Page 83 of 433

Posted on

Serrated Words, a poem

“In all societies, public rhetoric involves some measure of lying, and history — political history and art history — is made when someone effectively confronts the lie. But in really scary societies all public conversation is an exercise in using words to mean their opposites — in describing the brave as traitorous, the weak as frightening, and the good as bad — and confronting these lies is the most scary and lonely thing a person can do.” Masha Gessen, Words Will Break Cement

When did you set foot into this world of pain?
Delivered to us on the wings of serrated words
You stirred the storm, locked hope in a setting sun
The moon is burdened with our blood and tears

© 2019, Jamie Dedes

In a world where the public rhetoric is cruel and disruptive, the words of respect, gratitude and common sense expressed by the young man in the video below are salve. He lost his stepfather and his mother was wounded in the El Paso shooting. The interview is held outside the church where his stepfather’s funeral Mass is about to take place. His mother was brought to the service by ambulance and with a nurse. If you are reading this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link through to the site to view this short video.

ABOUT

Testimonials
Disclosure
Facebook
Twitter

Recent in digital publications: 
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 11, 2019) / This short story is dedicated to all refugees, that would be one in every 113 people.

A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.

Posted on

This August Day After, a memorial poem by Linda Chown

“Give sorrow words; the grief that does not speak knits up the o-er wrought heart and bids it break.” William Shakespeare, Macbeth

The sudden death of a good friend, a special person, is heart-wrenching.  In response to a friend’s death yesterday, Linda Chown wrote this poem for him and for “every one cares about each other in an evil time.”  / J.D. 

Absence is a prayer today
I find myself lost in a spin
Of you who are not. It’s a shine
Like the inside of a song,
A way of getting nearer in this
Day of absence like a prayer
I hear the sound of your saying
And ring mercy bells for us all,
Melodic like a prayer, constant
Like the tides of your mind.

© 2019, Linda E. Chown

Linda Chown

LINDA E. CHOWN grew up in Berkeley, Ca. in the days of action. Civil Rights arrests at Sheraton Palace and Auto Row.  BA UC Berkeley Intellectual History; MA Creative Writing SFSU; PHd Comparative Literature University of Washington. Four books of poetry. Many poems published on line at Numero Cinq, Empty Mirror, The Bezine, Dura, Poet Head and others. Many articles on Oliver Sachs, Doris Lessing, Virginia Woolf, and many others. Twenty years in Spain with friends who lived through the worst of Franco. I was in Spain (Granada, Conil and Cádiz) during Franco’s rule, there the day of his death when people took to the streets in celebration. Interviewed nine major Spanish Women Novelists, including Ana María Matute and Carmen Laforet and Carmen Martín Gaite.

ABOUT

Testimonials
Disclosure
Facebook
Twitter

Recent in digital publications: 
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* Over His Morning Coffee, Front Porch Review (July 2019)
Upcoming in digital publications:
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 2019)

A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.

Posted on

We join the world in mourning the loss of Toni Morrison …

Street art depicting Morrison in Vitoria, Spain courtesy of Zarateman under CC0 license

“Anger … it’s a paralyzing emotion … you can’t get anything done. People sort of think it’s an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling — I don’t think it’s any of that — it’s helpless … it’s absence of control — and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers … and anger doesn’t provide any of that — I have no use for it whatsoever.” Toni Morrison during an interview with CBS radio host Don Swaim, September 15, 1987. 

This is a message for our times. Thank you to the anonymous person who shared this elsewhere online.

Toni Morrison (February 18, 1931 – August 5, 2019) was truth, hope, and inspiration. She lives on in our minds and hearts as we begin rereading her monumental works.

Toni Morrison was a friend and colleague of the literary organization PEN America. When she died on Monday at the age of 88, PEN America CEO Suzanne Nossel issued the following statement:

“PEN America mourns long-time member Toni Morrison, 1993 Nobel Prize winner, 2008 PEN Literary Service Award winner, and 2016 PEN/Saul Bellow Award winner. Her unmatched ability to use story to kindle empathy and rouse the imaginations of millions to contemplate lived experiences other than their own has transformed our culture. Her faithfulness to fellow writers and the cause of literature was unparalleled. To have her voice silenced at this moment is an almost unbearable loss.  Our society would do well to recall her maxim just now, ‘If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, you must be the one to write it.’”

– Jamie Dedes

RELATED:

  • Toni Morrison, Nobel Lecture
  • Toni Morrison, The Pieces that I Am, Trailer
  • Dangerous Work: An Evening with Toni Morrison. Here is the video of this tribute to Toni Morrison, 2016 PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction Winner. It features actress Adepero Oduye, actor Delroy Lindo, jazz pianist Jason Moran, and mezzo-soprano Alicia Hall Moran. The Master of Ceremonies is Kevin Young, Director of the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. (If you are viewing this post from an email subscription, you’ll likely have to link through to the site to view this video presentation.)

ABOUT

Testimonials
Disclosure
Facebook
Twitter

Recent in digital publications: 
* Five by Jamie Dedes, Spirit of Nature, Opa Anthology of Poetry, 2019
* From the Small Beginning, Entropy Magazine (Enclave, #Final Poems)(July 2019)
* Over His Morning Coffee, Front Porch Review (July 2019)
Upcoming in digital publications:
* The Damask Garden, In a Woman’s Voice (August 2019)

A busy though bed-bound poet, writer, former columnist and the former associate editor of a regional employment newspaper, my work has been featured widely in print and digital publications including: Levure littéraire, Ramingo’s Porch, Vita Brevis Literature, HerStry, Connotation Press, The Bar None Group, Salamander Cove, I Am Not a Silent Poet, Meta/ Phor(e) /Play, Woven Tale Press, The Compass Rose and California Woman. I run The Poet by Day, a curated info hub for poets and writers. I founded The Bardo Group / Beguines, pushers of The BeZine of which I am managing editor. Email me at thepoetbyday@gmail.com for permissions or commissions.

Posted on

TYPGRESS.COM’s appropriation of our WordPress.com content

“Tygpress.com is temporarily out of service due to technical issues. will be back soon…

Tygpress.com was created with an intention to create a blog search site , but due to some techical issues, full contents of respective sites were being displayed instead of just excerpts as intended. We thank the complainants for bringing this issue to our notice and We are extremely sorry to the content owners.” tygpress.com

Tygpress.com was founded in June 2018 and is an aggregating site with posts from many of our blogs as its total content. At the time of this writing, the site is blocked and all you will see if you go to Tygpress.com is the statement I’ve included above.
.
So many kind and concerned bloggers have sent me alerts, which I appreciate. Thank you! Every post of mine was appropriated. I know it’s disconcerting (angering) and frustrating.  This is not an expert opinion, but I have to say first that I think our copyrights are intact. I don’t think that’s an issue, though understandably it’s a primary concern. I noted that wherever there was a copyright notice by the content originator, it was included. On my site, I make conspicuous use of copyright for my own work and that of others and for this very reason.  I have no worries about my fellow poets, writers and bloggers, it’s these wild-cards that come up that are a concern.
.
If you feel your copyright is compromised you can file a DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) Takedown. Details on that are HERE.
.
I am as I write this awaiting an update from WordPress, which I’ll add to this post when and if one comes in. Having said that, Tygpress.com is not hosted by WordPress, so WordPress can’t take down the site.  There are probably some things it can do. I hope we’ll find out. Meanwhile …
.
Digital Ocean is the host and you can email them with your complaint at dmac@digitalocean.com and let them know you want your work deleted from the Tygpress.com and Tygpress.com blocked from stealing your posts in the future should Tygress.com become active again.
.
The Domain Name is hosted by Go Daddy.
.
The site is owned by a gentleman from Kamataka, Bengaluru, India. It purportedly earns $24.00 U.S. a day and has an estimated value of $8,640.00 U.S. according to a couple of website stat and valuation sites and who knows how accurate these are.
.
I hope this is helpful. Feel free to add your thoughts and comments below.