Page 4 of 8

Posted on

Into timelessness, poems in response to the last Wednesday Writing Prompt

“Will the day tell its secret
Before it disappears,
Becomes timeless night.”

Dejan Stojanovic, Circling: 1978-1987

These responses to the last Wednesday Writing Prompt, melting into timelessness (i.e., God, Source, Being, the Ineffable), October 10, 2018.

Kudos and thanks to Sonja Benskin Mesher, Bozhidar Pangelov (bogpan), Marta Pombo Sallés, and Anjum Wasim Dar. A very warm welcome to Bhaga and to Shaik Sana.

I’ve included links to blogs or websites. I hope you’ll visit these poets and get to know their work better. It is likely you can catch up with others via Facebook.

Enjoy! … and do join us tomorrow for the next Wednesday Writing Prompt.

Aaaahhh…
This one I like.
This one I can enter in
With pleasure
And melt in it
Into Timelessness…
The Foreverness,
Fullness
And Sweetness
Of Spirit…

© 2018, Bhaga (Lab of Evolution, For Research on Conscious Evolution)

I enjoyed Bhaga’s spontanious response to the last prompt and am delighted to introduce this wise bilingual (French and English) blogger here. Bhaga has mixed ethnic and national origins.She grew up in West Africa and spent significant time in France. You can read more detail about origins HERE and name HERE. The MIssion Statement HERE. Lab of Evolution is a stimulating, though-provoking site and worthy of you time. It makes a soft rather unique expression in our blogosphere. / J.D.

Imagine

But just imagine
Your home next to mine
‎And
‎You next to me. .
‎We’ll be laying
‎Side by side
‎Under the tree,
‎Talking about
‎Dreams and our
Coming destinies,
And just like that
We’ll live forever
In our own
Timed infinity.

© 2018, Shaik Sana (eleven eleven * Everyone Dreams of Being Home *)

c Shaik Sana

SHAIK SANA tells us, “I’m a medical student from State of Andhra Pradesh in India. Even though I’m committed to medicine, I have a thing for both history and literature. I like writing poems when the idea hits me.”

 

 

 

. the birds fly up.

it is a clear word

as water pure and bouncing

off rocks

a bird

or

messing about

remembering #

days mud building dams

fighting the tide

pushing back years

running the path

fighting for freedom

then it comes

unexpected

like

the lark

bird

having written of the hour,

move on when all is lost.

the days remain

timeless.

today, we walk the woods,

back home.

© 2018, Sonja Benskin Mesher

A true compass

(Jamie Dedes)

“Our fate like cast lead can not
to change.
Nothing can change. ”
G. Seferis

Like a desperate winter …
Do you hear – how do the branches
the trees crack
under the night snow.
Bones under your weight.
You who embraced the frozen
water to see only
your body.
Your remote body.
I spoke to you out of the law.
Sometimes.
Not always
(“forever”it is for the prophets).
How lied your experience,
which accumulate the old gods
in the blood.
The true rulers of fate.
Who else talks behind your voice?
As soon as the homes touch,
who comes with the torches?
Glare of glass, ash
of the stars you make …
And deaf loneliness like a bell
(Lead gives nothing).

I tried.
Behind the ground and the winter.
On the day of John.

© 2018, bogpan [Bozhidar Pangelov]  (bogpan – блог за авторска поезия блог за авторска поезия)

Marta writers: “How is it possible to make something timeless when we are finite beings and born to die, as Lana Del Rey sings? Yes, God is timeless, but so are human-made creations and memories that pass from generation to generation. Where does timelessness start? Lewis Carroll gave me an answer when Alice spoke with the Caterpillar. They were both responsible for a bit of inspiration to write this poem.”

I Tasted Spring

I tasted spring through my body,

closed my eyes and felt

that touch on my lips.

Memories of a dream revival

where everything felt so true:

My mouth on yours,

your delicious touch,

your willingness,

our timeless embrace

where nothing receded

in the open air,

in the magic moment

of timeless soulmates.

Time suddenly froze,

it turned into

Eternity…

Can you capture time?

Do you know how to freeze it?

“I can beat music”,

said Alice to the Caterpillar.

So there is time in music.

Any musical piece has indeed

frozen time forever

just as well as the other arts:

Photography, painting…

And writing…

How could I make this happen

with our delicious kiss,

the best I have ever tasted

although it was just a dream.

© 2017, Marta Pombo Sallés (Moments)

“And here is another one with the issue of time linked with cruelty.”

Time and Human Cruelty

Time
cannot be changed
or escaped.
Time is a thief,
a friend to no one
and every day is
a gift.

You cannot change time
or travel back
to reverse those things which
should never have taken place.
People killed for no reason
or
is there ever a reason
to kill other human beings?

Those people did not get lost.
When you’re lost you’ll sooner or later
find the way back.
Or perhaps not.
But you’re not erased from Earth.

Those people were killed,
just a few compared to other countries
in our world.
None of them will ever return
to the world as we know it.
They’ve just been removed too soon,
swept away by the cruelty of others:
white supremacists, Muslim terrorists …

But which governments are orchestrating
such massacres in our world?
Who’s feeding the monsters
is equally a monster.

Let’s tackle the root of the problem.
Only this way we’ll be able to say:
I am not afraid!

Time and human cruelty
are friends to no one:
Charlottesville, Barcelona, Cambrils
and many more.
The outcome is always the same.

© 2017, Marta Pombo Sallés (Moments)

Only My Heart Can See

every moment a tiptoe sounds

I close my eyes to see

as I feel the page

as words take shape and form

my thoughts encircle the song

inside the circle of the dance

is it the dancer or the dance?

Ah! only my soul knows

Only my heart can see-

I close my eyes to look

up from the book

at the love of purity

which is but a scent sweet

I reach out to touch

Nothingness ‘

Ah The presence in Nothingness’

Love of Eternity ‘

Close…

closer than the thorn is to the rose

growing from dust

glowing in the dust

dust to dust we rose

engulfed spirits in time

destined together to repose…

arms spread out to receive

like the scattered petals

of the beloved rose…..

my eyes on the book I close

the dancer moved bent and rose….

life went on, life goes….

far far away, forever

© 2018, Anjum Wasim Dar

ABOUT

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and the 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 River Journal, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.

 

Posted on

Spatial Sequence Synesthesia

Susan’s post on synesthesia may be helpful to some. 👍👏♥️

Susan St.Pierre's avatarSillyfrog's Blog

WomanWeekFindigo2-300x300

Imagine you can step from one day to the next in three-dimensional space. I can.
Not only that, but I have a three-dimensional “map” for everything that has a numerical sequence. They aren’t all the same. I didn’t copy anyone.
Since I was a child, I’d ask people (when the conversations seemed most intimate), “How do you ‘see’ numbers?”. It took me decades of blank stares and vacant expressions to find out I wasn’t crazy… I have a gift.
My mind created my own personal universe of dates and times!
The study of this phenomenon is quite new. Compiling statistics is difficult because, for many who have it, it’s natural. You may have it.
My discovery was made possible by explaining my “sight” to an online poet friend. After all, poets exist in an alternate realm and especially appreciate bizarre viewpoints, right?
So I took a chance.
She said, ”…

View original post 113 more words

Posted on

No Calcification of the Heart, No Moratorium on Forgiveness

“The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” Mahatma Gandhi, All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.”C.S. Lewis

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.” Martin Luther King Jr.

“To love means loving the unlovable. To forgive means pardoning the unpardonable. Faith means believing the unbelievable. Hope means hoping when everything seems hopeless.” G.K. Chesterton

I’ve received some flack over yesterday’s post: This poet needs our help: SPOON JACKSON, imprisoned for 41 years or a crime he committed at 19 is still writing poetry and now asking for help to get commutation

The argument against Spoon’s commutation is about the life lost at Spoon’s hands. Advocating for the release of a man for a crime that is – no dispute, even by Spoon as far as I know – heinous is not to justifying the murder. I agree: Who knows what that poor murdered soul’s life might have been like, what his joys might have been, his contributions. We do know – because we’re human – that his family has probably never stopped grieving.  Forgiveness is not always easy but the calcification of the heart is the hardest and most unhealthy thing to bear.

Ever since reading about the woman featured in the video below, I have been unable to forget her. She’s a shining beacon of respect and sanity in a world gone mad. If she can forgive this, I can learn to forgive anything:

Spoon was nineteen years old when he committed the crime for which he is imprisioned.  Here’s what Robert Sapolsky, an American neuroendocrinologist and author, a professor of biology, and professor of neurology, of neurological sciences, and of neurosurgery at Stanford University, has to say about the teen/young adult brain. My feeling is that this needs to be factored into any judgement of Spoon and his case.

If you are reading this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link to this site to view the two videos featured here.

“The willingness to forgive is a sign of spiritual and emotional maturity. It is one of the great virtues to which we all should aspire. Imagine a world filled with individuals willing both to apologize and to accept an apology. Is there any problem that could not be solved among people who possessed the humility and largeness of spirit and soul to do either — or both — when needed?” Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: 10 Neglected Virtues That Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes

There is also the issue of race and prejudice that clearly factored into his sentencing.  One comment I recieved is from American poet Deb y Felio (Debbie Felio) ” . . . not only the youth of the crime, which he did admit to, and which probably would have had his time served years ago. But the reality again we must continue to face of the limited justice available for black people when he was sentenced. “Special circumstances” which made him ineliglble for parole and in the same fell swoop made another trial unattainable. As a nation we are still struggling for equal justice for all.”

People writing to me from England, Sweden and Norway commented that in their countries Spoon would have been release twenty years ago.

Further, Spoon Jackson is not asking to run a day-care center, teach children, or to run for office but only to reunite with his family.  No harm in supporting that as far as I can see. Kindness and forgiveness are not misplaced.

ABOUT

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and the 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 River Journal, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, Second Light, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta / Phor(e) /Play, and California Woman.

Posted on

SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS: Calls for Submissions, Competitions, and Other Information and News

“I dream of lost vocabularies that might express some of what we no longer can.” Jack Gilbert, The Great Fires

CALLS FOR SUBMISSIONS

Opportunity Knocks

AJI MAGAZINE will open for submisson of poetry, stories, and essays in November. Details HERE.

CLOCKHOUSE, a national literary journal by Clockhourse Writers’ Conference in partnership with Goddard College is open through December 1 for submissions of fiction, poetry, and dramatic work. Details HERE.

CONSEQUENCE MAGAZINE, an international literary journal focusing on the culture of war opens for submission from May 1-August 31, 2019. Mark your calendar.  Publishing interests are: short fiction, poetry, non-fiction, interviews, visual art, and reviews. Compensation: Poetry: $25 per page; Prose: $10 per page ($250 maximum); Translations:$15 per page ($250 maximum). Details HERE.

HORROR ADDICTS opens it call for submission to be considered for inclusion in its 2019 A Horror Anthology with “What horrors will our technological hubris bring us in the future? When technology takes over more of our lives, what will it mean to be human, and will we fear what we have created? Artificial intelligence, robotics, bionics and cybernetics, clones, and virtual reality.” 2,000 – 7,000 words. No payment. $10 fee for digital copy. Deadline: October 31, 2018, 11:59 pm Pacific Standard. Details HERE.

GUERNICA, a magazine of global arts & politics is open for submissions of short form and long form nonfiction, fiction, and poetry. No flash fiction. Details HERE.

PLEIADES, Literature in Context (University of Central Missouri) has an open call for submissions for it upcoming fiction folio celebrating Afro-Latinx/Afro-Caribbean Fiction. Deadline: October 20. Any genre. Any subject. Any theme. Details HERE. See the same link for regular submission which open in December. Mark your calendar.

REMINDERS:

BELLVIEW LITERARY REVIEW publishes creative nonfiction and poetry with a $5 reading fee that is waved for subscribers. “The BLR remains committed to publishing superb writing on themes of health, healing, illness, body and mind.” Details HERE.

LUNCH TICKET, a publication of the Creative Writing MFA program at Antioch College, is open through October 31 for submissions of poetry. Details HERE.(Scroll down on the page.)

SALMAGUNDI, a publication of Skidmore College, will open for submissions of poetry, fiction, personal essay and cultural criticism on January 1 (mark your calendar) publishes poetry. Details HERE.

The Poet by Day

WEDNESDAY WRITING PROMPT

Response deadline is Monday, October 15, at 8 p.m. Pacific. Poems are on theme are published on this site on Tuesday, the October 16. Details HERE.

RELATED:

The BeZine

Call for submissions for the December issue.

THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be. Submissions for the December issue – themed A Life of the Spirit – close on November 10 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific .

Please send text in the body of the email not as an attachment. Send photographs or illustrations as attachments. No google docs or Dropbox or other such. No rich text. Send submissions to bardogroup@gmail.com.

Publication is December 15th. Poetry, essays, fiction and creative nonfiction, art and photography, music (videos or essays), and whatever lends itself to online presentation is welcome for consideration.

No demographic restrictions.

Please read at least one issue. We DO NOT publish anything that promotes hate, divisiveness or violence or that is scornful or in any way dismissive of “other” peoples. 

  • December 2018 issue, Deadline November 10th, Theme: A Life of the Spirit

The BeZine is an entirely volunteer effort, a mission. It is not a paying market but neither does it charge submission or subscription fees.

Previously published work may be submitted IF you hold the copyright. Submissions from beginning and emerging artists as well as pro are encouraged and we have a special interest in getting more submissions of short stores, feature articles, music videos and art for consideration. 

COMPETITIONS

Opportunities Knock

EVERY WRITER 50 WORD $500 HORROR STORY HALLOWEEN CONTEST. Deadline: October 28, 2018 Details HERE.

GAIL B. CRUMP PRIZE IN EXPERIMENTAL FICTION is open through October. Cash award. Publication Pleiades, Literature in Context. $20 submission fee. Details HERE.

WRITER’S DIGEST POPULAR FICTION AWARDS closes tomorrow midnight (Eastern time, I believe), October 15.  Cash awards. Publication. Categories: Mystery, Crime, Horror, Romance, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Thriller/Suspense, and Young Adult. Details HERE.

INFORMATION and NEWS

Accessible anytime from anywhere in the world:

The Poet by Day always available online with poems, poets and writers, news and information.

The Poet by Day, Wednesday Writing Prompt, online every week (except for vacation) and all are invited to take part no matter the stage of career or status. Poems related to the challenge of the week (always theme based not form based) will be published here on the following Tuesday.

The Poet by Day, Sunday Announcements. Every week (except for vacation) opportunity knocks for poets and writers. Due to other weekend commitments, this post will often go up late.

THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be – always online HERE.  

Beguine Again, daily inspiration and spiritual practice  – always online HERE.  Beguine Again is the sister site to The BeZine.

YOUR SUNDAY ANNOUNCEMENTS may be emailed to thepoetbyday@gmail.com. Please do so at least a week in advance.

If you would like me to consider reviewing your book, chapbook, magazine or film, here are some general guidelines:

  • send PDF to jamiededes@gmail.com (Note: I have a backlog of six or seven months, so at this writing I suggest you wait until June 2018 to forward anything.Thank you!)
  • nothing that foments hate or misunderstanding
  • nothing violent or encouraging of violence
  • English only, though Spanish is okay if accompanied by translation
  • your book or other product  should be easy for readers to find through your site or other venues.

TO CONTACT ME WITH ANNOUNCEMENTS AND OTHER INFORMATION FOR THE POET BY DAY: thepoetbyday@gmail.com

TO CONTACT ME REGARDING SUBMISSIONS FOR THE BeZINE: bardogroup@gmail.com

PLEASE do not mix the communications between the two emails.

Often information is just that–information– and not necessarily recommendation. I haven’t worked with all the publications or other organizations featured in my regular Sunday Announcements or other announcements shared on this site. Awards and contests are often (generally) a means to generate income, publicity and marketing mailing lists for the host organizations, some of which are more reputable than others. I rarely attend events anymore. Caveat Emptor: Please be sure to verify information for yourself before submitting work, buying products, paying fees or attending events et al.

ABOUT

Testimonials

Disclosure

Facebook

Twitter

Poet and writer, I was once columnist and associate editor of a regional employment publication. I currently 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. My poetry was recently read by Northern California actor Richard Lingua for Poetry Woodshed, Belfast Community Radio. I was featured in a lengthy interview on the Creative Nexus Radio Show where I was dubbed “Poetry Champion.”

* The BeZine: Waging the Peace, An Interfaith Exploration featuring Fr. Daniel Sormani, Rev. Benjamin Meyers, and the Venerable Bhikkhu Bodhi among others

“Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.” Lucille Clifton