingtumble

Feather On The River

Click on photo to enlarge...

Spider Poem

The Twist



The breeze breath
inside bubble burst
dissipates
only on release
of her sharp touch.

Prospects of love
through shaft extravagant,
vascular’s dim lit drop
into gravity’s moist keep,
web-tied and twisted.

Black widow meal
consumed by feel
succulently,
suck relentlessly,
such a rent was he.

Boston Literary Mag - Summer 2008

Today, the Summer 2008 edition of Boston Literary Magazine dropped with one of my poems on board.

Read "The Lake Has Not Changed" here

Thanks to the editors for including me!

Smiles!

Poem Revision - revising our poetry

I guess I am not sure how many have read the Forest Poem below. If you have, you may notice that it has changed a couple times already since first posted. Over the next week or two I will continue to revise it in an attempt to improve it (haha, maybe it will go the other way?) I don't plan on this piece being the killer of all killer poems, I know it won't, is not meant to be, but I hope to bring it to a level that provides a breath of inspiration while also being an interesting read. We'll see?

I love revision!! I almost always revise my poems at least a few times and hardly ever write (share) improv pieces. Maybe an exception is when I write Haiku. I will sometimes leave an instant haiku to a friend in a blog or email as my little piece of poem candy, usually written on the spot in response to the things I am reading/replying to. I find the revision process facinating. Sometimes, when things are right in our head, a poet can go outside of his or her mind and really look at a piece as a reader might. This is a difficult task, to disconnect one's self from our own poem but it is crutial to success in revision. I always try to get that first draft on paper in my journal, encompassing all the thoughts and/or using the notes I have written prior to starting, then build from there at a later date after the piece breathes a bit. Instant revision is not a real good thing normally either in my opinion.

Receiving rejections is a good thing sometimes. Yes, it may bruise the poet's ego maybe, but it should also serve as a motivation to potentially look at a piece deeper and revise it for improvement for the next round of submissions.

The poem below has had at least 10 revisions so far (and it still stinks...lol) and I probably spent about 8 hours with it total. I wrote it in 2006 originally.

My record for hours worked on one single poem is 125 hours. This was over a 1.5 year period total. I am still shopping it around, trying to find it a home. It's an experimental piece, 13 lines long and so far, I have received 3 fine rejections. Smiles!

I think I average about 5 hours per "finished" poem. I wonder how much time others spend? (promp)

Oh well, keep writing and reading poetry!!! and of course... revising.

Forest Poem

In The Forest A Clearing


One day after the release,
I find myself lost
in the woods, alone
among spring sprouts

poking their heads up
through compacted debris
from the dead season passed
on the forest floor.

They sway and waft
curiously in the breeze
as if trying to take a look
at me ambling by:

an outsider, in this world.

I squat low, turn my back
to a stump, blackened
from fire long ago,
ease my weight and rest.

Everything became clear.
The entire forest suddenly quiet,
every tree, branch, leaf, bud
still, motionless, settled, silent,

like a freeze had returned.
The only noise, my heartbeat,
heartfelt, pulse-rise each beat
and I realized at that moment,

eyes open, I can see
that I was alive and free
to choose the direction
of the next step I will take.

Good news poetry submission - MiPO

A little poetry brag again today.

This morning, I submitted a few poems to MiPOesias and within an hour got a response back from the editor. She wants one of the poems for a future issue of MiPO. It's a piece written recently, one I held onto with the group especially for a MiPO submission as I have been eyeing this excellent magazine for several months and I am super happy and honored to get this good news today. It's a print and PDF version journal.

MiPO website is here
There are links there to purchase current and past issues of MiPO.

Here's a sample of a recent issue that is online also. Great stuff!

The editor, Didi Menendez is also an artist and has a really cool blog displaying her art here

Welcome Home Stanley!

Hometown hockey team
2008 Champions!!!
Now they can shave their beards!
.
Detroit Red Wings
2008 Stanley Cup Champions!