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A Whistle on the Wind, a poem

who knew …
Time was fading like a whistle on the wind,
that you wouldn’t have wealth or forever.
Who knew you had to capture short-lived youth,
relish it like the salt in a rich savory stew, dance
to the music of that age, dress in its pastels.

and who knew …
That all those years you worked at survival,
life would slip by, that holding-on was like
trying to grasp an ocean in your hands.
Suddenly, the moment had passed when you
could layer the joys of life’s spring in the basket
of your heart; now like old photo albums
you pull them out on occasion, unpacking
aspirations built on the fault lines of time.

how could you have known, my friend
That while you were busy with survival
the blue planet spun; in its ceaseless whorl,
the years passed and life changed, but now
you discover that you’ve changed too
and change comes baring its own gifts.

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.” Khalil Gibran

© 2017, poem and photograph,Jamie Dedes, All rights reserved

The recommended read for this week is Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Pulitzer Prize winning Megan Marshall who studied with Bishop at Harvard. This biography is richly spun,  energetic, engaging and even inspirational despite the breathtaking depth of Bishop’s losses, her sense of marginalization and her head-long push into alcoholism. Indeed, some of the inspiration comes because with all her loses, Bishop managed to hold poetry tight. Her poems were for her a charm “against the loneliness they often expressed.” The book covers Bishop’s relationships with other poets and her romantic interests, the last was for me the singular wearisome downside, much overrided though by the book’s pleasures and values. It is laced with Marshall’s own stories and together the lives of these two bare witness to the power of words to give shape, sense and meaning to life. We come away with a strong sense of Elizabeth Bishop, one of America’s most extraordinary poets. A page-turner. A must read or everyone who loves and writes poetry.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

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Celebrating International Women’s Day with poem, prompt and Peace Action celebration (San Mateo, CA)

Listen Child

I read a poem today and decided
I must deed it to some lost, lonely
fatherless child… to brace her
along her stony path …

Listen child, don’t forsake
your aspirations or buy the social OS
Just let this poem play you like a
musician her viola, reframing lonely
into solitude and sanctity
Let it wash you like the spray of whales
Let it drench your body in the music
of your soul, singing pure prana into
the marrow and margins of your life
Let your shaman soul name your muse
Discover the amethyst bliss of words
woven from strands of your own DNA

Yes! I read a poem today and decided
I must deed it to a lost fatherless child

© 2011, poem and photograph, Jamie Dedes All rights reserved

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

As we celebrate International Women’s Day and our own lives, the lives of the women we know and the lives of the women who came before us and fought for our rights and the resulting benefits to our children, I wonder what you – male or female – would like to bequeath to the next generation and generations to come. What lessons would you want to share.  To help yourself along imagine perhaps what you’re older self would like to tell your younger self. Share with us in prose or poem. If you feel comfortable, leave the piece or a link to it in the comments below so that I and others might enjoy it.

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HEADS-UP SAN MATEO CALIFORNIA: – Join PEACE ACTION SAN MATEO CALIFORNIA in celebrating International Women’s Day 2017 on the sidewalk – at 3rd Avenue and El Camino in San Mateo…in front of the Bank of America building.

Bring your signs and your spirits to recognize women’s achievements and to inspire actions for the advancement of women’s equity and parity, human rights, a peaceful world, and healthcare for all (just to name a few concerns).

Everybody is invited to be there from 4:30-6 PM! Date: Wednesday, March 8, 2017 -16:30 to 18:00

ALSO SAVE THE DATES: 

Monday, March 20: A Talk About the U.S., NATO and Russia with Peace Leaders Kevin Martin and Reiner Braun. Details HERE.

Sunday, March 26: Toby Blomé of CODEPINK on Drone Warfare. Details HERE. (Click on the title in the blogroll to your left.)

To find your own local Peace Action affiliate link HERE. I imagine there are others celebrating today too. 

The recommended read for this week is Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Pulitzer Prize winning Megan Marshall who studied with Bishop at Harvard. This biography is richly spun,  energetic, engaging and even inspirational despite the breathtaking depth of Bishop’s losses, her sense of marginalization and her head-long push into alcoholism. Indeed, some of the inspiration comes because with all her loses, Bishop managed to hold poetry tight. Her poems were for her a charm “against the loneliness they often expressed.” The book covers Bishop’s relationships with other poets and her romantic interests, the last was for me the singular wearisome downside, much overrided though by the book’s pleasures and values. It is laced with Marshall’s own stories and together the lives of these two bare witness to the power of words to give shape, sense and meaning to life. We come away with a strong sense of Elizabeth Bishop, one of America’s most extraordinary poets. A page-turner. A must read or everyone who loves and writes poetry.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

LITERATURE AND FICTION oo Editor’s Picks oo Award Winners oo NY Times Best Sellers

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Liberty Circus … A Rogue Band of Outlaw Songwriters and Poets

The Liberty Circus are Malcolm Holcombe, Al Maginnes, RB Morris and Alan Kaufman: a rogue band of outlaw songwriters and poets who have thrown in to criss-cross the land in a performing celebration of good old democratic open-heartedness. They say that “A lion’s share from the proceeds of our shows will directly benefit organizations working with immigrants and refugees. Along the way we’ll invite local performers to our stages and grow our Liberty Circus into a big national family of love and support for Lady Liberty’s tired, poor masses yearning to breathe free.” Follow them on Facebook HERE.  A worthy project that promises to be fun.

Thanks to Alan for the heads-up on this. Alan Kaufman – “citizen poet” with five published volumes including The Outlaw Bible of American Poetry has been featured here before and was also featured in The BeZine.

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Three Intrepid Poets in Response to Last Wednesday’s Writing Prompt

Last Wednesday’s Writing Prompt was Eve’s Apologetic.

Ocean Current of Life

Knowledge is like that of a strong ocean current
undulating through the movement of life
& can be accessed of books, of people
or held tight in a Pandora’s box

our need to know like the curiosity of a cat
hoping that understanding will follow
& fall into place like that of
a lost puzzle piece

completing the picture of endless possibilities
it is the chord binding us all together
& can be a solace in understanding
or pose queries in knowing

© March 2017 Renee Espriu

c796b9e96120fdf0ce6f8637fa73483cRENEE ESPRIU (Renee Just Turtle Flight) is a busy poet and artist. She’s the only other person I’ve ever met whose totem is Turtle (hence the title of her blog), an earthy symbol. Poetry is one of the more perfect vocations for a Turtle. Renee’s bio is HERE.

day 7 .

while all around is broken, shall we mend

and tidy this little bit.

shall we change the linen, white and clean.

lean toward a better place round us, start again?

shall i sleep , stay quiet and try to understand

some things, knowing i will never know it all.

shall i love thee not in any biblical sense,

for our minds have changed irrevocably.

click here and you will find some meaning

at least.

i have started a new pattern, using a plainer

stitch for strength and stability.

#bear.

© Sonjia Benskin Mesher

sonjabenskinmesher2011Sonja Benskin Mesher‘s (sonja-benskin-mesher.net) is a woman of many talents including Asemic Writing. You’ll find samples of her Asemic Writing by rummaging around HERE. Sonja’s bio is HERE.

Would It Were That Easy

to know what each breath brings
and what it takes away.

to guess what ground your feet
falls upon, and how safe it is.

to hear another’s hidden half
and hold it close to your own.

to taste a new fragrance, but still
have faith in your old senses.

to inhale new knowledge
and not be afraid to lose it
when you breathe it out.

to know easiness does not come
easy and needs to settle in.

© Paul Brookes

unnamedPAUL BROOKES (The Wombwell Rainbow).  A prodigious writer, Paul has held many day jobs, but still he poems on. Bravo, Paul! His bio is HERE.

The recommended read for this week is Elizabeth Bishop: A Miracle for Breakfast by Pulitzer Prize winning Megan Marshall who studied with Bishop at Harvard. This biography is richly spun,  energetic, engaging and even inspirational despite the breathtaking depth of Bishop’s losses, her sense of marginalization and her head-long push into alcoholism. Indeed, some of the inspiration comes because with all her loses, Bishop managed to hold poetry tight. Her poems were for her a charm “against the loneliness they often expressed.” The book covers Bishop’s relationships with other poets and her romantic interests, the last was for me the singular wearisome downside, much overrided though by the book’s pleasures and values. It is laced with Marshall’s own stories and together the lives of these two bare witness to the power of words to give shape, sense and meaning to life. We come away with a strong sense of Elizabeth Bishop, one of America’s most extraordinary poets. A page-turner. A must read or everyone who loves and writes poetry.

By shopping at Amazon through The Word Play Shop and using the book links embedded in posts, you help to support the maintenance of this site. Thank you! (Some book links will just lead to info about the book or poet/author and not to Amazon.)

The WordPlay Shop offers books and other tools especially selected for poets and writers.

THE WORDPLAY SHOP: books, tools and supplies for poets, writers and readers

LITERATURE AND FICTION oo Editor’s Picks oo Award Winners oo NY Times Best Sellers