the helpless, hopeless, remorse-filled blues
when you’ve seen the doctor and she’s seen you
when Time runs out and Eternity beckons
blues
the darkest hues with shivering slivers of
pewter muting to gray, muting to black,
muting to light fractures in a surface
permeable and permissible, heavenly Light
or, so “they” tell me …
But lost in that Universe of Light
will “I’ still be?
will “you” still be?
answer me that
What is the character of this Light?
Matter or myth?
Ah then…
after all, pondering on
I find I really don’t care
I’ll poem my blues and poem my light
until all that’s left of me is
what I leave behind…
and you?
Will you leave your unwritten
blue poem hanging in the air to be
sensed by the few who can?
Or, will you, like slaves of old,
paint yourself blue and boiling tears
dance round the fire’s edge and rebirth
your broken blue soul into wholeness?
This poem is written out of being diagnosed some eighteen years ago with a fatal condition. Still kicking! Nothing untoward is pending … except, of course, for the fact of a world gone mad and who knows what’s next with that …
Apologies to all for any confusion. I put up a different writing prompt a few minutes ago and immediately took it down when I realized I’d offered it as prompt once before. Some of you may have seen it and, of course, I can’t delete it from email subscriptions.
As a poet/artist/human being, what do you hope to leave behind? What message for those who follow? Tell us and leave your work or a link to it in the comments section below. All work shared on theme by Monday evening 8:30 pm PST will be published here next Tuesday. If it is your first time responding to a Wednesday Writing Prompt, please send a photo and short bio to me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com. They’ll be used by way of introduction to readers and other poets . . . and me. 🙂 All are welcome to participate in this prompt: novice, emerging or pro poet. Wednesday Writing Prompt is about exercising the writing muscle, sharing our work and getting to know other poets, perhaps some who are new to you.
These are the responses to the last Wednesday Writing Prompt, January 17, Dancing Toward Infinity. It garnered a neat collection of responses, including work by three poets new to these pages: Carolstar286, Pamela Ireland Duffy, and Pleasant Street. Welcome to all! Back for this round and in stellar form are: Paul Brooks, Renee Espriu, Sonja Benskin Mesher, Mike Stone and Anjum Wasim Dar. Enjoy! And do join us tomorrow for the next prompt.
Sonnet of State Secrets
As I told the State the other day, I rarely
dance but when I do I dance some Latin
sort of thing, like a salsa, in which one seems
never to stop moving, which makes it more difficult to pin
me down. My hips sometimes get tired so I have
to stop; two days later I ache but I am that much
closer to the goal, the infinite, the end-that-is-not-
the-end. The State is very goal-oriented,
hence the two questions that must be asked
of everyone with only four possible answers.
I almost always want to invent my own
responses but there you have it: no other
possibilities. Frustration ensues. Occasionally
I have thoughts of threats, murder, assassination.
The solution is to look up, to contemplate clouds, or stars
that look like lively souls in their dance to infinity.
Not much music
at the end of the line
in this half-world
of might-have-beens
and time run out
but still she dances
on iridescent water
oil spillage not dreams
but still she dreams
of other universes
other lives
of endless possibilities
where words change worlds
and her grandchildrens’ laughter
is real
and she is dancing in her sleep
daring to dream
of somewhere
where the music
never stops.
PAMELA IRELAND DUFFY is interested in Qi Gong, reading/lecture, writing/écriture, poetry/poésie. Pamela is also published on on “I am not a silent poet” and in “L’Inventoire”, She studied at the University of Leeds and at Larkhill House School, Preston, Lancashire. She currently lives in Périgny, Poitou-Charentes, France and is originally from Macclesfield.
‘Do you fear the fire’
(for my mother, 1940-1997)
Walking through the woods
my mother spoke of fire–
of course I had noticed it
a lack of green, and the scent
of the foray of pitiless flames
in a matter of months
and the ashes beneath our feet
Was it a dream? Perhaps–
upon opening my eyes
seeing her feet, immaculate
walking amongst the flames
in a frantic dance for life–
and afterward, the renovation–
her attempt to cover it up
with a smile and a flower
Overjoyed to see something
colorful and blooming
my jaw went slack, while the flower fell
from where she had taped it
to the scorched vine, fooling me
with the comfort of red petals
amongst the endless black.
‘But black is your color.’
Black had been the color
of cool and calm, during a time
when I could not settle myself–
tailor-made for me, the crisp lines
of white cotton over black silk
were enough to blur the vision
of soot smudges
on her cheek and forehead
I had not been there for her.
I wanted to stay.
And, bending to grab at the rose
I moved too quickly
a thorn piercing my finger–
‘You have blood on your
shirt”, she said
‘you have work still to be done–
wake up.’
PLEASANT STREET is a mother, baker, and poet. She has been writing poetry since fourth grade. Now she is writing a neo-noir thriller and a collection of poems about the seasons of life and God’s abundant and ever-changing earth. She thinks too hard and feels too deeply, and appears to be stuck in 1948. She is still dreaming up a way to use baked goods as legal tender.
Pleasant lives on a tree-lined street where nothing seems to happen on the outside, but she is certain many thrillers are contained behind closed doors. She is often carried away by flights of fancy, but that suits her very well.
once such night black
was a chance to gather strength
for the coming day; to invade
the stars in order to appropriate
their pinprick energy;
now its curious restless oblivion
is merely a rehearsal for the long sleep
that’s to come – the living out
of trillions of years
with nothing to think about
it tosses & turns and sometimes
dreams of swimming again amongst
those stars so often gleaming
through the apple trees of youth
come spring and I suppose
I will contrive to fling the curtains
wide once more to greet the sun
for the beginning of time once more
but now I hardly dare to wake
into this familiar night black
I want tha soul.” Devil gobsmacked
replies “I have no soul
of my own. Only souls of others.”
“Then gi me those.” answers
lad and I’ll do whatever tha hankers for .”
Devil hands him a mobile.
“This phone contains all my souls.”
“There is a woman who
would have your tongue. I ask
you visit her and take hers.”
“God didn’t sleep with me.
He chose that cow Mary.”
Devil put you on to me,
Young un’ tell you I need
Your tongue and you need
To take mine.
“I offer you hunger,
wrinkles, short life
and disease, and me
as an ugly bitch.
Except
on Saturdays when
I look like a model
and you have eternal life,
youth and health.
Manage your expectations.”
Young chuff replied
“To me you’re beautiful
for six days. Only a monster
on Saturdays when you’re a serpent
from waist down. Accept this mobile.
It contains all Devil’s souls.”
And young man returned
To Devil with her stories
“Accept the Sibyl’s tongue.”
He said and Devil scowled
at this young buck’s cleverness.
A symbiotic relationship in
a universe stretching infinite
where stars are like angels
their wings as chariots
taking flight becoming
a safe harbor for the soul
now desolate with grief
now hungry for peace
now joyous in its’ vision
however brief that it too
will be immersed
in that infinity
“A Poem about Nothing”
(Raanana, October 24, 2015)
This is a poem about nothing
How it happened that
Today nothing happened.
I didn’t turn on the radio
Well maybe I did for a moment or two
But then I turned it off again
Before something happened.
I slipped on some jeans and
Took Daisy for a walk
She still had a slight limp
From the night before
And I said a silent prayer
To the One who Barks at Infinity
That she’s not getting old on me
Remembering her shivering
First time I held her to my heart.
Then I thought about Dad
For no good reason on this earth
When I’d laid him gently down into the ground
How all the prayers we say
Were meant to send him on his way
But all I wanted was to call him back
Some prayers will never pass my lips.
“Walking to the Moon”
(Raanana, September 1, 2012)
Sometimes you have to walk a poem
To see the shadows of it go in front of you
And then behind you,
A funny kind of locomotion
Walking crablike, orthogonally.
It’s been so long since I’ve written,
You must have thought I’d forgotten,
If you thought about me at all.
No, I hadn’t. Couldn’t. Ever.
These were the dimensions of your loveliness,
The smell of sunlight on a field of wheat in your hair,
The cool touch of my rough hand on your soft thigh,
The vibrations of your voice as your meaning danced across it,
But the publicity of your smile
For all around you to see,
Not just for me,
Meant the sunlight soft vibrations of you
Might as well be like walking to the moon.
When a poet wakes up in the morn
He puts his pants on
One leg then another,
And when he buys his milk and wants to pay
He stands in line between
The woman with her screaming kids
And the foreign workers,
But when the poet looks up at clouds
Or the night-time constellations,
Orion’s scabbard or Cassiopeia’s tilted throne,
He sees encyclopedias never writ nor read
By the likes of you or me,
And when he loves,
It’s Trojan Paris
Who’s faced ten thousand ships
And went to war for naught but one.
Hello Orion my old friend
I’ve come to battle you again
Though your sword is in its scabbard
You hold above my head the tides of time
And bury me under the horizons of eternity
But I’ll defeat you with love’s clarion call
And life’s cold eye on death.
spiral galaxy in Constellation, Coma Berenices, 60 million light years from Earth
waltzing on the melodious
music, feather like, rising
gliding, embraced by light-
the Earth is All Bed
Sky all dome, a roof
shining in the day
glittering at night-
to show us the way
Boundless infinity oceanic
no end in sight,timeless,
and we mortals in oblivion
think about being en-gloved,
encircled we dance immersed
in perpetual meditation
we shall, in cool shadows be
with obedience and charity
for good we did, in year past
what good we do now, to last,
our hearts, swirling constellation
a nucleus smooth, unfurled silk
in time dissolved, myriads to
dust, rising spiraling merging
with countless orchestras in
harmonic symphonies of the
milky way, unknown infinity
like the never ending sea in oceans
cycling fresh blessings in motion
warming steam to vapors, floating
to infinity in dancing drops in
rotation, creating revolution
from sky to sand, and we say
rain falling, cooling drowning
and I say Blessed, drenched in
peace like the circling dervish
one with nature,in stillness bent
‘in my beginning is my end’
Light makes me light,boundless
flight, I say I am embraced…
Embraced in Eternal Heavenly Light
The pen name “George Orwell” was inspired by the River Orwell in the county of Suffolk (England). Photo courtesy of Adrian Cable under C BY-SA 2.0 license.
George Orwell
Eric Arthur Blair (1903 – 1950)
“Why I Write” is an essay by George Orwell detailing his personal journey to becoming a writer. It was first published in the Summer 1946 edition of Gangrel. The editors of this magazine, J.B.Pick and Charles Neil, had asked a selection of writers to explain why they write.
1EN-625-B1945 Orwell, George (eigentl. Eric Arthur Blair), engl. Schriftsteller, Motihari (Indien) 25.1.1903 – London 21.1.1950. Photo 1945., Public Domain
“What I have most wanted to do throughout the past ten years is to make political writing into an art. My starting point is always a feeling of partisanship, a sense of injustice. When I sit down to write a book, I do not say to myself, ‘I am going to produce a work of art’. I write it because there is some lie that I want to expose, some fact to which I want to draw attention, and my initial concern is to get a hearing. But I could not do the work of writing a book, or even a long magazine article, if it were not also an aesthetic experience. Anyone who cares to examine my work will see that even when it is downright propaganda it contains much that a full-time politician would consider irrelevant. I am not able, and do not want, completely to abandon the world view that I acquired in childhood. So long as I remain alive and well I shall continue to feel strongly about prose style, to love the surface of the earth, and to take a pleasure in solid objects and scraps of useless information. It is no use trying to suppress that side of myself. The job is to reconcile my ingrained likes and dislikes with the essentially public, non-individual activities that this age forces on all of us.” MORE
BLUE MESA REVIEW, A Literary Journal of the University of New Mexico general reading period runs through March 15 for fiction (up to 6,000 words), nonfiction (up to 6,000 words), poetry (up to three poems) and visual art. $5 fee for expedited review. $25 payment. Details HERE.
BLOOD IS THICKER: AN ANTHOLOGY OF TWISTED FAMILY TRADITIONS, an anthology to be published by The Canadians Authors Association and Iguana Books, is open or submission of fiction (3,000 – 7,5000) WORDS. The first line of the story must be: “It was February 29 again, and I was wondering which member of my family would try to kill me this time.” Canadian writers only. CAD $0.02 per word and a copy of the anthology. No entry fee. Deadline: February 28. Details HERE.
CUMBERLAND RIVER REVIEW is a publication of the department of English at Trevecca Nazarene University, in Nashville, Tennessee, which welcomes national and international writers and artists. Submissions of poetry, fiction, essays and nonfiction are accepted September through April. No submission fees. Details HERE.
DARKHOUSE BOOKS SANCTUARY “seeks poetry, flash, short fiction, and creative nonfiction reflecting the theme of sanctuary, refuge, shelter, or asylum, from the perspective of those offering, seeking, denying, or destroying it. From Bangladesh to the city animal shelter, all are welcome, as are all genres.” Submission period ends February 28 for this anthology. Payment is a percentage of royalties that is split among contributors. Details HERE.
DARKHOUSE BOOKS Shhhh… Murder! seeks “cozy to cozy-noir stories [2,500 – 5,000 words] featuring libraries and librarians. Extra points will be shamelessly awarded to writers with personal ties to libraries. (There need not be a murder in the story.)” Submission period ends February 28 for this anthology. Payment is a percentage royalties that is split among contributors. Details HERE.
EASTERN IOWA REVIEW has an open call for submission to its ” annual issue highlighting the lyric [and hybrid] essay and prose poem.” Essays up to 3,000 words. Reading period closes on March 31. No submission fee but a $3.50 “tip jar” for speedy response. Details HERE.
GEOMETRY, An International Literary Review, is published twice a year in both digital and print presentation and has an open call for submissions of literary fiction (to 8,000 words), nonfiction (to 8,000 words), graphic narrative, art and poetry (up to fifty lines). Deadline is April 1. Contributors are “paid anywhere between $10-$50 for poetry and 1-3 cents per word for fiction and nonfiction. Contributors will also receive one free copy of the printed journal.” No submission fees. Details HERE.
HAMILTON STONE REVIEW, an online literary magazine of Hamilton Stone Editions (press), is published twice yearly and is dedicated to featuring quality fiction, poetry and creative nonfiction. Details HERE. (scroll down)
SUBPRIMAL ARTS is published three-times a year. The editor currently has an open call for submissions that closes on February 15 for the March issue. Works of interest are poetry, art, essay and book reviews. No payment for book reviews. Small payments for other work upon publication. No submission fee. Details HERE.
SYCAMORE REVIEW, a nonprofit publication of the arts is produced by Purdue University Department of English is open for submissions through March 31. The editors seek poetry, fiction, nonfiction and art. Query for art and book reviews. Possible submission fee. Details HERE.
THE BeZINE, Be Inspired, Be Creative, Be Peace, Be. Submissions for the March issue – themed Peace – closes on February 10 at 11:59 p.m. PST .
New rules: 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 March 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 and the Intro/Mission Statement and Submission Guidelines. We DO NOT publish anything that promotes hate, divisiveness or violence or that is scornful or in any way dismissive of “other” peoples.
The BeZine will be published on quarterly schedule in 2018 and for the foreseeable future:
March 2018 issue, Deadline February 10th. Theme: Peace.
June 2018 issue, Deadline May 10th. Theme: Sustainability
September 2018 issue, Deadline August 10th, Theme: Human Rights/Social Justice
December 2018 issue, Deadline November 10th, Theme: A Life of the Spirit
Suggestions for sub-themes are still being reviewed. Send yours to thebardogroup@gmail.com. (Current suggestions include: domestic abuse, eckphrastic poetry, the meaning/importance of poetry, and restorative justice.)
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.
THE NEW QUARTERLY (TNQ) is a Canadian literary journal publishes short stories, nonfiction and poetry and is open for submissions (Canadians only) of fiction and poetry through February 28. No submission fee. Paying market. Details HERE.
THE SONDER REVIEW, based in upstate New York, seeks short fiction, creative nonfiction and visual art, for its journal published online and in print and is currently open for submissions. Short fiction guidelines HERE. Creative nonfiction guidelines HERE. Visual artworks guidelines HERE.
CONTESTS
Opportunity Knocks
BLUE MESA REVIEW, A Literary Magazine of the University of New Mexico sponsors an annual contest for English-language poetry, fiction and nonfiction. The submission period is June 1 – August 31. Reading fee: $12. Cash award: $500. Details HERE.
EASTERN IOWA REVIEW sponsors The Mary Hunger Austin Book Award, the Lyric & Hybrid Essays & Prose Poetry Contest. Submission period ends on March 31,2018. Details HERE.
PRIVILEGE & IDENTITY ABROAD NARRATIVE WRITING CONTEST hosted by Entropy Magazine. The prompt for this contest is: “Describe a time when one of your privileges surfaced during your abroad experiences. In what moments did you hold power in these spaces? How and why did you realize your privilege in this instance and what did you do about it? How were you aware of your national identity, gender, race, etc. in contrast to where you were?” Length: 300-600 words. $150 award to first prize winner. Deadline: January 31, 2018. Details HERE.
SYCAMORE REVIEW 2018 FLASH PROSE CONTEST accepts submissions through February 15 for fiction or nonfiction up to 500 words. $5 submission fee. $100 cash award for first prize. Details HERE.
THE NEW QUARTERLY (TNQ) is a Canadian literary journal hosts The Edna Staebler Personal Essay Contest with an award of $1,000 for the winning essay and a deadline of March 28; The Nick Blatchford Occasional Verse Contest with an award of $1,000 for the winning poem and a deadline of February 28; The Peter Hinchfliffe Short Fiction Contest with an award of $1,000 and a deadline of May 28. Canadians only. Submissions fees: $40. Details HERE.
EVENTS
2018 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, May 4-6 in Salem. Presenters include Sonia Sanches, Kaveh Akbar,Duy Doan, Jeffrey Harrison, Dorianne Laux,Erika Meitner and Carl Phillips. A small press and literary fair are included. Details HERE.
NEW ORLEANS POETRY FESTIVAL AND SMALL PRESS FAIR, 2018, April 19 – 22. Details HERE.
NEW YORK CITY POETRY FESTVAL held on Governor’s Island has not announced dates for 2018 but you can follow the website HEREfor announcements.
SUNKEN GARDEN POETRY FESTIVAL, 2018, Sunday, May 27 from 5 p.m. – 8 pm EDT will be held at the Hill-Stead Museum in Farmington, CT Details HERE.
Μια φορά κι ένα καιρό. Παραμυθο-αναγνώσεις στο ΘΕΣΙΣ 7Eva Petropoulou Lianoy 22 January
Stephan Burt* will read from ADVICE FROM THE LIGHTS, on February 10th at Make-Out Room. Doors open at 6:30 PM. A reading with Angela Pneuman, Ellen Klages, and Molly Sauter. Tickets are $5-20 and can be purchased at the door. All proceeds benefit the Center for Sex and Culture.
“Stephen is sometimes Stephanie and sometimes wonders how his past and her past are their own collective memory
“Advice from the Lights is a brilliant and candid exploration of gender and identity and a series of looks at a formative past. It’s part nostalgia, part confusion, and part an ongoing wondering: How do any of us achieve adulthood? And why would we want to, if we had the choice? This collection is woven from and interrupted by extraordinary sequences, including Stephanie poems about Stephen’s female self; poems on particular years of the poet’s early life, each with its own memories, desires, insecurities, and pop songs; and versions of poems by the Greek poet Callimachus, whose present-day incarnation worries (who doesn’t?) about mortality, the favor of the gods, and the career of Taylor Swift. The collection also includes poems on politics, location, and parenthood. Taken all together, this is Stephen Burt’s most personal and most accomplished collection, an essential work that asks who we are, how we become ourselves, and why we make art.” Publisher’s Statement
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 (emerging or established) or status (amateur or professional). 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.
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.
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.
Jamie Dedes' THE POET BY DAY Webzine 