August 1, 2018 – Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine

August 1, 2018

Pigeon Pie, a poem …. with your next Wednesday Writing Prompt

“Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain!” L. Frank Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz

Lives built on pigeon dreams
structured by Madison Avenue
calculated by Wall Street
beribboned by Hollywood
We take them: these manufactured dreams,
one-size-fits-all, straight off the rack . . .
And damn cheap too!
Mad, cannibal pigeon dreams
turn good minds and whole hearts into mince
We pray to false economies,
seek deliverance from Cheap Jack
We buy one, get one free –
And fetch and fetish youth eternal
from face-lifts, Botox™, and boob-jobs –
Exit here:
drugs, alcohol
sex-a-PEAL
en-ter-TAIN-ment.
Get a house, a car, a jewel –
Be the first on your block.
Buy now. Pay later.
Filling the empty with nothing more,
something less . . .
and warehousing our souls, they
gather dust in public storage . . .
the first month free.
Poems unwritten. Songs unsung.
Chumped. Stumped. Petrified.
A gullible human Pigeon Pie,
neatly boxed, wrapped to go.

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

How gullible we humans can be. Tell us about that. In what ways are we “Chumped. Stumped. Petrified.”

Share your poem/s on theme or a link to it/them in the comments section below.

All poems on theme will be published next Tuesday. Please do NOT email your poem to me or leave it on Facebook. If you do it’s likely I’ll miss it or not see it in time.

IF this is your first time joining us for The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, please send a brief bio and photo to me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com in order to introduce yourself to the community … and to me :-). These will be partnered with your poem/s on first publication.

PLEASE send the bio ONLY if you are with us on this for the first time AND only if you have posted a poem (or a link to one of yours) on theme in the comments section below.

Deadline: Monday, August 6 at 8 p.m. Pacific.

Anyone may take part Wednesday Writing Prompt, no matter the status of your career: novice, emerging or pro. It’s about exercising the poetic muscle, sharing your work, and getting to know other poets who might be new to you. This is a discerning nonjudgemental place to connect.

ABOUT

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. Currently I run this site, The Poet by Day, an information hub for poets and writers. I am the managing editor of The BeZine published by The Bardo Group Beguines (originally The Bardo Group), a virtual arts collective I founded. I am a weekly contributor to Beguine Again, a site showcasing spiritual writers.

My work is featured in a variety of publications and on sites, including: Levure littéraure, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature,Compass Rose, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.

“I want my friends to understand that “staying out of politics” or being “sick of politics” is privilege in action. Your privilege allows you to live a non-political existence. Your wealth, your race, your abilities or your gender allows you to live a life in which you likely will not be a target of bigotry, attacks, deportation, or genocide. You don’t want to get political, you don’t want to fight because your life and safety are not at stake.

“It is hard and exhausting to bring up issues of oppression (aka “get political”). The fighting is tiring. I get it. Self-care is essential. But if you find politics annoying and you just want everyone to be nice, please know that people are literally fighting for their lives and safety. You might not see it, but that’s what privilege does.” / Kristen Tea, motherwiselife.org

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Rock with us …

“A poet’s work . . . to name the unnamable, to point at frauds, to take sides, start arguments, shape the world and stop it from going to sleep.” Salman Rushdie

Unless otherwise noted, the content of this blog, including the photos and text (poems, essays, stories, feature articles), are owned by Jamie Dedes. Links and short excerpts of a post (up to 5 lines) may be used with credit and a link back the post or you may use the Word Press reblog function.

Please do not copy, print or post the work of guest poets, writers and photographers without their permission. Leave a comment on the post and I’ll put you in touch.

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Contact thepoetbyday@gmail.com with questions or for permissions.

The Poet by Day is an information hub for poets and writers. Featured each week are Calls for Submissions, Contests, Events and other useful news. Responses to WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPTS are published on the following Tuesday. SEND ANNOUNCEMENTS AND PRESS RELEASES to thepoetbyday@gmail.com

Actively supports freedom of expression, sustainability and human rights.

The BeZine fosters understanding through a shared love of the arts and humanities and all things spirited; seeks to make a contribution toward personal healing and deference for the diverse ways people try to make moral, spiritual and intellectual sense of a world in which illness, violence, despair, loneliness and death are as prevalent as hope, friendship, reason and birth. Submissions to Jamie Dedes bardogroup@gmail.com

Actively supports peace, environmental sustainability, social justice and a life of the spirit.

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WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

ABOUT

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