“A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” W.H. Auden, The Complete Works of W.H. Auden: Prose, Volume II: 1939-1948

REMINDERS:

You are invited to join us at The BeZine Arts and Humanities Group where you are welcome to share your artwork of any kind and to announce your successes/publication/showings/reading et al. Come out to play … and welcome Michael Dickel as my new co-admin there.

FRONTIER POETRYdeadline for entries to the 2019 Chapbook Contest will close on May 15. Cash award and publication. Entry fee. Details HERE.

NEW ANNOUNCEMENT:

Antisemitism has been on the rise, so ASYMPTOTE JOURNAL decided to launch a Special Feature call for translated Yiddish Poetry in solidarity. Submission guidelines HERE. This journal publishes poetry, fiction, drama, nonfiction, visual arts, criticism, feature articles and interviews.

RESEARCH PROJECT:

I’D LIKE TO HEAR FROM YOU IF YOU ARE A PULMONARY PATIENT, CARETAKER, OR SERVICE PROVIDER IN THE UNITED STATES.

I just spent an exhausting three days focused on getting portable supplemental oxygen tanks delivered. Although I have a stationary oxygen concentrator for use in my apartment, the portables are necessary as back-up in an emergency. I’m supposed to have eight in reserve – among other things, this is earthquake country  – and I was down to two. Other tanks are for getting to and from doctor appointments or for an occasional outing. (Among my health challenges: respiratory failure.) Fortunately despite my compromised situation, I am still able to fight for myself. My family is with me on this and would take over the project if I was unable to handle it. On day four, I finally got cleared for delivery and got the much needed tanks but only after threatening to get my lawyer involved.

This experience makes me wonder about the poor folks who are unable speak for themselves and have no one to go to bat for or with them. Apparently this struggle for timely and sufficient supplemental 02 is a challenge with durable medical suppliers nation wide (U.S.) and hospital critical care/pulmonology professionals are working hard to get better service for us. I’m doing some research now with an eye toward the possibility of a feature article on this problem. I hope to bring some larger awareness to the issue.

If you have something to add to the conversation as a patient, caretaker, or service provider, please email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com I’m interested in your thoughts and experience with obtaining prescribed supplemental oxygen. Thank you! / J.D.

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Poet and writer, I am a former 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. 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

“What if our religion was each other. If our practice was our life. If prayer, our words. What if the temple was the Earth. If forests were our church. If holy water–the rivers, lakes, and ocean. What if meditation was our relationships. If the teacher was life. If wisdom was self-knowledge. If love was the center of our being.” Ganga White, teacher and exponent of Yoga and founder of White Lotus, a Yoga center and retreat house in Santa Barbara, CA

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

4 Comments

Thank you!